April 4, 2024 3:34 pm
(WPXI) – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) announced it will be investigating the proposed rate increases at Columbia Gas and Duquesne Light Company. The organization said it voted Thursday to investigate the rate increases. It also voted to suspend the rate increase at both companies for up to seven months. The proposed increase at Duquesne Light would produce a general increase in electric distribution rates at around $133 million, which would increase customer rates by $101 million over current charges. Under the proposal, the total monthly bill for an average residential customer using 600 kilowatt hours would increase from $130.67 to $139.19 (6.52%). Columbia Gas would see an increase of $124.1 million per year. Under the proposal, the total monthly bill for a residential customer using 70 therms of gas would increase from $118.16 to $136.92 (15.88%). A final decision about Columbia Gas’s increase is due by Dec. 14, while the decision about Duquesne Light’s increase is due by Dec. 20.
April 4, 2024 5:27 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has rejected Donald Trump’s bid to delay his April 15 hush money criminal trial until the Supreme Court rules on the presidential immunity claims he raised in another of his criminal cases. Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan deemed the former president’s request untimely, ruling that his lawyers had myriad opportunities to raise the immunity issue before they finally did so in a March 7 court filing. Lawyers for the presumptive Republican nominee had asked to adjourn the New York trial indefinitely until Trump’s immunity claim in his Washington, D.C., election interference case is resolved.
April 4, 2024 5:25 am
World Central Kitchen demanded an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed seven of its staff in Gaza, as Israel faced growing isolation Wednesday over the deaths of six foreign aid workers and a Palestinian driver helping deliver desperately needed food to isolated and starving residents. Wednesday night, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart that the strikes, which Israel says targeted the aid workers in error, strengthened U.S. concerns about Israel’s plans to expand its ground offensive and said that Israel must do more to protect the lives of civilians and aid workers in Gaza.
April 4, 2024 5:23 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Authorities say a nighttime Russian attack using Iranian-designed drones has killed four people and wounded 12 in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Shahed drones smashed into two apartment buildings in the city near the Russian border that has frequently been targeted during more than two years of war. The Kremlin’s forces in recent months have stepped up their aerial barrages of Ukraine, hitting urban areas and the power grid. The about 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line is largely deadlocked, but Kyiv officials say they expect a large-scale Russian offensive in the summer. Officials said three first responders in Kharkiv were killed when Russia struck a multistory building twice in quick succession. Another 14-story building was hit by a drone, killing a woman.
April 4, 2024 5:22 am
HUALIEN, Taiwan (AP) — Rescuers are searching for dozens of people still missing a day after Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in a quarter century damaged buildings, caused multiple rockslides and killed nine people. In the eastern coastal city of Hualien near the epicenter, workers used an excavator to stabilize the base of a damaged building with construction materials, as some officers took samples of its exterior. Some of the damaged buildings tilted at precarious angles with their ground floors crushed. More than 1,000 people were injured in the quake Wednesday. Of the approximately 690 people said to be missing or stranded, most guests and workers at a hotel. Authorities said all of those were safe.
April 4, 2024 5:20 am
The Powerball jackpot continued to grow, as the fourth-largest grand prize in the promotion’s history ballooned to an estimated $1.23 billion after no one matched all of the numbers in Wednesday’s drawing. The winning numbers for the grand prize worth $1.09 billion were 11-38-41-62-65 and the Powerball was 15. The Power Play was 3X. If a player wins the jackpot in Saturday’s drawing, they can choose between an annuitized prize worth an estimated $1.23 billion or a lump sum payment estimated at $595.1 million. There were nine second-tier winners on Wednesday, with each ticket winning $1 million. Two each were sold in California and Massachusetts, with solo winners sold in Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina and Washington.
April 4, 2024 5:09 am
An investigation is underway into the death of an Avella man following an attempted traffic stop Wednesday. The Washington County Coroner’s office says 45 year old Mark Miller was pronounced dead in the emergency room at Washington Hospital just before 7 p.m. According to the Coroner’s office, Miller was traveling on Avella Road in Independence Township when a concerned motorists called 9-1-1 to report a vehicle driving recklessly. A Mount Pleasant Township Police officer responded and located the vehicle. When a traffic stop was attempted, Police say the man did not stop and struck a guardrail near the intersection of Avella Road and Caldwell Road just before 5:30 p.m. The incident is under investigation by the Mount Pleasant Township Police Department.
April 4, 2024 5:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Opinion Research finds that while Americans say they respect the Constitution’s checks and balances and don’t want a president to have too much power, that view shifts if the candidate of their party wins the presidency. Overall, only about 2 in 10 Americans say it would be “a good thing” for the next president to have the power to change policy without waiting on Congress or the courts. But nearly 6 in 10 Republicans say it would be good for a future President Donald Trump to take unilateral action, while about 4 in 10 Democrats say the same if President Joe Biden is reelected.
April 4, 2024 5:02 am
CHARLEROI, Pa. — (WPXI) – The Monongahela River at the Charleroi Locks and Dam is above flood stage. The water at these locks is typically 10 or 11 feet high. After recent rainfall, it’s sitting at just above 31 feet. The locks are shut down, meaning no boats can get through. The locks are almost completely underwater. Water is inches away from creeping into nearby homes. The Army Corps of Engineers expect these locks to be closed until Friday and will have to wait until the weather runs its course Officials want to remind people to stay away from the Mon River in that area. It’s fast-moving and if you fall in you can easily be swept away by the current.
April 3, 2024 3:33 pm
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in Israeli airstrikes have started the journey back to their home countries. They were transported Wednesday out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt. That’s according to Egyptian state television. The three British citizens, a Polish citizen, an Australian and a Canadian American dual national worked for World Central Kitchen, an international charity. Their Palestinian driver was also killed. They were distributing food that had been brought into Gaza through a newly established maritime corridor late Monday when Israeli airstrikes targeted their three vehicles, killing everyone inside. Israel has acknowledged carrying out the strikes by mistake and says it has launched an independent investigation.
