Pennsylvania Democrats Aim For United Front

June 20, 2022 4:20 am

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The fate of the Democratic Party is intertwined in a pair of Pennsylvania elections that’ll be closely watched this year. John Fetterman could help the party keep control of the U.S. Senate. Josh Shapiro faces a Republican rival for governor who has embraced conspiracies about the last presidential election. With the stakes so high, Fetterman and Shapiro are participating in a coordinated campaign funded and run by party organizations. But they’re already facing big challenges. Fetterman suffered a stroke last month and hasn’t returned to the campaign trail. And both candidates will be running in a difficult environment for Democrats, weighed down by inflation and President Joe Biden’s unpopularity.

Justices Seem Poised To Hear GOP Elections Case

June 20, 2022 4:18 am

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court seems poised to take on a new elections case being pressed by Republicans. It could increase the power of state lawmakers over races for Congress and the presidency, as well as redistricting. It also could cut state courts out of the equation. The issue has arisen repeatedly in cases from North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where Democratic majorities on the states’ highest courts have invoked voting protections in their state constitutions to frustrate the plans of Republican-dominated legislatures. Already, four conservative Supreme Court justices have noted their interest in deciding whether state courts that find violations of their state constitutions can order changes to federal elections and the once-a-decade redrawing of congressional districts.

Police Investigate Fatal I-70 Crash In Westmoreland County

June 20, 2022 4:14 am

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – A fatal car accident in Westmoreland County shut down a portion of Interstate 70 early Sunday. According to Westmoreland County 911, the interstate was shut down for a few hours because of the crash. According to police, the head-on crash happened at mile marker 53 at the Yukon exit at 12:05 a.m. Dispatch said one person, later identified as 25-year-old David Ott from Perryopolis, was killed and another person, a 28-year-old woman, was flown to UPMC Presbyterian. Police said the other driving was going the wrong way down the eastbound land and crashed into Ott’s car. Pennsylvania State Police said Ott wasn’t wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash. Pennsylvania State Police also said this is being investigated as DUI and charges are pending BAC results.

21-Year-Old Killed In Greene County Crash

June 20, 2022 4:11 am

CUMBERLAND TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A 21-year-old woman was killed in a car crash in Cumberland Township. According to the Greene County Coroner’s Office, the one-vehicle crash happened around 3:06 a.m. Sunday. Jennah Whipkey, 21, from Carmichaels, was pronounced dead an hour after the accident. The cause and manner of death are pending investigation.

Warren Buffet Charity Lunch Draws $19M Bid

June 19, 2022 8:05 am

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An anonymous bidder has shelled out a record $19 million for a private lunch with billionaire Warren Buffet at a steakhouse in New York City. The meal with the Berkshire Hathaway CEO was offered on an eBay auction to benefit the San-Francisco-based charity GLIDE, which helps homeless people and those in poverty. The winner can bring up to seven guests. Buffett has raised $53 million for GLIDE since the auction began in 2000. The charity earned the philanthropist billionaire’s support when his first wife, Susie, introduced him to it after she started volunteering there. She died in 2004. This year’s event will be the first private lunch offered with the 91-year-old billionaire since the previous record-setting bid of $4.5 million by cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun in 2019. The past two auctions were called off due to COVID-19 concerns and Buffett has said this will be the last. Like the winner this year, some other past winners have chosen to remain anonymous. One past winner, Ted Weschler, received a job offer from Buffett’s company after he spent nearly $5.3 million on two auctions in 2010 and 2011. Weschler now works as an investment manager for the Omaha, Nebraska, conglomerate, Berkshire.

U.S. Opens COVID Vaccine To Little Kids

June 19, 2022 8:03 am

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. on Saturday opened COVID-19 vaccines to infants, toddlers and preschoolers. The shots will become available this week, expanding the nation’s vaccination campaign to children as young as 6 months. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the vaccines for the littlest children, and the final signoff came hours later from Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the agency’s director. While the Food and Drug Administration approves vaccines, it’s the CDC that decides who should get them. The shots offer young children protection from hospitalization, death and possible long-term complications that are still not clearly understood, the CDC’s advisory panel said. The government has already been gearing up for the vaccine expansion, with millions of doses ordered for distribution to doctors, hospitals and community health clinics around the country. Roughly 18 million kids will be eligible, but it remains to be seen how many will ultimately get the vaccines. Less than a third of children ages 5 to 11 have done so since vaccination opened up to them last November.

State Jobless Rate Fell, Labor Force Grew In May

June 19, 2022 8:00 am

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s workforce grew again in May as the state’s unemployment rate sank to another post-pandemic low, according to new state figures released Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.6% from April’s rate, the state Department of Labor and Industry said. The national rate was 3.6% in May. In a survey of households, the labor force grew by 30,000, as the number of employed grew by 40,000 to farther above 6.1 million and the number of unemployed fell by 10,000 to below 300,000. The state’s labor force is rebounding after falling during the COVID-19 pandemic. It hit a record high of almost 6.6 million just before the pandemic hit, and still remains below 2008′s levels. In a separate survey of employers, non-farm payrolls in Pennsylvania grew in May by almost 7,000, driven primarily by hiring in leisure and hospitality and the education and health services sectors. The trade, transportation and utilities sector fell the most. At just above 5.9 million, payrolls are at their highest point since hitting a record high of nearly 6.1 million just before the pandemic, according to state figures. Pennsylvania has regained more than 80% of the 1.1 million jobs lost in the early months of the pandemic, figures show.

Victim Identified In I-70 Crash Overnight

June 19, 2022 7:52 am

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. (WPXI)— A fatal car accident in Westmoreland County shut down a portion of Interstate 70 overnight. According to Westmoreland County 911, the interstate was shut down for a few hours because of the crash. According to police, the crash happened at mile marker 53 at the Yukon exit at 12:05 a.m. Dispatch said one person, later identified as 25-year-old David Ott from Perryopolis, was killed and another person was flown to UPMC Presbyterian. Pennsylvania State Police said Ott wasn’t wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash. There’s no word on the injured person’s condition or identity.

Early Saturday Shooting In City

June 19, 2022 4:29 am

Washington Police were called to 246 Burton Avenue for an alleged shooting at 2:00 AM Saturday. According to county 9-1-1 officials, when police arrived they found a man with a gunshot wound near the intersection with East Hallam Avenue. The victim was taken to an undetermined hospital. The Washington Fire Department was called to wash down the area. WJPA will update this story as details emerge.

State Trooper Waives DUI Charge

June 19, 2022 3:30 am

A state police trooper accused of being drunk while on patrol last month waived the case to court during his preliminary hearing Friday. Jared Clyde Johnson, 46, of South Franklin, is facing one misdemeanor charge of drunken driving and two summary offenses after state police said he damaged his police vehicle after hitting a curb on patrol and was later found by a supervisor to be intoxicated. Johnson waived his case to court and will appear in DUI court on August 22.Johnson was on patrol when he was dispatched to a report of an injured deer on Interstate 70 near the Claysville exit. According to court documents he never went to the scene, and a supervisor later tracked Johnson down and found him sitting in his police vehicle in a gravel parking lot near the Taylorstown exit. The supervisor found a rum bottle in the passenger seat. A state police spokesman said Johnson has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of his case. He could face termination because the alleged offense happened with a state-issued vehicle.