June 20, 2024 5:00 am
PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A Peters Township family lost their home in what may have been an electrical outlet fire. Patrick Cullen told Channel 11 he opened up his door Tuesday night to smoke and tried to put out the flames himself. “I came home and opened the front door, and there was a bunch of smoke and I ran to my truck and got a fire extinguisher, and came around the back to try and put it out but it was too smokey,” Cullen said. An indoor camera caught the flames going up the wall. Patrick said there was nothing plugged into that socket. “We are assuming it was an electric outlet. That’s where the fire came from… luckily we had video from inside the house,” Cullen said. Medics treated him for smoke inhalation. The state police fire marshal is still investigating.
June 20, 2024 4:47 am
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has forecast a Code ORANGE Air Quality Action Day for ozone for Friday, June 21st in the Pittsburgh area, which includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland counties. In addition, an Air Quality Action Day has also been declared for the Indiana county area with respect to ozone. Mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the middle 90s will create conditions for robust ozone development and formation into the code ORANGE range during the afternoon hours. Any afternoon or evening thunderstorm activity is expected to be isolated in nature, and only affect a small fraction of the area. On air quality action days, young children, the elderly, and those with respiratory problems, such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis, are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution and should limit outdoor activities. Residents and businesses within the Air Quality Action Day area(s) are strongly encouraged to voluntarily help reduce air pollution by: Conserving electricity by setting air conditioning to a higher temperature; combining errands to reduce vehicle trips; limiting engine idling; and refueling cars and trucks after dusk.
June 20, 2024 2:28 am
The North Strabane Township Police Department has announced that two individuals wanted in connection with the robbery, on June 5th, at the First National Bank on Route Nineteen, have been arrested and are in custody. Police say Brandon Scerri and Kayla Pruett, both of Wellsburg, West Virginia, were arrested on Thursday near New York City. they say Scerri was taken into custody after robbing another bank there. Police say the arrest was made possible by working together with the FBI, The U.S. Marshals Service, Washington City Police, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office and other local police departments.. Authorities have said that they believe Scerri was the one who entered the bank and demanded money. They say the two were identified using their tattoos and driver’s license photos, along with the description of their car, a blue-colored Ford Focus. Scerri got away with more than seventy-four-hundred-dollars in the robbery. Scerri has also been named as a suspect in the robbery, two days earlier, of the Washington Financial Bank on Wiley Avenue in Washington. (Photo: North Strabane Township Police)
June 20, 2024 2:15 am
The 2024 Pony League World Series has a new title sponsor. Southpointe-based Printscape has put its name on the annual tournament that brings teams from across the country and from around the world to Washington County. It replaces Dicks Sporting Goods. Printscape owner John Dziak called the move a “no-brainer”. The company has been a long supporter of the tournament for years. World Series Tournaments, Inc President and Chairman Nathan Voytek only half-jokingly said the deal is especially great given all the signage needed at Lew Hays Pony Field. Voytek says they are “ecstatic to have Printscape on board”. He cited their “commitment to our community and athletics”. Printscape also has the naming rights to the Arena in Southpointe. The Pony League World Series will be played from August 9 through the 14th. Washington County Chamber of Commerce President Jeff Kotula says the annual event means some $6 million in economic impact for the County with 30,000 people visiting each year.
June 20, 2024 1:39 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The film and television actor whose prolific career stretched from “M.A.S.H” to “JFK” to “The Hunger Games,” Donald Sutherland has died at 88. The tall and gaunt Canadian actor was known for offbeat characters like Hawkeye Piece in Robert Altman’s “M.A.S.H.,” the hippie tank commander in “Kelly’s Heros” and the stoned professor in “Animal House.” But over the decades, Sutherland showed his range in more buttoned-down parts in Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People” and Oliver Stone’s “JFK.” His son Kiefer Sutherland also became a star. (Photo: AP)
June 19, 2024 5:48 pm
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday signed the bill mandating the displays. The GOP-drafted legislation requires a poster of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Opponents question the law’s constitutionality. Civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union promised a lawsuit. Proponents say the purpose of the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance. Classrooms must display the Ten Commandments by the start of 2025.
June 19, 2024 5:20 pm
(WPXI) – A bicyclist died after police believe he hit downed power lines in North Park on Tuesday night. He has been identified as Robert Anderson, 63, of Wexford. Emergency crews were called to a trail at Pearce Mill Road and North Ridge Drive at 8:22 p.m. where they found a man down among live wires. Duquesne Light crews were called to the scene, as first responders could not get to the bicyclist while the power was on. Power was cut to the area at 10:30 p.m., and the man was pronounced dead at the scene. County officials closed the trail and placed caution tape near the wires and at the main entrance of the trail. Duquesne Light says it is working closely with local emergency responders and park officials to investigate the incident.
June 19, 2024 2:46 pm
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tropical Storm Alberto has formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, the first named storm of what is forecast to be a busy hurricane season. The National Hurricane Center says Alberto was located 185 miles east of Tampico, Mexico, on Wednesday morning with top sustained winds of 40 mph. A tropical storm is defined by sustained winds of between 39 and 73 mph, and one with stronger winds is a hurricane. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the hurricane season from June 1 to Nov. 30 is likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms.
June 19, 2024 11:33 am
The National Transportation Safety Board has released more information on what caused an explosion last month in Youngstown, Ohio, that killed a Penn Hills graduate. Twenty-seven-year-old
Akil Drake, a Chase Bank employee, was found in the rubble after an explosion on May 28th at the Realty Tower Building. Nine other people were injured. NTSB officials previously said their preliminary investigation led them to believe that a cut gas line caused the explosion. Just before the accident, a four-person scrap-removal crew was working in a basement area. A worker cut into one of the pipes he had been told was “dead,” but partway through the process, he heard a loud whistling sound and felt gas blowing into his face from the cut pipe, according to the NTSB report. The crew left the building, called 911 and pulled a fire alarm. Another crew member reportedly notified bank employees. The Youngstown Fire Department received reports of a gas odor from the public minutes before the explosion. The NTSB learned that at the time of the accident, the inactive service line had been pressurized with natural gas to about 38 pounds per square inch. The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing.
June 19, 2024 5:08 am
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A blast of heat and humidity in the Midwest and Northeast days before the official start of summer has put a wet blanket on outdoor activities from festivals to sports camps as officials urge people to take precautions. Cities that opened cooling centers this week advised that Wednesday’s Juneteenth holiday means some public libraries, senior centers and pools where residents could beat the heat will be closed. The dangerous temperatures are expected to peak in the eastern Great Lakes and New England on Wednesday and Thursday, and in the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic on Friday and Saturday.
