July 19, 2022 12:32 pm
(WPXI) – A Greensburg police officer is facing charges after he was accused of domestic violence. According to a criminal complaint, law enforcement met with the victim at the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office at 1:53 p.m. on July 15th. The victim told detectives that she and the Greensburg officer, Kenneth Burke, had been dating since May 2022. She also said they were intimate partners and they sometimes lived together. The complaint said that just before midnight on July 14th, the victim went to Burke’s house, where he was standing near the front door. She said he got in her face and started screaming about an unknown woman having his phone number and accusing the victim of giving it to her. Burke then stood behind her, put his arm over her shoulder and placed his arm around her neck in a choke-hold. Burke is being charged with strangulation, harassment and simple assault. He is also on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.
July 19, 2022 4:54 am
The magisterial office in Peters Township has been operated by senior judges since Common Pleas Court Judge Jesse Pettit was sworn in at the beginning of this year. As of Monday, the office now has a permanent Magistrate in former Common Pleas Judge Phillippe A. Melograne, Esq. Melograne, a Peters Township resident, worked through the public notice about the open position. He obtained sponsorship from State Senators Camera Bartolotta and Devlin Robinson to have his name submitted to the Governor’s office for nomination. Once approved by the Governor, Melograne was unanimously approved by the State Senate. Melograne will be filling out the remainder of Judge Pettit’s term. His first try at election will be the May 2023 primary. That all depends on whether the Peters Township office will remain open. The County Court is looking to realign the magisterial system and eliminate two offices. The easiest to eliminate would have been the Peters Township office as it had a vacancy. Now that the vacancy is filled, it remains to be seen if the office will close. Melograne’s start date is pending the review of all documents submitted for the position. Melograne thanked his wife and family for their support and thanked many other friends and colleagues at his swearing in ceremony at the courthouse Monday afternoon.
July 19, 2022 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House is set to vote to protect same-sex and interracial marriages. Tuesday’s vote stands as a direct confrontation with the Supreme Court, whose conservative majority in overturning Roe v. Wade abortion access signaled that other rights may be in jeopardy. While the Respect for Marriage Act is expected to pass the House, it is almost certain to stall in the Senate, where most Republicans would surely block it. But it’s part of a political strategy setting up an election-year roll call that will force all lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, to go on the record with their views on the high-profile social issue.
July 19, 2022 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Two former White House aides are expected to testify at the House Jan. 6 committee’s hearing Thursday as the panel examines what Donald Trump was doing as his supporters broke into the Capitol, according to a person familiar with the plans. Matthew Pottinger and Sarah Matthews are expected to testify, according to the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and requested anonymity. Pottinger is a former deputy national security adviser and Matthews is a former press aide. Both resigned immediately after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.
July 19, 2022 4:17 am
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) – Bankruptcy has forced Sri Lanka’s government to a near standstill. The once-beloved and now reviled former president fled to Singapore before resigning. The acting president and prime minister is seen as his proxy and opposed by angry crowds. Parliament is expected to elect a new leader Wednesday, but it’s unclear if that’s enough to placate a furious nation that has grown disillusioned with politician of all stripes. The International Monetary Fund is monitoring the situation closely, but any bailout package will be contingent on Sri Lanka’s debt-restructuring strategy and political stability. The government owes $51 billion in debt and is unable to make payments on its loans. Its currency has collapsed by 80%, making imports more expensive and worsening inflation.
July 19, 2022 4:16 am
LONDON (AP) – Britain has recorded its warmest ever night, ahead of a day when temperatures are forecast to hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The U.K.’s Met Office weather agency said provisional figures showed the temperature remained above 25 C (77 F) overnight in parts of the country for the first time. Met Office forecaster Rachel Ayers said Tuesday’s highs would be “unprecedented,” with temperatures hitting 40 or 41 Celsius. It comes as a heat wave scorching Europe wallops a country more used to mild weather and rain. Hot weather has gripped southern Europe since last week, triggering wildfires in Spain, Portugal and France
July 19, 2022 4:15 am
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Iran starting Tuesday is intended to deepen ties with regional heavyweights as part of Moscow’s challenge to the United States and Europe during its grinding campaign in Ukraine. In only his second trip abroad since Russian tanks rolled into its neighboring country in February, Putin is scheduled to hold talks with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about some of the most pressing issues facing the region, including the conflict in Syria and a U.N.-backed proposal to resume exports of Ukrainian grain to ease the global food crisis.
July 19, 2022 4:13 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Washington and Fayette counties have now been elevated to medium-risk level for COVID-19. State health officials say if you’re at high risk for severe illness, this is when you should talk to your doctor about possibly taking precautions like wearing a mask or getting tested if you have symptoms. Allegheny County is still considered low risk. Dr. Donald Yealy is the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s chief medical officer and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine. He told us across the health system’s 40 hospitals, the number of admissions has been steady, admitting somewhere between 130 and 180 people over the past several weeks. “What we really focus on is how many people come to the hospitals and have positive tests and how many need more extensive care,” Yealy said. Meanwhile, the White House is urging caution this summer, as new COVID-19 subvariants are becoming more common. BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of omicron are currently spiking across Europe. Washington Health System’s chief medical officer says they don’t track variants in-house, but he expects they are seeing it.
July 19, 2022 4:07 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – While gas prices are steadily declining across the state, Pennsylvanians are still paying more on-average than drivers who are filling up their tanks in several other parts of the nation. On Monday, Pennsylvania’s average for a regular gallon of gas was $4.67. That cost is about a dime below last week’s average, of $4.78, but still higher than the current national average of $4.52. According to Jim Garrity, Director of Public Affairs for AAA East Central, that disparity is “something that we consistently see happening,” as the result of Pennsylvania’s gas tax. “The gas tax in Pennsylvania is consistently one of the highest,” Garrity said. “At some points, it is the highest in the entire country.” And yet, gas prices tend to also range region to region. According to AAA data, counties within Southwest PA are tending to pay closer to $4.72, while counties in Southeast PA are paying closer to $4.63. Here in Washington, AAA put the average price at $4.78 a gallon.
July 18, 2022 5:20 pm
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia police are looking for a man they say raped a woman on a subway platform while holding her boyfriend at gunpoint early Monday. This is the third reported sexual assault since October on a Philadelphia-area commuter train or train platform. The rape happened at around 4:30 a.m. on the Snyder Avenue station platform on the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s Broad Street Line, said Philadelphia Police Capt. James Kearney, the head of the special victims unit, at a news conference Monday afternoon. The 40-year-old woman was in the station with her boyfriend, trying on clothes he had bought her, police said. The suspect entered the station with his bicycle, and the three acknowledged each other. A few minutes later the suspect came back to where the victim was, and demanded sex while pointing a handgun with an extended magazine at the victim and her boyfriend, Kearney said. In surveillance video from the station, Kearney said the boyfriend can be seen holding his hands up while the suspect points the gun at him. After the assault, the man exited the station on his bicycle and the victim and her boyfriend left the station through a different exit to call police. Authorities said it was unclear if the station was open to the public when the three entered. The first SEPTA train arrives at the station around 4:45 a.m. The assault Monday comes just a few months after police charged a man in an April sexual assault aboard a SEPTA train, also on the Broad Street Line.
