April 23, 2024 2:37 am
A Donora man has died after being struck by a train late Monday night. Authorities say 30-year-old Cody David Kimmel was struck by a train around eleven-thirty near 65 East First Street in Donora. He was taken to Penn Highlands Monongahela Valley Hospital where he died a short time later. The incident is under investigation by the Donora Police Department and the Norfolk Southern Railroad Police. An autopsy is pending.
April 24, 2024 5:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is considering a case that will determine when doctors can provide abortions during medical emergencies in states with bans enacted after the high court’s sweeping decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The case’s hearing begins Wednesday and comes from Idaho, which is one of 14 states that now ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy with limited exceptions. The Biden administration argues that even in states where abortion is banned, federal health care law says hospitals must be allowed to terminate pregnancies in rare emergencies where a patient’s life or health is at serious risk. Idaho contends its ban has exceptions for life-saving abortions but allowing it in more medical emergencies would turn hospitals into “abortion enclaves.”
April 23, 2024 5:09 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A veteran tabloid publisher has testified that he pledged to be Donald Trump’s “eyes and ears” during his 2016 presidential campaign, recounting for a jury how he promised the then-candidate that he would help suppress harmful stories and had even arranged to purchase a doorman’s silence. The testimony on Tuesday from David Pecker was designed to bolster prosecutors’ assertions of a decades-long friendship between Trump and the former publisher of the National Enquirer that culminated in an agreement to give the candidate’s lawyer a heads-up on negative tips and stories so they could be quashed.
April 24, 2024 5:08 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests. At the University of Texas at Austin, dozens of local police and state troopers formed a line to prevent students from marching through the campus Wednesday, eventually clashing with the protesters and detaining multiple people. And at the University of Southern California, police removed several tents, then got into a tugging match with protesters before falling back. The actions across the U.S. came after Columbia University averted another confrontation between students and police earlier in the day.
April 24, 2024 5:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles, striking a Russian military airfield in Crimea and Russian troops in another occupied area overnight. The strikes come about a month after the U.S. secretly provided the weapons so Ukraine could strike targets up to 190 miles away. One U.S. official says the delivery of the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, was approved by President Joe Biden in February, and then in March the U.S. included a “significant” number of them in a $300 million aid package announced. The official says the U.S. is providing more in the latest aid package.
April 24, 2024 5:13 am
SYDNEY (AP) — Australian police say they have arrested seven teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology in raids around Sydney to protect the community from a potential attack. They say the seven arrested Wednesday are part of a network that includes a 16-year-old boy who is accused of the stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church last week. Five other teenagers were still being questioned late Wednesday by the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team. Officials say more than 400 police officers executed 13 search warrants at properties across southwest Sydney on Wednesday because the teens were considered an immediate threat. They say investigators found no evidence of specific targets for any intended “violent act.”
April 24, 2024 5:14 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Korean War veteran from Minnesota who still carries shrapnel in his leg from when he was wounded in combat will finally get his Purple Heart medal, 73 years late. The U.S. Army notified 96-year-old Earl Meyer, of St. Peter, this week that it has reversed itself and granted him a Purple Heart, which honors service members wounded or killed in combat. The decision came after a campaign by his daughters and attorney. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota championed his case, which previously had been rejected due to a lack of documentation. Attorney Alan Anderson says they’re now hoping to arrange a presentation ceremony “in the near future.”
April 23, 2024 2:53 am
Tuesday is Primary Election Day in Pennsylvania and here in Washington County, Elections Director Melanie Ostrander is predicting a thirty-five-percent voter turnout. Ostrander says that is a typical turnout for a federal election primary. The election has been tainted with a recent decision by the county’s board of elections, to forbid ballot curing, the fixing of mistakes on absentee and mail-in ballots. Ostrander says they have received 14,147 requests for mail-in ballots, with the majority, over ten-thousand, being from Democrats and the remainder, a little over three-thousand, being from Republicans. Out of those, as of Monday, Ostrander says they have received 11,067 back. Out of that number, 8,409 were Democratic ballots, while the remainder, a little over twenty-six-hundred, were Republican. Pennsylvania leaves a number of election decisions up to county officials. The result has been a lack of uniformity ranging from whether to cure mail-in ballots to the use of drop boxes. Westmoreland, Allegheny, Greene and Fayette counties all allow mail-in ballot curing. Locally, State Representative Bud Book has a Republican challenger in the 50th Legislative District. Stephanie Waggett, is a 44-year-old Carmichaels resident, a registered nurse and a former administrator at the Fayette Energy Facility in Masontown. Cook and Waggett will be vying for Republican votes in the primary election. Cook has represented the 50th Legislative District since the beginning of last year as a result of redistricting. The 50th Legislative District includes all of Greene County and portions of Washington County.
April 22, 2024 2:12 am
Charges have been filed against two Washington men who are accused of shooting and killing a teenager in South Franklin Township earlier this month. Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh announced on Monday that charges have been filed against Windale Barfield Jr. and Karon Whitlock in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Annalaya Wilkerson of Monongahela and the wounding of a 17-year-old girl. Wilkerson and the juvenile were found shot on the side of Jolly School Road on April 13th. Walsh says both men have been charged with criminal homicide, conspiracy, attempted homicide and aggravated assault. At the time the complaint was filed, neither men were in custody. Anyone with information on Barfield and Whitlock should call PSP Washington at 724-223-5200.
April 23, 2024 4:49 am
Peters Township Council spent a long evening making decisions on several land parcels that have been under consideration for development. In the beginning of the night, council reconvened a public hearing on rezoning of approximately 17 acres of land adjacent to E. McMurray Road. On one parcel, an assisted living facility was proposed, on the second parcel approximately 80 townhomes were proposed. Council took testimony for an hour hearing about increased traffic and safety for young children that are in the existing neighborhood that would contain a main traffic artery. Council removed the Mixed Residential Overlay and rezoned the property to Low Density Residential. The developer of the plans, Andrew Zahalsky had no comment on the action. Also at issue was the Froebe Gardens Development adjacent to Peterswood Park. Developers initially asked for a time extension for a decision on the development. That request was denied. Also denied was the approval of the development. Township officials criticized the developer for not taking action on approximately 3 dozen conditions associated with this development and two prior plans that had similar conditions applied to them. Council denied the plan for 191 homes presented and the property will likely be rezoned to Low Density Residential. Finally, at the end of the evening, council heard from residents concerned about a development in North Strabane Township that will border Peters Lake Park. Residents hope that Peters Township Council will join them in their efforts to prevent the building of the Collective at Peters Lake. Council did offer their support to the group but explained to them that they have no say in the matter, but will make sure that North Strabane Township officials are aware of their concerns. Council will hold a joint meeting with the Peters Township School District on April 29 to update each other on happenings in each of their organizations.
