March 28, 2022 4:11 am
SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) – The attorney representing a suspended western Pennsylvania prosecutor in a sexual assault case is questioning whether the state attorney general general’s office should be handling the case. Thirty-six-year-old Jeffrey Thomas, Somerset County’s district attorney, is accused of having attacked a woman in her Windber home in September. Defense attorney Ryan Tutera has said his client maintains his innocence. Tutera said Friday that a former district attorney defeated by his client now works in the attorney general’s office, and he questioned whether that office “is the appropriate body to handle this process.” The attorney general’s office said its track record demonstrates “no fear or favor” in handling cases.
March 28, 2022 4:09 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Port Authority’s free fares will end on Monday, but over 150 employees are still off the job with pay due to not meeting company vaccine requirements. The free fares began as a favor to riders, after the vaccine mandate forced 480 employees off the job earlier this month. “I believe that people should be able to ride ‘til this is completely over,” said Danielle Sheller, a Port Authority rider in McKees Rocks. Many riders have been affected because of bus delays and cancellations resulting from the lack of workers. Port Authority said there are going to be fewer disruptions moving forward, releasing a statement last week saying: “Fortunately, it has already begun to improve as more and more employees get vaccinated and become eligible to return to work.” In the latest numbers, Port Authority says 81 employees are on a 30-day probationary period pending their second dose. Nine employees were terminated. Eight retired, and 153 employees are still off with pay as of Friday.
March 28, 2022 1:23 am
Washington County State Representative Tim O’Neal (R-48) will be introducing legislation as part of a package of bills to enhance a community’s ability to clear creeks and streams in an effort to limit flooding and protect lives and property. House Bill 2409 authored by O’Neal would state that no permit would be required to remove flood related hazards from streams that are declared to be under an emergency by the state or a county. This bill would join seven other bills looking to improve the efficiency of keeping streams and creeks clear of debris to prevent local flooding.
March 27, 2022 8:09 am
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A leading European Union diplomat held talks in Tehran on Sunday, Iran’s state-run media reported, amid hopes that an agreement to restore Iran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers could be completed. The meetings between the EU’s envoy, Enrique Mora, and top Iranian officials come at a sensitive moment for talks to revive the deal, as the glimmers of a resolution to some of the thorniest issues in the negotiations have emerged. The report on the talks in Tehran gave scant detail, saying only that the diplomats discussed the latest on the nuclear agreement, with Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani repeating that Iran believed a deal was within reach if America was “realistic” in its demands. Former President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal in 2018 and re-imposed crushing sanctions. Iran gradually breached the agreement with a massive expansion of its nuclear work. Nuclear talks broke off earlier this month as last-minute wrangles in Vienna coincided with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and financial sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow.
March 27, 2022 8:08 am
BEIJING (AP) — The second “black box” from a China Eastern Boeing 737-800 was found Sunday, raising hopes that it might shed light on why the passenger plane nosedived into a remote mountainous area in southern China last week, killing all 132 people on board. Firefighters taking part in the search found the flight data recorder on a mountain slope about 40 meters (130 feet) from the point of impact and 1.5 meters (5 feet) underground, state media said. Experts confirmed it was the second black box. The impact of the crash created a 20-meter- (65-foot-) deep pit in the side of the mountain and scattered debris widely. Searchers had been looking for the data recorder after finding the cockpit voice recorder four days ago. The two black boxes should help investigators determine what caused the plane to plummet from 29,000 feet (8,800 meters) about one hour into the flight and shortly before it would have begun its descent.
March 27, 2022 8:07 am
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the West of lacking courage as his country fights to stave off Russia’s invasion, making an exasperated plea for fighter jets and tanks to sustain a defense in a conflict that has ground into a war of attrition. Speaking after U.S. President Joe Biden said in a lacerating speech that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not stay in power — words the White House immediately sought to downplay — Zelenskyy lashed out at the West’s “ping-pong about who and how should hand over jets” and other weapons while Russian missile attacks kill and trap civilians.
March 27, 2022 8:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — With Pennsylvania’s ballot seemingly set, Republican candidates for governor are hitting the forum circuit in earnest, working to set themselves apart from a huge primary field with just eight weeks to go in the campaign. Questions about energy, schools and other national political themes have dominated recent forums held by local party organizations, business advocacy groups and other conservative groups. Candidates in the nine-person field — bigger than any seen by Republicans in at least decades — are largely monolithic on the issues, tending instead to try to distinguish themselves by emphasizing the depth of their commitment to those stances. The primary election is May 17. Pennsylvania’s two-time elected state Attorney General Josh Shapiro has a clear path to the Democratic Party’s nomination. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, is term-limited and has endorsed Shapiro.
March 27, 2022 7:59 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Multiple accidents were reported overnight into Sunday morning due to snow showers and slightly covered roads in Washington County this weekend. The biggest accident occurred around midnight on Interstate 70 westbound near the Eighty-Four/Glyde exit according to reports. Officials say a rollover crash had both lanes of traffic closed at the 25-mile marker for over an hour as crews responded to the scene. There was no word on any injuries or identities of those involved. Another incident reportedly involved a tractor-trailer at the North Junction that blocked the ramp from Interstate 70 eastbound to I-79 north Sunday morning. (Photo: National Weather Service Facebook Page)
March 27, 2022 3:33 am
A Washington man was re-sentenced on Friday afternoon for a September 5, 2017 shooting in South Franklin Township. 31 year-old Keith Rosario was convicted of attempted murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, and conspiracy after a jury trial in February 2019. The jury found that Rosario, along with his co-defendant Richard Lacks and a juvenile, kidnapped and assaulted Marcus Stancik of Pittsburgh in Washington’s West End. After retrieving a gun from Rosario’s house they drove Stancik to the #4 reservoir in South Franklin where Rosario shot him in the back of the head. Stancik survived and was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital tor treatment. Rosario appealed his conviction to the Pennsylvania Superior Court which upheld the verdict but vacated the original sentence because of a change in the law. On Friday, Common Pleas Judge Valarie Costanzo sentenced Rosario to 25 to 50 years in state prison for the shooting and kidnapping. He was ordered to have no contact with Stancik. After the sentence was handed down, Rosario was taken by Washington County Sheriff deputies back to the state prison in Albion where he has been since 2019. (Photo: Washington County Correctional Facility)
March 26, 2022 3:55 am
NEW DELHI (AP) – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has met with his Indian counterpart and the national security adviser to expedite the disengagement of thousands of Indian and Chinese forces involved in a tense faceoff and occasional clashes along their disputed border. A fierce brawl in June 2020 exploded into hand-to-hand combat with clubs, stones and fists that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. China said it lost four soldiers in the clash. India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told reporters after the meeting that the situation is a work in progress at a slower pace than desirable. He said the tensions arising from China’s deployment can’t be reconciled with the normal relationship between the neighbors. Wang did not speak to the media.
