March 6, 2020 9:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Hiring jumped in February as employers added 273,000 jobs, evidence that the economy was in strong shape before the coronavirus began to sweep through the U.S. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, matching a 50-year low, down from 3.6% in the previous month. The job gain comes from a survey of payrolls in the second week of February, so the healthy gains pre-date the viral outbreak.
March 6, 2020 7:38 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – A woman was resentenced to prison Thursday in connection with the murder of an elderly neighbor in Washington County. Diane McClelland will spend at least 24 years behind bars for her role in the death of 92-year-old Evelyn Stepko. “She’s going to be back where she was, but she might appeal. But if she appeals, we’ll be here again,” Dolores Stepko-Sprowls, Stepko’s niece, said. McClelland was previously sentenced to 29 years in prison for conspiracy in the killing. “Obviously, we’re disappointed in the result,” Stephen Paul, McClelland’s attorney, said after Thursday’s resentencing. “I’ll be speaking with Miss McClelland, and we will be reviewing all our post-sentence options.” Stepko was stabbed to death in 2011 at her home in Coal Center. McClelland’s husband pleaded guilty to the murder and died in prison. Her stepson was also found guilty and is serving a life sentence.
March 6, 2020 6:37 am
A 42 year old woman and a 7 year old boy escaped serious injury following a crash in Interstate 70 westbound early Friday morning. Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers say a tractor trailer sideswiped the car near the Jessop Place exit around 5 a.m. The car was reportedly forced off the highway. The truck did not stop. No other information has been released.
March 6, 2020 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has signed an $8.3 billion measure to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. Trump had planned to sign the bill during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, according to Vice President Mike Pence. But the White House said Friday that Trump would no longer visit the agency because he “does not want to interfere with the CDC’s mission to protect the health and welfare of their people and the agency.” The legislation Trump signed provides federal public health agencies money for vaccines, tests and potential treatments. A dozen people have died in the U.S. and over 200 are infected across 18 states.
March 6, 2020 4:26 am
Facebook has started taking down ads for the reelection campaign of President Donald Trump directing people to a survey. The decision came Thursday, hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Facebook for the ads, saying people would confuse the survey with the once-a-decade head count. Similar mailings have been distributed around the U.S. Democratic House leaders on Thursday sent a letter to the Republican National Committee, demanding a stop to any mailings or online ads that resemble Census Bureau documents. Census Bureau officials have been on alert for online misinformation aimed at confusing people about the once-a-decade head count.
March 6, 2020 4:25 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Results were expected Friday after passengers and crew were tested for coronavirus aboard a cruise ship held off the California coast. A passenger on an earlier voyage of the ship died of the disease, and at least four others became infected. While more than 3,500 aboard the Grand Princess were ordered to stay at sea, only 45 people were tested. A military helicopter delivered test kits to the Grand Princess, which is anchored off San Francisco. Meanwhile, the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus has reached 12 and infections swell to more than 200 cases, scattered across 18 states.
March 6, 2020 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge has sharply rebuked Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the special counsel’s Russia report. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton says Barr made a “calculated effort” to spin the investigation’s findings in favor of President Donald Trump and showed a “lack of candor.” He delivered the criticism in a 23-page ruling in which he said he would review an unredacted version of the Mueller report before deciding what additional information from the document should be publicly disclosed. Walton says he needs to review the document itself because he cannot trust that the Justice Department’s redactions of the report were made in good faith.
March 6, 2020 4:21 am
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) – President Donald Trump defended his administration’s response to the coronavirus and his confrontational style of name-calling political opponents as he fielded questions from the public in his first TV town hall of the 2020 election cycle. Trump regularly calls his top Democratic presidential opponents “Sleepy Joe” and “Crazy Bernie.” Asked whether he could deliver his message without the controversial rhetoric, the president replied: “When they hit us, we have to hit back … You can’t turn your cheek.”
March 6, 2020 4:17 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Authorities have released the name of the suspect who was shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire that left a Pittsburgh police detective wounded. The Allegheny County medical examiner says 25-year-old Elijah Brewer died at a hospital Thursday night following the shooting, which took place during a traffic stop on East Ohio Street. Allegheny County Police say four detectives had stopped the vehicle when there was an exchange of gunfire between the officers and the sole passenger. The detective was shot in the leg. Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich says he was taken to a hospital where he is alert and recovering.
March 6, 2020 4:13 am
The City of Washington departed from the norm on the acquisition of two new police vehicles. City Council approved a four year lease agreement with Jim Shorkey Auto Group to acquire and outfit the new vehicles. City Police Chief Robert Wilson stated that he and Mayor Scott Putnam have been considering a lease program for more than a year. The chief stated that the cars without necessary equipment would have cost approximately $44,000. In the 4 annual payments of $12,186 the cars will be delivered fully outfitted. The advantage to this program is that the city will spread the cost of the cars over a 4 year period as opposed to having to come up with full payment at the very beginning. The city will have the option to purchase the cars for a dollar at the end of the lease.
