April 13, 2022 4:18 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania lawmakers voted after a tense debate to approve a bill designed to prohibit transgender girls from competing in girls’ school sports. All but one Republican and four Democrats voted for the proposal Tuesday. It would restrict players on K-12 school teams, college sports, intramurals and club teams sponsored by school entities to male or female teams based on their reproductive organs, biology or genetics at birth. It would prevent “students of the male sex” from playing on athletic teams designated for women or girls and provide a way for students and schools to sue, including against athletic organizations. It goes to the state Senate for its consideration, and faces a potential veto from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.
April 13, 2022 4:15 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Pittsburgh Public Safety announced that firefighters were on the scene for a fire in the U.S. Steel Tower on Grant Street. Pittsburgh police said reports of smoke in the building came in around 7:30 p.m. The high-rise plan was implemented, prompting the three-alarm response to ensure ample equipment and manpower were available. According to police, the fire was located in the ductwork in the kitchen hood of Sullivan’s Steakhouse. The fire was contained to the first floor. The fire chief told our news partners at Channel 11 that the building was evacuated and police said no one was injured. The fire was under control around an hour after it was called in. The Fire Investigation Unit will determine the exact origin and cause.
April 13, 2022 4:11 am
The City Mission dedicated its chapel on Tuesday in honor of the parents of one of their largest benefactors. Dean Gartland, President and CEO of the City Mission called on Dr. Michael Crabtree to offer comments on behalf of his wife Mary Paige Pillow on why they chose her parents for this honor. The chapel will be named the Porter Pillow and Peggie Beaver Pillow Chapel. Mary Pillow remembered her upbringing by her parents with them saying that “you take care of people that can’t help themselves”. It is that spirit that both decided that any honor should be given to the people that taught them to perform the duties that help other people. Gartland was especially grateful for the generosity of Crabtree and Pillow and indicated that it was key in the recovery from a fire that devastated the Mission back in 2015.
April 13, 2022 2:31 am
A police chase that began in North Franklin Township ended in a multi-vehicle crash in downtown Washington Tuesday morning. State Police Trooper Forrest Allison tells WJPA News that troopers attempted to pull over a car driven by Stanley Adler of Washington, on Mineola Avenue, when they recognized him and realized he was wanted on a felony warrant. Adler, however, failed to stop and fled the scene, leading police on a chase into the city. Trooper Allison says the chase ended when the driver hit a Freedom Transit bus and three other cars at the intersection of Beau and North Main streets. Allison says Adler was arrested on the original warrant and then taken for arraignment on multiple other charges, including fleeing or attempting to elude an officer. He was then lodged in the Washington County Jail on fifty-thousand-dollars bond for the original warrant and fifty-thousand-dollars stemming from the charges related to the police chase. A passenger in his vehicle, Austin McConn was also wanted on a warrant and Allison says he was taken straight to the county jail on fifty-thousand-dollars bond. One person was reportedly injured the crash. The Freedom Transit Bus sustained some minor damage to the bumper but is back in service. It’s driver and a passenger were not hurt.
April 12, 2022 5:37 pm
Christians around the globe are celebrating Holy Week in person and for the most part, without masks this year, unlike the previous two years, in which face masks and social distance guidelines were in effect as the coronavirus pandemic dramatically altered the sacred Easter season. Father John Lynam, Pastor at Saint James Parish in Washington County, which covers Immaculate Conception and St. Hilary in Washington and Sacred Heart Church in Claysville, is welcoming back parishioners in full force this year with many opportunities to attend a Mass or other special service. (Photo: AP)
April 12, 2022 3:47 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Gilbert Gottfried, the actor and legendary stand-up comic known for his raw, scorched voice and crude jokes, has died. His publicist Glenn Schwartz said in a statement that Gottfried died Tuesday at age 67. Gottfried was a fiercely independent and intentionally bizarre comedian’s comedian, as likely to clear a room with anti-comedy as he was to kill with his jokes. He first came to national attention with frequent appearances on MTV in its early days and as a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s. Gottfried also did voice work for children’s television and movies, most famously playing the parrot Iago in Disney’s “Aladdin.”
April 12, 2022 10:36 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Police found an unoccupied U-Haul van in Brooklyn matching the description and license plate number of the vehicle being sought in connection with Tuesday’s shooting on a rush-hour subway train, a law enforcement official said. Police were closing off a street about four miles from the shooting scene and clearing nearby businesses while awaiting a bomb squad and the highly specialized emergency services unit. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Officers around the city had been told that if they spotted the U-Haul truck, they should stop it and detain all occupants immediately.
April 12, 2022 4:07 am
(AP) – President Joe Biden has for the first time referred to Russia’s invasion in Ukraine as a “genocide.” The conflict has seen Russia carry out atrocities against Ukrainian civilians. Speaking in Iowa at an event Tuesday about steps his administration is taking to staunch rising fuel costs because of the war, Biden said Russian troops have committed “genocide.” Biden said, “Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away.” Biden has previously stated that he did not believe Russia’s actions amounted to genocide, but rather were “war crimes.”
April 12, 2022 4:05 am
ATLANTA (AP) – The National Urban League has released its annual report on the State of Black America, and its findings are grim. This year’s Equality Index shows Black people still get only 73.9 percent of the pie white people enjoy. While Black people have made gains in economic indicators and measures of health, they’ve fallen farther behind whites in education, social justice and civic engagement. Urban League President Marc Morial says the index shows how hard it is to overcome systemic racism that’s made life harder in many ways for people of color. The civil rights organization is launching a “Reclaim Your Vote” campaign. Morial says change starts at the ballot box.
April 12, 2022 4:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Inflation soared over the past year at its fastest pace in more than 40 years, with costs for food, gasoline, housing and other necessities squeezing American consumers and wiping out the pay raises that many people have received. The Labor Department said its consumer price index jumped 8.5% in March from 12 months earlier – the biggest year-over-year increase since December 1981. Prices have been driven up by bottlenecked supply chains, robust consumer demand and disruptions to global food and energy markets worsened by Russia’s war against Ukraine. The government’s report also showed that inflation rose 1.2% from February to March, up from a 0.8% increase from January to February.
