February 4, 2022 10:18 am
Uniontown, PA – PennDOT is advising motorists that portions of the following state roadways are closed or restricted due to flooding, downed trees, or downed utilities:
Washington County:
- McKee Road (Route 3011) between Boone Road in Canton Township and Prigg Road in Buffalo Township is closed due to a downed utility
- Route 980 in Cecil Township at the intersection of Crothers Lane is closed due to a downed utility.
- Joffre Bulger Road (Route 4012) in Smith Township between Columbia Drive and Joffre Cherry Valley Road is closed due to a downed tree.
- West Finley Road (Route 3037) in West Finley Township between Beham Ridge Road and Robison Run Road is closed due to a downed utility.
- Dutch Fork Church Road (Route 3004) in Donegal Township between Route 231 and Lake Road is closed due to a downed utility.
February 4, 2022 3:58 am
NEW YORK (AP) – President Joe Biden is pledging to New Yorkers and the nation that the federal government will step up its fight against gun violence by working more closely with police and communities to stop the surging bloodshed. Biden told police, law enforcement officials and others Thursday at the city’s police headquarters that “We can do something about this.” But Biden’s crime-fighting strategy relies heavily on buy-in from state and local officials as he suggests ways to spend federal dollars and expands on initiatives already under way. The modest initiatives demonstrate the limits to what he can do when there is no appetite in Congress to pass gun legislation.
February 4, 2022 3:56 am
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) – A California mayor says a San Francisco 49ers fan in a medically-induced coma fell after he was punched during a parking lot confrontation with an apparent Rams fan at the NFC championship game. Inglewood Mayor James Butts said Thursday that Sunday’s confrontation lasted less than five seconds. Daniel Luna, a 40-year-old Oakland restaurant owner, remains hospitalized. The mayor says blurry video shows Luna pushing a man in a Rams jersey in the parking lot. The man then pushes back and punches him, causing Luna to fall and hit his head. Authorities don’t have a good description of the suspect but they’re looking for a car that was at the scene.
February 4, 2022 3:53 am
A major winter storm that already cut electric power to about 350,000 homes and businesses from Texas to the Ohio Valley was set to leave Pennsylvania and New England glazed in ice and smothered in snow. A National Weather Service meteorologist said a foot of snow was expected to accumulate Friday in northern New York and northern New England. But it was the ice that threatened to wreak havoc on travel and electric service in the Northeast before the storm heads out to sea late Friday and Saturday.
February 4, 2022 3:51 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Michael Avenatti was convicted by a jury on charges that he cheated porn actor Stormy Daniels out of nearly $300,000 she was supposed to get for writing a book about an alleged tryst with former president Donald Trump. The verdict was returned Friday at a federal court in New York. The result was the culmination of an unusual trial in which Avenatti acted as his own lawyer and got to cross-examine Daniels about her belief in ghosts. Avenatti still faces other legal problems. He has yet to begin serving a 2 1/2 year prison sentence he received in 2020 for trying to extort up to $25 million from sportswear giant Nike. (Photo: AP)
February 4, 2022 3:50 am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Republican officials meeting in Utah have advanced a watered-down resolution that would formally censure Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for their perceived disloyalty to former President Donald Trump but not try to expel them from the party. The resolution’s passage by a subcommittee Thursday followed hours of hand-wringing over language that initially would have called on the House Republican Conference to expel Cheney and Kinzinger, the only two Republicans on the Jan. 6 House committee. The censure resolution is expected to be voted on Friday by all 168 Republican National Committee members at their winter meeting in Salt Lake City. RNC member Harmeet Dhillon called the watered-down resolution a “middle ground.”
February 4, 2022 3:48 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats have muscled legislation through the House that they say positions the U.S. to better compete with China economically by strengthening the domestic semiconductor industry and shoring up strained supply chains. The bill passed by a vote of 222-210. Criticizing China has become a bipartisan playbook in Washington. But in this case Republicans panned the measure as “toothless” and short of what is needed to hold China accountable for a range of actions. The nearly 3,000-page bill includes massive investments designed to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., but Democrats have also tucked in other priorities that have raised GOP concerns.
February 4, 2022 3:47 am
(WPXI) – All northbound lanes of Route 28 are closed after a crash. The incident is between Exit 13 (Crawford Run Road/Freeport Road) and Exit 17 (PA 356 South). This is in the area where Bakerstown Road crosses over Route 28. Officials said a crew from the Summit Hose Volunteer Fire Company was at the scene of another crash when a vehicle hit a fire truck from behind. The driver of that vehicle was pronounced dead. Officials said this stretch of highway will be shut down for quite a while. Vehicle traffic was being diverted off the highway at the Creighton Exit. PennDOT urges drivers to find an alternate route.
February 4, 2022 3:39 am
The Washington County Commissioners met on Thursday afternoon and amidst the 36 action items was the proposal to approve the recommendations from the Local Share Account committee. The committee listed 46 projects that will share in $7.2 million of funding generated from gambling money that was wagered at the Hollywood Casino at the Meadows. Commissioners unanimously voted to approve those recommendations to the Department of Community and Economic Development. Nearly half of those proposals are for water and sewer projects throughout the county. Commissioner Chairwoman Diana Irey-Vaughn credits the LSA funds for saving taxpayers money by funding these projects and not having taxes raised to make improvements and repairs. Community improvement projects were also funded. Irey-Vaughn pointed to the Daisytown Community Center Restoration Project that will help that group shore up their building to continue to provide their services to the community.
February 4, 2022 3:36 am
City Council met virtually Thursday evening due to deteriorating weather conditions. Council approved two measures using Community Block Development Grants to help bring upgrades to the city’s fire department. First, council approved appropriating $100,000 to upgrade the department’s bank of radios. The radios are nearing the end of their designed life and need to be replaced. Secondly, council approved the repairs needed for the Tylerdale fire station. The cost of the entire project is $238,000. That is $38,000 more than initially budgeted but council chose to perform all of the updates prescribed as opposed to eliminating and delaying projects that will be needed in the future. Funding for that project will also come from CBDG funds. In committee reports at the agenda meeting on Monday, Park Director DeAnna Martin described events and projects that are scheduled for this year. She spoke of a “Night at the Races” event to help fund the city’s Fourth of July celebration. She also spoke of the development of a dog park for residents to exercise their pets. Construction for that is ongoing. Councilman Andrew Callan praised Martin for her efforts in running the park.
