March 5, 2023 7:48 am
FAYETTE COUNTY (WPXI) — Powerful winds wreaked havoc in Fayette County overnight Friday. Trees were knocked down throughout the area, including the front yard of Lisa Metts in Dunbar Township. When the tree fell near her house it was smoking after hitting a live wire. The strong winds also caused traffic problems. Beeson Avenue was blocked off Saturday morning after a large pine tree fell onto it, just missing a nearby house. Route 119 was shut down to traffic from Connelsville Road to 80 Acres Road after strong gusts of wind snapped utility poles. Traffic lights are out throughout the area, including at the busy intersection of West Main Street and New Salem Road where businesses are also without power. West Penn Power said they would be working 16-hour long shifts around the clock until power is restored to all customers.
March 5, 2023 7:44 am
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (WPXI) — A Norfolk Southern train has derailed in Springfield, Ohio. Around 20 cars of the train derailed near the Clark County Fairgrounds Saturday evening, WHIO reports. Emergency crews were called to the area of State Route 41 and Gateway Boulevard at around 5 p.m. The Clark County Emergency Management Agency is asking residents who live within 1,000 feet of the derailment site to shelter in place. They are not issuing evacuation orders at this time. Norfolk Southern said they do not believe any hazardous materials were involved. Multiple state and local agencies are responding to the situation, including the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Clark County Emergency Management agency. More than 1,500 people are without power in Clark County due to downed power lines.
March 5, 2023 7:42 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Josh Shapiro will unveil his first budget as he aims to remake the state’s public school funding system and to put Pennsylvania on competitive footing with other states to attract major companies. The Democrat will deliver it to lawmakers Tuesday. One big Shapiro campaign promise is to cut Pennsylvania’s sky-high corporate income tax rate by more than half within two years. Shapiro also is vowing to make a “down payment” on the billions of dollars that public school advocates say are necessary to fix disparities between poor and wealthy districts. But Shapiro is saddled with a slow-growing Pennsylvania economy, grim demographic trends and what he calls a “workforce crisis.”
March 5, 2023 4:20 am
Power is being restored to customers In Fayette and Westmoreland County following storms that rolled through the region Friday night. According to the West Penn Power website, there are still 538 power outages in Fayette County. Initially, more than 20-thousand customers had lost power. Westmoreland County currently sits with the highest amount of power outages at more than 2-thousand.
March 5, 2023 3:54 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A skin lesion removed from President Joe Biden’s chest last month was a basal cell carcinoma — a common form of skin cancer. That’s according to his doctor, who added that no further treatment was required. Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the White House doctor who has served as Biden’s longtime physician, said Friday that “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” during the president’s routine physical on Feb. 16. O’Connor says the site of the removal on Biden’s chest has “healed nicely” and the president will continue regular skin screenings as part of his routine health plan.
March 5, 2023 3:48 am
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Defense attorneys for a man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death have asked the Idaho Supreme Court to keep a gag order in place. The attorneys for Bryan Kohberger filed the opposition to the media challenge on Friday. They say a challenge to the order filed by 30 news organizations is premature and that media coverage of the case has been “twisted.” Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths in Moscow, Idaho. The news organizations contend the gag order violates free speech rights and that there are other ways to ensure Kohberger receives a fair trial.
March 4, 2023 3:55 am
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Tom Sizemore, the “Saving Private Ryan” actor whose bright 1990s star burned out under the weight of his own domestic violence and drug convictions, has died at age 61. His manager Charles Lago said Sizemore died at a hospital in Burbank, California on Friday. He had suffered a brain aneurysm early Feb. 18 at his Los Angeles home. Sizemore became a star with acclaimed appearances in “Natural Born Killers” and Michael Mann’s cult-classic crime thriller “Heat.” But serious substance dependency, abuse allegations and multiple run-ins with the law devastated his career, left him homeless and in debt for millions of dollars and sent him to jail.
March 4, 2023 3:53 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Archaeologists have found the first direct evidence for horseback riding in 5,000 year old skeletons in central Europe. The advent of horseback riding transformed human history by accelerating trade, communications and warfare. These early riders belonged to a people called the Yamnaya, who originated in parts of what is today Ukraine and western Russia. The researchers identified them as riders based on six tell-tale markers that indicate a person was likely riding an animal, including characteristic wear marks on the hip sockets and pelvis. The Yamnaya expanded across Eurasia, from Hungary to Mongolia, and their relationship with horses may have enabled these great migrations.
March 4, 2023 3:50 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Some residents stranded in Southern California mountain communities by a huge snowfall could be stuck for another week. San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus’ Friday estimate is an improvement in the outlook. The estimate has ranged up to two weeks. The sheriff attributes the change to the arrival of state assistance. A late-February blast of arctic air produced a rare blizzard east of Los Angeles in the San Bernardino Mountains. Thousands of people live at high elevations there in forest communities or visit for year-round recreation. Extraordinary snowfall buried homes and businesses. It overwhelmed the capability of snowplowing equipment geared toward ordinary storms.
March 4, 2023 3:49 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state representative accused of sexual harassment says he’s not resigning but plans to enter inpatient treatment of some kind. A letter sent Friday to House Democratic leaders by Delaware County Rep. Mike Zabel says he’s “very mindful of and saddened by the sensitive and disturbing allegations.” A union lobbyist this week said it was Zabel who sexually harassed her four years ago. She says he caressed her leg while they were discussing legislation. Zabel is a Democrat first elected in 2018. He didn’t respond to requests for comment Friday, but his letter to Democratic leaders refers to an unspecified illness and says he wants to focus on recovery.
