May 4, 2022 4:16 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. (WPXI) – Police say they have arrested the man they believe struck a police officer Tuesday night. Bethel Park police say they had a driver stopped along South Park Road when another car going by hit one of the officers. A different officer pursued that car and when the driver stopped and the door opened, the officer said the smell of alcohol hit him. Authorities subsequently then arrested 67-year-old Richard Caporal. The officer was treated at the hospital and is now recovering at home. Police say Caporal’s DUIs date back to 1974. In 2011, a judge called him a “highway terrorist” after his 14th DUI. After that, he was not eligible to get his license back until 2043. If convicted, this would be his 15th DUI.
May 4, 2022 2:14 am
The National Weather Service says the damages in the Houston area from the powerful storms that slammed the region on Tuesday were not caused by a tornado. Crews from the NWS were out in full force Wednesday afternoon, working to determine whether the extensive damages were the result of a tornado, but after close examination, officials say the damages were the result of straight line winds with estimated speeds of between sixty and seventy miles an hour. Numerous trees were uprooted, tree branches were snapped and there was minor damage reported to several homes and a garage at Racetrack Road and Pike Street used by First Transit. Several other areas around the county reported damages as well, including North Strabane, Hickory, McMurray, Finleyville and Washington. There were no serious injuries reported. Power outages are still a concern though. At the height of the storm, more than nine-thousand West Penn Power customers were without electricity. By late Wednesday afternoon, that number was down to just over eight-hundred. (Photo of First Transit Garage courtesy of Wilbur White)
May 3, 2022 3:35 pm
No one was seriously injured Tuesday afternoon when a car slammed into a barn in West Pike Run Township just after noon. Bentleyville Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief Dominic Sicchitano tells WJPA News that the incident is under investigation by West Pike Run Township Police. He says there were minor injuries stemming from the crash but no one was transported. Sicchitano says the car plowed into a barn on Grange Road. (Photo: Bentleyville Fire and Rescue Facebook Page)
May 3, 2022 1:53 pm
Authorities in West Virginia have confirmed that two people were killed in a multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 70 westbound in West Virginia Tuesday afternoon. It happened just past the Claysville Exit across the state line. The Ohio County Sheriff has reportedly confirmed that the victims are a male and female from Pennsylvania. No names or ages were released at this time. At least one tractor-trailer was involved. I-70 westbound remains shut down in that area and is expected to be closed for a long period of time. Traffic is being detoured off of the Claysville Exit of I-70 onto Route 40. (Photo: Facebook)
May 3, 2022 1:20 pm
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia University is receiving $11 million in federal dollars for research on treating and slowing the progression of incurable eye diseases. West Virginia has the second-highest rate of visual disability in the U.S. A visual disability is a disability that cannot be treated with corrective glasses. The university is the second in the U.S. to receive a grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund a visual-sciences Center of Biomedical Research Excellence. The $11 million was awarded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a program of the National Institutes of Health.
May 3, 2022 10:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden says the “basic fairness and the stability of our law demand” that the U.S. Supreme Court not overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide. In a statement Tuesday, Biden said he would work to codify the right to abortion into federal law. Politico released a draft opinion that suggested the court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case. A decision to overrule Roe would lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states and could have huge ramifications for this year’s elections. It’s unclear if the draft represents the court’s final word on the matter – opinions often change in the drafting process.
May 3, 2022 4:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal jury has convicted a New York Police Department veteran of assaulting an officer during the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his claim he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gas mask. Thomas Webster showed no reaction to Monday’s verdict. Webster was the first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge and the first to present a jury with a self-defense argument. Webster testified he was trying to protect himself from a “rogue cop” who punched him in the face. Webster accused the Metropolitan Police Department officer of instigating the confrontation. The officer denied punching Webster, who’ll be sentenced in September.
May 3, 2022 4:04 am
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio Republicans will vote Tuesday in one of the most contentious and closely watched Senate primaries in the nation. Author and venture capitalist JD Vance is seen as the GOP front-runner in the race to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman after receiving former President Donald Trump’s endorsement. The winner is likely to face 10-term Democratic congressman Tim Ryan in what is expected to be a brutal November for Democrats. Incumbent Republican Gov. Mike DeWine appears well positioned to secure his party’s nomination for another term. In Indiana, more than a dozen state House members are trying to fend off Republican challenges from the right.
May 3, 2022 4:03 am
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) – A senior U.S. official is warning that Russia plans to annex much of eastern Ukraine later this month. Michael Carpenter is U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He said the U.S. believes the Kremlin also will recognize the southern city of Kherson as an independent republic. He said the United States and its allies would not recognize either move. Meanwhile, the Mariupol steel mill that has become the city’s last stronghold of resistance came under renewed assault Monday, a day after the first evacuation of civilians from the plant. Buses and ambulances carrying more than 100 civilians from the rubble-strewn steelworks were making slow progress toward Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia.
May 3, 2022 4:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A draft opinion suggests the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide. That’s according to a Politico report released Monday. A decision to overrule Roe would lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states and could have huge ramifications for this year’s elections. But it’s unclear if the draft represents the court’s final word on the matter – opinions often change in ways big and small in the drafting process. A Supreme Court spokeswoman said the court had no comment. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the draft, which if verified marks a shocking revelation of the high court’s secretive deliberation process.
