April 4, 2024 5:02 am
CHARLEROI, Pa. — (WPXI) – The Monongahela River at the Charleroi Locks and Dam is above flood stage. The water at these locks is typically 10 or 11 feet high. After recent rainfall, it’s sitting at just above 31 feet. The locks are shut down, meaning no boats can get through. The locks are almost completely underwater. Water is inches away from creeping into nearby homes. The Army Corps of Engineers expect these locks to be closed until Friday and will have to wait until the weather runs its course Officials want to remind people to stay away from the Mon River in that area. It’s fast-moving and if you fall in you can easily be swept away by the current.
April 4, 2024 3:34 pm
(WPXI) – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) announced it will be investigating the proposed rate increases at Columbia Gas and Duquesne Light Company. The organization said it voted Thursday to investigate the rate increases. It also voted to suspend the rate increase at both companies for up to seven months. The proposed increase at Duquesne Light would produce a general increase in electric distribution rates at around $133 million, which would increase customer rates by $101 million over current charges. Under the proposal, the total monthly bill for an average residential customer using 600 kilowatt hours would increase from $130.67 to $139.19 (6.52%). Columbia Gas would see an increase of $124.1 million per year. Under the proposal, the total monthly bill for a residential customer using 70 therms of gas would increase from $118.16 to $136.92 (15.88%). A final decision about Columbia Gas’s increase is due by Dec. 14, while the decision about Duquesne Light’s increase is due by Dec. 20.
April 3, 2024 5:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Palestinian American doctor who has volunteered in Gaza walked out of a meeting with President Joe Biden this week. The protest by Thaer Ahmad came during a conversation arranged by the White House to hear concerns from the Muslim community about the war between Israel and Hamas. Ahmad also presented Biden with a letter from an orphaned girl in Rafah, a city that Israel plans to target next. Biden hosted the meeting after Muslim American leaders declined invitations to attend an iftar, which the White House usually hosts to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan.
April 4, 2024 5:27 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has rejected Donald Trump’s bid to delay his April 15 hush money criminal trial until the Supreme Court rules on the presidential immunity claims he raised in another of his criminal cases. Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan deemed the former president’s request untimely, ruling that his lawyers had myriad opportunities to raise the immunity issue before they finally did so in a March 7 court filing. Lawyers for the presumptive Republican nominee had asked to adjourn the New York trial indefinitely until Trump’s immunity claim in his Washington, D.C., election interference case is resolved.
April 4, 2024 5:22 am
HUALIEN, Taiwan (AP) — Rescuers are searching for dozens of people still missing a day after Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in a quarter century damaged buildings, caused multiple rockslides and killed nine people. In the eastern coastal city of Hualien near the epicenter, workers used an excavator to stabilize the base of a damaged building with construction materials, as some officers took samples of its exterior. Some of the damaged buildings tilted at precarious angles with their ground floors crushed. More than 1,000 people were injured in the quake Wednesday. Of the approximately 690 people said to be missing or stranded, most guests and workers at a hotel. Authorities said all of those were safe.
April 4, 2024 5:20 am
The Powerball jackpot continued to grow, as the fourth-largest grand prize in the promotion’s history ballooned to an estimated $1.23 billion after no one matched all of the numbers in Wednesday’s drawing. The winning numbers for the grand prize worth $1.09 billion were 11-38-41-62-65 and the Powerball was 15. The Power Play was 3X. If a player wins the jackpot in Saturday’s drawing, they can choose between an annuitized prize worth an estimated $1.23 billion or a lump sum payment estimated at $595.1 million. There were nine second-tier winners on Wednesday, with each ticket winning $1 million. Two each were sold in California and Massachusetts, with solo winners sold in Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina and Washington.
April 3, 2024 3:33 pm
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in Israeli airstrikes have started the journey back to their home countries. They were transported Wednesday out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt. That’s according to Egyptian state television. The three British citizens, a Polish citizen, an Australian and a Canadian American dual national worked for World Central Kitchen, an international charity. Their Palestinian driver was also killed. They were distributing food that had been brought into Gaza through a newly established maritime corridor late Monday when Israeli airstrikes targeted their three vehicles, killing everyone inside. Israel has acknowledged carrying out the strikes by mistake and says it has launched an independent investigation.
April 3, 2024 3:29 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors are scolding the judge presiding over ex-President Donald Trump’s classified documents case in Florida. The prosecutors are trying to warn her off potential jury instructions they say rest on a “fundamentally flawed legal premise.” The late Tuesday filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s team responded to an unusual order from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that asked prosecutors to file proposed jury instructions. The order asked them to respond to competing interpretations of the law that appeared to accept the Republican ex-president’s argument he’s entitled under the Presidential Records Act to keep sensitive documents he’s now charged with possessing. Trump’s lawyers are renewing their demand for the judge to dismiss the indictment.
April 3, 2024 3:23 pm
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Disney shareholders have rallied behind longtime CEO Robert Iger. They voted Wednesday to rebuff activist investor Nelson Peltz and his ally, former Disney chief financial officer Jay Rasulo, who had sought seats on the company’s board. The entertainment giant had recommended a slate of directors that did not include Peltz or Rasulo. The dissident shareholders had said in a preliminary proxy filing that they wanted to replace Iger at Disney and align management pay with performance. They declared a victory of sorts following the vote, noting that Disney shares have risen roughly 50% since they began pressuring the company.
April 3, 2024 2:47 pm
BENTLEYVILLE, Pa. —(WPXI)- The mayor of Bentleyville declared a state of emergency due to flooding. Several roads in the borough are unpassable and Mayor Timothy Jansante is urging drivers to not attempt to drive through them. The borough said the fire department has been working around the clock and asks for the community’s cooperation.
