February 16, 2025 3:27 am
PennDot is planning installation of chevron curve signs along selected roads in Washington, Greene, Fayette and Westmoreland Counties. They will also be performing tree trimming along those roads. The purpose of the installation is to improve safety along roads with distinct curves. According to PennDot, studies show a significant decrease in accidents along curves when drivers have been given early notice. In Washington County, four areas will have roads addressed with signs. PennDot is asking for feedback until February 24. Maps of the proposed sign construction and an area for feedback on the project may be found here. Construction of signs is expected to begin in the spring.
February 16, 2025 3:39 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. —(WPXI)- Waynesburg Police have identified two Pittsburgh men they say scammed a local school district out of thousands of dollars. Warrants are out for Brandon Vuocolo and Dominic George. Investigators say the two men used their real names when forging checks. They are accused of stealing a check that was meant to go to a contractor from the Central Greene County School District. “From what we understand they literally just took it out of the mailbox,” said Superintendent Matthew Blair. Police say the scheme is called ‘check washing.’ They are accused of changing the amount from $6,498 to $2,263, changing the date and changing the “pay to the order of” from Waller Corporation to Brandon Vuocolo for the first incident. The second time they reportedly changed the amount from $6,498 to $2,189 and the “pay to the order of” from Waller Corporation to Dominic George. Police say they repeated this six times, at three community banks in Washington, Rostraver and Claysville. “Two of them cashed it six times, somehow they were able to wash it and keep changing the number just slightly enough that they were able to cash it six times in an hour,” said Blair. The men face a number of felony charges including theft, forgery and theft of mail, and cashed around 15 thousand dollars. “If folks like that worked that hard at a regular job, the world would be a better place,” said Blair.
February 16, 2025 3:52 am
BROWNSVILLE, Pa.—(WPXI)-A local man who admitted to keeping his young daughter tied up in a dog crate among other forms of abuse is heading to prison. Jacob Weight Sr. and Mimi Frost were both charged in Fayette County with aggravated assault, corruption of minors, strangulation, endangering the welfare of children and more in February 2024. Pennsylvania State troopers said they found horrific conditions inside the couple’s Brownsville home. In the criminal complaint filed against them, investigators described it as a “mad house.” A judge sentenced Weight to at least 9 years behind bars on Friday. The girl’s mother, Mimi Frost is already serving at least 35 years in prison. Fayette County District Attorney Micheal Aubele issued a statement about the sentencing saying: “We appreciate the efforts of CYS, the Pennsylvania State Police and everyone involved in bringing justice for this little girl. She is with a wonderful family and can now move forward beyond the horrors she experienced at the hands of these defendants.”
February 15, 2025 8:59 am
PennDot has restored speed limits on certain roads that they temporarily reduced speeds on due to the winter storm. In Allegheny County, speed limits have been restored along Interstates 79, 376 (parkways east and west), 279 ( parkway north), and 579. Speeds are also restored on Rt. 28. In Beaver County restrictions have been lifted on Interstate 376 (Beaver Valley Expressway). In Lawrence County, restrictions remain on Interstates 79 and 376. PennDot is urging motorists to avoid all unnecessary travel. Go to www.511PA.com for updates.
February 15, 2025 4:19 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal workers were responding with anger and confusion Friday as they grappled with the Trump administration’s latest effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce by ordering agencies to lay off probationary employees who have yet to qualify for civil service protections. Many of those workers say they had already accepted the administration’s deferred resignation offer, under which they were supposed to be paid until Sept. 30 if they agreed to quit, raising questions about how many others who signed will nonetheless be fired.
February 15, 2025 4:12 am
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas-led militants have released three male Israeli hostages, parading them before a crowd in the southern Gaza Strip before handing them over to the Red Cross as part of a shaky ceasefire deal that requires Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange. The Red Cross delivered the three — Iair Horn, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Rusian-Israeli Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29 — to the Israeli military. All were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a hard-hit community in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. They appeared pale and worn, but seemed to be in better physical condition than the three men released last Saturday, who had emerged emaciated from 16 months of captivity.
February 15, 2025 4:09 am
MUNICH (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has shot back strongly in defense of his stance against the far-right and said his country won’t accept people who “intervene in our democracy,” a day after U.S. Vice President JD Vance scolded European leaders over their approach to democracy. The German leader spoke just eight days before crucial elections in Germany, with polls showing the far-right Alternative for Germany party currently in second. European leaders are trying to make sense of a tough new line from Washington on issues including democracy and Ukraine’s future as the Munich Security Conference enters a second day.
February 15, 2025 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is taking a blowtorch to the rules that have governed world trade for decades. The “reciprocal’’ tariffs that he announced Thursday are likely to create chaos for global businesses and conflict with America’s allies and adversaries alike. Pointing to America’s massive trade deficits, Trump charges that the playing field is tilted against U.S. companies. A big reason for that, he and his advisers say, is because other countries usually tax American exports at a higher rate than America taxes theirs. Trump has a fix: He’s raising U.S. tariffs to match what other countries charge. Economists don’t share Trump’s enthusiasm for tariffs. They’re a tax on importers that usually get passed on to consumers.
February 15, 2025 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigators say the crew of the Army helicopter that collided in midair with an American Airlines jet near Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the moments before the crash, and also may not have heard key instructions from air traffic controllers to move behind the plane.National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy says the recording from the Black Hawk helicopter cockpit suggests the crew may have missed the key instruction just before the Jan. 29 collision, in which all 67 aboard the two aircraft were killed.
February 14, 2025 5:56 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigators say the crew of the helicopter that collided midair with an American Airlines jet near Washington D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport might not have heard an instruction from the air traffic controller to pass behind the plane. National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said the recording from the Black Hawk helicopter cockpit suggests the crew may have missed the key instruction just before the Jan. 29 collision, in which all 67 aboard the two aircraft were killed. (Photo: AP)
