March 7, 2023 4:01 am
A Washington County man learned his sentence after being convicted of drug delivery resulting in death on Monday. Sherman Springer, 50 whose last known address was in Washington was sentenced to 9-18 years in state prison. Springer, known as “Detroit Shawn”, was convicted in a jury trial on December 8 for supplying the fatal dose of cocaine laced with fentanyl to Lonnie Barnes of Washington in April of 2020. During his allocution statement Springer offered his condolences to the Barnes family and denied being the one to cause Barnes’ death stating that he “was not the author of Mr. Barnes’ death.” He continued to deny responsibility for the death quoting scripture. Springer questioned the fairness of the trial stating that his jury was all white and he is black. In addition to his prison sentence, Springer will need to make restitution of nearly $2300 to cover the funeral expenses of Lonnie Barnes.
March 6, 2023 5:25 pm
(WPXI) – Authorities are investigating an overnight fire in North Fayette that left a man and his two dogs dead. They say the fire broke out in a mobile home, which was left badly damaged and charred. According to the assistant fire chief, the man was home alone with his two dogs when the fire broke out around around 2:30 along Valleyview Drive in Allegheny County. Firefighters quickly went inside the home to try to rescue the man, but they were unsuccessful. Firefighters say flames were shooting out the back door when they arrived and the smoke was intense. They say fires like this are especially challenging because mobile home fires spread quickly. Homes on either side of where the fire started sustained minor damage.
March 6, 2023 5:21 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has decided to set aside the usual big White House budget unveiling to showcase his new fiscal year plans this week in Pennsylvania. Not coincidentally, that’s a must-win state in the 2024 election. His trip to Philadelphia on Thursday is a sign that the president’s budget proposal will be a form of political messaging, not just an outline of the government’s finances. Biden hinted in a Monday speech that tax increases on the wealthy will be at the core of his budget plan, saying he will be proposing a tax that targets billionaires.
March 6, 2023 5:19 pm
CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) — The FBI and Mexican officials say four U.S. citizens were kidnapped by gunmen after crossing into Mexico. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Monday the four were going to buy medicine and were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups. They had entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday. They were travelling in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. The FBI says the vehicle came under fire shortly after it entered Mexico. U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said they were kidnapped at gunpoint and an “innocent” Mexican citizen was killed. Matamoros is home to warring factions of the Gulf drug cartel.
March 6, 2023 9:18 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Josh Shapiro says Norfolk Southern has pledged several million dollars to cover the cost of the response and recovery in Pennsylvania after last month’s derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals just across the border in Ohio. Shapiro’s office said Monday that Norfolk Southern will pay $5 million to reimburse fire departments for equipment that was contaminated or damaged in the response and $1 million to Beaver and Lawrence counties to help business owners and residents whose livelihoods were damaged. The cleanup from the Feb. 3 derailment continues in East Paletine, Ohio, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Norfolk Southern to cover the costs of cleaning up.
March 6, 2023 4:37 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News for its coverage of false claims surrounding the 2020 presidential election isn’t the only thing putting pressure on the standard for U.S. libel law. Two politicians popular with Fox’s audience, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have advocated for the Supreme Court to revisit the libel standard that has protected media organizations for more than half a century. Current libel law requires plaintiffs to prove that a news organization acted with reckless disregard for the truth. Fox is using that standard to defend its actions that promoted false claims of voter fraud.
March 6, 2023 4:36 am
LACONIA, N.H. (AP) — Democrats across New Hampshire are upset with President Joe Biden for undermining their state’s status as home to the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. But their concerns about Biden run much deeper, in line with a majority of Democratic voters nationwide, who oppose the 80-year-old president’s plans to launch his reelection campaign. Many worry about his age. Others are upset about the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan. And the party’s more progressive wing has never been enthusiastic about Biden. The resistance from the Democratic Party’s rank and file stands in sharp contrast with the party establishment of governors, senators and congressional representatives who are virtually unanimous in supporting Biden’s reelection.
March 6, 2023 4:35 am
AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — The University of Massachusetts is warning about a TikTok trend after 28 ambulances were summoned to off-campus parties. Officials said students were observed Saturday carrying jugs with a mixture of alcohol, electrolytes and water, dubbed “blackout rage gallons,” or “BORGs,” in a binge-drinking trend gaining traction on TikTok. Officials said there were so many calls for ambulances for student alcohol intoxication that neighboring agencies stepped in to help. The Amherst Fire Department said none of the cases were life-threatening.
March 6, 2023 4:34 am
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — Authorities in Ohio say there is no indication of any risk to public health from the derailment of a Norfolk Southern cargo train between Dayton and Columbus, the second derailment of a company train in the state in a month. Norfolk Southern said 28 of the 212 cars on the southbound train, including two empty tanker cars, derailed shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday in Springfield Township near a business park and the county fairgrounds. Residents living within 1,000 feet were asked to shelter in place as a precaution, but officials early Sunday said there was “no indication of any injuries or risk to public health at this time.”
March 6, 2023 4:31 am
Washington County Democratic Committee member has announced that she will seek the Democratic nomination for Washington County Prothonotary in the May Primary Election. Sandy Sabot, a retired 19-year county employee from the Child Care Information Services says “dignity, respect, integrity, values and excellence is what I will bring back to the Washington County Prothonotary’s office”. Sabot has also served on the PA State Democratic Committee from 2018 to 2022. A graduate of Point Park University, Sabot also served as a legal proofreader for Eckert, Seamans, Cherin, and Mellott in Pittsburgh. She moved to Washington in October of 1985 and has been a freelance reporter for the Observer-Reporter and did news reporting here at WJPA as well. Sabot has also worked part-time for the Washington Symphony handling publicity and for the past six-years has been in public relations for the Washington School District. She is the wife of North Franklin Township Supervisors Chairman Bob Sabot.
