July 14, 2023 10:29 am
Matt Staniszewski promised to fight his termination as Manager of the Borough of Charleroi and on Thursday he responded. According to the Mon Valley Independent, Attorney Timothy R. Berggren filed a complaint in Washington County Court on his behalf. It includes five charges; Breach of contract, Violation of the Sunshine Act, Violation of Loudermill rights, Attorney fees and Local agency appeal. On Wednesday, Borough Council voted unanimously to terminate Staniszewski. The action came one-month after the board has suspended him for ten-days without pay after residents complained about his behavior during meetings. Council also rejected a recommendation from solicitor Sean Logue to provide Staniszewski four-months’ pay and benefits, as well as four-thousand dollars in attorney fees as part of a separation agreement. Staniszewski deferred comment to WJPA News to his attorneys. Berggren has not returned our call for comment. Logue, meanwhile, says council will hire outside legal counsel to handle its representation in the matter.
July 14, 2023 5:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new poll finds that only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans. Majorities of adults say U.S. laws and policies on key issues don’t do a good job of representing what most Americans want, on issues ranging from the economy and government spending to gun policy, immigration and abortion. According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 53% say Congress is doing a bad job of upholding democratic values, compared with just 16% who say it’s doing a good job.
July 14, 2023 5:13 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa judge will consider a request to postpone the state’s new ban on most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, just as Gov. Kim Reynolds is scheduled to sign the measure into law. The split screen on Friday punctuates a years-long battle between abortion advocates and opponents in Iowa. Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. It would be far more restricted when Reynolds puts pen to paper, unless the judge issues a temporary hold. The legislation prohibits almost all abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant.
July 14, 2023 5:13 am
PARIS (AP) — France is celebrating its national holiday Friday with whizzing warplanes and a grand Bastille Day parade in Paris. It is also deploying 130,000 of police around the country to prevent a new outbreak of unrest in underprivileged neighborhoods. The annual events celebrating the start of the French revolution on July 14, 1789 this year come in the wake of the nation’s most serious rioting in nearly 20 years. The unrest followed the fatal police shooting of a teen with North African roots that laid bare anger over entrenched inequality and racial discrimination. India is the guest of honor at this year’s Bastille Day parade.
July 14, 2023 5:12 am
Russian President Vladimir Putin is claiming that the Wagner private military company “simply doesn’t exist” as a legal entity. His comments add to the series of often bizarre twists that have followed the group’s abortive revolt last month — the most serious threat to Putin’s 23-year rule amid the war in Ukraine. Putin told a Russian newspaper late Thursday, referring to the Wagner group, that “it just doesn’t exist.” Putin recounted his own version of a Kremlin event attended by 35 Wagner commanders, including its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, on June 29. That meeting came just five days after Prigozhin and his troops staged a stunning but short-lived rebellion against Moscow authorities.
July 14, 2023 5:10 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood actors are joining screenwriters in the first dual strike from the two unions in more than six decades, with huge consequences for the film and television industry. Unionized actors, who begin picketing Friday, say the studios and streaming services who hire them did not even come close to meeting their needs on issues like the use of artificial intelligence and better pay after more than a month of talks. While on strike, actors will not be able to make any promotional appearances or attend premieres. Nor can they partake in any actors’ aspects of production, including rehearsals or voiceovers.
July 14, 2023 5:09 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Unrelenting bloodshed across the U.S. this year has led to the grimmest of milestones: The deadliest six months of mass killings recorded since at least 2006. From Jan. 1 to June 30, the nation endured 28 mass killings, all but one of which involved guns. The death toll rose just about every week, a constant cycle of violence and grief. A mass killing is defined as an occurrence when four or more people are slain, not including the assailant, within a 24-hour period. The 2023 milestone beat the previous record of 27 mass killings, which was only just set in the second half of 2022.
July 14, 2023 5:04 am
The Washington County Sheriff’s office is alerting residents to a ‘fictitious operation plan’ that is being circulated around social media regarding the upcoming Phish concert at the Pavilion at Star Lake. Sheriff Tony Andronas says although it may look authentic it is not official letterhead and was never issued from his office. A picture of the letters shows “Internal Dissemination Only” and calls it “Joint Task Force Enforement Operation Phish in a Barrel”. Andronas says they have a working relationship with the Hanover Police Department but do not assist with concerts. His office is now working with Federal authorities to investigate since the letter lists other federal authorities including the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
July 14, 2023 4:53 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — (WPXI) – Bethel Park police are reminding neighbors to lock their cars after a string of break-ins. Police said someone went through multiple cars overnight, and two vehicles were stolen. Keys were left inside the stolen vehicles. The break-ins happened in the area of Highland Circle and Brightwood Road. Neighbors in that area with cameras are asked to check security footage for anything that could help police.
July 14, 2023 4:49 am
UNIONTOWN, Pa. — (WPXI) – A Uniontown police officer is off the job after being criminally charged in connection to an incident that happened at a party Saturday night while he was off duty. Corporal Nicholas Zocco is charged with felony aggravated assault and other charges after allegedly punching another man in the face. According to the police report, the incident happened at a home on North Mill Street in Menallen Township, Fayette County. Investigators with German Township Police say Zocco left the house party after an argument with a woman but came back. On the driveway, police say Zocco punched a man twice in the face, knocking him down and causing him to hit his head on the ground.
Police paperwork shows the man went to the hospital with a broken nose, among other facial injuries, and was evaluated for a concussion. Zocco claimed he hit the man in self-defense. Uniontown Police say Zocco has been with the department since 2015. Zocco was arraigned Thursday and released on a $20,000 unsecured bond.
