February 6, 2025 2:20 am
It took just over two hours for a jury to deliver a verdict in the trial of Jamil Carr who was convicted of killing 18 year old Antonio Martinez of Centerville, Tennessee during a fight at Jollick Manor in July of 2022. Carr was facing a criminal homicide felony charge. The jury returned a guilty verdict on a third degree murder charge. Carr was also convicted of a felony prohibited possession of a firearm charge. Reactions from family members were understandably diverse. Israel Cruz, father of Antonio Martinez said he is “glad justice was served.” Ciera King is the sister of Jamil Carr and she called the verdict “bogus” citing what she said was a lack of evidence to convict Carr. Carr will be sentenced in April.
February 5, 2025 2:49 am
A local attorney says they are waiting on a response from a Washington County judge regarding a lawsuit filed against him alleging that he fired an employee in a retaliatory move after she raised concerns about some of the decisions he made regarding defendants who appeared before him. Attorney Noah Geary says his client, Elizabeth Sullivan, filed the lawsuit this week against Washington County Judge John DiSalle and former court administrator Patrick Grimm, accusing them of eliminating her job overseeing DiSalle’s problem-solving court two years ago, when she told judicial officials that DiSalle denied many veterans in the specialty court, the right to have an attorney present and even sentenced some to serve jail time. Geary says DiSalle and Grimm have twenty days to respond to the suit. Geary says Sullivan took her concerns to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) who said they found the allegations credible and they had taken appropriate action. Geary claims that shortly after that notification, DiSalle announced that he was stepping down as President Judge, but would remain a judge. The suit claims that the AOPC directed DiSalle to step down from the President Judge’s position. The suit seeks sizeable compensation and a return of Sullivan to a job at the county. Calls to Judge DiSalle have not been returned and Grimm no longer works for the county.
February 6, 2025 2:51 am
The Mayor of Washington and the city’s Police Chief held a meeting on Wednesday with the owner of a business in the city that has been in the hub of recent criminal activity. Authorities arrested 62-year-old Lawrence Martin of East Washington Borough in connection with a stabbing at the Exxon on Ridge Avenue Thursday night. The male victim walked into UPMC Washington Hospital, claiming to have been stabbed. The victim, whose name has not been released, was transferred to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment of his injuries. Martin is now facing multiple charges. Mayor JoJo Burgess tells WJPA that the meeting was with the owner of the Exxon. Burgess says the owner was very agreeable to add some safety measures and Burgess says the city will closely monitor that location in the future and continue to work with the owner to ensure residents and customers are safe.
February 5, 2025 4:50 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The deadline for federal workers to receive financial incentives to quit is approaching. More than 2 million employees have until Thursday at 11:59 p.m. ET to decide what to do. Administration officials have been increasing their pressure on workers to leave, saying that furloughs or layoffs could come next. They also said that workers would have fewer civil service protections and higher scrutiny if they remain. The attempt to downsize the federal workforce has been spearheaded by Elon Musk, and it’s part of President Donald Trump’s effort to overhaul Washington. Democrats and unions have warned against accepting the deal, saying workers could be stiffed.
February 5, 2025 4:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump promised voters an administration that wouldn’t waste precious American lives and taxpayer treasure on far-off wars and nation building. But just weeks into his second go-around in the White House, the Republican leader laid out plans to use American might to “take over” and reconstruct Gaza, threatened to reclaim U.S. control of the Panama Canal and floated the idea that the U.S. could buy Greenland from Denmark, which has shown no interest in parting with the island. The rhetorical shift from America First to America Everywhere is leaving even some of his allies slack-jawed — and wondering if he’s really serious.
February 6, 2025 4:55 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Stunned Palestinians rejected President Donald Trump’s proposal to expel them from the Gaza Strip so that the U.S. could take over the territory and rebuild it for others. Many saw the comments as an effort to erase them from their homeland, a continuation of the expulsion and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from what is now Israel during the 1948 war. Palestinians displaced during the Israel-Hamas war have shown a powerful determination to return to their homes, with hundreds of thousands during the current ceasefire flooding back to neighborhoods devastated by Israeli bombardment and offensives. Trump’s top diplomat on Wednesday walked back the president’s proposal, saying he only wants to temporarily relocate Palestinians from Gaza.
February 6, 2025 4:56 am
President Donald Trump is ready to take his fight against transgender athletes to the International Olympic Committee. Trump wants the IOC to “change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject” ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Trump made the remarks while signing an executive order designed to keep men out of women’s sports. The order empowers both the office of the Secretary of State and the Department of Homeland Security to take steps to attempt to prevent international transgender female athletes from competing in the United States.
February 6, 2025 4:54 am
Dairy cattle in Nevada have been infected with a new type of bird flu that’s different from the version that has spread in herds since last year. U.S. Agriculture Department officials announced the finding Wednesday. It indicates that distinct strains of the H5N1 bird fluvirus have spilled over from wild birds into cattle at least twice. Experts said it raises news questions about wider spread and the difficulty of controlling infections in animals and the people who work closely with them. The new virus version found in cattle has been linked to severe infections in the U.S. and Canada.
February 6, 2025 4:45 am
ANTRIM TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — The heist of 100,000 eggs from the back of a trailer in Pennsylvania has become a whodunit that police have yet to crack. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Police said Wednesday that four days after the theft no leads have come in. Law enforcement officials say the crime could be tied to the sky-high cost of eggs. The officials are following up with any possible witnesses and looking into surveillance footage that could help them identify the perpetrator The eggs are worth about $40,000. Police say the eggs were snatched from the back of a Pete & Gerry’s Organics’ distribution trailer Saturday night in Antrim Township, Pennsylvania.
February 6, 2025 5:47 pm
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Thunderstorms caused flash flooding in portions of West Virginia and spawned a tornado in Kentucky, while a wintry mix coated trees and roads and even dropped “thunder ice” in several states. The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado tore apart roofs and scattered debris in south-central Kentucky. A long line of thunderstorms kept West Virginia residents awake overnight with hours of thunder and heavy rains. Several mid-Atlantic states were coated in ice before warmer temperatures moved in. In portions of Indiana, southern Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, residents and storm spotters reported seeing “thunder ice” — freezing rain accompanied by flashes of lightning in the unstable air.
