January 16, 2023 4:11 am
SHALER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A toddler was killed and eight other people were taken to a hospital after a house fire in Shaler Township. Firefighters and medics were called to Fall Run Road at around 9:45 p.m. According to Shaler Township police chief Sean Frank, firefighters found 2-year-old Danika DeRamo on the first floor of the home. She was taken to a local hospital and was later pronounced deceased. “Danika was my little angel,” said Danika’s grandmother, Kathy Palmer. Palmer said DeRamo ran out of the grips of her mother while they were trying to escape the house. Palmer said the four other members of the family four were able to escape. Two were taken to a hospital via ambulance and two were taken by private vehicle. Four firefighters were also injured in the blaze and taken to a hospital for treatment. None of their injuries were life-threatening, Chief Frank said. Shaler Township Police are being assisted by the Allegheny County Police Homicide Unit and the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office. The cause and origin of the fire are still under investigation.
January 16, 2023 4:05 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Your next trip to Pennsylvania’s Fine Wine & Good Spirits could cost you more. A 4% price hike on many items went into effect Sunday. The increase affects more than 3,500 of the most popular wine and spirit items sold at state liquor stores. In a statement, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board pointed to the 40-year, record-high inflation as the reason for price increase. The PLCB says the price hike will allow it to generate revenues needed to offset annual 8 percent hike in operating costs over the last four years. Plus projected cost increases in the current year related to personnel, distribution, leases and credit card fees among others. The announcement drew immediate criticism from industry groups. The Distilled Spirits Council said it was given with just 10 days notice and that’s not enough time for spirits producers to plan for and adjust to price increases. The Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association says businesses with liquor licenses can’t shop around for better prices, arguing the Liquor Control Board has a monopoly. The PLCB says the price increase does not apply to 397 items currently on sale this month.
January 16, 2023 2:54 am
A local business owner is tossing his hat into the political ring for the May Primary. Ray Phillips announced Monday that he plans to run for the Republican nomination for Washington County Clerk of Courts. Phillips lives in North Strabane Township and owns and operates Spraymasters Collision and Refinishing in Houston. Phillips, who has worked as a sales executive with Sherwin Williams and in the oil and gas sales industry, says he is running on integrity, ethics and cooperation among government offices. Phillips says, “We must restore integrity to the row offices of Washington County.” Phillips touts his ability to work with others to make Washington County a place where families feel safe and want to live, work and raise their children.
January 15, 2023 7:56 am
BEIJING (AP) — The World Health Organization has appealed to China to keep releasing information about its wave of COVID-19 infections. That comes after the government announced nearly 60,000 virus-related deaths since early December following weeks of complaints it was failing to tell the world what was happening. The announcement gave the first official numbers since the ruling Communist Party abruptly dropped anti-virus restrictions despite a surge in infections that flooded hospitals. A WHO statement says the information “allows for a better understanding” of the epidemic. The agency also asked China to continue sharing this type of detained information.
January 15, 2023 7:55 am
MARBURY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama mechanic took refuge in a shipping container as a tornado decimated his shop and killed two neighbors. A woman hid in a bathtub with her 2-year-old son, telling her mother by phone: “If the house is messed up I’ll be in the tub area.” The harrowing stories of survivors of Thursday’s storm are emerging as residents comb through the wreckage wrought by tornadoes and blistering winds that killed at least nine people in Alabama and Georgia. Survivors described chaotic scenes unfolding as the storm spun toward them, with people rushing into shelters and sheds as the winds bore down.
January 15, 2023 7:54 am
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — So far, 68 people have been confirmed dead after a regional passenger plane with 72 aboard crashed into a gorge while landing at a newly opened airport in the resort town of Pokhara, according to an announcement posted by the country’s Civil Aviation Authority to Twitter. It’s the country’s deadliest airplane accident in three decades. A witness to the crash said he saw the aircraft spinning violently in the air after it began to attempt a landing, watching from the terrace of his house. Gaurav Gurung said the plane fell nose-first towards its left and then crashed into the gorge.
January 15, 2023 7:54 am
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden is marking what would have been the 94th birthday of the late Martin Luther King with a Sunday sermon at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. The president is aiming to celebrate the civil rights leader’s legacy while also reviving the Biden administration’s call for sweeping voting rights legislation. Biden’s failure to win passage of a measure bolstering voting right protections is one of his biggest disappointments of his first two years in office. That tasks is even steeper now that Republicans control the House. Biden was invited to Ebenezer by the church’s senior pastor, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. Ebenezer is the church were King once preached.
January 15, 2023 7:52 am
FALLOWFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Multiple crews responded to a residential structure fire along Bentleyville Road in Fallowfield Township Saturday evening. Reports say the blaze started in the chimney and extended into the attic. Fallowfield, Charleroi, Bentleyville, Lock Four and Stockdale Fire Departments were all involved along with Rostraver West Newton EMS. The incident was cleared in an hour with no reported injuries. (Photo: Charleroi Fire Department Facebook Page)
January 15, 2023 3:53 am
A Monongahela man charged with homicide in the killing of his wife in March of 2022 pleaded guilty on Friday. Dennis Vaccaro, 65 pleaded guilty to third degree homicide in the killing of his 47 year old wife Mecca. The two were witnessed arguing outside and inside their home. When inside the home, Vaccarro shot his wife twice. The witness said that when he arrived in the home, Mecca said he shot me! Dennis Vaccaro said I shot her twice. A self defense argument did not work and a negotiated plea ended the case. Vacarro will now spend the next nine to twenty years in state prison.
January 15, 2023 3:52 am
SHALER TOWNSHIP (WPXI) – A two-year old was killed and eight people were hurt in a blaze in Shaler last night. Our news partners at WPXI report that the fire was called in around 9:45 p.m. Friday night to a home on Fall Run Road, off Route 8. Reports from emergency radio transmissions indicated that a child, two adults, and a firefighter were transported to the hospital. Police Chief Sean Frank said firefighters found 2-year-old Danika Deramo on the first floor of the home; she was taken to the hospital where she later died. Among the injured were four firefighters who suffered non-life threatening injuries.
