November 23, 2022 4:07 am
HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A swimming pool business was destroyed in a massive fire on Freeport Road. According to Allegheny County 911, crews were called to the scene of the 4-alarm blaze at 2:14 p.m. Residents and business owners within a half-mile radius of the massive fire in Harrison Township were told to evacuate the area due to “unknown chemicals” that were burned in the blaze. WPXI crews at the scene learned that people were sent to Citizens Hose Ambulance Service in Natrona Heights after evacuating. All local residents have been cleared to return to their homes. Officials said there may be lingering odors in the immediate area of the fire building and the site will continue to be monitored. The owner of the business, Col. John Placek, has owned the location for 23 years. He said he’s happy no one got hurt, and is thankful for the work of firefighters. “It’s sad that it burnt down, but you know, we can always rebuild and we will rebuild and we’ll be bigger and better,” Placek said. No injuries have been reported at this time.
November 23, 2022 4:00 am
North Strabane Township Supervisors met Tuesday night and the final order of business was to approve the preliminary budget for 2023. The spending plan is a balanced $34 million proposal that is actually $2 million less than last year. Certainly, that comes as good news to residents as no tax increase will be levied. Supervisors will formally adopt the budget at their next voting meeting in December. In other business, supervisors approved a change in their administration ordinance that eliminates the position of police chief and defines the police department as officers and leadership personnel as determined by the board of supervisors as necessary. Supervisors then went on to appoint a new sergeant. Officer Timothy Bliss was elevated to the rank of sergeant. He is a 27 year veteran police officer who has served with North Strabane Township for the last six years.
November 23, 2022 2:42 am
The City Mission distributed their “Boxes of Love” on Monday to food insecure people in Washington. The distribution began at 5:00 pm with people lining up in front of the chapel to receive their box. The boxes contained a 15 pound turkey, a box of potatoes, stuffing, a dessert and a board game. New this year to the boxes are hand made greeting cards from the students at Wylandville Elementary School in the Canon-McMillan School District. On hand to help hand out boxes were volunteers from the Pennsylvania American Water Company. Not only did PAWC offer muscle, this is the third year that they have contributed $10,000 to the 2000 Turkeys Campaign. Board members from Shepherd’s Finance were on hand. Shepherd’s Finance was responsible for the purchase of the turkeys and they made a monetary donation as well. Nearly 800 “Boxes of Love” were prepared and 300 of them were scheduled to be distributed on Monday night. Director and CEO of the City Mission, Dean Gartland said that this is a program that they became involved with several years ago and the need has only grown over the last several years. He is grateful to the volunteers and donors that helped make this holiday special for the food insecure in Washington County.
November 22, 2022 3:56 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has cleared the way for the handover of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to a congressional committee after a three-year legal fight. The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee had asked for six years of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses, from 2015 to 2020. The court’s order Tuesday leaves no legal obstacle in the way. The Treasury Department refused to provide the records during Trump’s presidency. But the Biden administration said federal law is clear that the committee has the right to examine any taxpayer’s return, including the president’s. Lower courts agreed, rejecting Trump’s claims that the committee only wanted the documents to make them public.
November 22, 2022 10:26 am
The holiday travel rush is already on, and it could spread out over more days than usual this year. Travel experts say the ability of many people to work remotely is letting them take off early for Thanksgiving or return home later. Crowds are expected to rival those of 2019, the last Thanksgiving before the pandemic. Transportation Security Administration screened nearly 2.33 million travelers on Sunday, surpassing the 2.32 million on the Sunday before Thanksgiving in 2019. AAA predicts that nearly 55 million people in the U.S. will travel at least 50 miles from home this week, an increase over last year and only 2% less than in 2019.
November 22, 2022 4:13 am
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – American consumers and nearly every industry will be affected if freight trains grind to a halt next month. One of the biggest rail unions rejected its deal Monday over concerns about demanding schedules and the lack of paid sick time. The U.S. hasn’t seen an extended rail strike in a century. Many businesses only have a few days’ worth of raw materials and space for finished goods. If a strike goes past a few days, makers of food, fuel, cars and chemicals would all feel the squeeze, as would their customers. That’s not to mention the commuters who would be left stranded because many passenger railroads use tracks owned by the freight railroads.
November 22, 2022 4:11 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian authorities are evacuating civilians from liberated areas in the southern Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. They fear that infrastructure damage is too severe for people to endure the winter without power, heat and water. The World Health Organization warned that millions in Ukraine face a “life-threatening” winter. Also Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife made a rare joint public appearance to observe a moment of silence at a Kyiv memorial for those killed in Ukraine’s pro-European Union protests in 2014. And the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that shelling of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant had not damaged key equipment and identified no nuclear safety concerns.
November 22, 2022 4:09 am
On the heels of a messy ticket rollout for Taylor Swift’s first tour in years, fans are angry. They’re also energized against Ticketmaster. While researchers agree that there’s no way to tell how long the energy could last, the outrage shows a way for young people to become more politically engaged through fan culture. This isn’t even the first time a fandom or an artist has targeted Ticketmaster. And Swifties say it’s not just about getting a ticket. The ticket debacle has spurred broader conversations about economic inequality and political action.
November 22, 2022 4:07 am
Indonesian authorities say the death toll from Monday’s earthquake on Java has leapt to 252 as more bodies have been discovered under collapsed buildings. The Cianjur regional disaster mitigation agency said Tuesday on its Instagram site that the number of dead has increased from 162 reported the night before. Another 31 people remain missing and hundreds were injured. Cianjur, south of Jakarta, was hardest hit by the 5.6 magnitude temblor that hit Monday afternoon. Blocked roads and damaged bridges prevented rescuers from bringing excavators and other heavy equipment to the rural area to help dig out survivors until Tuesday.
November 22, 2022 4:05 am
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) – An army veteran who helped subdue the gunman at a gay club in Colorado Springs credits his military training and instincts in helping him disarm the attacker. Rich Fierro told reporters Monday how he grabbed the gunman’s body armor and began punching him. Authorities say Fierro and another man, Thomas James, stopped the shooter after he began spraying bullets inside Club Q on Saturday night. The rampage killed five people and wounded 17. His daughter’s boyfriend, Raymond Green Vance, was among those fatally shot.
