September 4, 2024 4:49 am
National politics took a local stage Tuesday evening in Washington County. About 400 people gathered at the Doubletree Hotel on Racetrack Road to listen to Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene speak in support of Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential race. The first term politician shook hands and snapped photos with those who bought tickets for the Washington County Republican fundraiser. Greene discussed immigration, inflation and even the proposed sale of US Steel to Japanese based Nippon Steel, to which she is opposed. The congresswoman said it was important to travel to the area to get the word out about differences between the two presidential candidates.
September 4, 2024 4:45 am
For more than 70 years, Cecil Township has been served by three distinct volunteer fire departments. On Monday, a steering committee formed in February announced to Cecil Township Supervisors that a memorandum of understanding has been signed that will combine the Lawrence #1, Muse #2 and Cecil #3 Volunteer Fire Departments into a singular organization. Votes taken at each fire department were unanimous for proceeding with the merger. According to newly appointed Fire Chief Ted Wolford, the organization will now operate with “one mission, one vision, one set of by laws and standard operating guidelines” that will best serve the residents of Cecil Township. The reason for the merger is that volunteer staff is low. This will be the best way to use current paid staff and volunteer staff to cover emergencies 24 hours a day. The department is already working with a consultant from the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development to finalize the merger. No firm date is in place to complete the merger. The steering committee feels that about 25% of the work is done.
September 4, 2024 2:51 am
(WPXI) – A former doctor at UPMC Children’s Hospital has been charged with child sex crimes. Ashok Panigrahy, 53, is charged with transporting and possessing material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, the Department of Justice said. Panigrahy was radiologist-in-chief and a John F. Caffey Endowed Chair in pediatric radiology with UPMC. UPMC officials said Panigrahy was placed on administrative leave in November after the company learned about the investigation. His employment was then terminated.
September 4, 2024 2:27 am
A Washington man will face trial on charges of arson and reckless endangerment. Christopher Collins, 46 waived his charges to court at his preliminary hearing. According to the criminal complaint, on August 23, Collins set fire to his apartment at 430 W. Chestnut St. and then turned himself in to Washington police admitting to what he had done. He told police that he was mad at his landlord because people in neighboring apartments were carrying on and partying loudly keeping him awake. He continued to tell police that he did not want to hurt anyone, he just wanted to burn down the building. Collins is in the Washington County Jail on $100,000 bond. He will be arraigned on October 24.
September 3, 2024 5:44 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks tumbled to their worst day since an early August sell-off after another report raised worries about the economy’s health. The S&P 500 slumped 2.1% Tuesday after a report showed U.S. manufacturing shrank again in August, weighed down by high interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.5% from its record set before Monday’s Labor Day holiday. The Nasdaq composite fell 3.3% as Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks led the way lower. Treasury yields also sank in the bond market. The worse-than-expected manufacturing data raised worries about the slowing U.S. economy and upped the stakes for the all-important jobs report looming on Friday.
September 3, 2024 5:41 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has rejected Donald Trump’s request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, thwarting the former president’s latest bid to overturn his felony conviction and delay his sentencing. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled Tuesday that Trump had not satisfied the burden of proof required for a federal court to take control of the case from the state court where it was tried. Hellerstein’s ruling came hours after Manhattan prosecutors raised objections to Trump’s effort to delay post-trial decisions in the case while he sought to have the federal court step in.
September 3, 2024 11:42 am
(WPXI) – A Pittsburgh woman is facing charges in the death of her granddaughter found on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Pittsburgh police said emergency crews were called to the 200 block of East Ohio Street in Allegheny Center at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday for an unconscious, not breathing and obviously deceased female. According to the criminal complaint, Ayla Miller, 3, was found to be cold to the touch, had an injury to the right side of the neck and her hip, significant bruising to both sides of the face, a scratch or scar in the area of the sternum, bruising on her arm, and blood on the bed she was lying in. The injuries to her face appeared to be dark bruising near the right eye with some sort of impact point in the center of the bruise. She also had an infected wound and a mark consistent with a cigarette burn on her ankle. Ayla’s mother said the toddler had been in the custody of her grandmother, Denise Johnson, for a month and a half at the time of her death, the complaint said. According to court documents, police spoke with someone who had a nine-minute conversation with Johnson a few hours after Ayla was found dead. Johnson immediately said she was sorry and that two days prior, she had punched Ayla in the face which caused her to fall backwards and hit her head off a coffee table. She then put Ayla in the bed for the next few days until she died. Johnson further told police that she was sorry and admitted in a lengthy text that she “beat her butt for not listening,” the complaint said. Another witness told police that they saw Johnson beat Ayla with a large wood stick alongside several other implements like a belt. They said Ayla could not move anymore because of the beating and they saw blood on her head and nose. Police recovered evidence consistent with the statements from the witness regarding the beating, the complaint said. Johnson, 56, is facing charges connected to the death, including criminal homicide, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and abuse of a corpse. Johnson was arrested and is being held in the Allegheny County Jail.
September 3, 2024 5:13 am
LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — After a summer of historic tumult, the path to the presidency for both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump this fall is becoming much clearer. The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president will focus almost all of their remaining time and resources on a small collection of undecided voters in just seven states. And they will try to train their message on three familiar issues above all: the economy, immigration and abortion — even as heated debates over character, culture and democracy rage in the background. Meanwhile, a sense of anxious uncertainty has begun to creep into both campaigns as an eight-week sprint to Election Day begins. (Photo: AP)
September 3, 2024 5:13 am
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing back against a new wave of pressure to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza after hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested and went on strike. U.S. President Joe Biden says Netanyahu needs to do more after nearly 11 months of fighting. In his first public address since Sunday’s mass protests over the discovery of six more dead hostages, the prime minister said he will continue to insist on a demand that has emerged as a major sticking point in talks. He also declared that no one will preach to me.”
September 3, 2024 5:11 am
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting Mongolia with no sign that the host country will bow to calls to arrest him on an international warrant for alleged war crimes stemming from the invasion of Ukraine. The trip is Putin’s first to a member country of the International Criminal Court since it issued the warrant about 18 months ago. Ukraine has called on Mongolia to hand Putin over to the court, and the European Union has expressed concern that Mongolia might not execute the warrant. A spokesperson for Putin said that the Kremlin wasn’t worried.
