WJPA News

It was Media Day in Washington.  World Series Tournaments, Inc., Printscape Imaging and Graphics, PONY Baseball and Softball, and the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency gathered to share information on the upcoming 2025 Printscape PONY League World Series.  World Series Tournaments, Inc. reintroduced Printscape as the event’s title sponsor, as well as communicated updates on qualifying teams, events, and major sponsorship partnerships for 2025, including a renewed agreement with DICK’S Sporting Goods as the event’s presenting sponsor.  This year’s event, at the historic Lew Hays PONY Field in Washington Park, will take place from August 8-13.   All of the games can be heard here on WJPA 1450 and online at wjpa.com.

An unidentified man has been transported by ambulance to a Pittsburgh hospital after he was struck by a vehicle along State Route 50 near Coleman Road in Cecil Township.  Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers say the original call came in just after 5 a.m Tuesday.  Police believe the man may have initially been involved in an accident.  His vehicle was found with a smashed out read window.  A Dispatcher says the man began to walk down the roadway and a short time later was struck by a Jeep.  The driver of that vehicle told police they did not see the man.  He suffered a head injury and was taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. No other details are currently available.

Pennsylvania is sending some aid to help Texas after catastrophic flooding. Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that members of Pa Task Force 1, an urban search and rescue team, have been activated to lead a multi-state support team for search, rescue and vital response. They leave in the next 24 hours. “On behalf of our entire Commonwealth, we’re praying for Texas — and every family who is mourning the loss of a loved one tonight,” Gov. Shapiro said. Additionally, Pittsburgh non-profit Brother’s Brother Foundation is sending aid to Texas. The organization has committed $50,000 in financial support to the response and is pledging 100% of its donations to emergency relief. “What it really makes me feel is the generosity of your viewers because in reality, we’re just an extension of their hearts and minds,” Brother’s Brother Foundation President Ozzy Samad told our news partners at Channel 11. Brother’s Brother may also provide humanitarian assistance, like sending hygiene kits and blankets to help flood survivors or medical supplies for first responders.

PITTSBURGH — The American Red Cross supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood, and while volunteers in the Pittsburgh area are looking for all types, there’s one they need the most. On Monday, the organization issued a call to action for local blood donors as the summer months continue and the Fourth of July holiday weekend comes to an end. “Holidays are typically a hard time for us to collect blood. That’s because people ar traveling, doing fun things,” said Nicole Roschella of the American Red Cross. Right now, donations are down in the region because people are busy this time of year, so the Red Cross is encouraging anyone of any blood type to make an appointment, especially those who are Type O, because it will likely run out first. “Type O positive is what’s given to patients more than any other blood type. Type O negative is the universal blood type, so that’s what doctors will reach for in an emergency,” Roschella said.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say three people were killed and 10 others injured in a shooting. Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel says the three people who died in the shooting early Monday were adults, and two of the wounded are juveniles. The shooting happened shortly before 1 a.m. along a residential street in Grays Ferry, in South Philadelphia. Bethel says numerous rounds were fired. Police say one person with a weapon was taken into custody. The shooting happened after other shootings in the city and elsewhere around the U.S. over the Fourth of July weekend. Those included at least eight people struck by gunfire near a South Philadelphia nightclub.

(WPXI) PITTSBURGH — At 2025’s midpoint, the year is shaping up as the lowest in more than a decade for bank branch closures in the Pittsburgh metro. There were just six, compared with 11 cuts during the first six months of 2024, according to regulatory filings that were confirmed by the respective banks. And that was down from 26 during the comparable period in 2023. Citizens cut three branches in January — 712 Washington Rd., Mount Lebanon; 4570 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh; and 200 Tarentum Bridge Rd., New Kensington. Huntington shuttered a remote drive-thru in New Castle, north of the city, also in January. PNC closed its branch at Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc.’s headquarters in April, and F.N.B. in March relocated its Hampton Township branch to a new facility in a former Burger King location at 4885 State Highway 8 in Allison Park. Last month, its branch at 600 Walmart Dr. in Gibsonia closed with customers being served by the Allison Park location.

(WPXI) PITTSBURGH — The license for a bar on Pittsburgh’s South Side is under review a week after a violent weekend inside and outside the club. The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office says the license for Capo’s Bar is being reviewed by the Nuisance Bar Task Force. Channel 11 reported last week that the popular nightclub on East Carson Street had been designated a disruptive property after a chaotic weekend where there were fights inside the bar and shots fired outside.

HUNT, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says more than 160 people are believed to be still missing days after the flash floods that killed more than 100 people across central Texas. Abbott says many of those who are not accounted for were staying in state’s Hill Country but did not register at a camp or hotel. The big jump in the number of missing came after authorities set up a hotline for families to call. Abbott says search crews will not stop working until everyone is located. He says the 161 missing were believed to be in Kerr County, where most of the victims have recovered.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former federal officials and outside experts have warned for months that President Donald Trump’s staffing cuts to the National Weather Service could endanger lives. After torrential rains and flash flooding struck Friday in the Texas Hill Country, the weather service came under fire from local officials who criticized what they described as inadequate forecasts. Democrats wasted little time linking staff reductions to the disaster, which is being blamed for the deaths of at least 80 people. Former federal officials and experts have said Trump’s indiscriminate job reductions at NWS and other weather-related agencies will result in brain drain that threatens the government’s ability to issue timely and accurate forecasts. Trump said job cuts did not hamper weather forecasts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday set a 25% tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, as well as new tariff rates on a dozen other countries. Trump provided notice of the tariffs to begin on Aug. 1 by posting letters on Truth Social that were addressed to the leaders of the various countries. The letters warned them to not retaliate by increasing their own import taxes, or else the Trump administration would further increase import taxes. The higher tariffs could hinder economic growth, if not increase recession risks.

For the first time in almost 20 years, travelers may no longer have to take off their shoes during security screenings at certain U.S. airports. The Transportation Security Administration is looking to abandon the requirement, according to media reports. If implemented, it would put an end to a security screening mandate put in place almost 20 years ago, several years after “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001. Travel newsletter Gate Access was first to report that the security screening change is coming, with ABC News citing an internal memo sent to TSA officers last week that states the new policy lets travelers keep their shoes on during screenings at many U.S. airports beginning on Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the U.S. will have to send more weapons to Ukraine, just days after ordering a pause in critical weapons deliveries to Kyiv. The comments from Trump on Monday appear to be an abrupt change in posture. The Pentagon announced last week that it would hold back delivering to Ukraine some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons. U.S. officials said the Defense Department was concerned that its own stockpiles have declined too much. Meanwhile, Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least 11 civilians and injured more than 80 others, including seven children, officials said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is telling President Donald Trump that he is nominating the U.S. leader for a Nobel Peace Prize. The two were taking a victory lap Monday after their recent joint strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, with both hailing the 12-day war as an unmitigated success. The two leaders sat down with their top aides for a dinner in the White House Blue Room to mark the operation. They were are discussing efforts to push forward with a 60-day ceasefire proposal to pause the conflict in Gaza.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. military troops and federal immigration officers have made a brief but mighty show of force at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. It was unclear if any arrests were made Monday before the National Guard soldiers and federal immigration agents left but their appearance baffled local officials and shook up an area dubbed the “Ellis Island of the West Coast.” The park is a community hub in a largely immigrant neighborhood. Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom called it a political stunt and spectacle meant to intimidate the city’s immigrant communities. The Department of Homeland Security says it does not discuss its operations and declined to comment.