August 15, 2019 9:18 am
A young girl was injured while on a ride at the Washington County Fair Wednesday night. Wayne Hunnell, the director of the fair, tells WJPA News that the girl bumped her head while on the ‘Swing’ ride. He says it was not a mechanical issue with the ride. According to Hunnell, the chair in which the girl was sitting was twisted when the ride launched. He says that caused it to swing out wide and led to the girl bumping her head on a support beam. Hunnell says several parents and other adults who witnessed it then tried to help and began grabbing swings and trying to stop the ride. Two other children then fell from their seats but were not seriously injured. The girl was transported to the hospital by her parents but there is no word on her condition. The ride was shut down and Hunnell says state officials were notified of the incident. The ride is to be inspected this morning and officials will then determine when or if it will reopen. Hunnell says officials are doing everything they can to ensure the safety of all of those who attend the fair.
August 15, 2019 6:50 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – (WPXI) – A 13-year-old died after he collapsed while playing football in Pittsburgh’s Windgap neighborhood. Police said they responded to reports of an unresponsive boy on a field at Chartiers Avenue and Middletown Way just before 7:40 p.m. When they arrived, police said they found Jordan Duckett, 13, who had been playing football and collapsed while running off of the field. He was transported to Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police said the scene was processed due to the boy’s age and the fact that it is an undetermined death. The cause and manner of death will be determined by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
August 15, 2019 4:49 am
An elderly woman has died after a fire ripped through her Chartiers Township home Wednesday night. The Washington County Coroner’s Office identifies her as 90 year old Grace Thomas. Firefighters were called to her home along Sprowls Avenue in Houston just after 8:30 p.m. According to reports, neighbors called 9-1-1 after seeing flames coming from the home. There is no word on a cause of the fire. The state police fire marshall and Chartiers Township police are investigating. A cause and manner of death are pending.
August 15, 2019 4:24 am
HANCOCK COUNTY, W. Va. – (WPXI) – One woman has been killed and another injured after separate but related shootings in Hancock County, West Virginia. The first shooting was reported around 7:40 p.m. in a rural area of the county on Judge Drive. Police said the woman who was shot there did not survive. About 20 minutes later, police were called to Clearview Avenue in New Cumberland, which is about an hour from Pittsburgh. Police said the suspect from the previous scene fired multiple shots into a trailer, injuring a woman and a dog inside. Two other people at the trailer were also injured, but police said the injuries were not from being shot. Around 8:15 p.m., a police officer spotted the suspect’s vehicle in the area of Locust Hill Road, where the suspect had crashed his vehicle into a home. County officials said West Virginia State Police are investigating what happened next, but the suspect was shot by police. He was flown by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh-area hospital. The suspect was described as a white male in his early 40s. Police are not identifying him or the victims at this time, as they are still looking into any potential relationship or motive.
August 15, 2019 4:20 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Eight years after former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted of corruption, the state of Illinois seeking to bar him from practicing law. The Chicago Tribune reports the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission filed a formal complaint earlier this month citing Blagojevich’s conviction on federal corruption charges and requesting a hearing before a disciplinary panel. The Tribune reports the complaint said the crimes for which Blagojevich was convicted “adversely reflect on his honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer.” James Grogan, the ARDC’s deputy administrator and chief counsel, said the complaint was served on one of Blagojevich’s attorneys on Aug. 7. That is the day President Donald Trump said he considering commuting the sentence of Blagojevich, who is serving a 14-year prison term. Grogan says Blagojevich has until Aug. 28 to respond. The Illinois Supreme Court suspended Blagojevich’s law license indefinitely after his conviction at a second trial on counts of wire fraud, bribery and attempted extortion.
August 15, 2019 4:18 am
DENVER (AP) – John Hickenlooper is expected to drop out of the Democratic presidential primary on Thursday. That’s according to a person close to the former Colorado governor who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly before the announcement and who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday night on condition of anonymity. Hickenlooper ran as a moderate who could unite warring factions of the country. But his genial, quirky style never caught on with a Democratic electorate hungry for a candidate who could take the fight to President Donald Trump. By the end, Hickenlooper was on his second campaign team and struggling to raise money. He registered at 1% or lower in polls. It’s unclear whether Hickenlooper will now challenge Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, who is considered the country’s most vulnerable Republican senator.
August 15, 2019 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is suggesting that trade talks with China can wait until tensions in Hong Kong have eased. He tweeted: “Of course China wants to make a deal. Let them work humanely with Hong Kong first!” Trump also praised Chinese President Xi Jinping, calling him a “great leader” and saying he could quickly resolve the situation on Hong Kong if he wanted to. Trump has previously said little about the protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, except to make it clear he believes that Hong Kong and China need to “deal with that themselves.” He has urged the two sides to exercise caution. His more extensive comments Wednesday came as U.S. stock markets tumbled, in part because of uncertainty over Trump’s trade standoff with Beijing.
August 15, 2019 4:13 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Police and the FBI are investigating after a man in a wheelchair attempted to rob a bank in Pittsburgh. Police say a man described to be in his 60s entered the First National Bank in a wheelchair on Tuesday afternoon and handed a note demanding cash to a teller. However, the man had second thoughts and left the bank. The investigation is ongoing.
August 15, 2019 4:10 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania officials have announced plans to close two centers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities over the next three years. The Department of Human Services said Tuesday that public meetings will be held next month to gather comment on the plans to close the Polk State Center in Venango County in western Pennsylvania and the White Haven State Center in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Luzerne County. The Polk center currently serves 194 residents and the White Haven center serves 112 people. Officials say the commonwealth has steadily closed most state centers since the 1960s “when best practices turned toward community-based settings and away from institutions.” Fifty years ago, the department served more than 13,000 people with intellectual disabilities in state-operated facilities, but today fewer than 720 receive care in such facilities.
August 15, 2019 4:09 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Authorities say a gunman who barricaded himself for hours inside a Philadelphia home, shooting at and wounding six officers, is in police custody. Philadelphia police Sgt. Eric Gripp said early Thursday morning that the man was taken in custody after an hourslong standoff with police. The shooting started around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Officers were serving a narcotics warrant at a home and had already entered when gunfire erupted. The gunman and police exchanged gunfire for hours. Six officers were shot, but have been released from hospitals. Two officers had been trapped in the house during the standoff but were safely evacuated. A heavy police presence was in the neighborhood for hours with businesses, including day care centers, on lockdown and roads closed.
