1 Injured When Vehicle Goes Over Retention Wall

January 13, 2025 1:52 am

One person was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital Monday morning after an accident near the Longhorn Steakhouse on Route Nineteen in South Strabane Township. Fire Chief Jordan Cramer says they were called out around eight-thirty for reports of a vehicle over an embankment with entrapment. When firefighters arrived, Cramer says they found that a vehicle had gone through a fence in the Longhorn parking lot and had dropped about twenty-feet over a retaining wall and into a retention pond. Cramer says the vehicle landed on its roof and the driver, the sole occupant of the vehicle, was trapped. There’s been no information released on the nature of their injuries or the severity.  (Photo courtesy of South Strabane Fire Department)

Special Counsel Jack Smith Has Resigned

January 12, 2025 6:09 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith has resigned from the Justice Department after submitting his investigative report on President-elect Donald Trump. It was an expected move that comes amid legal wrangling over how much of that document can be made public in the days ahead. The department disclosed Smith’s departure in a court filing Saturday, saying he had resigned one day earlier. The resignation, 10 days before Trump is inaugurated, follows the conclusion of two unsuccessful criminal prosecutions against Trump that were withdrawn following Trump’s White House win in November. At issue now is the fate of a two-volume report that Smith and his team had prepared about their twin investigations on Trump.

States Preparing To Help Or Thwart Trump’s Plans

January 12, 2025 6:07 am

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, many elected officials in Republican and Democratic states are preparing to either aid or oppose his policies. From immigration to education to transgender rights, a red-state blue-state divide has become common. For example, Republican state officials are pledging to aid Trump’s deportation efforts while many Democratic state officials remain wary or vocally resistant. Democratic attorneys general also are preparing to sue over a variety of other expected Trump administration policies. In most states, one party controls both the legislature and governor’s office.

Wildfire Death Toll Rises To 16

January 12, 2025 6:03 am

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office says the confirmed death toll from the wildfires ravaging the area has risen to 16. The coroner’s office says Saturday evening in a statement that five of the deaths have been attributed to the Palisades Fire and 11 are the result of the Eaton Fire. Firefighters are racing to cut off the spreading wildfires before potentially strong winds return that could push the flames toward the world famous J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles. New evacuation warnings are leaving homeowners on edge while a fierce battle against the flames is underway in Mandeville Canyon. Firefighters are using hoses to beat back leaping flames as thick smoke blankets the hillside.

Powerful Winter Storm Maintains Its Icy Grip

January 12, 2025 5:59 am

ATLANTA (AP) — Snow and ice across the U.S. South are expected to relinquish their grip only slowly as the weekend continues. Major airports including Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina continued to report disruptions Saturday,. Temperatures are expected to plunge after sundown Saturday, raising the risk that melting snow will refreeze, turning roadways treacherous. The storm that brought snow to the South was forecast to move out to sea off the East Coast on Saturday, leaving behind snow showers in the Appalachian Mountains and New England. Richmond, Virginia, lifted its boil-water advisory Saturday, nearly a week after an earlier snowstorm cut power and caused a malfunction to the city’s water system.

Netanyahu Sends Mossad Director To Gaza Ceasefire Talks

January 12, 2025 5:56 am

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency to ceasefire negotiations in Qatar in a sign of progress in talks on the war in Gaza. It wasn’t immediately clear on Saturday when David Barnea would travel to Qatar’s capital for the latest round of indirect talks between Israel and the Hamas militant group. But there is U.S. pressure for a deal before the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. Just one brief ceasefire has been achieved in 15 months of war, and that was in the early weeks of fighting.

Power School Cyberattack May Have Exposed Personal Info

January 12, 2025 5:51 am

(WPXI)-A cyber attack on a program that parents use to track their kids’ grades could have exposed the personal information of local families. The student information system impacted by the attack is called PowerSchool, and it stores some sensitive information for 60 million students across roughly 18,000 organizations around the world. In a statement, a PowerSchool spokesperson says the company learned of a “potential cybersecurity incident” on Dec. 28. That incident involved unauthorized access to PowerSchool information through a community-focused customer portal. Three local districts use the program: Fox Chapel, Mount Lebanon and Canon-McMillan. Canon-McMillan, in a letter to parents, further explains that a PowerSchool employee’s credential was compromised and used to access data through a backend support system. Canon-McMillan does not store teacher, student or parent social security numbers on PowerSchool, so that information is still protected. Contact information, health alerts, and grades for current and former students may have been accessed. Parent/guardian names and addresses may also be compromised. The Fox Chapel Area School District also sent a letter to families about this incident, saying that some of the district’s data was accessed. Either the district or PowerSchool will contact families when more information is available. PowerSchool’s spokesperson says it’s committed to providing affected customers, families, and educators with the resources and support they need.

Los Angeles Wildfire Death Toll Surges To 24

January 12, 2025 5:13 am

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A surging death toll is accompanying a slight break in the weather as firefighters in Los Angeles cast a wary eye on a forecast for yet more wind. Deaths in the fires that have ravaged Los Angeles-area neighborhoods in the past week rose, reaching 24 with an update in the official count late Sunday. At least 16 people were missing, a number authorities said also was likely to rise. Relatively calmer weather allowed some people to return to previously evacuated areas but forecasters warned of the return of fierce winds and fire weather starting early Tuesday.

Two Dead & Two Injured In Beaver County Shooting

January 12, 2025 5:00 am

NORTH SEWICKLEY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Beaver County dispatchers said emergency crews were called to the 200 block of Shaffer Road in North Sewickley Township at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.  Investigators said two people were dead at that location. Police tell Channel 11 those two people, a husband and wife, were shot.  Police say two boys, the couple’s sons, were flown to a hospital. Their conditions remain unknown.  The North Sewickley Township Police Department said this is a contained incident and there is no threat to the public.

Commissioner Statement On Voter Roll

January 12, 2025 3:38 am

Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman released a statement indicating that voter rolls are being analyzed and inactive voters are being removed from those rolls. According to Sherman 4573 voters who have not taken part in two consecutive federal election cycles have been removed. These actions are in line with state law and the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Mail in ballot applications for eligible voters on the annual list are also now being sent out. Eligible voters that wish to vote by mail must have their application delivered to the elections office by the May 13 deadline.