April 19, 2024 4:49 am
Washington County Commissioners took a huge step in making upgrades to its Emergency Radio system on Thursday. In a 2-1 vote, commissioners terminated their August 2023 contract with MRA to perform those upgrades. According to Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman, $6 million has been spent and no advances have been made in those upgrades. He called the contract with MRA an irresponsibly bid contract and hopes not to waste any more taxpayer monies. By that same 2-1 vote, commissioners voted to award a $200,000 contract Mission Critical Partners for consulting support for the Public Safety Department on various projects. Mission Critical Partners and the County’s Public Safety Advisory Committee were also authorized to prepare a scope of work and bid specifications for the Emergency Radio System. Commissioner Larry Maggi was the dissenting vote on all of these measures. In a written statement, Maggi said he is concerned about putting the county at great financial risk. He said more dialogue should have been had with MRA before taking such a drastic step. He was also against the hiring of Mission Critical Partners for consulting work. He said that that should have been put out for competitive qualifications bid to allow for different ideas. Maggi fears the decisions will cost the county a great deal of money in litigation.
April 19, 2024 2:57 am
The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) announced Thursday that Washington County has been awarded a sizable grant to increase access to reliable, high-speed internet services. Among the successful bidders in this area was the Washington County Authority and its internet service provider partner Comcast, which received $9.4 million. The funding will bring service to 2,700 unserved homes and businesses across 400 miles. The grant was federally funded by the Broadband Infrastructure Program which awarded a total of two-hundred-million-dollars in grant money for projects across the state. Projects in Beaver, Butler and Westmoreland counties were also funded, but none in rural Greene or Fayette counties, where internet access is often spotty at best.
April 18, 2024 2:29 am
An inmate at SCI Fayette has died. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said Aurelio Rivera-Lopez, 50, was found unresponsive in his cell during regular rounds. Life-saving measures were started by security staff until medical staff arrived. Rivera-Lopez had been at SCI Fayette since October 2023. He was convicted of robbery in Lancaster County and sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison. Pennsylvania State Police are investigating, per state policy. The official cause of death will be determined by the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.
April 19, 2024 5:04 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has fired air defenses at a major air base and a nuclear site near its central city of Isfahan after spotting drones. The commotion early Friday raised fears of a possible Israeli retaliatory strike following Tehran’s unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country. It was unclear if the country had come under attack, as no Iranian official directly acknowledged the possibility and Israel’s military did not respond to a request for comment. However, tensions have remained high in the days since the Saturday assault on Israel amid its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its own strikes targeting Iran in Syria. U.S. officials declined to comment as of early Friday, but American broadcast networks quoting unnamed U.S. officials said Israel carried out the attack.
April 19, 2024 5:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Complaints about pregnant women being turned away from emergency rooms spiked in the months after states began enacting strict abortion laws following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The cases are detailed in federal documents obtained by The Associated Press and raise serious questions about the state of emergency pregnancy care in the U.S. Federal law requires emergency rooms to stabilize patients who are in active labor and provide a medical transfer to another hospital if they don’t have the staff or resources to treat them. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next week in an Idaho case that could weaken those federal protections.
April 19, 2024 5:07 am
SYDNEY (AP) — Shoppers and workers have returned to a “really quiet” Sydney mall, where six days earlier an assailant stabbed six people to death in an attack that police believe targeted women. Westfield Bondi Junction mall had opened Thursday for a “community reflection day” while the shops inside the mall reopened Friday. There was a large police and security presence, with guards wearing black stab-proof vests posted on each level of the mall. Visitors numbered in the hundreds, but were fewer than the usual expected on a Friday during school holidays. One visitor said the atmosphere was somber and another said it was really quiet. Authorities said counseling services were available for retail workers and visitors.
April 19, 2024 5:09 am
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Five Japanese autoworkers have narrowly escaped an attack by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi. The local police chief said the van carrying the Japanese nationals was heading to an industrial area where they worked at Pakistan Suzuki Motors when it was targeted Friday. He said guards escorting the Japanese workers returned fire after coming under attack and all the Japanese who were the target of the attack were safe. Another official said police were escorting the van after receiving reports of possible attacks targeting foreigners and that the timely response from guards and police foiled the attack.
April 18, 2024 1:38 pm
A Monongahela man faces trial in connection with a fire at The Main Street Tavern in March. Following his preliminary hearing, 29-year-old Hunter McMahon was held for court on multiple charges, including arson, aggravated assault of an officer and public drunkenness. Authorities say he was seen setting fire to a dumpster behind the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant and then behind the bar. Police say there is a video of McMahon at the tavern. Police also say they found two lighters on him. McMahon remains in the Washington County Jail in lieu of two-hundred and fifty-thousand-dollars bond.
April 18, 2024 5:02 am
An Avella man was killed in a one-vehicle crash Wednesday evening in Independence Township. The Washington County Coroner’s office say 29 year old Cody Hukill was pronounced dead at the scene in the 2-thousand block of Avella Road (Route 50). The crash occurred just after 7 p.m. Investigators say he lost control while traveling east and struck a tree. He was not wearing a seatbelt. A cause and manner of death are pending. State Police are investigating.
April 17, 2024 2:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — President Joe Biden has told an audience of cheering unionized steelworkers that his administration will block the acquisition of U.S. Steel by a Japanese company, potentially. And he’s calling for a tripling of tariffs on Chinese steel. The Democratic president is seeking to use trade policy to win over working-class votes in Pennsylvania, an election-year battleground. He said Wednesday that U.S. Steel “has been an iconic American company for more than a century and it should remain totally American.” His administration is reviewing the proposed acquisition by Japan’s Nippon Steel. On the tariff front, Chinese imports account for only a small percentage of the steel products coming into the United States so the higher fees are largely symbolic. Washington Mayor Jo Jo Burgess was among those to attend the rally and was acknowledged by the President during the event. Burgess was also a guest of the President at his State of the Union Address (Photo: AP)
