September 1, 2026 2:23 am
Washington County 911 says a school bus in North Franklin Township had to be towed Tuesday afternoon, after it went over an embankment. They say it happened on Mounts Road just before four o’clock, when a school bus went off the road and partially over an embankment as it was backing out of a driveway. There were no injuries reported. It wasn’t clear at this time if any students were on board at the time.
September 1, 2026 3:41 pm
(AP) – A whistleblower for the U.S. Postal Service is warning that a new mail ballot system being hastily built to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting that method of voting could lead to the rejection of huge numbers of mail ballots. The whistleblower made the allegation anonymously in documents submitted by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal to the Postal Service. Blumenthal says the disclosure shows Trump is trying to sabotage mail voting. A federal judge has barred the Postal Service from making the changes for the midterms, but that case is being appealed, possibly to the Supreme Court. (Photo: AP)
September 1, 2026 3:39 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has hit targets in Iran, and Tehran has fired missiles and drones in response. The latest strikes Tuesday show how hostilities have flared once again in an intermittent war that has lasted more than six months. The U.S. strikes, and others on Sunday, abruptly ended a month without military action and threaten to fully reprise the conflict that’s spiked global oil prices and posed political problems for Republicans ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections. The renewed fighting comes after President Donald Trump had appeared to pivot toward trying to bend Iran to his will through economic sanctions.
September 1, 2026 3:37 pm
Washington County Coroner Tim Warco says a man found dead in a vehicle in Washington County is believed to have died of natural causes. Warco says forty-nine-year-old Michael Main of Bulger was found dead in his vehicle on Harmon Creek Road in Burgettstown on Monday afternoon. Warco says officials first thought Main died in a crash, but the autopsy revealed no trauma, so his death has been ruled natural causes, although the incident remains under investigation.
September 1, 2026 4:36 am
Crews from Pennsylvania American Water continue work to repair a 24-inch water main break at North College and Chestnut Street in the City of Washington. Company officials say water was turned off around 2:30 Tuesday morning, affecting service to some ninety-six customers. Customers impacted by the outage include those on Walnut Street, Spruce Street, Chestnut Street, Shaffer Street, Cherry Street, Forrest Street, Lincoln Street, and Pine Street. Officials say they expect repairs to be completed by early Wednesday morning. They say an updated Code Red will be sent to customers. Company officials say they appreciate the patience of their customers during the repair process.
September 1, 2026 4:47 am
Hanover Township supervisors have once again continued the conditional use hearing for a proposed data center in Starpointe Business Park. During a three-hour hearing Monday night, Prime Data Centers, LLC answered questions about their proposed development, which would include seven buildings and a power generation facility. The hearing was standing room only, and attendees had mixed opinions. Emanuel Paris, the Vice President of Alex E. Paris Contracting Company, says he supports the data center, and the development supports the company. He explains that Starpointe Business Park is a great location for a data center, and it will cause limited disruption to residents. David Bentrem, a resident and farmer, says that data centers can have negative effects on animals and there are too many unanswered questions. Other attendees, like Mark Dumbovich, want to learn more about the proposed data center. Dumbovich says that he is neutral, but he believes that the board of supervisors should have an independent council to make sense of the information from Prime Data Centers, LLC. Solicitor Dennis Makel explains that they wanted to limit Monday night’s hearing to three hours, but it is far from over. Supervisors refused to comment after Monday’s hearing. The hearing will continue on September 21, 24, 29, and 30 at 6:00 PM at the Hanover Township Fire Department Hall.
September 1, 2026 6:19 am
A third man accused of sex related crimes against juveniles in Peters Township faced a judge and will have his charges sent to common pleas court. Charles Usner, 24 of Mt. Lebanon faces 8 felony charges including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 16, statutory sexual assault, photographing or filming sex acts on a computer and additional felonies. During the sometimes tense 90 minute hearing, defense attorney Lee Rothman tried to have charges dismissed because he said his client was misled by the victim. Police evidence stated that the victim was 15 at the time of an assault that occurred at Peters Lake Park in July of 2025. Rothman said that the victim portrayed himself to be 18 years old on a Grindr social media account. Usner said he saw “red flags” but proceeded to have the encounter. Rothman argued that the victim misled his client about his age. Police testimony indicated that parents of the victim made police aware of the incident when they found evidence of the encounter on the victim’s phone. Police detailed how they found recordings of a sexual encounter between the victim and Usner. This case was discovered during the investigation into a sextortion case against Zachariah Meyers that was charged earlier this year. Police say that Meyers coerced the victim to have sex with men and provide pictures. They indicated that the victim contacted Meyers about the encounter with Usner telling him that “I got vids”. Usner is being held in the Washington County Jail on $500,000 bond. A request to reduce the bond was denied by the judge. Usner will be formally arraigned on September 29.
September 1, 2026 4:44 am
City Fire Chief Chris Richer updated Washington City Council on the progress of the Washington Fire Department Training Facility. Richer says that the facility located on the old Ramage athletic field in the Tylerdale section of the city now has two buildings for training. One is a three story house structure that mimics many of the homes found in the city. It has steps, narrow hallways and multiple rooms. The second building is a live fire training structure where firefighters hone their skills for search and rescue and survival in a safe environment. Currently firefighters are training at the grounds. Richer says this is Firefighter Survival month. Firefighters can be seen training on how to escape a burning building or how to rescue a firefighter trapped in a burning building. Richer says that several neighboring departments are expressing interest in using the facility. He is grateful to council for granting the department the land and assisting in the buildout of the facility.
August 31, 2026 2:41 am
The search for three missing people following a boat crash on the Monongahela River in Greene County, Pennsylvania, has transitioned into a recovery operation. During a Monday afternoon press conference, Sergeant Frank Mehalko, with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission said that a 24-foot private cabin cruiser with five adults on board collided with a tugboat and its empty barges near Rices Landing Sunday night around nine o’clock. He says crews members from the barge pulled two people (a man and a woman) out of the water and both were flown to area hospitals in critical condition. Mehalko says the woman later died. Mehalko said that they have since shifted into recovery mode, after divers, air support from multiple counties and Maryland State Police, along with side-scan sonar failed to find anyone. As for the cause of the accident, Mehalko says they do not yet have that information. The identifies of those involved in the crash have not yet been released.
September 1, 2026 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down after 18 months on the job. That’s according to the White House on Monday. No reason was given for Driscoll’s departure, but tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been widely reported. It marks the latest in a series of shakeups of the military leadership, with the Army especially seeing major upheaval. A Driscoll ally was ousted as the service’s top uniformed leader in April. Under the new acting Army chief of staff, the service is pulling the plug on a drone modernization program that Driscoll had heralded. Driscoll is a friend of Vice President JD Vance and an Iraq war veteran.
