January 26, 2023 3:57 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania has enacted a statewide drinking water limit on two forms of highly toxic chemicals, nicknamed “forever chemicals.” The rule was published earlier this month and applies to all 3,117 water systems. Both chemicals belong to the group of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known collectively as PFAS, which are used in products such as nonstick cookware, carpets, firefighting foam and fast-food wrappers. There is no national limit. Former Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration initiated a plan to cleanup affected sites, test water systems and create a standard after testing in suburban Philadelphia communities near military installations showed tap water contaminated with the compounds.
January 25, 2023 3:28 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – “Sesame Street” co-creator Lloyd Morrisett has died at the age of 93, according to Sesame Workshop. No cause of death was given. Morisett’s background was in teaching, with a Ph.D in experimental psychology. Morrisett met Joan Ganz Cooney at a dinner party in 1966, where they started talking about the idea of using television to teach young children. Their first episode ran in the fall of 1969, sponsored by the letters W, S and E and the numbers 2 and 3. The show is now broadcast in more than 150 million countries and has won 193 Emmys, 10 Grammys and a Kennedy Center Honor. Sesame Workshop says Morrisett was a “wise, thoughtful, and above all kind leader.”
January 25, 2023 2:55 pm
(WPXI) – Greensburg police Chief Shawn Denning is facing federal drug charges. According to the federal indictment, Denning, 41, is facing six drug counts involving meth and cocaine, including aiding and abetting the distribution of the drugs, aiding and abetting the attempted distribution of the drugs, and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute. The complaint alleges that Denning “facilitated the acquisition” of cocaine and methamphetamine by a confidential source multiple times from June 2021 to October 2022. The drugs were from California and Arizona, and were then delivered to the source through the U.S. mail. Denning is a 14-year veteran of the police force and was promoted to chief in March 2022. Greensburg Mayor Robert Bell issued the following statement: “We believe it is important that the community know that Mr. Denning is no longer with the City of Greensburg. Captain Sarsfield will be acting chief under further notice. We are conducting a thorough review and assisting the appropriate agencies as we can. There will be no further comment at this time.” Denning was escorted out of Greensburg City Hall Tuesday morning by DEA agents. He was taken into custody, but was later released on $250,000 bond.
January 25, 2023 4:20 am
BERLIN (AP) – Germany and the United States have announced that they will send battle tanks to Ukraine. It’s the first stage of a coordinated effort by the West to provide dozens of the heavy weapons to help Kyiv break combat stalemates as Russia’s invasion enters its 12th month. U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. will send 31 M1 Abrams tanks. The decision reverses months of persistent arguments by Washington that they were too difficult for Ukrainian troops to operate and maintain. Germany agreed to send 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from its own stocks. Germany had said the Leopards would not be sent unless the U.S. put its Abrams on the table.
January 25, 2023 4:17 am
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) – Officials say an agricultural worker killed seven people in back-to-back shootings at two mushroom farms that employed him in Northern California, and the massacre is believed to be a “workplace violence incident.” The state is mourning its third mass killing in eight days. Officers arrested a suspect in the latest shootings on Monday, 66-year-old Chunli Zhao, after they found him in his car in the parking lot of a sheriff’s substation. The Sheriff’s Office says seven people were found dead, and an eighth was wounded, at the farms on the outskirts of the coastal community of Half Moon Bay.
January 25, 2023 4:14 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis has criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying God loves all his children just as they are. He called on those Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. Speaking in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Francis acknowledged Catholic bishops in some parts of the world, including Africa and the Middle East, support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community. He attributed their attitudes to cultural influences and said they need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.
January 25, 2023 4:08 am
Timing is everything. A winter storm that rolled through Washington County Wednesday morning brought a quick coating of snow before temperatures began to rise and turn the precipitation to just rain. The snow hit just in time for the morning commute and led to reports of numerous accidents. Washington County 9-1-1 tells WJPA News there were several crashes on Interstate 70, but only minor injuries were reported and no major issues resulted. There was also a single vehicle crash along Route-40 at Anderson Drive near the border of South Strabane and Amwell Townships. Dispatchers tell us a vehicle struck a utility pole but the injuries that resulted were not considered serious. Road crews were busy throughout the morning. Several schools changed their schedules. Trinity reported a two-hour delay Tuesday night, but then changed to a ‘Flexible Instruction Day’ once roadways became snow covered. Canon McMillan also went with a “FID” day.
January 25, 2023 4:04 am
Supervisors in North Strabane Township authorized a qualitative study to be performed on the police department in 2022. They received results of that study at their legislative meeting Tuesday night. The group that performed the seven month study consisted of Dr. James Lauria, current chief of police in Oakdale Borough and adjunct professor at Robert Morris and Duquesne Universities, Dr. Christopher Wydra and Dr. Michael Hummel both professors at PennWest California University. Township Manager Andrew Walz indicated the study was done on the police department as studies have been done in other departments in the past and even currently. The presentation was edited for time constraints and only reviewed department survey data and conclusions about the leadership of the police department. Tables showed poor results in the roles of chief of police and two of the four current sergeants and one lieutenant. Suggestions made by the study were to fire the police chief and reassign the two sergeants and the lieutenant deemed failures by the study. Conversely, the study showed that two of the sergeants on staff are regarded very highly and that the quality of the patrol officers and departmental training are regarded as strengths. Neither Walz or any supervisors commented since it was the first time that they had seen the study and they need time to study the results.
January 25, 2023 2:57 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Documents with classified markings were discovered in former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana Home last week, according to his attorney. The documents had been “inadvertently boxed” and transported to Pence’s home at the end of the last administration,” Pence’s lawyer, Greg Jacob, told the National Archives in a letter last week. He said that “Pence was unaware of the existence of sensitive or classified documents at his personal residence” and that he “understands the high importance of protecting sensitive and classified information and stands ready and willing to cooperate fully with the National Archives and any appropriate inquiry. “
January 25, 2023 2:15 am
(WPXI) – A tractor-trailer overturned Tuesday morning, hitting two houses before coming to rest on a Fayette County road. The crash occurred around 9:18 a.m. in the 1200 block of Springfield Pike, Connellsville Township. The driver and a dog in the cab were not injured. No other injuries were reported, according to state police. The front porch of one of the homes was destroyed and the other home had minor damage. The load the truck was carrying ended up in a front yard. State police estimate Springfield Pike was closed for about three hours while crews worked to clear the area.
