May 12, 2024 8:30 am
Washington County 911 tells WJPA News there was a one vehicle crash Saturday afternoon in California on East Malden Drive. No information was available at the time regarding the cause of the crash. One person was injured and was taken to an area hospital. There’s been no word on their identity or the severity of their injuries.
May 12, 2024 8:38 am
(WPXI) – Police in Allegheny County are looking for a missing elderly man. The Pleasant Hills Police Department says Neale Hahn, 76, went missing from Arrowood Independent Living, located on North Lewis Run Road in West Mifflin, after lunch on Saturday. He was possibly last seen walking from Arrowood with his brown Pomeranian “Bear.” Hahn is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black shirt with dark pants or jeans. Anyone who sees Hahn or has information about where he may be should call police at 412-655-5045 or call 911.
May 11, 2024 5:12 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – An unusually strong solar storm could allow the Aurora Borealis to become visible across much of the northern United States. The lights are typically seen in northern latitudes but the severity of the storm tonight could allow the natural light display to be seen further south than usual, including in western Pennsylvania. And the good news is that cloud cover will actually cooperate across our side of the state, with afternoon clouds and showers expected to dissipate by this evening. Be sure to look up toward the northern sky any time after midnight. The best viewing conditions will be found for areas further north and away from lights. This is considered a rare event by space scientists and could potentially be the strongest solar storm we’ve seen since 2003. Some forecasts indicate the possibility of the lights being seen as far south as Alabama!
May 12, 2024 7:00 am
WPXI – UPMC will pay $38 million to settle a 12-year-old False Claims Act lawsuit. The settlement resolves a whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2012 by neurosurgeon J. William Bookwalter, neurophysiologist Robert Sclabassi, and surgical technologist Anna Mitina. It had a partial settlement in 2016. The False Claims Act allows private citizens to file suit on behalf of the government to recover money back to the United States Treasury for false claims submitted to federal healthcare programs. Under the Stark Law, hospitals are prohibited from submitting claims to Medicare and Medicaid for procedures, surgeries, and other services furnished pursuant to referrals from physicians who have a financial relationship with the hospital, unless the relationship falls within a statutory exception. Claims submitted in violation of the Stark Law are false claims under the False Claims Act, and any money paid on such claims must be returned to the government, a press release said. Among other things, the allegations resolved by this settlement include that certain neurosurgeons were paid excessive compensation (well-above fair market value) by UPMC, and that those surgeons referred procedures and surgeries to UPMC in violation of the Stark Law, a press release said. Dr. Bookwalter, Dr. Sclabassi and Ms. Mitina alleged that UPMC and its employed neurosurgeons engaged in fraudulent schemes that boosted both the neurosurgeons’ pay and UPMC’s revenues. The $38 million settlement is believed to be one of the largest Stark Law recoveries in a False Claims Act case where the United States declined to intervene.
May 11, 2024 5:13 am
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel has ordered new evacuations in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands more people to move as it prepares to expand its operation. It has now evacuated the eastern third of Rafah, pushing the operation to the edges of the heavily populated central area, although the move into the city has so far been short of the full-scale invasion that Israel planned. The United Nations and other agencies have warned for weeks that an Israeli assault on Rafah would cripple humanitarian operations and cause a disastrous surge in civilian casualties. Israel also said Saturday that it is moving into an area in northern Gaza where Hamas has regrouped.
May 11, 2024 5:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The alleged sexual encounter at the center of Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial got a graphic airing in court this past week as porn actor Stormy Daniels shared her account before a rapt jury. Daniels’ testimony about her time with Trump was by far the most awaited moment of the trial, which now enters its fourth week of witnesses as prosecutors come close to wrapping up their historic case. But it wasn’t all salaciousness. Manhattan jurors saw documentary evidence meant to directly tie Trump to the hush money payments that were sent to Daniels in what prosecutors say was an effort to buy her silence in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election.
May 11, 2024 5:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A promising start has given way to challenging political realities for supporters of a bipartisan commission to tackle the federal government’s growing debt challenges. House Speaker Mike Johnson lauded the idea of establishing such a commission on his first day in office. Then, a House panel passed with bipartisan support a bill to create a 16-member “fiscal commission” — 12 from Congress and four outside experts without voting power. But hits from the left and the right are taking a toll. Many Democrats and left-leaning advocacy groups worry that the commission would recommend cuts to Social Security benefits. Some Republicans and right-leaning groups worry that the commission would recommend tax increases.
May 11, 2024 5:16 am
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — The United Auto Workers is aiming for a key victory at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama. More than 5,000 workers at the facility in Vance and nearby battery plant will vote next week on whether to join the UAW. The vote comes a month after workers at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee overwhelmingly voted to unionize. A win at Mercedes would be a major prize for the UAW, which is seeking to crack resistance to unions in the Deep South, where states have lured foreign auto manufacturers with large tax breaks, lower labor costs and a nonunion workforce.
May 11, 2024 2:24 am
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce announced their ATHENA Award winner for 2024. Laural Ziemba of Range Resources was honored with the award at a luncheon at the Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe. Other finalists included Christine Blaine of the Washington Wild Things, Leslie LaPosta of JW Ebert/McDonalds Restaurants, Denise J. Leigh of the McGuffey School District and Holly Martin of New Directions Mental Health. Criteria to qualify for the award are achieving the highest level of professional excellence, contribution of time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community and active assistance to others, particularly women in realizing their full leadership potential. The chamber also awarded the Diana Irey Vaughan ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award to Shana Brown of the Washington Business District Authority. This award honors emerging leaders who demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession.
May 10, 2024 1:53 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush money trial narrowed their focus to checks and phone records as they laid the groundwork for jurors to hear eventually from their star witness: Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney. With the third week of the testimony drawing to a close Friday, the case that ultimately hinges on the issue of record-keeping returned to deeply technical testimony. It’s a sharp contrast from Stormy Daniels’ dramatic, if not downright seamy, account of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump that riveted jurors earlier this week. Trump denies they ever had sex. He has denied wrongdoing in the case.
