December 20, 2024 1:55 am
Washington County Commissioners formally adopted their County Buisiness Continuity and Disaster Recovery Policy and Plan. The measure comes about to insure that county information and data are protected and that the proper preventive measures are in place so that if there is another cyber attack similar to the one in January 2024, the county will be able to recoup costs associated with recovery. According to Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman the plan dictates recovery responsibilities should another cyber attack occur. It also allows the county IT department to easily communicate with vendors to make sure up to date protections are in place. Sherman says that insurance companies are the drivers behind changes made by any enterprise’s IT department. The move was made to make sure county residents do not have to foot the cost of any recovery charges should another cyber attack occur. That cyber attack in January cost the county $400,000 in ransome monies. According to Sherman, a third party vendor was found to be deficient in their protections. He said that efforts to recoup the ransome money and associated costs are still in action.
December 20, 2024 3:58 am
(WPXI)-A plan to sell Big Lots to another management firm will not be completed as intended. Now the company will start going out of business sales at all remaining locations as it tries to find another buyer. Big Lots was still trying to find a company to buy the brand, hoping that a deal could be reached by the end of January, but it still plans on starting going-out-of-business sales in the coming days “in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate,” Bruce Thorn, the company’s president and CEO said in a news release. More than 400 locations already closed this year, Nexstar and The Hill reported. There were still 963 locations open. The company had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, according to Bloomberg. If the company finds a buyer, Thorn told employees via email that the sales could be reversed. A “reduction in workforce” will begin next month, The Hill reported. The company currently has more than 27,000 employees, Bloomberg reported.
December 20, 2024 3:56 am
PITTSBURGH —(WPXI)- Pay up or leave. Those are the two options given in a recent lawsuit. Brookfield Properties, the current owners of Station Square, owe more than $140 million in outstanding loans that are past due and if they aren’t paid now, they will risk foreclosure. So what does that mean for the future of Station Square? We worked to get answers. “It used to be lively, years ago it even had a bakery – everything- anything you wanted you could find in there,” Rosecina Weadon said. Station Square was once a tourist destination with parking and easy public transit. When the History and Landmarks Foundation opened Station Square in 1976, it was an innovative mix of retail, office, dining and historic landmarks. “We generated about $4 million in revenue for the City of Pittsburgh in terms of real estate taxes. Station Square had about 3,000 employees and about 150 businesses,” Karamagi Rujumba, director of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, said. But now, the shopping hub is facing foreclosure. In November, a lawsuit was filed by lender Wilmington Trust demanding Brookfield Properties, the current owners of Station Square, pay off the remainder of its $403 million loan. The loan which was issued in 2018 helped Brookfield Properties acquire Station Square, but six years later, millions are still owed and, according to the lawsuit, the full sum was due in December 2023. This lawsuit comes following a steady flow of businesses that have left Station Square in recent months. Bucca di Beppo closed in June, Joe’s Crab Shack closed in September and Hard Rock Café is set to close in February 2025. We reached out to council member Theresa Kail-Smith, who represents the area. She has been in touch with Brookfield Properties about the future of Station Square. We asked Brookfield Properties about its plans to resolve the lawsuit. We did not hear back.
December 19, 2024 5:18 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has announced “success” in coming up with a new bill to fund the government and lift the debt ceiling a day before a government shutdown. Trump posted on social media that he was urging Congress to swiftly pass it, in votes as soon as Thursday evening. Republicans say they have narrowed in on a tentative accord. It would keep government running for three more months, add in disaster assistance and allow more borrowing through Jan. 30, 2027, several Republicans said. House Speaker Mike Johnson had been fighting to figure out how to meet Trump’s sudden demands — and keep his own job. It’s unclear if Democrats whose votes will be needed for passage are on board. (Photo: AP)
December 19, 2024 4:20 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO is back in New York facing new federal charges of murder and stalking, escalating the case after his earlier indictment on state charges. Luigi Mangione agreed to return to New York after a Thursday morning court appearance in Pennsylvania where he was arrested last week. He appeared in a Manhattan federal court in the afternoon where a magistrate ordered he be detained. The federal complaint unsealed Thursday charges him with two counts of stalking and one count each of murder through use of a firearm and a firearms offense. Murder by firearm could bring the possibility of the death penalty. (Photo: AP)
December 19, 2024 6:37 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — (WPXI) – Scams tend to ramp up around the holiday season and this year it appears as though the Pennsylvania Coroner’s Association is the latest target. Washington County Coroner, Tim Warco had someone trying to pose as him asking to send him gift cards. “Today I was called by two of the associate coroners of the commonwealth. One in Adams County and one in Beaver County that I was scammed and I had no idea what they were talking about,” Warco said. It was quite the surprise for Warco on Wednesday – when he learned someone had used his name and likeness in a phishing attempt. “Initially they sent an email address out saying hey can you help me reply back and then the few that did reply back got a message asking for help purchasing gift cards and providing gift card numbers,” Matthew Yancosek said. Yancosek with the coroner’s office says it’s not the first time the Pennsylvania Coroner’s Association has been through this. A total of 44 emails were sent through the state association server. Warco says he’s never asked anyone from the association to buy him gift cards so the message was a red flag, even though the email appeared to come from Tim Warco. The Beaver County Coroner put out a post onto social media Wednesday cautioning people to be on alert. Those with the coroner’s association want to know if anyone else received these fake emails. If you are one of those people you can reach out to the PA coroner’s association or the Washington county coroner’s office.
December 18, 2024 5:02 am
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — The suspect charged with shooting to death a health insurance company chief executive on a Manhattan street is being taken to hearings on related Pennsylvania criminal charges and efforts to extradite him to New York. Luigi Mangione faces a preliminary hearing on forgery and firearms charges and consideration of a fugitive from justice complaint on Thursday. Court officials say Mangione will attend the early morning proceedings at the courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. He’s accused of the Dec. 4 killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson.
December 19, 2024 9:18 am
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell markedly last week following a big increase the week before. Jobless claim applications declined by 22,000 to 220,000 for the week of Dec. 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 229,000 analysts were forecasting. Continuing claims, the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits, fell by 5,000 to 1.87 million for the week of Dec. 7. That was also fewer than analysts had projected. The four-week average of weekly claims, which quiets some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 1,250 to 225,500. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs.
December 18, 2024 5:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has delivered a likely death blow to bipartisan congressional budget negotiations. He’s rejecting the measure as full of giveaways to Democrats. Billionaire ally Elon Musk whipped up outrage toward the bill and cheered on Republican lawmakers who announced their opposition. Trump’s joint statement Wednesday with Vice President-elect JD Vance, which stopped the bill in its tracks, punctuated a daylong torrent of social media posts by Musk attacking the budget legislation as full of excessive spending. “Kill the Bill!” Musk wrote on his social media platform X as he dangled primary challenges against anyone who voted for the budget deal, a threat Trump later echoed in a post of his own.
December 19, 2024 2:13 am
The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission stopped by in Charleroi on Wednesday to conduct one of their “No Hate In Our State” town hall meetings. Members of the PHRC, local government and two activist organizations participated in a round table discussion on how to foster community and eliminate hate among varied community groups. Chad Dion Lassiter, Executive Director of the PHRC feels that community comes from within. Everyone knows inside of them the type of community in which they wish to live. They just need to live those values. Charleroi Borough Manager Joe Manning stated that one can not simply enact policies to diminish hate. He said that people need to elect officials that will lead the community in the type of society that they wish to live. Emily Holmes is the State Program Officer for Common Ground USA. She says that community gatherings attended by all groups are necessary to foster understanding, “it is hard to hate someone that you are having dinner with.” An audience participation segment spurred divergent opinions. John Lunt a Charleroi business owner feels that immigrants, Haitians in particular, are handed everything to them, especially drivers licenses. Jimmy Alexandre operates the Haitian Resource Center and he said his organization is looking to develop real relationships with residents of Charleroi. Borough Councilman Larry Celaschi indicated that information about the meeting was not well disseminated. He also pointed out that he would prefer that a panel be more diverse including members of the business community, residents and members of the minority communities. Prior to the meeting, information was released that up to 100 protestors would be at the meeting. Those protestors never showed.
