January 24, 2023 4:14 am
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – When you first see it, it’s hard to find words. A mail truck heading down the interstate going in the wrong direction. “It’s surreal. All those cliches hit you, your life flashes in front of your eyes and I was scared. I was having a calm trip then all of a sudden, I’m like whoop,” Daniel Freeman said. Freeman was living it. Driving home from a weekend away, he’s approaching Waynesburg going northbound on I-79 when he sees state troopers and flashing lights on both sides of the interstate. “People started pulling over on the shoulder and I was going to go around the truck in front of me and as I’m going around, I see a mail truck coming up the center of the highway at me.” Moon Township Police say a USPS employee refused to return the truck Sunday afternoon. That employee is 35-year-old Tyler Floro and troopers found him in Waynesburg where they tried pulling him over in the southbound lanes of I-79. But he went through the median and started going south in the northbound lanes for over two miles when he was captured on this video. Troopers tried multiple maneuvers before finally getting Floro off the road and into custody. He’s now in the Greene County Prison facing charges out of Greene and Allegheny Counties “It was determined that he was under the influence of drugs and was in possession of drug paraphernalia. While in police custody he did assault an officer and was charged with aggravated assault for that, fleeing and eluding and multiple other charges related to his offenses,” said Trooper Kalee Barnhart with PSP. (PHOTO: Daniel Freeman dash cam/WPXI)
January 24, 2023 4:07 am
Peters Township Council had one agenda item that had all resident’s attention and a second discussion topic that concerned a few at their meeting Monday night. In an anticipated vote, council unanimously rejected all bids for construction of an aquatic center at Rolling Hills Park. Bids for the revised project came in at $17.8 million and above. That is after bids of $13 million were rejected two years ago and the project was scaled back to try and get it into the approved $10.8 million budget amount. The unanimous vote to reject did not match the views of several council members about the project. Council Chairman Frank Kosir has been an aquatic center supporter citing resident survey support of the project but he says it is difficult to see the project being built any time soon. Councilman Gary Stiegel who has never supported the project indicated his relief at the aquatic center’s demise stating that the township has other needs that should be addressed before a pool is built. A second discussion issue at the beginning of the meeting found several residents of Druid Dr. upset with a recent installation of a cellular tower by Verizon on an existing First Energy electric tower. Residents are not happy with the visual aesthetics of the new tower and would like a large cable run on the electrical tower better located to provide better visual appeal. Residents were also upset about the notification of the project. All of them indicated that no notice was given that the installation would occur and that their road would be closed for several days. Residents are calling for better communication about projects between the utilities, the township and residents regarding future projects.
January 24, 2023 2:53 am
An Amity man who is charged with setting a car on fire pleaded guilty to an amended misdemeanor charge of failure to control or report a dangerous fire. Richard Bishop, 55 was admitted to the ARD program that will sentence him to 12 months of probation. Police records indicate that Bishop pulled his car from his garage and doused it with gasoline and set it on fire in June of 2022. When police arrived, firefighters were tending to the blaze and Bishop admitted to them that he set the car on fire. Along with the probationary sentence Bishop will need to complete a mental health evaluation. Bishop was facing felony charges of arson and reckless burning.
January 23, 2023 5:39 pm
(AP) – The family of a student who died from alcohol poisoning while pledging a fraternity will receive nearly $3 million from Bowling Green State University to settle its hazing-related lawsuit. A copy of the agreement announced Monday says the family of Stone Foltz and the university will work together to eliminate hazing on college campuses. A university investigation found that Foltz died of alcohol poisoning in March 2021 after a fraternity event where there was a tradition of new members attempting to finish a bottle of alcohol. Both sides say the settlement will allow them to focus on ending hazing.
January 23, 2023 5:36 pm
EASTON, Pa. (AP) – A Roman Catholic priest accused of collecting thousands of child pornography images while serving overseas and then bringing them with him when he returned to the United States has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison. The Rev. William McCandless was sentenced Monday in Easton to 37 months in prison on a conviction of having used his cellphone to try to access pornography featuring underage boys. Other charges were dropped in a plea deal. The former DeSales University counselor apologized to his family, friends and religious order, saying “words cannot express the depths of my remorse.”
January 23, 2023 1:49 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. health officials want to make COVID-19 vaccinations more like the annual flu shot. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday proposed a simplified approach so that most adults and children would get a once-a-year shot. Americans would no longer have to keep track of how many shots they’ve received or when. The proposal comes as boosters have become a hard sell. The FDA is asking a panel of outside vaccine experts to weigh in on the new approach at a meeting Thursday. The agency will present data suggesting most Americans have enough protection to move to a once-a-year shots.
January 23, 2023 12:43 pm
(WPXI) – A SWAT Team was called to a residence early Monday morning on Pittsburgh’s South Side where a rap video was being filmed after police recognized a warrant suspect, resulting in four arrests. According to Pittsburgh Public Safety, officers noticed a warrant suspect on a deck in the 2100 block of Carey Way around one-thirty. They say a male allegedly ran into the short-term rental, where a party was going on and refused to come out. Police say they were filming a rap video in the building as well. Officers say they believed there were also other warrant suspects inside, as well as multiple guns. After the SWAT Team was called, seven females exited the residence. They were evaluated by medics, identified and released. Authorities say four men were taken into custody for warrants. They were identified as Ricardo Crosby, 18; Asaun Porter, 19; Kelshon Lovelace, 21; and Lawrence Strothers Jr., 18. All were arrested on warrants out of Allegheny County, Allegheny Juvenile Probation, and the City of Pittsburgh with charges ranging from firearms violations to attempted homicide.
January 23, 2023 8:00 am
A persistent water line problem at Washington Park Elementary has led Washington School District to switch to a ‘Flexible Instruction Day’ on Monday. Superintendent George Lammay tells WJPA News the move included all students from Kindergarten through High School. On Friday, the district was forced to send Washington Park Elementary students home early because of the water line issue. Lammay says work continues to fix the problem.
January 23, 2023 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Four members of the Oath Keepers have been convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack in the second major trial involving far-right extremists accused of plotting to forcibly keep President Donald Trump in power. A Washington, D.C., jury found Joseph Hackett, Robert Minuta, David Moerschel and Edward Vallejo guilty on Monday. The verdict comes weeks after a different jury convicted two leaders of the extremist group in the mob’s attack that halted the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Defense attorneys said there was no plot to stop the transfer of presidential power.
January 23, 2023 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senior Democrats are expressing criticism of how President Joe Biden handled classified material after leaving office as vice president. And they’re disappointed that the White House hasn’t been more forthcoming with the public. The latest development came Saturday, when the president’s lawyer said that during a search Friday of Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, the FBI found additional documents with classified markings and took possession of some of his handwritten notes. Second-ranking Democratic Dick Durbin says Biden should be “embarrassed by the situation.”
