October 12, 2023 4:55 am
FINLEYVILLE, Pa. — (WPXI) – An alleged road rage ramming in Finleyville was caught on camera. Surveillance video shows a driver slam into the back of a woman’s car three times before speeding off Saturday afternoon. Lexi Novak told WPXI, “The lady in Trax might come forward because he almost hit her child not her the child was still on the road. He almost hit her because he went to pass me on the double yellow and almost hit that child,” Novak explained. Two miles down the road, police said the driver rammed into Novak’s car repeatedly. In the video, you can see the van ram Novak’s car three times before leaving the scene. The suspect, William Kupecz, was arrested later Saturday. Police said he did not give an explanation as to why he left the scene.
October 12, 2023 4:54 am
FAYETTE COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Pennsylvania state police are investigating after an inmate died at the State Correctional Institution at Fayette on Oct. 7. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, James Jarzenski, Jr., 43, was found unresponsive in his cell. Officials said prison staff and medical personnel immediately performed life-saving measures until EMS arrived, but Jarzenski was pronounced dead at the scene. Jarzenski was serving a 13 to 30 year sentence for a conviction in Venango County of robbery with serious bodily injury. Officials said Jarzenski had been at SCI Fayette since January 2021. Jarzenski’s official cause of death will be determined by the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.
October 12, 2023 4:49 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A player in California has won a $1.73 billion Powerball jackpot, ending a long stretch without a winner of the top prize. The winning numbers drawn Wednesday night are: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10. Before someone won the giant prize, there had been 35 consecutive drawings without a big winner. That winless streak was due to the miserable odds of hitting the Powerball jackpot, at 1 in 292.2 million. The jackpot is the second-largest in the world, topped only by the $2.04 billion Powerball prize won by a player in California last November. The $1.73 billion prize is for a winner who is paid through an annuity over 30 years. Winners almost always choose the cash payout option, which for Wednesday night’s drawing was $756.6 million.
October 12, 2023 4:43 am
Candidates vying for public office in Washington County, City of Washington and the Washington School Board were hosted by the Washington Branch of the NAACP and the Washington County League of Women Voters on Wednesday at the LeMoyne Community Center. The three hour Meet the Candidates Forum allowed voters an up close look at candidates and their views so those voters could be more educated on their selections come Election Day. Voters were disappointed as both Republican candidates for County Commissioner, incumbent Nick Sherman and his running mate Electra Janis were absent from the event. An email statement indicated that both would be attending a fundraising event that had been previously scheduled. Also absent was incumbent candidate for Prothonotary Laura Hough. No reason was given for her absence. The mood of the event was cordial among the candidates. The most spirited debate occurred between District Attorney candidates, incumbent Republican Jason Walsh and his Democratic challenger Christina Demarco Breeden. They sparred over the number of death penalty cases now being prosecuted in Washington County. The City of Washington Mayor race was also lively. Democratic candidate Joseph Burgess and Independent Candidate Mark Kennison offered their views on tax revenues, gun violence and minority employment. David Gatling, President of the Washington Branch of the NAACP and Diane DiSalle, President of the Washington County League of Women Voters both felt the event was a success despite the absences of the Republican candidates for Commissioner and Prothonotary.
October 12, 2023 2:24 am
A North Franklin Township woman waived homicide and other charges to court at her preliminary hearing on Wednesday. Along with the homicide charge, Lindsey Reho, 32 faces endangering the welfare of children and reckless endangerment charges. According to State Police, emergency responders were called to Reho’s apartment on June 10 after the father of Reho’s 1 year old baby found her unresponsive in her crib. The baby was taken to Washington Hospital where it was pronounced dead. State Police interviewed Reho where she told them she purchases and uses heroin daily. She earlier that day discarded old drugs and paraphernalia in her kitchen trash. Emergency service officials overheard her ask “if the baby could have gotten into something.” Reho remains in the Washington County Jail without bond. Her formal arraignment is pending.
October 11, 2023 3:26 pm
Details are sketchy but WJPA News has confirmed with Washington School District Superintendent George Lammay that a Washington Junior/Senior High School student was struck by a vehicle while he was crossing Jefferson Avenue near the Subway Wednesday afternoon. Washington County 911 tells us the injuries were minor and he was transported from the scene by ambulance to an area hospital. Lammay says students were being dismissed from classes around three o’clock when the victim crossed the street and was struck by a vehicle. Washington Police are investigating the incident. This is a developing story. Please check back for further details.
October 11, 2023 5:05 am
Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton has pneumonia and is in intensive care in a Texas hospital. Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, shared Retton’s condition in an Instagram post. Kelley said the 55-year-old Retton, who became the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title, is “fighting for her life” and not able to breathe on her own. Kelley started a fundraising campaign on Retton’s behalf for medical expenses. Kelley wrote that Retton does not currently have medical insurance.
October 11, 2023 5:04 am
High school students’ scores on the ACT college admissions test have dropped to their lowest in more than three decades, showing a lack of student preparedness for college-level coursework, according to the nonprofit organization that administers the test. Scores have been falling for six consecutive years, but the trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students in the class of 2023 whose scores were reported Wednesday were in their first year of high school when the virus reached the U.S. The average ACT composite score for U.S. students was 19.5 out of 36. Last year, the average score was 19.8.
October 11, 2023 5:04 am
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says a Chinese Australian journalist who was jailed for three years in China on a murky espionage conviction has returned to Australia. Cheng Lei worked for the international department of China’s state broadcaster CCTV. China’s Ministry of State Security said that Cheng had been approached by a foreign organization in May 2020 and provided them with state secrets she had obtained on the job in violation of a confidentiality clause signed with her employer. A police statement did not name the organization or say what the secrets were. Albanese says Lei reunited with her two children in Melbourne on Wednesday. Her return comes ahead of Albanese’s planned visit to Beijing this year on a date yet to be announced.
October 11, 2023 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have nominated Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker. Now they must try to unite their deeply divided majority to elect the conservative in a floor vote after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the job. In private balloting at the Capitol on Wednesday, House Republicans narrowly pushed aside Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman, in favor of Scalise, the current majority leader from Louisiana. A floor vote of the whole House could come as soon, but tensions are still running high among Republicans who’ve brought the House to a standstill with bitter infighting. And it’s uncertain whether Jordan, who was backed by Donald Trump, will throw his support to Scalise. (Photo: AP)
