August 9, 2023 2:50 am
The Washington County Agricultural Fair is celebrating its 225th anniversary and is just about ready to kick off this weekend. On Tuesday the Board of Directors held a news conference to let people know just what to expect in this monumental year. Special attention will be given to Washington County’s agricultural history and economic impact today. With 1760 farms in Washington County, it is the fourth largest agricultural county in Pennsylvania according to the USDA. Todd Richards, President of the Fair’s Board of Directors says that emphasis on agriculture is important for everyone because “it feed us three times a day and keeps us in clothes and food”. Wayne Hunnell is the Secretary for the Board. He says that fair goers will see several improvements that include a brand new Memorial Plaza, and a totally rebuilt restroom building that has a mural depicting the history of the fair from its beginning until today. Artist Diane Adams said that it took her 166 hours over the course of 27 days to finish the mural. The fair begins on August 12 and runs through August 19. A full schedule of events can be found at washingtonfair.org.
August 9, 2023 2:28 am
Drug related deaths continue to plague the local area, especially with the fast rise of fentanyl laced drugs. Ashley Matthews, 37, of Washington County was sentenced to five-and-a-half to 11 years in jail by Judge Brandon Neuman for drug related offenses, including drug delivery resulting in a death. Matthews was found guilty earlier in June for her connection to the death of Brandon Howard, 37, in December of 2019 in Canton Township. She was a friend of Howard’s, and began communicating with him on a social media text messenger app to orchestrate a drug deal between him and her boyfriend, Robert Michael Hayes Jr. Both Matthews and Hayes went to Howard’s apartment to exchange fentanyl laced cocaine for marijuana. After leaving the apartment, Hayes sent a message to Howard on the messenger app, warning him of the potency of the fentanyl-laced cocaine. The warning was too late, as Howard was eventually found dead by his sister. A Victim impact statement was read aloud to the court during Tuesday’s sentencing, on behalf of his sister. Matthews will serve her sentence concurrently and she was ordered to pay over $9,000 dollars of restitution to Howard’s family.
August 8, 2023 5:48 pm
(AP) – COVID-19 hospital admissions are inching upward in the United States since early July. It’s a small-scale echo of the three previous summers. Just over 9,000 people were admitted to the hospital in the week ending July 29, which was up by about 12% from the previous week. But the number of new hospital patients is still far lower than during summer peaks in the previous three years. Deaths appear to be stable. U.S. health officials say they’ll keep a close eye on wastewater levels as students go back to school. The amount of the virus in wastewater across the nation has been rising since late June.
August 8, 2023 5:43 pm
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Police in Alabama’s capital city say three people are expected to be in custody Tuesday on charges including misdemeanor assault in connection with a riverfront brawl that drew nationwide attention. The Montgomery police chief says videos of the incident that circulated widely on social media are crucial in investigating what happened. One person has turned himself in and the other two have agreed to turn themselves in by the end of the day. The fight was largely split along racial lines and began when a moored pontoon boat blocked a touring riverboat with 227 passengers aboard from docking in its designated space along the city’s riverfront.
August 8, 2023 5:05 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Officials say the death toll from Russian missile strikes that hit apartment buildings in an eastern Ukrainian city has climbed to seven, with 67 injured. Two Russian missiles slammed into the downtown area of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region that is partially occupied by Russia, on Monday evening. Local officials said the missiles damaged apartment buildings, houses, a hotel where foreign journalists used to stay, dining establishments, shops and administrative buildings. The Kremlin says its forces target only military assets and claim other damage is caused by debris from Ukrainian air defense weapons.
August 8, 2023 5:04 am
Donald Trump’s legal team has told a judge overseeing the election conspiracy case against him that the prosecutors’ proposed protective order aimed at preventing the public disclosure of evidence is too broad and would restrict his First Amendment rights. Lawyers for the early 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner said Monday that the judge should impose a more limited protective order that would prevent the defense team from publicly disclosing only materials deemed “sensitive,” such as grand jury documents. Prosecutors quickly countered with their own filing accusing Trump of objecting to their proposal because he wants to use the government’s evidence to “try the case in the media rather than in the courtroom.”
August 8, 2023 5:02 am
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s voters will decide Tuesday whether to make their state constitution harder to amend, as a highly charged special election that has direct bearing on a November ballot question over abortion rights comes to a close. If Issue 1 passes, the threshold for voters being able to change the state constitution would rise from a simple majority to 60%. That would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the fall proposal to succeed, based on polling figures. Voters in several states, even deeply conservative ones, have affirmed abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, though usually with less than 60% of the vote.
August 8, 2023 5:00 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say three passengers died after a bus carrying up to 50 people struck a vehicle on an interstate in Pennsylvania. State police say the crash happened during heavy rain around 11:50 p.m. Sunday on southbound Interstate 81 in Dauphin County’s Lower Paxton Township, outside Harrisburg. Police say the bus flipped on its side. Multiple people also were taken to hospitals and several were admitted, at least one in critical condition. A bus passenger said it was covering a normal route between New York and Ohio, adding the crash threw people from their seats and left some piled on top of others. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
August 8, 2023 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — At least two people have died, thousands of U.S. flights have been canceled and more than 1 million have lost power as destructively strong storms move through the eastern U.S. Residents were warned to stay indoors Monday and prepare for the worst. The threat of severe thunderstorms and tornados stretched from Alabama to New York. Officials say a 15-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree in South Carolina and a 28-year-old man was killed by lightning in Alabama. Homes and businesses in nearly a dozen states lost power as trees and power lines fell onto roads and homes. FlightAware says more than 2,600 U.S. flights have been canceled and nearly 7,900 delayed.
August 8, 2023 4:54 am
Cecil Township Supervisors doubled down on meetings Monday night. Prior to their regular meeting, they held a public hearing on a proposed cluster home development on the Toward property. Despite Planning Commission approval contingent on their comments, supervisors took developer NVR to task. The development is to be located in an R-1 zoning district. Supervisors, looking at the plan see it more suited as a Planned Residential Development that is not an approved use in an R-1 district. Supervisors continued the meeting. The date for further testimony will be September 5 at 5:30 pm. In other business, supervisors directed their solicitor to write a letter to the township’s solid waste collector County Hauling. Supervisors are receiving multiple complaints about the hauler regarding pick up, drivers and billing. Complaints are coming into the township and supervisors do not want to spend tax dollars addressing issues that the company should be handling. Supervisors also reminded residents that their next regular meeting will be on Tuesday September 5 because of the Labor Day holiday.
