December 25, 2022 9:05 am
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Millions of people are hunkering down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 18 people across the country. The Arctic blast has trapped some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocked out power to scores of homes and businesses. The scope of the storm has been nearly unprecedented, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico. The National Weather Service says about 60% of the U.S. population has faced some sort of winter weather advisory or warning, and temperatures plummeted drastically below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians.
December 25, 2022 9:04 am
SMITH TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Emergency crews were called to the scene of a gas tank explosion endangering multiple buildings and a gas line along Point Pleasant Road around 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning. The Slovan Fire Department arrived first confirming the large working fire. The Washington County HazMat Team along with Mount Pleasant Township, Midway, Jefferson Township, McDonald and Hanover Township Fire Crews were called to the scene.
December 25, 2022 8:58 am
NORTH STRABANE, Pa. — Fire crews were busy Christmas Eve battling a fire along McClelland Road in North Strabane. Officials say the fire broke out just before 7:00 p.m. Saturday night. Responders on scene say smoke and flames were showing from the roof of the one-story home. North Strabane worked with crews from Canonsburg, Peters Township and the City of Washington for a couple of hours before the incident was under control. There is no word on any injuries or cause of that fire.
December 25, 2022 8:52 am
DERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WPXI) — It was a tragic scene in Derry Township on Christmas Eve after an elderly woman died in a house fire. Several Westmoreland County fire departments were dispatched to Pizza Barn Road in Derry Township on Saturday evening after reports of a person trapped inside the home. Investigators have not released the name of the woman who died. Officials told Channel 11 her husband was able to escape from the house. First responders battled the elements and circumstances in single-digit temperatures and less-than-ideal conditions. The Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal is investigating what caused the fire. Officials say the marshal’s efforts are focused on the kitchen area.
December 25, 2022 4:29 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI)— A public visitation for Franco Harris will be held at Acrisure Stadium next week. According to Tatalovich Funeral Home, the public is welcome to pay their final respects to Harris at Acrisure Stadium’s PNC Champions Club at Gate A, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 27. Stadium parking lots are scheduled to open at 11 a.m. for the visitation. Anyone wishing to commemorate Harris is asked to make memorial contributions to The Pittsburgh Promise or Franciscan Sisters of the Poor Foundation in lieu of flowers. Harris was 72-years-old at the time of his death late Tuesday night, just days ahead of the 50th Anniversary of the Immaculate Reception and jersey retirement ceremony at halftime of the Steelers game against the Raiders.
December 25, 2022 4:11 am
WASHINGTON, PA. — For a third year in a row, the Washington County Sheriffs Office had another successful drive for TOYS FOR JOY. The office was able to provide Christmas gifts to 110 children throughout the county. The team filled and shopped for every wish list provided according to a post on social media. They wrapped and distributed the gifts to either the school or the residence. They also donated toys and needed items to the Women’s Shelter and Domestic violence office. Some were sponsored children from the Washington Salvation Army wish list. The office also had great collaboration and community partnership with the Lemonye Center who shopped and provided toys for two of the children. We cannot thank our generous sponsors enough for helping make Christmas brighter for these families. Sheriff Tony Andronas has seen a need in the community and has doubled the efforts this year to provide to more families in Washington County. (Photo: Washington Co. Sheriffs Dept. Facebook Page)
December 24, 2022 4:43 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has passed changes to the arcane law that controls how it ratifies the winner of a presidential election. The legislation is an effort to close loopholes that Donald Trump and his allies tried to exploit so he could remain president after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. The new provisions clarify that the vice president has only a ceremonial role in the process and can’t try to block a new president, as Trump unsuccessfully urged his vice president, Mike Pence, to do on Jan, 6, 2021. The legislation also makes it harder to object to confirming the results of a presidential election and clarifies how electors are named.
December 24, 2022 4:41 am
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Police say a 19-year-old man was killed during a shooting at the Mall of America that sent frightened customers at the nation’s largest shopping center racing into a lockdown just before the holiday weekend. The Bloomington Police Department said Friday that police and emergency medical crews were on the scene of a shooting around 8:15 p.m. Police Chief Booker Hodges said the entire incident lasted about 30 seconds. The lockdown lasted for about an hour before the mall tweeted that shoppers were being sent outside. Videos posted on social media showed shoppers hiding in stores. The reported shooting comes as shopping centers and malls across the U.S. see an influx of shoppers just days before Christmas. (Photo: AP)
December 24, 2022 4:39 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jurors in Los Angeles have found rapper Tory Lanez guilty of three felonies in the 2020 shooting of hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion. The verdict was announced in Los Angeles Superior Court Friday after the jury deliberated for a day. Megan was wounded with bullet fragments in her feet after getting out of an SUV she was riding in with Lanez in the Hollywood Hills and testified that Lanez shot her. Lanez’ attorneys argued she was shot by another woman. Lanez could get more than 20 years in prison and faces deportation to his native Canada. Lanez’s father leapt up in court and condemned what he called a “wicked” verdict. (Photo: AP)
December 24, 2022 4:37 am
BAZHOU, China (AP) — As China grapples with its first-ever national COVID-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, relatives of sick people are searching for open beds, and patients are slumped on benches in hospital corridors and lying on floors for a lack of beds. Even as the young go back to work and lines at fever clinics shrink, many of Hebei’s elderly are falling into critical condition. As they overrun ICUs and funeral homes, it could be a harbinger of what’s to come for the rest of China.
