October 7, 2023 3:00 am
Washington Hospital was the site of a demonstration on Thursday by union representatives and other organizations concerned about the proposed merger of Washington Health System and UPMC. Melissa Duran is the president of the SEIU at the hospital and is also an EKG technician there. She gathered with representatives form the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, The Allegheny County Schools Health Insurance Consortium and the Washington County Labor Council. Together they are calling on the Pennsylvania Attorney General to scrutinize the merger and pay close attention to what has happened in other communities, not just in the Pittsburgh area but statewide where mergers have taken place. The group pointed out hospital closures that have occured shortly after mergers were complete. They spoke of health care costs rising after mergers as well. The group is concerned about job loss and the diminished health care available to Washington if UPMC were to close Washington Hospital’s doors. WJPA has reached out to representatives from the Washington Health System and UPMC for comment and to date we have received no response.
October 6, 2023 9:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s employers added 336,000 jobs in September, an unexpectedly strong gain that suggests many companies remain confident enough to keep hiring despite high interest rates and a hazy outlook for the economy. Friday’s report from the Labor Department showed that hiring last month jumped from a 227,000 increase in August, which was revised sharply higher. July’s hiring was also healthier than initially estimated, and the economy has now added an average of 266,000 jobs a month in the past three months.
October 6, 2023 4:57 am
A United Nations report says that storms, fires and other extreme weather events led to more than 43 million displacements involving children between 2016 and 2021. The UNICEF report says that in some areas, like the Horn of Africa, the equivalent of nearly half of all children were uprooted during over that period. The report says the threat will worsen as climate change intensifies. In Africa and Asia, the biggest factors forcing families from their homes were floods and storms. In wealthier nations like the U.S. and Canada, wildfires were a major problem. The report says slower disasters like droughts can be hard to track and their impacts are likely underreported.
October 6, 2023 4:56 am
HROZA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials say at least 51 civilians were killed in a Russian rocket strike on a village store and cafe in the eastern part of the country in one of the deadliest attacks in recent months. Thursday’s attack in the village of Hroza came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was attending a summit of around 50 European leaders in Spain to drum up support from the country’s allies. Zelenskyy denounced the attack in Hroza as a “demonstrably brutal Russian crime” and “a completely deliberate act of terrorism.” He urged Western allies to help strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses, saying that “Russian terror must be stopped.”
October 6, 2023 4:55 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Biden administration is going to resume deporting migrants to Venezuela. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, speaking in Mexico City Thursday, cited the new measure as one of the “strict consequences” the Biden administration is pairing with the expansion of legal pathways for asylum seekers. The process is expected to begin shortly, two U.S. officials tell The Associated Press, though they did not provide specific details on when the flights would begin taking off. The resumption of deportation comes not long after the administration increased protected status for Venezuelans who arrive to the U.S., so if someone arrived to the U.S. before July 31 of this year, but not after, they’d be eligible for protections.
October 6, 2023 4:54 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is officially backing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the pugnacious House Judiciary Committee chairman and longtime Trump defender, to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. “Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR long before making his very successful journey to Washington, D.C., representing Ohio’s 4th Congressional District,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site shortly after midnight Friday. “He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!” The announcement came hours after Texas Rep. Troy Nehls said Thursday night that Trump had decided to endorse Jordan for the role.
October 6, 2023 4:51 am
NEW DELHI (AP) — Hundreds of rescuers dug through slushy debris and fast-flowing, icy water Friday in a search for survivors after a glacial lake burst through a dam in India’s Himalayan northeast, a disaster that many had warned was possible for years. The flood began in the early hours of Wednesday, when a water from a lake high in the mountains broke through the concrete of the dam, rushing down the valley below and killing at least 31 people. 100 are still missing, officials said, while thousands of people have had to flee their homes. It wasn’t clear what triggered the flood. The deadly flood was the latest to hit northeast India in a year of unusually heavy monsoon rains.
October 6, 2023 4:49 am
WEST READING, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania chocolate factory was fined more than $44,000 by the federal workplace safety agency on Thursday for failing to evacuate before a natural gas explosion that killed seven people. R.M. Palmer Co. did not heed warnings from employees about a natural gas leak. That is according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which issued multiple citations to the company. Palmer denied it violated any workplace safety standards and said it would contest the OSHA citation. Employees in both buildings have told federal investigators they could smell gas before the March 24 explosion in West Reading.
October 6, 2023 4:48 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats who control Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives are making another attempt to send hundreds of millions of dollars to four Pennsylvania universities and get around a partisan dispute that has stalled the money from passing. The funding was part of a flurry of tying up loose ends for the state’s $45 billion budget, which has dragged three months into the fiscal year without all of the elements of the spending plan in place. The bills now go on to the state Senate. The House adjourned after a busy week, and both chambers are scheduled to return to session on Oct. 16.
October 5, 2023 6:49 am
PINEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — The Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $1.4 billion after no players matched all six numbers and hit it rich. The winning numbers announced Wednesday night are: 9, 35, 54, 63, 64 and the Powerball 1. Players will next have a shot at the Powerball jackpot Saturday night. No matter how large the prize grows the odds stay the same. It’s those odds of 1 in 292.2 million that make the jackpot so hard to win. The $1.4 billion jackpot is for a sole winner who takes an annuity, paid annually over 30 years. Winners choosing the cash option would receive an estimated $643.7 million.
