May 19, 2024 5:11 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s hush money trial is heading into the final stretch, with prosecutors’ last and star witness expected back on the stand for more grilling before the former president’s lawyers get their chance to put on a case. The landmark trial will kick back off Monday in Manhattan with more defense cross-examination of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. Cohen’s pivotal testimony directly tied Trump to the alleged hush money scheme. Defense lawyers are trying to paint Cohen as a serial fabulist who is on a revenge campaign against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
May 19, 2024 3:38 am
PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI)-Peters Township police took Naresh Garapati into custody outside of a Peters Township home where he had already been twice this week, allegedly stealing from an elderly man. The police chief is praising his officers for catching the alleged scam artist – the type of criminal who is hard to catch and typically leaves the state after a cash transaction occurs. The victim withdrew nearly $25,000 from his PNC account and handed it to the suspect in person outside of his house. Garapati allegedly told the victim he was putting the money in a safe bank account until a computer breach was resolved. “These folks are very difficult to catch, very good at what they do. They are professionals at scamming people out of money. We were actually surprised they came back the third time,” Police Chief Joseph Glover said. The suspect wanted a third money delivery and that’s how he got caught. Undercover officers were waiting all around the street, and as the victim handed over an envelope, an officer came from behind the front door and arrested Garapati. Garapati is being held without bond in the Washington County Jail.
May 19, 2024 2:27 am
The City of Washington Fire Department dedicated their new engine with a traditional “push” ceremony. The tradition commemorates times when fire companies used horses to transport water to fires and when finished, the fire apparatus was “pushed back” into the garage. Fire Chief Chris Richer commented on the appreciation he had with the city to actively upgrade the city’s aging fleet. The truck is a 2023 Pierce Saber Pumper. It has a 1000 gallon water tank and a pump capable of pumping 1500 gallons per minute. The truck was funded entirely by grants. The price of the truck was purchased as a demonstrator model which was priced at approximately $680,000, saving taxpayers more than $250,000. The engine is the second apparatus delivered in the last three years.
May 18, 2024 3:56 am
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump used a day off from his hush money trial Friday to headline a Republican fundraiser in Minnesota, a traditionally Democratic state that he boasts he can carry in November. Trump headlined the state GOP’s annual Lincoln Reagan dinner in St. Paul, which coincides with the party’s state convention. Trump declared his appearance to be “an official expansion” of the electoral map of states that could be competitive in November. No Republican presidential candidate has won Minnesota since Richard Nixon in 1972. But Trump came close to flipping the state in 2016, when he fell 1.5 percentage points short of Democrat Hillary Clinton.
May 18, 2024 3:53 am
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — A decisive vote against the United Auto Workers at two Mercedes factories in Alabama sidetracked the union’s grand plan to sign up workers at nonunion plants mainly in the South. But President Shawn Fain said the UAW will return to Mercedes and will press on with efforts to organize about 150,000 workers at more than a dozen auto factories across the nation. Employees at Mercedes plants near Tuscaloosa voted 56% against the union. The Friday vote count handed the UAW a serious setback a month after the union scored a breakthrough victory at Volkswagen’s 4,300-worker assembly factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
May 18, 2024 3:49 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip have rolled across a newly built U.S. pier and into the besieged enclave for the first time. Friday’s shipment is the first in an operation that American military officials anticipate could scale up to 150 truckloads a day. It comes as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hindered the delivery of food and other supplies seven months into the Israel-Hamas war. But the U.S. and aid groups warn that the floating pier project is not a substitute for land deliveries that could bring in all the food, water and fuel needed in Gaza. Before the war, more than 500 truckloads entered the territory on an average day.
May 18, 2024 3:46 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow’s offensive on Ukraine’s Kharkiv aims to create a buffer zone but that there are no plans to capture the city. Meanwhile, Ukraine says it will allow prisoners to join the army’s depleted ranks. Putin has said in China that Moscow has launched attacks in the Kharkiv region, in response to the Ukrainian shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region. Russian authorities say a massive Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea has caused power cutoffs in the city of Sevastopol and set a refinery ablaze in southern Russia. Friday’s drone raids marked Kyiv’s attempt to strike back during Russia’s offensive in northeastern Ukraine.
May 18, 2024 3:34 am
ELRAMA, Pa. — (WPXI)-Residents in Elrama, Washington County are picking up the pieces after the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado blew through their community Friday afternoon. “It was loud, it was fast, and it was gone,” said homeowner Deb Evans. She saw the tornado in the Circle Avenue area around 3 p.m. Friday. “It was very dark and it was circular. You could see the trees circling a little bit,” said Deb Evans. “I was looking for my puppy because he’s small. I thought I was in Kansas, like where’s my dog, I’ve got to find my puppy,” said Deb’s mother-in-law, Dee Evans. Dee was sitting out back when the swirling winds picked up her three patio umbrellas, snapping one in half, collapsing another, and blowing the third away. “I was sitting on my patio and then all of a sudden my umbrellas started lifting and I actually held on to one and it started to pick me up so I let go. My husband saw it fly past the window,” Dee said. Right next door to Dee’s house, an above-ground pool crumpled. Just down the street, massive tree limbs plummeted to the ground, taking power lines down with them. “It got very dark, wind started to pick up, rain sideways, wind blowing, debris flying past the windows, then all of a sudden, the tree fell down, sparks, just littered the whole neighborhood and then it was gone,” Deb Evans said. Lori Shoemaker was not home when the tornado hit, but she found out her porch was damaged and her yard was a mess from a call from her neighbor. “She was like, ‘Your grill is laying in your yard, your chairs are down on the road,’ she said her husband was picking up my chairs, there were garbage cans all over my yard,” Shoemaker said. Residents are a little shaken, but grateful the outcome wasn’t much worse. “Thankfully everyone’s fine. It just took out the trees and the wires and everything but all the people and houses are okay. A few shingles here and there,” Dee Evans said. The National Weather Service still needs to complete an official survey to determine the strength of the tornado.
May 18, 2024 1:43 am
(WPXI) – The National Weather Service has confirmed three tornado touchdowns in our area. One was reported in Harrison City, Westmoreland County, one in Elrama in Washington County and one on Washington Boulevard near the Highland Park Bridge, near Aspinwall. A funnel cloud was reported in South Strabane Township but forecasters say it did not touch ground. As of Friday evening, there were no reports of any serious injuries but damages were reported throughout the area. Several tornado warnings along with flash flood warnings were issued Friday afternoon as well. It has been a very active weather month for Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania has seen six tornadoes so far this year. In NWS Pittsburgh’s coverage area, which includes parts of Ohio and West Virginia, there have been nine in May.
May 17, 2024 5:13 am
HOUSTON (AP) — Severe thunderstorms have hit southeastern Texas for the second time this month, and Houston’s mayor says at least four people are dead. There have also been windows blown out of high-rise buildings, downed trees and power outages for more than 900,000 customers. Flights were briefly grounded at Houston’s two major airports Thursday. The storm system moved through swiftly, but flood watches and warnings remained for Houston and areas to the east. Heavy storms slammed the region during the first week of May, leading to numerous high-water rescues, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes.
