April 30, 2024 5:00 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Stranded on the tracks, a Pittsburgh-bound train was stopped for hours late Sunday night. One of the many passengers on the trail told WPXI that he didn’t arrive at Union Station until after 12:30 a.m. John Ayers told Channel 11 News that he boarded his train at noon in Philadelphia and said he, along with others, were stuck inside the train while it sat for more than six hours unable to move. Ayers, along with nearly 200 other Amtrak passengers traveling from New York or Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, were stranded near Greensburg, miles away from their destination. “What [the conductor] was saying was that something happened up ahead on the tracks. He told us the tracks had overheated, and we were going to be really delayed, but he wasn’t sure how long it would be before we got to Pittsburgh,” Ayers explained. It would be more than six hours before help would arrive in the form of busses. But as Ayers and others waited on those busses, he said things on the train seemed to be out of sorts; first, the power went out, and then the motor blew. Channel 11 News reached out to both Norfolk Southern and Amtrak and they confirmed it was not the tracks, but a mechanical issue with the train. Ayers was scheduled to get in around 8 p.m. but didn’t arrive home until nearly 3 a.m. “I haven’t heard from them haven’t called texted nothing no apology,” he said. Ayers told us he isn’t surprised he hasn’t received any compensation because, during that entire ordeal, they only handed out a 4 oz bottle of water and a bag of cookies.
April 30, 2024 4:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Late this year, Aurora Innovation Inc. plans to start hauling freight on Interstate 45 between the Dallas and Houston areas with 20 driverless trucks. Within three or four years, Aurora and its competitors expect to put thousands such self-driving trucks on America’s public freeways. The goal is for the trucks, which can run nearly around the clock without any breaks, to speed the flow of goods, accelerating delivery times and perhaps lowering costs. But the vehicles have drawn skepticism from safety advocates, who warn that with almost no federal regulation, it will be mainly up to the companies themselves to determine when the semis are safe enough to operate without humans on board.
April 30, 2024 5:16 am
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — One of the winners of a $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot this month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week. Cheng “Charlie” Saephan told a news conference held by the Oregon Lottery on Monday that he and his wife would take half the money, and the other half would go to a friend who chipped in $100 to buy a batch of tickets with them. Saephan said he’d buy a house and find a good doctor for himself. Saephan said he was born in Laos and moved to Thailand in 1987, before immigrating to the U.S. in 1994.
April 29, 2024 2:02 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. (WPXI) — Two men who are facing charges in relation to a deadly double shooting that happened in Washington County are now in custody. Pennsylvania State Police filed homicide charges against Karon Whitlock, 20, and Windale Barfield Jr., 19, on Monday. State troopers said the two turned themselves in on Sunday. Annalaya Wilkerson, 18, was killed and another 17-year-old girl was hurt in a shooting on a rural road in South Franklin Township around 11 p.m. on April 13th. Both men are being held without bond in the Washington County jail and are to face preliminary hearings May 10th.
April 29, 2024 4:56 am
MONESSEN, Pa. — (WPXI) – Two vacant buildings in Westmoreland County were damaged in an early morning fire. The fire started along Rostraver Street in Monessen just after 3:30 a.m. The Monessen Fire Department No. 1 said the structures were fully involved. One of the buildings collapsed, and another was damaged. Westmoreland County 911 officials say no one was hurt because of the fire. Fire crews remained in the area for around 6 hours. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
April 29, 2024 5:02 am
PITTSBURGH — Protests at the University of Pittsburgh have expanded with protesters now marching in Oakland and police monitoring the situation. They set up a tent encampment and were calling for the University of Pittsburgh to sever ties with Israel. At 5:00 p.m. Sunday night, the protest expanded and created a traffic disruption between Bigelow Blvd. and Forbes Avenue. Pittsburgh Police were called in to help monitor the situation. An official said Pitt Police arrested two protesters. The University of Pittsburgh said they would be closing the William Pitt Union out of an abundance of caution. The protest is part of a wider national movement happening around the country at college campuses. In a press release issued earlier this week, students backing the movement said they wanted Pitt to fully disclose any investments it has made into Israel. They also wanted the university to release a statement in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Since the encampment began, protesting has remained peaceful.
April 29, 2024 4:57 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — U.S. police departments have reported a year-over-year increase in sworn officers for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic and the police killing of George Floyd. A survey released by the Police Executive Research Forum shows more officers were hired in 2023 than in any of the previous four years. It also notes there were fewer retirements and resignations of officers among the 214 law enforcement agencies that responded. Forum Executive Director Chuck Wexler says departments appear to be turning the corner on hiring but aren’t out of the woods yet. Departments saw an exodus of officers after the pandemic and Floyd’s 2020 death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
April 29, 2024 4:59 pm
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that West Virginia and North Carolina’s refusal to cover certain health care for transgender people with government-sponsored insurance is discriminatory. The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-6 in the case involving coverage of gender-affirming care by North Carolina’s state employee health plan and the coverage of gender-affirming surgery by West Virginia Medicaid. Both states appealed separate lower court rulings that found the denial of gender-affirming care to be discriminatory and unconstitutional. Two panels of three Fourth Circuit judges heard arguments in both cases earlier this year before deciding to intertwine the two cases and see them presented before the full court of 15.
April 29, 2024 5:07 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Protesters of the war in Gaza who are encamped at Columbia University have defied a deadline to disband with chants, clapping and drumming. The Ivy League university in Manhattan earlier Monday issued an ultimatum for students to sign a form and leave an encampment by 2 p.m. or face suspension. The move comes as colleges around the country implore student protesters to clear out camps with rising levels of urgency as classes wrap up for the semester and graduation ceremonies approach. Students and others nationwide have been sparring over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll. Many students are demanding their universities cut financial ties with Israel. (Photo: AP)
April 29, 2024 4:58 pm
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Police in North Carolina say several officers on a task force trying to serve a warrant in Charlotte, North Carolina, have been struck by gunfire. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says officers from the U.S. Marshals Task Force were shot Monday afternoon in a suburban neighborhood. Police said multiple victims were taken to hospitals and a SWAT team was on the scene. Gunfire continued after the officers were struck and a SWAT team was in the neighborhood afterward with police saying the situation remained unsafe hours later. Police urged people to stay away from the area and asked residents of the neighborhood to stay inside their homes.
