December 24, 2022 1:44 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Democratic-led House has passed a $1.7 trillion government spending bill. The bill will finance federal agencies through September and provide more aid to a devastated Ukraine. It passed by a vote of 225-201. The bill represents the closing act for Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s second stint as House speaker. The person hoping to replace her, Republican Kevin McCarthy, led opposition to the bill. That’s a sharp contrast to the Senate, where the leaders from both parties supported the measure. The House chamber was half-empty for the vote with many lawmakers casting proxy votes, having left Washington early to ensure they made it home for Christmas.
December 24, 2022 1:33 am
Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing the closure of Millers Run Road (Route 978) structure over Dolphin Run is underway in South Fayette Township, Allegheny County. A recent inspection of the Millers Run Road Bridge, located between Mohawk Road and Battle Ridge Road (Route 978), found advanced deterioration of the structure, and requires an immediate closure. The bridge will remain closed until further notice and all traffic will be detoured.
Posted Detour
West of the Bridge
- Follow Millers Run Road (Route 978) westbound to Route 50
- Turn left onto Route 50
- Turn left onto Millers Run Road (Route 3026)
- Follow Millers Run Road back to Route 978
- End Detour
East of the bridge
Same detour in reverse
December 23, 2022 4:21 am
PHOENIX (AP) – Lawyers for Arizona election officials say Republican Kari Lake didn’t offer evidence to back her claims of widespread, intentional misconduct on Election Day in challenging her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the governor’s race. A lawyer for Hobbs, who won by just over 17,000 votes, told a judge Thursday that Lake never established her claim that printer problems at Maricopa County polling places were intentional acts that would have changed the race’s outcome had they not occurred. Lake’s attorneys say officials tried to downplay the effects of the printer problems in Maricopa County. Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson didn’t say when he would issue a ruling.
December 23, 2022 4:20 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried has left Manhattan federal court after his parents signed a $250 million personal recognizance bond. He wore an electronic monitoring bracelet as he rushed to a car Thursday to head with his parents to their California home to await trial. Bankman-Fried is accused of swindling investors and looting customer deposits on his FTX trading platform. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said that the 30-year-old Bankman-Fried “perpetrated a fraud of epic proportions.” Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein largely agreed to bail terms proposed by lawyers on both sides. Bankman-Fried is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 3.
December 23, 2022 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House Jan. 6 committee’s final report asserts that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, writes that Trump “lit that fire.” The 814-page report released Thursday concludes an extraordinary 18-month investigation, offering by far the most definitive account of a dark chapter in modern American history. It says the central cause of the riot was “one man”: Trump. Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the findings should be a “clarion call to all Americans: to vigilantly guard our Democracy.”
December 23, 2022 4:15 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A day of closed-door negotiations failed Wednesday to settle a dispute between Republican and Democratic leaders in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives about when to hold three special elections that will determine control of their chamber. Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer told lawyers for Rep. Bryan Cutler of Lancaster County, the House Republican leader, and his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia, that she will speed consideration of the case. “These are very, very thorny issues and cannot easily be resolved in a day,” she said when attorneys returned to the courtroom at day’s end. “I believe progress has been made.” Cutler sued earlier this month after McClinton sought to schedule special elections for all three races on Feb. 7. Cutler has also sought to schedule the special elections — one for Feb. 7 and the other two for the May primary. Democrats picked up a net of 12 seats in last month’s election, the minimum needed to reclaim majority control of the House after more than a decade in the minority. That left Democrats with 102 representatives to Republicans’ 101, but the three vacancies have given the GOP hopes of maintaining majority status early next year, if only for a few weeks or several months.
December 23, 2022 4:13 am
PITTSBURGH — The City of Pittsburgh announced that the Fern Hollow Bridge has reopened to traffic a day earlier than anticipated because of the incoming winter storm. The city said around the bridge opened to a single lane in both directions around 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Additionally, the path on the southern side of the structure is open to bicycles and pedestrians. The bridge, which carries Forbes Avenue over Frick Park, collapsed on Jan. 28, injuring drivers and riders on a Port Authority bus. Gov. Tom Wolf and other dignitaries held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the bridge Wednesday morning.
December 23, 2022 4:10 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Temperatures quickly dropped into the single digits Friday morning and wind chills will head below zero. Wind chills will stay below zero into Christmas day with winds gusting to 50 mph at times Friday night and Saturday. A Wind Chill Watch has been issued for the entire area for Friday night and Saturday as wind chills will approach -20 degrees. Most areas will only see one to three inches of snow total through the day, but with frozen water underneath the snow layer, it will make for very dangerous travel conditions. There are power outages. As of 10:30 am, West Penn Power was reporting more than 900 customers without power countywide. The temperature was near 40-degrees at 3 a.m but quickly dropped causing numerous problems. There were numerous reports of trees and wires down. A tractor-trailer jack-knifed and went off of Interstate 70 westbound just past the Taylorstown exit. The driver was not injured. there were other reports of accidents and fire crews were called out to a reported structure fire in the 600-block of Speers Avenue in Speers Borough just before 9 a.m. Tune to WJPA 95.3FM/1450AM for the very latest.
December 22, 2022 2:40 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate has passed a $1.7 trillion bill to finance federal agencies through September, aid Ukraine and provide assistance to communities recovering from hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters. The bill passed by a vote of 68 to 29 and now goes to the House for action later in the day. Lawmakers are working to complete action on the bill before a partial government shutdown begins at midnight Friday. Supporters say the bill will boost national security with a 10% increase slated for defense programs, but detractors criticize the amount of overall spending with the country already facing a $31 trillion national debt.
December 22, 2022 2:35 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – A judge says cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried can post $250 million bond and live in his parents’ home in California while he awaits trial. Bankman-Fried is accused of swindling investors and looting customer deposits on his FTX trading platform. He is expected to be released Thursday after an electronic monitoring device is attached. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said in U.S. District Court in New York that the 30-year-old Bankman-Fried “perpetrated a fraud of epic proportions.” Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein largely agreed to bail terms proposed by lawyers on both sides.
