September 5, 2023 1:51 pm
PLUM, Pa. — (WPXI)-The Safety Division of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) finds public utility equipment didn’t cause a house explosion in Plum in 2022. The findings of this explosion were issued less than a month after another home exploded in Plum, killing six and damaging at least a dozen homes. The 2022 explosion happened at Hialeah Drive. Five people were hurt, one home was destroyed and several others damaged. In its investigation, PUC said pipeline safety engineers conducted many interviews, examined evidence and property records and monitored service restorations and repairs around the explosion site. PUC said the safety division “has not found any evidence” that public utility caused the explosion and found “no incitations of natural gas migrating through the soil around the incident site.” The focus of any further review of this incident involves the interior of the residence, which is outside the scope of the PUC’s jurisdiction and is subject to investigation by other agencies. This explosion is one of three in recent history in Plum. In addition to the 2023 explosion, there was one in 2008. That explosion happened along Mardi Gras Drive in Plum, killing a man and seriously injuring a 4-year-old girl. The National Transportation Safety Board investigated and discovered it was caused by a two-inch gas line that was damaged and then failed five years later after it corroded.
September 5, 2023 5:17 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Joe Biden says he doesn’t think an auto workers union strike is going to happen and tells a crowd gathered in Philadelphia for a Labor Day parade he’s celebrating union jobs. The Democratic president was at the Tri-State Labor Day Parade on Monday. This Labor Day comes against the backdrop of increasingly emboldened U.S. unions and a potential strike by 146,000 United Auto Workers union members. Biden tells reporters he doesn’t think the UAW members will strike. Biden likes to say he’s the most pro-union president ever. The president has used executive actions to promote worker organizing and has authorized federal funding to aid union members’ pensions.
September 5, 2023 5:14 am
BLACK ROCK DESERT, Nev. (AP) — Partygoers stranded for days at a counterculture festival by a late summer storm were allowed to start leaving Monday afternoon after muddy roads dried up enough for them to begin their exodus from the northern Nevada desert. An unusual late-summer storm turned the week-long Burning Man fest into a sloppy mess, with tens of thousands stuck in foot-deep mud and with no working toilets. The gathering in the Black Rock Desert north of Reno attracts nearly 80,000 artists, musicians and activists for a mix of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances. More a half-inch of rain fell at the festival site on Friday, the National Weather Service in Reno said. At least one death has been reported. But festival organizers say it wasn’t weather-related.
September 5, 2023 5:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. official says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may travel to Russia this month to meet with President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin tries to acquire military equipment for use in its war in Ukraine. The official was not authorized to address the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press Monday on condition of anonymity. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson noted that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Pyongyang recently and tried to persuade North Korea to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. She said the U.S. has information that Kim “expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia.”
September 5, 2023 5:09 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Dozens of schools within the Pittsburgh Public Schools district will move to remote learning for two days this week due to forecasted high temperatures. Superintendent Dr. Wayne N. Walter activated the district’s Extreme Heat Protocol on Monday. A total of 38 schools will learn remotely on Tuesday and Wednesday. The district implemented the new protocol back in May and began monitoring heat anytime temperatures go above 85 degrees. The city has also announced that it will be opening its cooling centers on Tuesday and Wednesday as well.
September 5, 2023 5:03 am
KARNS CITY, Pa. — (WPXI) – The family of the Karns City High School quarterback who collapsed on the field last week posted an update on his health. The Karns City Gremlin Football page shared the update from Mason Martin’s family. In it, they say within the last 24 hours, he has moved his arms, his eyes slightly reacted to light and he’s moved his legs when pinched. They say his chest tube has also been removed. “This is the first positive step in an extremely long journey,” the post said. “The prayer vigils held at the hospital and at Karns City have overwhelmed us with joy and support.” (PHOTO; Holly Mead Photography)
September 5, 2023 4:59 am
Gary Wright, whose ethereal song “Dream Weaver” wafted through the airwaves and up the music charts in 1976, died Monday. He was 80. Wright had been battling Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia for the past six years, the singer’s son, Justin Wright, told KABC-TV. Gary Wright died at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California, according to the television station. “Dream Weaver,” which utilized a haunting synthesizer, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on Jan. 3, 1976. It spent 20 weeks on the Hot 100 and peaked at No. 2 on March 27, 1976. The song spent eight weeks in Billboard’s Top 10. Wright’s follow-up single, “Love is Alive,” also reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching the runner-up spot on July 31, 1976. The single spent 27 weeks in the Hot 100 and seven weeks in the top 10. The singer had six singles chart on the Hot 100 between 1976 and 1981, according to Billboard.
September 5, 2023 4:56 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Steve Harwell, the longtime frontman of the Grammy-nominated pop rock band Smash Mouth, has died. He was 56. The band’s manager, Robert Hayes, says Harwell “passed peacefully and comfortably” on Monday morning, surrounded by family and friends at his home in Boise, Idaho. Hayes says Harwell died of acute liver failure. Smash Mouth released two platinum albums, the 1997 ska-fueled debut “Fush Yu Mang” and 1999’s “Astro Lounge,” featuring some of the band’s biggest hits, including the platinum single “All Star.” That appeared in the movie “Shrek,” alongside the band’s cover of the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer.” The band’s other hits include “Walkin’ on the Sun” and “Then the Morning Comes.”
September 5, 2023 4:53 am
MCKEESPORT, Pa. — (WPXI) – A 42-year-old man was taken into custody early Tuesday morning after an hours-long standoff with officers that started when police say he shot a woman, Allegheny County Police tell our news partners at Channel 11. Allegheny County SWAT was called to an active stand-off situation in McKeesport. According to police, emergency crews were called to the 1200 block of Pirl Street. Police said a woman was found with multiple gunshot wounds outside of a residence around 7:30 p.m. McKeesport police reported additional shots were fired at responding officers. The woman was pulled to safety and taken to a local hospital.
September 4, 2023 11:52 am
DETROIT (AP) — A 46% pay raise. A 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay. A restoration of traditional pensions. The demands that a more combative United Auto Workers union has pressed on General Motors, Stellantis and Ford are edging it closer to a strike when its contract ends Sept. 14. The automakers, which are making billions in profits, have dismissed the UAW’s wish list. They argue that its demands are unrealistic at a time of fierce competition as the world shifts from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. The wide gulf between the sides could mean a strike against one or more of the automakers, which could send already-inflated vehicle prices even higher.
