January 22, 2026 4:42 am
MONONGAHELA, Pa. — HAZMAT crews were called to the Monongahela Sewage Plant on Wednesday. The Monongahela Fire Department said crews were called to the plant at 1:30 p.m. for a chlorine tank leak. Washington County HAZMAT units followed to take care of that leak. Firefighters said there were no evacuation or shelter-in-place orders given at any point. The situation was wrapped up and the plant returned to normal operations at around 5 p.m.
January 22, 2026 4:57 am
A modified lockdown was initiated at all buildings in the Bentworth School District Wednesday. Superintendent Scott Martin says a phone call was “perceived as a threat to a staff member”. Operations inside the schools continued as normal but visitors were not permitted in and students were not allowed to go outside. Police were called to the scene to investigate. According to the Observer-Reporter, Martin says the investigation determined that the matter will not be pursued any further. The district returned to normal operations about 2:30 p.m.
January 22, 2026 5:06 am
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s prime minister is saying after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he agreed to a “framework of a future deal” on Arctic security with the head of NATO that her country can’t negotiate on its sovereignty and she has been “informed that this has not been the case.” Trump on Wednesday abruptly scrapped the tariffs he had threatened to impose on eight European nations to press for U.S. control over Greenland, a semi autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. Trump offered few details, saying they were still being worked out. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Thursday that she had spoken with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte “on an ongoing basis,” including before and after he met Trump in Davos.
January 21, 2026 5:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seems inclined to keep Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook in her job. The justices are casting doubt on President Donald Trump’s bid to wrest control of the nation’s central bank. They heard arguments Wednesday over Trump’s effort to fire Cook based on allegations she committed mortgage fraud. She denies any wrongdoing. No president has ever fired a sitting governor. Trump’s critics say his true motivation for trying to oust Cook is the Republican president’s desire to exert control over interest rate policy. The case presented the court with one of the more extraordinary efforts by Trump to expand presidential power. A decision is expected by early summer.
January 22, 2026 5:11 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Maine has become the latest target in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement wave. The Department of Homeland Security named the enforcement operation Catch of the Day, an apparent play on the state’s seafood industry. Maine has relatively few residents who are in the United States illegally but has a notable presence of refugees in its largest cities. An appeals court on Wednesday suspended a decision that prohibited federal officers from using tear gas or pepper spray against peaceful protesters in Minnesota. The government persuaded the court to freeze a judge’s ruling while it pursues an appeal.
January 22, 2026 5:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new AAPI Data/AP-NORC poll finds that anxiety about costs and affordability is particularly high among Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians. That’s true even at a moment when economic stress is widespread. The survey found that about half of Asian American and Pacific Islander adults said they wanted the government to prioritize addressing the high cost of living and inflation in 2026, compared to about one-third of U.S. adults overall in a separate AP-NORC survey. The findings indicate that this small but fast-growing subgroup is not convinced by President Donald Trump’s attempts to tamp down worries about inflation and defend his tariffs. Like Americans overall, AAPI adults have also become more focused on health care issues over the past year.
January 22, 2026 5:12 am
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — A former Uvalde schools police officer who was among the first to respond to the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school has been acquitted of criminal charges that he failed his duty to confront the gunman. Adrian Gonzales had faced 29 charges of child abandonment and endangerment and up to two years in prison. A jury acquitted him Wednesday. Prosecutors had alleged at trial that Gonzales abandoned his training and could have stopped the gunman outside Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022. Gonzales’ lawyers insisted he never saw the gunman before he entered the school. The trial was a rare prosecution of an officer for allegedly failing to act to stop a crime and protect lives.
January 22, 2026 5:49 pm
Ryan Coogler’s blues-steeped vampire epic “Sinners” led all films with 16 nominations to the 98th Academy Awards, setting a record for the most in Oscar history. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters showered “Sinners” with more nominations Thursday than ever before, breaking the 14-nomination mark set by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.” Coogler was still trying to process the record-breaking haul when reached by The Associated Press this morning. Paul Thomas Anderson’s father-daughter revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another” trailed in second with 13 nominations of its own, making it a banner day for Warner Bros.
January 21, 2026 6:10 pm
Washington County 911 has confirmed to WJPA News that a chlorine leak was reported at the Monongahela Sewage Treatment Plant around one-thirty Wednesday afternoon. A supervisor tells us that HazMat Teams from Washington, Westmoreland and Fayette counties were called out to assist with clean-up. Emergency Management officials say there were no reports of any injuries and the spill was contained to one building.
January 21, 2026 5:56 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Meteorologists warn that a stretched polar vortex could bring severe winter weather to much of the United States. This week, warm Arctic waters and cold continental land are combining to send subzero temperatures, heavy snow, and ice across the eastern two-thirds of the country. The frigid conditions are expected to persist through January and into early February. Experts say the atmospheric pattern is set, with the potential for crippling ice and snow. The National Weather Service cautions about power outages and treacherous travel conditions. The Midwest and North could see temperatures as low as 30 degrees below zero. (Photo: AP)
