March 23, 2024 1:51 am
Township Managers from five area municipalities gathered Friday for a panel discussion that was put on by the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. Chartiers Twp. hosted the event and their manager Jodi Noble led the panel discussion on a broad range of topics. South Franklin Twp. Manager Tyler Linck says they are welcoming a new housing development that will bring 62 new homes there. Mt. Pleasant Twp. Manager Darla Protch spoke on community cooperation and the prospect of police force regionalization between her township and three other townships. Cecil Twp. Manager Don Gennuso said that their township is now going through their book of ordinances to make sure that they represent the needs of their residents both residentially and commercially. Andy Walz from North Strabane Township and Paul Lauer from Peters Twp. both spoke of expanded recreation projects that are ongoing in their townships. Noble also had her input to the discussion. She suggested a formal summit of business leaders and municipalities to discuss what the changing economy demands and how municipalities may best address those changes.
March 23, 2024 1:23 am
NORTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A 19-year-old Washington County man is in the ICU after a driver made an illegal left turn, striking his motorcycle. The accident happened around 7:30 a.m. on March 13 as Jeffrey Chickis was on the way to work on Morganza Road. North Strabane Township police say a driver crossed the double yellow line and illegally turned left onto Curry Hill Road. Chickis has two broken arms, broken wrists, a broken nose, a pelvis broken in three places and brain bleeds. Trauma doctors say Jeffrey’s helmet saved his life. North Strabane police are investigating the crash and charges are pending. Investigators tell our news partners at WPXI that the driver’s left turn was illegal and that other drivers also illegally turned into the Sewer Plant property. Jeffrey’s family is hoping anyone who witnessed the accident last Wednesday morning, or who stopped to help, will come forward. Jeff said he appreciated the police officer who told him the helmet he bought his son for Christmas saved his life.
March 22, 2024 5:18 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Some of Pennsylvania’s most populous counties are relocating polling places out of synagogues because next month’s primary election falls on the first day of Passover. The primary election is April 23. In Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, election officials relocated 16 polling places from synagogues and a Jewish community center. Polling locations were also shifted in the Philadelphia area where the city and its four “collar” counties together have about 200,000 Jewish households. Proposals to change this year’s primary date to avoid the Passover conflict and become more relevant to the presidential contest were debated last year but died in the Legislature.
March 22, 2024 2:56 pm
(AP) – Russia’s Federal Security Service says 40 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in an attack at a Moscow concert hall. The attack, which Russian authorities are investigating as terrorism, is the deadliest in Russia in recent years. The venue is still on fire and the death toll may rise. Several gunmen burst into the concert hall on the edge of Moscow and sprayed visitors with automatic gunfire, killing and wounding dozens and starting a massive blaze. Russian media reports that the venue’s roof is collapsing. The attack comes days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide.
March 22, 2024 2:55 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is at risk of being ousted. Hard-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia filed a motion to vacate on Friday during a House vote on a $1.2 trillion package to keep government open. Greene says it’s a “warning” to the Louisiana lawmaker. It’s the same political dynamic that removed the last Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, months ago. McCarthy’s was the first such ouster of a speaker after far-right conservatives revolted over his compromise with Democrats to prevent a federal shutdown. The House is scheduled to leave town for a spring recess. It’s doubtful any vote on Johnson’s removal would be imminent. Johnson’s spokesman says he’s “focused on governing.”
March 22, 2024 2:10 pm
LONDON (AP) — Kate, the Princess of Wales, says she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. The video announcement Friday came after weeks of speculation spread on social media about her whereabouts and health since she was hospitalized in January for unspecified abdominal surgery. Kate, 42, hadn’t been seen publicly since Christmas until video surfaced this week of her with her husband, Prince William, heir to the throne, walking from a farm shop near their Windsor home. Kensington Palace had given little detail about Kate’s condition beyond saying it wasn’t cancer-related, the surgery was successful and recuperation would keep the princess away from public duties until April. (Photo: AP)
March 22, 2024 5:04 am
Police have arrested two white supremacist gang members following an attack on corrections officers at an Idaho hospital, and investigators are looking into whether they killed two people while on the run. Escaped prison inmate Skylar Meade and accomplice Nicholas Umphenour were arrested during a traffic stop Thursday afternoon in Twin Falls. Police say Umphenour shot two Idaho corrections officers early Wednesday to break Meade out of custody. Authorities said during a news conference Thursday that they were investigating two homicides, in Clearwater County and Nez Perce County, which borders Washington state. Police found shackles at the scene of one of the killings.
March 22, 2024 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers have introduced a $1.2 trillion spending package that sets the stage for avoiding a partial government shutdown for several key federal agencies this weekend. The bill unveiled Thursday comes nearly six months into the current budget year and would allow Congress to complete its work in funding the government through September. Democrats were able to swat back scores of policy mandates and some of the steeper budget cuts that House Republicans were seeking to impose on nondefense programs. Among the policy wins that House Speaker Mike Johnson is highlighting for Republicans is a nearly 24% increase in detention beds for migrants awaiting their immigration proceedings or removal from the country.
March 22, 2024 5:01 am
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, on the final stop in his sixth urgent trip to the region since the start of the war. Blinken says he will share alternatives to Israel’s planned ground assault into the southern Gaza town of Rafah during his talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his War Cabinet. Later Friday, the United Nations Security Council will vote on a U.S.-sponsored resolution declaring “the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire.” It also emphasizes the urgent need for aid in Gaza. The World Health Organization says so little food has been allowed in that up to 60% of children under 5 are now malnourished.
March 22, 2024 5:00 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has attacked electrical power facilities in much of Ukraine, including the country’s largest hydroelectric plant, causing widespread outages and killing at least three people. Ukraine’s energy minister says the nighttime drone and rocket attacks were the largest on the country’s energy sector in recent times. He says the goal was to cause a large-scale disruption of the energy system. The attacks caused a fire at the Dnipro Hydroelectric Station, which supplies electricity to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power installation. The International Atomic Energy Agency says the main 750-kilovolt power line to the plant was cut off but a lower-power backup line was working.
