May 1, 2022 8:04 am
NORTH STRABANE, Pa. — Multiple fire crews were called to a shed fire in North Strabane Township just off of Route 19. According to reports, the blaze was called in just before 12:30 a.m. Sunday on the 200 block of Mansfield Road. North Strabane Township Fire Department was assisted by Peters Township, Canonsburg and Washington on scene. There were no reported injuries and no cause of the fire has been released at this time.
May 1, 2022 7:57 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Sunday’s lineup is busy with the Pittsburgh Marathon making its big return after a 2-year hiatus, the University of Pittsburgh’s graduation and an afternoon Pirates game. There will be dozens of road closures scheduled and thousands of visitors flooding the city. With hundreds of signs posted and barricades ready to block dozens of roads, city police said drivers were warned to make way for the return of the Pittsburgh Marathon. “Over the last year, we’ve been working with fire, with EMS, Allegheny County dispatchers and the National Weather Service,” said Pittsburgh Police Commander Cristyn Zett. With hundreds of moving parts, officials have worked to clear a 26-mile path that spans several neighborhoods including the South Side, North Side, Shadyside, Homewood, Highland Park, Friendship, Lawrenceville, the Strip District and Oakland. “It’s going to be a very busy day in the city,” said Zett.
May 1, 2022 4:13 am
SOMERSET COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) -Suspended Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Thomas was in court Friday for a bond revocation hearing. A judge decided he will be kept under house arrest until his trial, rather than going to jail. The judge said he had to consider 3 things: if there was a bond violation, if there was a danger and if he had any contact with witnesses. The judge determined prosecutors met their proof, but did not order Thomas to jail. ”If they proved their allegations at this level, that’s appropriate. I think, what would’ve been inappropriate would be for him to be fully incarcerated in the Somerset County Jail,” Thomas’ defense attorney, Ryan Tutera said. The AG’s office said Thomas’ behavior is why they were there Friday. They told the judge they believe Thomas is a dangerous person who cannot be trusted with his freedom. The judge agreed that he felt Thomas violated his bond, but instead of incarceration, he ordered him to live with his parents under electronic monitoring and GPS tracking. Thomas was just hit with two new and wholly separate cases this week. One is stemming from an alleged assault in May of last year where Thomas is accused of punching his wife in the head multiple times while she was on a FaceTime call with someone. She testified Friday that she did not even know about the charges until Thomas was being arraigned. A few weeks ago, Windber Police said Thomas chased down a commonwealth witness, and friend of the sexual assault victim, with his truck and allegedly deliberately rammed his truck into the witness’ vehicle. Thomas is expected to go to trial in September for the initial sexual assault charges that led to all of this fallout. If Thomas violates any of these conditions, he will immediately be sent to jail.
May 1, 2022 4:11 am
MONONGAHELA, Pa. — (WPXI) – A Washington County couple is arrested on felony child endangerment charges, accused of leaving fentanyl out in front of their 1-year-old baby. Monongahela Police escorted a CYS worker to Branddon Danilchak and Kaya Zakrzewski’s Finleyville home. They were checking on the couple’s three children after getting a report that the children were being exposed to drugs. Officers found two bricks of heroin in a closet, empty stamp bags, drug paraphernalia and a white powdery substance. Zakrzewski told police it was fentanyl and that her 1-year-old daughter was in the bedroom the whole time it was out in the open. “It’s extremely dangerous. It takes a very small amount of fentanyl to injure or kill somebody and we know kids get into just about everything,” said Sgt Ryan Lenzi of the Monongahela City Police department. The CYS worker who responded to the home became ill with nausea and light-headedness, before vomiting. She was rushed by ambulance to Jefferson Hospital. Zakrzewski told police Danilchak was purchasing heroin with his pandemic unemployment money until 2021. After that money ran out, she told police she gave him $200 a week to purchase it.
May 1, 2022 1:27 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Naomi Judd, whose family harmonies with daughter Wynonna turned them into the Grammy-winning country stars The Judds, has died. She was 76. Her daughters, Wynonna and Ashley, announced her death on Saturday in a statement provided to The Associated Press. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the statement said. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.” Naomi Judd died near Nashville, Tennessee, said a statement on behalf of her husband and fellow singer, Larry Strickland. It said no further details about her death would be released and asked for privacy as the family grieves. The Judds were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday and they had just announced an arena tour to begin in the fall, their first tour together in over a decade. The mother-daughter performers scored 14 No. 1 songs in a career that spanned nearly three decades. The red-headed duo combined the traditional Appalachian sounds of bluegrass with polished pop stylings, scoring hit after hit in the 1980s. Wynonna led the duo with her powerful vocals, while Naomi provided harmonies and stylish looks on stage.
April 30, 2022 10:26 am
KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian forces are fighting to hold off a Russian advance aimed at capturing an eastern industrial region along with Ukraine’s last holdout in the southern city of Mairupol. The United Nations is trying to broker an evacuation of civilians holed up with Ukrainian fighters in a steel mill and from other parts of the bombed-out port city. Two women whose husbands belong to the Azov Regiment of Ukraine’s National Guard say they fear soldiers will be tortured and killed if left behind and captured by the Russians. They shared video and photos with The Associated Press of wounded men with open wounds or amputated limbs.
April 30, 2022 10:24 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has warned again that the North could preemptively use its nuclear weapons if threatened. His latest comments came as he praised his top army officials for a massive military parade in Pyongyang this week. State media reported Saturday that Kim expressed “firm will” to continue developing his nuclear-armed military so that it could “preemptively and thoroughly contain and frustrate all dangerous attempts and threatening moves, including ever-escalating nuclear threats from hostile forces, if necessary.” The parade on Monday came after a spate of missile tests that underscored Kim’s willingness to force the United States to accept the North as a nuclear power and remove crippling economic sanctions.
April 30, 2022 10:22 am
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – A suspected tornado that barreled through parts of Kansas has damaged multiple buildings, injured several people and left more than 6,500 people without power. Andover Fire Chief Chad Russell said the suspected twister that moved though parts of southeast Wichita and Andover on Friday evening damaged 50 to 100 buildings in Sedgwick County. It was not immediately known how many buildings were damaged in Andover. Officials said three people were injured in Sedgwick County, including one woman who suffered serious injuries. Russell said no injuries had been reported in Butler County, but a secondary assessment would be conducted Saturday morning.
April 30, 2022 10:19 am
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – Thousands of firefighters are battling destructive wildfires in the Southwest as more residents are preparing to evacuate into the weekend in northern New Mexico. Strong winds in bone-dry conditions have made the blazes especially difficult to contain. The biggest fire in the U.S. grew Friday east of Santa Fe to more than 117 square miles. Gusty winds grounded aircraft and crews lost some of the containment they had established in recent days. About 1,000 firefighters on the lines, and officials say more air and ground support is on the way. Experts say some of the wildland timber is drier than kiln-dried wood.
April 30, 2022 10:14 am
BEIJING (AP) – China’s manufacturing activity fell to a six-month low in April as lockdowns continued in Shanghai and other manufacturing hubs in an attempt to stem COVID-19 outbreaks. The monthly purchasing managers’ index, released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, fell to 47.4 in April, down from 49.5 in March on a 100-point scale. Numbers below 50 show activity contracting. The statistics bureau says the domestic COVID-19 outbreaks have impacted China’s factory activities and market demand. Some enterprises have reduced or stopped production, with disruptions in logistics as well as the supply or raw materials and components. The construction industry continued to expand, especially the civil engineering construction sector, offering hope for economic recovery.
