February 18, 2024 7:07 am
(WPXI) – A person was hurt in an early morning fire Saturday in Fayette County. Authorities say the fire broke out at a home on Vance Street in Uniontown after 3 a.m. “The fire was on the first floor, and it was spreading pretty quick to the second floor, spread up through the stairwell and concealed spaces – so it made it challenging to fight,” said Chief Scott Conn of the Uniontown Fire Department. But that wasn’t the only obstacle. Firefighters encountered icy conditions surrounding the house, which sits on a slope. “The snow – it was already starting to subside, but it had already laid down a couple inches. Of course, with that slope, it makes it challenging,” Conn said. Chief Conn said one person escaped through a window. Another ran through the flames and out the front door. He was checked out at the scene after getting burned but did not go to the hospital. Firefighters were able to stop the flames from spreading to neighboring houses. The cause is still being investigated, but Conn does not believe it to be suspicious.
February 17, 2024 10:32 am
UNIONTOWN, Pa. – A person was injured in an early morning fire in Fayette County. Dispatchers tell our news partners at WPXI the fire broke out at a home on Vance Street in Uniontown after 3 a.m. Dispatchers say one person suffered minor burn injuries. There is no word on the cause of the fire.
February 17, 2024 5:11 am
ATLANTA (AP) — A witness has refused to answer most questions from defense attorneys trying to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump. The attorneys had expected Terrence Bradley to testify that Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade began dating before Wade was hired for the Trump case. But Bradley repeatedly refused to answer questions about Wade and Willis on Friday, citing attorney-client privilege. The attorneys for Trump and some other defendants in the election case argue that the relationship started before Willis hired Wade and that she benefited from his earnings for the work, creating a conflict of interest.
February 17, 2024 5:10 am
Alexei Navalny’s spokesperson has confirmed that the Russian opposition leader died at a remote Arctic penal colony and says he was “murdered.” Kira Yarmysh said on Saturday that an official note handed to Navalny’s mother stated that he died at 2:17 p.m. Friday but that it’s unclear where his body is. Another ally says prison officials told his mother when she arrived at the penal colony Saturday that her son had perished due to “sudden death syndrome.” But Navalny’s team says the late politician’s body was not being returned to his family until official tests were done. Meanwhile, Russian authorities arrested people who came to lay flowers at memorials to victims of Soviet-era purges.
February 17, 2024 5:09 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge has ordered Donald Trump and his companies to pay $355 million in penalties. The judge found they engaged in a yearslong scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated his wealth. Trump won’t have to pay out the money immediately as an appeals process plays out, but the verdict still is a stunning setback for the former president. He also was barred from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation for three years or from getting a loan from banks registered in the state. Trump calls the verdict a “Complete and Total sham.” Trump Organization Executive Vice Presidents Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump each were ordered to pay $4 million.
February 17, 2024 5:07 am
NORTH FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A truck carrying thousands of gallons of floor wax crashed on Interstate 70 last week, creating a mess in a creek. Some residents in North Franklin Township say they have concerns. Bill Campo took photos of the creek outside his home just after a tractor-trailer overturned on I-70, spilling almost its entire load. The truck was carrying 5,000 gallons of white floor wax which spilled onto the road and into the creek. Township officials say hazmat crews have already pumped out half a million gallons of wastewater from the creek and will continue to pump it out until the DEP gives them the all-clear. The DEP told our news partners at Channel 11 the substance is nonhazardous and nonflammable. Campo says he’s concerned for the long-term effects the spill will have on wildlife in the area, but happy to see that eight days later the creek outside his home is running clear.
February 17, 2024 5:01 am
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — (WPXI) – An interim report from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) says there’s no evidence of contamination in western Pennsylvania related to the East Palestine train derailment. A Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous material derailed in East Palestine, Ohio on Feb. 3, 2023. A few days later, a massive explosion during a controlled release of the chemicals inside the train sent heavy black smoke pluming into the air over the small town. The DEP said it and its independent contractor conducted a year of sampling and found no evidence of water or soil contamination related to the derailment in Pennsylvania’s private water wells, surface water and soil. DEP’s contractor also conducted, and continues to conduct, sampling at three sentinel monitoring wells installed in Pennsylvania by Norfolk Southern near the train derailment location. The DEP said groundwater in this area has not been impacted by contamination from the derailment. Samples have been taken at 85 individual private potable water sources, 97 surface soil locations and 18 surface water locations within the commonwealth, totaling hundreds of samples, the DEP said.
February 17, 2024 4:56 am
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A homicide suspect who was taken into custody at Pittsburgh International Airport Wednesday morning is charged with fatally stabbing his mother during an argument. Allegheny County police said they were dispatched to the parking garage at Pittsburgh International Airport just before 8 a.m. Wednesday for reports of a man who jumped from the second floor. Officers weren’t able to location the person until a short time later when they received a call for medical assistance from a stairwell in the parking garage. The man was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, police said. He was identified as Joshua Leyo, 30, from Altoona. Leyo is charged with first degree murder, aggravated assault, and other charges, for the stabbing death of his mother, Maureen Mazenko. He admitted to getting into an argument with her and stabbing her in the neck, according to the Altoona Police Department. Leyo used his mother’s bank account and took an Uber from Altoona to Pittsburgh, where he was later apprehended at the airport.
February 17, 2024 4:51 am
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — President Joe Biden is praising what he says were “Herculean efforts” to rebuild at the site of last February’s train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Biden visited Friday, more than a year after a train loaded with hazardous chemicals derailed causing a deadly explosive fire. He blames what happened on the railroad company’s greed. Residents still upset that Biden didn’t visit sooner shouted profanity as the president’s motorcade drove by. Biden has faced criticism that he has ignored the victims of the derailment. Many of them still worry about their health. The White House says Biden wanted to visit when the time was right. He was invited by the mayor.
February 16, 2024 3:50 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) — President Joe Biden is visiting East Palestine, Ohio, over a year after a deadly explosive fire there caused by a 2023 train derailment. The president’s visit Friday to the village of 5,000 is at the invitation of its mayor. The White House says Biden waited for the right moment to visit East Palestine but he has faced criticism that he has ignored the victims. The Environmental Protection Agency is on the verge of finishing an extensive cleanup paid for by the train company, Norfolk Southern. Republicans have blasted Biden for not visiting sooner and there are some enduring tensions in the community.
