March 25, 2023 4:16 am
WEST READING, Pa. (AP) — An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania Friday killed two people and left nine people missing. West Reading Borough Police Department Chief of Police Wayne Holben says several other people were injured by the explosion at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The explosion just before 5 p.m. sent a plume of black smoke into the air, destroying one building at the facility and damaging a neighboring building with apartments. Holden says the cause of the explosion remains under investigation. A spokesperson says eight people were taken to Reading Hospital Friday evening.
March 25, 2023 3:46 am
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce hosted a Municipal Leaders Panel Discussion on Friday. Leaders from six communities related to members the challenges, successes and outlooks for each of their townships. Successes included ongoing recreational developments. Struggles described were with infrastructure funding and state regulatory bureaucracy. Outlooks, overall, were positive despite any difficulties that the communities faced. Darla Protch, Township Manager for Mt. Pleasant Township discussed her struggles trying to fund a $35 million sewerage project where they are financially qualified for a project one third that size due to their rural make up. Recreation projects were highlighted by Peters Township and North Franklin Township with regards to new parks in each township. Erin Dinch, Director of Planning and Development in North Franklin Township spoke of how their new Waterside Park will give the community the place to gain a sense of community and allow residents to meet the neighbors they otherwise may not meet. Outlooks overall were positive. Cecil Township Manager Don Gennuso says that supervisors there will be reviewing their comprehensive plan to make sure commercial and industrial development will be spurred along the recently opened Southern Beltway. South Strabane Township Manager Brandon Stanick spoke of their juggling act of planning for extensive residential and ongoing commercial development. The event was moderated by Chartiers Township Manager Jodi Noble.
March 25, 2023 3:46 am
(WPXI) – Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. said he believes Kennywood Park is unsafe following a shooting in September. He told our news partners at Channel 11 that his office compiled a list of security demands at the end of November and told the park to have them complete by opening day. According to Zappala, some things are not complete and the park is just one month from opening. Neither the park nor the DA would go into detail about what still needed to be done. Zappala said he hopes to work with the park in order to get safety measures in place before the opening in April. If the company does not comply, he says he is willing to go to court.
March 24, 2023 2:45 pm
Manifold Road is closed from Berry Road to Wellness way in South Strabane Township until at least 8 o’clock tonight (Friday) after a vehicle accident took down two poles with high tension power lines and other utilities. Police say residents in that area may experience disruption of power and telephone/cable service throughout this period. There’s been no word on whether there were any injuries.
March 24, 2023 4:31 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are pressing forward with a vote on a midterm campaign promise. The bill would give parents greater oversight of what is taught in public schools. Critics say it is a burdensome proposal that would fuel a far-right movement that has resulted in book bans. Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has made the Parents Bill of Rights Act a top priority during the early weeks of his tenure atop the House. It will be an early test of unity for House Republicans, who have a thin majority. Lawmakers have proposed a score of potential amendments to the bill, adding a degree of uncertainty to Friday’s vote.
March 24, 2023 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pennsylvania woman linked to a far-right extremist movement has been sentenced to three years in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol and invading then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office with other rioters. The judge who sentenced Riley June Williams on Thursday also presided over her trial last year. Williams was charged but not convicted of helping steal a laptop from Pelosi’s office suite during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021. A jury convicted Williams in November of six charges, including a felony count of civil disorder. But it deadlocked on two other counts, including “aiding and abetting” the laptop’s theft.
March 24, 2023 4:26 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea claimed Friday to have tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone designed to generate a gigantic “radioactive tsunami” that would destroy naval strike groups and ports. Analysts were skeptical that the device presents a major new threat, but the test underlines the North’s commitment to raising nuclear threats. The test this week came as the United States reportedly planned to deploy aircraft carrier strike groups and other advanced assets to waters off the Korean Peninsula. Military tensions are at a high point as the pace of both North Korean weapons tests and U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises has accelerated in the past year in a cycle of tit-for-tat responses.
March 24, 2023 4:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says a strike by a suspected Iranian-made drone killed a U.S. contractor and wounded five American troops and another contractor in northeast Syria. American forces retaliated soon after with “precision airstrikes” in Syria targeting facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The attacks threatened to raise regional tensions Friday across the Middle East. Iran and Syria did not immediately acknowledge the strikes. However, an activist group’s report said the U.S. airstrikes killed eight Iranian-backed fighters in Syria soon after the drone attack.
March 24, 2023 4:23 am
A man is in custody after a Samaritan here in Washington County spotted a vehicle in Canton Township that was wanted as part of an Amber Alert out of Zanesville, Ohio. State Police say the alert was for a gold colored Chevy Suburban with Ohio registration that had been stolen and had two children inside. Washington Police were then dispatched when the vehicle was spotted along Jefferson Avenue around 7:30 p.m. Thomas Pritchard Jr. was taken into custody. Police say he was operating the vehicle while under the influence. The children that had been reported abducted where found in the vehicle and were evaluated by EMS personnel. Pritchard Jr. is charged with receiving stolen property, endangering the welfare of a child, recklessly endangering another person and driving under the influence.
March 24, 2023 2:30 am
A Charleroi man who faces two dozen assorted charges, most of them drug charges will face a jury trial. Donald Franks, 54 was going to accept a plea deal to avoid trial but at the last minute opted to go to trial. Franks was arrested on outstanding drug charges when he was found in a home with John Beebe of Fallowfield Township who is facing his own drug charges. Both were arrested in a drug raid of Beebe’s home in March of 2022. Franks faces 6 felony counts of possession with intent to deliver along with 5 conspiracy counts of the same charge. He also faces several other felony and misdemeanor charges over 5 different cases. Franks turned down a plea deal of 12-24 years in jail. According to the district attorney, if convicted at trial, he could be sentenced to 16-32 years in jail on just one of the charges. He faces four charges in one case that carry that penalty. Franks stated in court that he was not comfortable with the length of the 12 year sentence indicating that it was excessive when compared to other cases he is familiar with. He is scheduled for a May trial. Franks remains in the Washington County Jail.
