May 25, 2024 2:59 am
The Washington Park Pool is going to be open and ready for the public to get into the swim of things on Memorial Day. Park Director DeAnna Martin says the pool will be open from noon to six on Monday, Memorial Day and will then close for the rest of the week. She says it will reopen for the season on June 1st. Martin says pool goers will see a freshly painted pool that was the work of just about everyone on her staff. She says the pool was badly in need of a fresh coat of paint, and with city council approval, they were able to get the work done in time for opening day. The freshly painted pool isn’t the only fresh find at the park this year. Martin says they’ll be having a Farmer’s Market on the second Saturday of each month through the summer, with the first one starting on June 8th. Also, Martin encourages all pool goers and pickle-ball players to check out the concession stand this year. She says they’ve got some tasty new treats for folks to enjoy.
May 25, 2024 2:15 am
The Washington City Mission broke ground for its new Women’s Shelter on Thursday. The ceremony was attended by state and local dignitaries as President and CEO Diana Irey-Vaughan and President Emeritus Dean Gartland led the way to what they both call the “final piece of the puzzle” to a master plan developed in 2014. The shelter will be a 50 bed facility for homeless women. It will compliment the Mission’s other facilities such as the Crabtree-Kovacicek Veteran’s House, the Men’s Shelter, Women with Children Shelter and Sally’s House. According to Irey-Vaughan, City Mission is currently receiving 60 calls per month from women seeking help. It is a $7.1 million project that is expected to be completed in the next 12-14 months. To help defray some of the construction costs, Pennsylvania State Senator Camera Bartolotta presented City Mission a check for $500,000 as a donation from the Department of Community and Economic Development. During the ceremony, Chaiman of the Capital Campaign Steering Committee, Walt Turner overwhelmed Chief Development Officer Dr. Sally Mounts by informing the guests that the new shelter will be named Sally’s Sanctuary.
May 24, 2024 5:04 am
GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) — Residents of the small city of Greenfield, Iowa, are working to clean up days after a destructive tornado ripped apart more than 100 homes in just one minute, took the lives of four residents and injured dozens more. All along the mile-long swath on Thursday was the deafening clamor of heavy equipment scooping up the splintered homes, smashed vehicles and shredded trees. More severe weather was expected in the Midwest on Thursday night into Friday, including a tornado that was on the ground for nearly an hour in southwestern Oklahoma and possible tornados in areas of Iowa that were already damaged.
May 24, 2024 5:01 am
Airlines are struggling to keep flights on time heading into the Memorial Day holiday weekend, but at least cancellations have been relatively modest so far. The big test comes Friday, which is expected to be the busiest day of the weekend for air travel. The Transportation Security Administration predicts nearly 3 million people will pass through airport checkpoints Friday, which could threaten the record of 2.9 million, set on the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year. Even more people will be on the roads. AAA says nearly 44 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home this weekend, and about 38 million will go by vehicle.
May 24, 2024 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — As he tries to secure his legacy, President Joe Biden has unleashed a flurry of election-year rules on the environment. They include a landmark regulation that would force coal-fired power plants to capture smokestack emissions or shut down. It is among dozens of actions the Biden administration has taken in recent weeks to meet his climate goals and other priorities. The regulations are led by the Environmental Protection Agency but involve a host of federal agencies on issues including education, transportation and labor. They are being issued in quick succession as Biden rushes to meet a looming deadline to ensure they are not overturned by a new Congress.
May 24, 2024 4:55 am
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China has sent dozens of warplanes and navy vessels off Taiwan’s coast on the second day of a large exercise launched to show its anger over the island’s inauguration of new leaders who refuse to accept its insistence that Taiwan is part of China. Taiwan’s defense ministry said it tracked 49 Chinese warplanes and 19 navy vessels as well as coast guard vessels on Friday. Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, visited a marine base on Thursday and said the island would “continue to maintain the values of freedom and democracy.” A Beijing official said Lai has “challenged the one-China principle,” which asserts that Taiwan is part of China.
May 24, 2024 4:54 am
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s army says the bodies of three more hostages killed on Oct 7. were recovered overnight from Gaza. The bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez were found and their families have been notified. The army said they were killed on the day of the attack at the Mefalsim intersection and their bodies were taken to Gaza. The announcement comes less than a week after the army said it found the bodies of three other Israeli hostages killed on Oct. 7. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.
May 24, 2024 4:51 am
The federal government agreed to a $15 million fine for Norfolk Southern over last year’s disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Residents were generally underwhelmed by the deal the Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department announced Thursday, two days after a federal judge signed off on the railroad’s $600 million class action settlement with residents. In addition to the civil penalty, Norfolk Southern agreed to reimburse the government $235 million in cleanup costs and set up a $25 million health care fund to pay for 20 years of medical exams in the community and follow through on $244 million of planned safety improvements. The railroad won’t face criminal charges.
May 24, 2024 4:48 am
The Canon-McMillan School Board unanimously approved the Proposed Final General Fund Budget for the 2024-2025 school year in the amount of $117,163,110.00. This budget amount includes a 0.6497 tax mill increase. According to Superintendent Michael Daniels, this budget amount includes a deficit of $1,327,510.00. Daniels cautioned board members that the number they see right now may change. He said certain revenues have not been received and therefore not added into the budget. Daniels said that they will begin construction on the new Wylandville Elementary School in the upcoming year. He pointed to increased costs for special education needs for students as the main driver in the budget deficit. Daniels says that since the pandemic, facilities dealing with those concerns are full. Travel distances and employee time to transport the students to more distant areas are the biggest costs driving the deficit. The final budget will be adopted on June 27.
May 24, 2024 2:40 am
Two additional people have been charged in relation to a shooting that left a teen girl dead and another injured in Washington County. Anthony Barfield, 17, is facing charges of criminal homicide and aggravated assault, and Jeheili Cochran, 25, is facing charges of hindering apprehension, obstructing the administration of law and tampering with evidence. Barfield and Cochran are family members of Windale Barfield Jr., one of the other suspects charged in the shooting. Annalaya Wilkerson, 18, was killed and another 17-year-old girl was hurt in a shooting on a rural road in South Franklin Township on April 13.
