March 12, 2024 4:51 am
Canonsburg Council unanimously approved a measure Monday night to provide Houston Borough with police service. This process has been in the works for several weeks. A posting on Houston’s website states that proposals from Canonsburg and Chartiers Township were under consideration to provide 24 hour a day, 7 days a week police protection. Canonsburg approved first, a memorandum of understanding with Houston and secondly approved a resolution adopting an Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement to provide police service. Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome calls the decision an historic moment. They are in the works of hiring a new police officer to aid in the additional responsibility. Houston Borough Council will meet Wednesday to vote on the cooperative agreement. Houston is currently being policed by its current police force and the Pennsylvania State Police.
March 12, 2024 4:58 am
ROSTRAVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Yukon Deputy Fire Chief, John Stants is now facing four new felony charges out of Westmoreland County, in addition to the felony charges he’s facing out of Fayette County. All of the charges are related to services he was paid for as a contractor that allegedly were never completed. Detectives say Stants entered into a contract with the Rostraver/West Newton Ambulance Company on Aug. 9, 2021, to replace two garage doors and put in one, large, single door instead. Court documents say Stants asked for an $8,500 deposit for the $9,820 project and he was paid. Court documents say as of January 2024, no work had been done and no materials had been purchased for the work at the station. Detectives say they talked to Stants, who agreed on Jan. 22, 2024, to pay back the money within 30 days. Detectives say the money was never repaid. On March 7, Stants was booked into the Westmoreland County Prison. His lawyer, Jill Devine, said her client was under the impression he had until the end of March to pay back the $8,500.
March 12, 2024 4:53 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities in Philadelphia say they have arrested two 18-year-olds in the shooting of eight Philadelphia high school students at a bus stop last week. Police said Monday they also recovered a fully loaded, fully automatic weapon that matches casings found at the scene. Authorities say two more suspects are being sought. The shooting Wednesday was the fourth in four days involving the public transit system. Officials identified the suspects as Jamaal Tucker and Ahnile Buggs of Philadelphia. They offered no motive. Mayor Cherelle Parker says she will focus on “prevention, intervention and enforcement” to address a spate of transit violence in the city.
March 12, 2024 5:03 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Biden and Donald Trump hope to clinch their parties’ presidential nominations with dominant victories in a slate of low-profile state primaries as the 2024 fight for the White House lurches into a new phase. Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican, don’t face any significant opposition in Tuesday’s primary contests across Georgia, Washington State, Mississippi and Hawaii. The question is whether they will earn the necessary delegates in each state to hit the 50% national threshold necessary to become their party’s presumptive nominees. Whether it happens Tuesday night or later, the 2024 presidential contest is on the verge of a crystallizing moment as it becomes clear that a general election rematch between Biden and Trump is happening.
March 12, 2024 5:02 am
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An aid ship loaded with some 200 tons of food set sail from Cyprus to Gaza. The shipment, which departed Tuesday, is a test for the opening of a sea corridor to supply aid to the territory, where starvation is spreading five months into the Israel-Hamas war. Associated Press live footage showed it being towed out of a harbor. The United States also plans to construct a sea bridge near Gaza to deliver aid, likely to take weeks. The war triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel has killed over 30,000 Palestinians. The U.N. says a quarter of the population is starving.
March 12, 2024 5:11 am
Eric Carmen, the singer-songwriter known for the hit song All By Myself, has died at age 74, his wife has announced. He rose to fame with the power pop group the Raspberries before establishing himself as a solo artist. Hungry Eyes, one of his huge solo hits, featured in 1987 cult movie classic Dirty Dancing. “Our sweet, loving and talented Eric passed away in his sleep, over the weekend,” Carmen’s wife Amy said in a statement on his official website. “It brought him great joy to know, that for decades, his music touched so many and will be his lasting legacy.” The Ohio-born singer co-founded the Raspberries in the early 1970s alongside Jim Bonfanti and Wally Bryson, who were later joined by Dave Smalley after the departure of John Aleksic. After four albums together, the band broke up in 1975 with Carmen then embarking on a solo career. Among the solo tracks he is most well-known for is All By Myself. As a songwriter, Carmen had hits including Almost Paradise from the Footloose soundtrack, as well as Never Gonna Fall In Love Again and Make Me Lose Control.
March 11, 2024 5:16 pm
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — President Joe Biden has issued a budget proposal for a second term aimed at getting voters’ attention with tax breaks for families, lower health care costs, smaller deficits and higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations. The proposal for fiscal 2025 is unlikely to pass the House and Senate and become law. It’s an election year blueprint sketching what the future could hold. If it became law, deficits could be pruned $3 trillion over a decade. Parents could get an increased child tax credit. Corporate taxes would jump upward. Billionaires would be charged a minimum tax of 25%. It also has a $2,000 cap on drug costs. House Speaker Mike Johnson called the proposal a glaring reminder of the administration’s “insatiable appetite for reckless spending.”
March 11, 2024 2:57 am
FINLEYVILLE, Pa. — (WPXI) – A homicide investigation is underway in Washington County. The Coroner says a neighbor found a man at home in Mingo Park Estates Trailer Park in Finleyville just after 5 p.m. Friday. The man died early Saturday morning. A cause and manner of death of pending investigation. State Police say there are many moving parts when coordinating a homicide investigation, and each entity plays an important role; however, in order to coordinate that it’s like choreography. Especially when blood spatter experts are activated. We would like to thank the team collaboration and assistance from the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, State Parole, and the Washington County Coroner for their quick resolution and apprehension in this investigation. Our priority is always the safety of not only the citizens of Washington County but the entire Commonwealth,” said Captain Jeremy Barni. A release from Pennsylvania State Police identifies the man killed as Richard Morse and says he was hit in the head with a blunt object Wednesday morning. Police arrested William Jeremiah Slider for Morse’s death. Online court records show he’s facing several charges, including criminal homicide and aggravated assault. Slider is being held without bail at the Washington County Jail.
March 11, 2024 5:04 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — An arbitrator has ordered the reinstatement of a Pittsburgh police officer fired following the death of a man a day after officers used a stun gun on him during an arrest. The ruling Friday came nearly two years after the officer and several others were fired in connection with the October 2021 death of 54-year-old Jim Rogers. His death was ruled accidental. No officers were charged. The city said it would fire five officers and discipline several others, but almost all settled for lesser penalties and returned to work; two retired. The city last year settled a federal lawsuit with Rogers’ estate for $8 million.
March 11, 2024 2:30 am
CALIFORNIA BORO, Pa. —(WPXI)-A Washington County community held a vigil for a man who has been missing for a year. Matthew McDonald, 29, was last seen in California Boro on March 9. He was dropped off on the side of the road and never seen again. His mother, Beth Roth, describes him as a giving person. “He had a heart of gold,” said Roth, “He did anything for anybody. he would give you the shirt off his back. If this was one of his friends, you’d better believe he would be here and he would have been here at every point looking. He would have never stopped.” The family rallied outside of the Washington County Courthouse in July. They demanded action from the district attorney’s office. Authorities have since said they have followed every lead, filed multiple search warrants, and searched homes and cars, including the home and car of the woman last seen with him. Many of the people at the vigil wore pink. His family said it was his favorite color. Roth is urging anyone who knows what happened to her son to come forward.
