December 12, 2023 4:54 am
Monday’s voting meeting in Canonsburg was significant for residents of the borough. Two measures that will affect residents’ wallets were adopted. First, the annual budget passed by a 6-1 vote. According to Borough Manager Denise Lesnock, the 2024 spending plan comes in at just under $6.2 million and it includes a fractional tax increase of .134 mills. That means residents will spend $13 more per $100,000 of assessed value on their homes. Council also considered the sale of the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Authority. The motion to authorize the sale died on the table due to lack of a second to the motion. That ends the prospect of the sale. The boroughs of Houston and Canonsburg jointly own the sewerage facility. Houston and the CHJA Authority both agreed to a sale. According to council president Eric Chandler, business for sewer customers remains the same. The terms of the offer to sell were for $145 million by AQUA. It is unknown if any further sale discussions will be held. Council also recognized the longtime efforts of council members Tina Bails and Tom Lawrence. Both were presented plaques for their dedication to Canonsburg.
December 12, 2023 4:52 am
Monday marked the fifth day of Hanukkah and Chabad of Washington celebrated on the lawn of the Washington County Courthouse. Rabbi Mendel Wolowik led the Jewish community in a celebration that included prayers, song, dance and traditional foods. Hanukkah is known as the “Festival of Lights” because according to Jewish teachings, God created a miracle and made one jar of oil that would only last one day, to light a menorah in the Second Temple of Jerusalem, last eight days. Rabbi Wolowik said that people should dedicate themselves during the holiday to bring light to those people and the areas around them. He indicated that the Hamas invasion into Israel on October 7 was a reminder that extra work is needed to bring more light into everyone’s life. In addition to the celebration on the courthouse lawn, Chabad of Washington is running a Hanukkah toy drive in cooperation with the Citizens Library. Anyone may bring a new toy to the donation area of the library and it will be distributed to underprivileged and hospitalized children. The drive runs until the end of December.
December 12, 2023 4:50 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Public school advocates in Pennsylvania are criticizing publicly funded programs that pay tuition at private and religious schools. They say many such schools discriminate by cherry-picking which students are able to attend. School funding is an unresolved area of contention as the House and Senate return to session on Monday. Democrats are pushing for billions more for public schools, while Republicans press to expand taxpayer funding for private schools. The two sides are clashing over a program that provides tax credits to defray the cost of private-school tuition.
December 11, 2023 5:40 pm
SHENANDOAH, Pa. (AP) — Police officers responding to a reported burglary at a southeastern Pennsylvania home shot and killed a man who lunged at them with a machete. State police say officers from Shenandoah and Mahanoy City police had responded to the home in Shenandoah around 12:30 a.m. Monday. The property owner had video surveillance in the home because it’s vacant, and the owner reported seeing someone in the house wearing a mask and with a big knife. State police say the officers soon found 32-year-old Byron Scheuring, of Shenandoah, under a bed upstairs and, when they moved the bed, he lunged at them with a machete. A Shenandoah officer then fired one shot that hit Scheuring, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
December 11, 2023 5:39 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith is asking the Supreme Court to take up and rule quickly on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results. A federal judge had ruled the case could go forward, but Trump signaled he’d ask the federal appeals court in Washington to reverse that outcome. Smith’s request Monday is an attempt to bypass the appeals court. The high court justices indicated later Monday that they would decide quickly whether to hear the case, ordering Trump’s lawyers to respond by Dec. 20. Trump’s presidential campaign says, “There is absolutely no reason to rush this sham to trial.”
December 11, 2023 12:47 pm
(AP) – Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” dominated the Golden Globe nominations with nine nods for the blockbuster film, including best picture musical or comedy as well as acting nominations for Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and three of its original songs. It was closely followed by its release date and meme companion “Oppenheimer,” which scored eight nominations, including best picture drama and for actors Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt. The revamped group, now a for-profit endeavor with a larger and more diverse voting body, announced nominations Monday for its January awards show, after scandal and several troubled years. The how airs Jan. 7 from Beverly Hills. (Photo: AP)
December 11, 2023 5:15 am
Yekaterina Duntsova is a little-known journalist and mom-of-three from a small town in western Russia. She hopes to force President Vladimir Putin into a run-off in Russia’s next presidential vote scheduled for March, despite her political inexperience and analysts’ assessments that the Kremlin leader’s reelection is all but assured. Duntsova intends to run as an independent and tells The Associated Press that she hopes to energize voters disillusioned with politics with her message of peace in Ukraine, freedom for jailed government critics and a “humane” Russia respectful of its citizens and international partners. She admits to being afraid amid the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent, but vows she and her campaign team will fight on.
December 11, 2023 5:11 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Students, lawmakers and religious leaders have joined forces at a temple in Philadelphia to strongly denounce antisemitism on college campuses and in their communities. The gathering Sunday at Congregation Rodeph Shalom comes one day after University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill (pictured) resigned amid criticism over her testimony at a congressional hearing. Magill was unable to say under repeated questioning that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy. Harvard President Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth also took part in the congressional hearing. They have also drawn criticism for their lawyerly answers.
December 11, 2023 5:08 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Central Tennessee residents and emergency workers are digging out from devastating weekend storms that killed six people, toppled houses and cut power to tens of thousands. Government officials confirmed that three people died after a tornado struck Montgomery County north of Nashville near the Kentucky state line on Saturday afternoon. The Nashville Emergency Operation Center confirmed that three others were killed as a result of tornadoes in a neighborhood near downtown. Dozens more were hospitalized. Communities worked to begin repairing damaged houses with strewn debris. Other harrowing scenes included a tractor-trailer flipped on its side and insulation ripped out of building walls.
December 11, 2023 5:06 am
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) – Israel says it’s prepared to fight for months or longer to defeat Gaza’s Hamas rulers, as its ground offense intensifies with more airstrikes and artillery fire. Qatar, which has played a key mediating role, says efforts to stop the war and have all hostages released will continue, but a willingness to discuss a cease-fire is fading. Israel is facing international outrage after its military offensive killed more than 17,700 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced, and U.N. agencies say there is no safe place to flee. Israel says 97 of its soldiers have died in its military offensive after Hamas raided Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.
