June 23, 2023 11:46 am
West Penn Power crews worked quickly to fix a problem in the South Strabane area that left nearly seven-hundred customers without electricity Friday morning. West Penn Power spokesman Todd Myers tells WJPA the issue began in a sub-station behind Lowe’s when a breaker opened up. Power was out to a few businesses along that Route 19 corridor and traffic lights were also affected. WJPA Radio was also affected for a brief time but remained streaming on-line. Power was restored to most areas within about an hour.
June 23, 2023 10:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has upheld a section of federal law used to prosecute people who encourage illegal immigration, ruling against a California man who offered adult adoptions he falsely claimed would lead to U.S. citizenship. The court by a 7-2 vote Friday rejected arguments the law is too broad and violates the Constitution. The case involves a section of federal immigration law that says a person who “encourages or induces” a non-citizen to come to or remain in the United States illegally can be punished by up to five years in prison. That’s increased to 10 years if the person doing the encouraging is doing so for personal financial gain.
June 23, 2023 9:43 am
A resident of Belle Vernon pleaded guilty in federal court to a wire fraud charge for taking money from a local credit union while she was the manager and setting a safe on fire to cover the evidence. Patty Lynn Mavrakis, 65, was the branch manager for Valley 1st Community Federal Credit Union in Belle Vernon on Sept. 5, 2016, when she took cash from the safe while it was closed for Labor Day, according to the Department of Justice. The next day, she arrived before any other employees and staged a fire in the safe, then claimed an alarm wire caught fire, burning $340,200 in cash. She then filed a false claim, which was paid by the insurance company. Mavrakis remains free on bond. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 11
June 23, 2023 5:10 am
After spending more than two decades building a rigidly controlled political system, Russian President Vladimir Putin is silently watching increasingly raucous infighting that has emerged among top members of his entourage amid the war in Ukraine. While it doesn’t pose any immediate threat to Putin’s power, some analysts say his failure to squelch the squabbles between Yevgeny Prigozhin, the maverick head of the Wagner private military contractor, and the military brass heralds potential shifts in Russia’s political scene and sets the stage for more internal battles. It has pushed Prigozhin to the forefront of Russia’s political scene and signaled his growing ambitions.
June 23, 2023 5:07 am
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Chemical manufacturer 3M has agreed to pay at least $10.3 billion to settle lawsuits over contamination of many U.S. public drinking water systems with potentially harmful compounds known as PFAS. The deal was announced Thursday by the company based in St. Paul, Minnesota, and an attorney representing hundreds of public water systems. 3M is a leading maker of PFAS chemicals used widely in firefighting foams and many nonstick and grease-resistant consumer products. They’re described as “forever chemicals” because they don’t degrade naturally in the environment. PFAS compounds been linked to a variety of health problems, including liver and immune-system damage and some cancers.
June 23, 2023 5:05 am
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A judge has blocked Wyoming’s first-in-the-nation ban on abortion pills before it was set to be implemented July 1. While several states have banned abortion outright or restricted access to abortion pills, Wyoming in March became the first state with an explicit ban on abortion pills. Teton County Judge Melissa Owens issued the ruling after hearing arguments Thursday for and against allowing the ban to take effect pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the new law. The ban would limit services at two Wyoming clinics including one that opened in Casper in April. Owens has now blocked three abortion bans signed into law by the Republican governor who appointed her.
June 23, 2023 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s campaign is banking on reproductive rights to be an early galvanizing issue for voters in the 2024 presidential election. He’s collecting a trio of top-level endorsements and hosting a rally Friday, one day ahead of the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that overturned federal abortion protections. The endorsements are coming from Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Emily’s List. The groups are throwing their early support behind Biden’s reelection effort in part to highlight the importance of the issue for Democrats heading into the election year.
June 23, 2023 5:03 am
The search for a missing Titanic-bound submersible has become an investigation and salvage mission that will take an indefinite amount of time, while tributes from around the world poured in for the five people killed when the vessel imploded deep in the North Atlantic. The announcement Thursday that all aboard perished when the submersible imploded near the site of the iconic shipwreck brought a tragic end to a five-day saga that included an urgent around-the-clock search and a worldwide vigil for the missing vessel known as the Titan. The U.S. Coast Guard said the investigation into what happened was already underway.
June 23, 2023 4:59 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Interstate 95 is set to reopen to traffic less than two weeks after a deadly collapse in Philadelphia shut down a heavily traveled stretch of the East Coast’s main north-south highway. Crews worked around the clock and are poised to finish ahead of schedule. The interim six-lane roadway is set to reopen at noon Friday. It will serve motorists during construction of a permanent bridge. An elevated section of I-95 collapsed June 11 after a tractor-trailer hauling gasoline flipped on an off-ramp and caught fire. The driver was killed. The closure snarled traffic in and around Philadelphia and threatened to raise the cost of consumer goods as truckers detoured around the area.
June 23, 2023 4:56 am
Washington County Commissioners took on a lengthy agenda and found solutions to two issues. Commissioners approved a draft settlement with the Washington County Board of Assessment Appeals, The City of Washington and the Washington School District on a property assessment appeal regarding the county’s purchase of the Crossroads Building at 95 West Beau Street. The county will pay the school district $164,000 and the city $104,000. That is in exchange for a mutually agreed upon exemption status going forward. The dispute arose over just how much of the building should be subject to tax because of the large portion of it being used for governmental purpose. Commissioners also approved the hire of local attorney James McCune to fill the role of chief of staff until the end of the year. According to Chairwoman Diana Irey-Vaughan, McCune is a former county solicitor and will be able to handle the responsibility on day one. In salary board actions, court administration streamlined its budgetary process by wiping out nearly 40 positions and recreating the exact same positions. They effectively took 11 separate budgets and combined them into one.
