October 30, 2025 3:36 am
South Strabane Township Supervisors are looking to make improvements to Berry Road at its intersection with Manifold Road. At their voting meeting, supervisors unanimously approved a measure to apply for a $500,000 LSA grant. The project is estimated to cost $1 million. Supervisors are considering how they would come up with the additional $500,000 matching funds, possibly with additional grants. Traffic studies have shown that between 2019-2024, there have been 50 accidents along Berry Road, one of them fatal. The improvement would be to make the intersection a “T” intersection.
October 30, 2025 12:01 am
A McKees Rocks man, formerly from Monessen pleaded no contest in a 2020 drug death in the City of Washington. Calvin Ortiz, 36 took a no contest plea to conspiracy drug delivery resulting in death and criminal use of a communications device. A possession with intent to deliver was dropped. Ortiz was sentenced to 4-10 years in state prison. According to police, Brad Remorowski was found dead in his apartment in September of 2020. Initial investigations pointed to Duane Berry, 33 of Carnegie as the supplier of fentanyl pills disguised as painkillers causing Remorowski’s death. Berry claimed to be an intermediary in the transaction and pointed to Ortiz as the supplier. In court proceedings, the judge remarked that the plea offer was generous. Prosecutors indicated that the victim’s mother is terminally ill and wished for closure before she passes away. Had Ortiz gone to trial and been convicted on all charges against him, he could have been sentenced to 10-20 years in prison. According to a court docket, Ortiz’s co-conspirator Duane Berry is scheduled for plea court on November 17.
October 29, 2025 1:47 am
The time has come for the Main Street Farmers Market in Washington to close for the season. The market, held each year at the Main Street Pavilion on South Main Street in Washington, ran from 3 to 6 p.m. every Thursday starting in May, through Oct. 31st. Tracee Malik is the president of the market and she says they had a wonderful season with many new vendors, customers and activities. She says the last market on Thursday, will feature a Halloween party with entertainment, a parade for the kids and lots of trick-or-treating at vendor tables. Malik says they don’t anticipate making any major changes for next year’s market, except perhaps, adding another food truck.
October 29, 2025 4:46 am
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (AP) — Hurricane Melissa has left a trail of destruction across Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica. The storm made landfall Tuesday in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane, with winds reaching 185 miles per hour. In Haiti, at least 25 people have died because of flooding in Petit-Goâve. In Cuba, officials report collapsed houses and blocked roads, with 735,000 people in shelters. Jamaica faces widespread power outages and communication blackouts. The U.S. is sending rescue teams to assist. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel warns of significant damage, urging people not to underestimate the storm’s power.
October 29, 2025 12:56 am
Washington County Commissioners met with first responders from all corners of Washington County to update them on the progress of the installation of the new P25 System Public Safety Radio Project. About 100 police, fire and ambulance personnel participated in the presentation from consultants Mission Critical, equipment provider Motorola and design firm Capital Area Communications. Items of interest were construction schedule and roll out of equipment. Currently the project will have site development for towers and land mobile radio installation begin in the first quarter of 2026. Equipment distribution was discussed. All emergency responders will be provided a base station, and an appropriate number of mobile and portable radios for their departments. Those devices are covered entirely by American Rescue Plan Act funding. During a question and answer session concerns were raised about location testing and mutual aid scenarios where responders have agreements across county and even state lines. Both questions were answered sufficiently. The project is expected to go live mid year in 2027.
October 29, 2025 5:12 am
SOUTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A so-called “interstate flasher” appeared in court for a hearing on Tuesday. 43-year-old Robert Edward Smith, known to police as the Interstate Flasher, is accused of exposing himself to women and children in stores across four states. Shocked shoppers have posted photos of him on social media. In August, South Strabane police say Smith pulled his pants down in front of a 13-year-old girl at a Target — the same day he committed similar crimes out of state. A channel 11 Investigation uncovered nearly identical incidents in West Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland. In West Virginia, police say Smith exposed himself to a girl at Walmart, then at TJ Maxx, Old Navy, and Dollar Tree. Photos show him in the same clothing, hat, and mask during these incidents. Smith is currently out on $10,000 bond. The judge told him he’s not allowed contact with any victims or witnesses, or allowed to enter any Target. Smith is facing two misdemeanor charges of open lewdness and indecent exposure.
October 29, 2025 2:42 am
(AP) – Federal funds could begin running dry Saturday that help tens of millions of Americans to buy food for their families and send their toddlers to preschool if Congress doesn’t reach a deal by then to end the U.S. government shutdown. Funding for another program that helps mothers care for their newborns could run out the following week. Barring a resolution to the shutdown, the U.S. will have a gaping hole in its safety net, particularly for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps about one in eight Americans buy groceries. The Trump administration said Friday that it won’t use a roughly $5 billion contingency fund to keep food aid flowing in November in the government shutdown, but a new lawsuit by Democratic state officials Tuesday seeks to uncork the emergency money — enough to pay for the benefits for more than half a month — or another larger fund.
October 30, 2025 2:51 am
Trick or Treat in the city of Washington has been moved up to five o’clock on Friday, October 31st to accommodate those who wish to go to the Wash High Football game. The Trick or Treat hours are now from five p.m. until 6:30 p.m. rather than 5:30 to 7 p.m.
October 29, 2025 4:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without the economic signposts it typically relies on from the government, including monthly reports on jobs, inflation and consumer spending, which have been suspended because of the government shutdown. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves.
October 28, 2025 4:49 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance says that he believes U.S. military members will be paid at the end of the week as the Trump administration reconfigures funding in the second-longest government shutdown. The pressure to end the shutdown is taking on new urgency. Rep. Lisa McClain, chair of the House Republican Conference, says “this week, more than any other week, the consequences become impossible to ignore.” Millions of Americans face the prospect of losing food assistance. More federal workers will miss their first full paycheck.
