WJPA News

MONESSEN, Pa. — (WPXI) – The 9th Street Park was packed with family and friends of Amari Altomore who died after he was shot in Monessen. Altomore was shot on South 14th Street on Tuesday. He was taken to a hospital but died a short time after. Countless mourners consoled one another during a vigil Thursday night. Those who knew Altomore best spoke during the vigil, including his family. Many who spoke said the expected nature of Altomore’s death hurts like nothing they had ever felt before. “He was like a big teddy bear off the field,” said Wade Brown, Altomore’s football coach. “We really enjoyed having him on our team and it’s really heartbreaking that he won’t be with us anymore. We are really going to miss him.” Altomore’s coaches remembered him as cheerful and said he was known to play tricks, cheer up his teammates at a moment’s notice and always came to practice with a smile. Vernon Andres, another coach said the mourning process has been hard, but the sense of community is strong. Us as coaches, pulling the boys together, it will be a rough process but we will get through it. We have been up here two years and we have had the community behind our back,” said Andrews. he coaches said grief counseling is available for students at Monessen High School. uneral arrangements have not been made at this time.

Greene County District Attorney David Russo says a county attorney has been accused of stealing a large sum of money. Russo says Kimberly Pratt, who works for the Greene County Commissioners as the county courts juvenile dependency and delinquency officer, is facing multiple theft charges. Russo said his office started investigating Pratt after another attorney who had previously worked in her firm filed a complaint saying some $22,000 worth of client retainers was missing. Russo says the investigation revealed Pratt took the money from an Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account and used client account money for her own benefit.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown is wanted on a battery charge in Tampa stemming from a domestic incident. Police say the 34-year-old Brown was involved in a verbal altercation with a woman at a home in Tampa on Monday. The report says Brown threw a shoe at the victim, attempted to evict her from the home and locked her out. Brown faces a court-issued warrant for his arrest. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers released Brown in early January after he left the field mid-game and complained about his playing time.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Legislation to avert a freight rail strike in the United States is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk. A bill to avoid the strike won final approval Thursday, clearing the Senate in a bipartisan vote. The bill will bind rail companies and workers to a proposed settlement that was reached between the rail companies and union leaders in September. That settlement had been rejected by four of the 12 unions involved, creating the possibility of a strike. The Senate vote was 80-15 and came one day after the House voted to impose the agreement. Biden has vowed to sign it quickly.

WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal appeals court has halted an independent review of documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, removing a hurdle the Justice Department said had delayed its criminal investigation into the retention of top-secret government information. The decision by the three-judge panel represents a significant win for federal prosecutors, clearing the way for them to use as part of their investigation the entire tranche of documents seized during an Aug. 8 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. It also rejects the arguments of Trump’s lawyers, who had said the former president was entitled to have a so-called “special master” conduct a neutral review of the thousands of documents taken from the property.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court says the Biden administration program to cancel student loans will remain blocked for now, but the justices have agreed to take up the case in late winter. The court’s decision to hear arguments relatively quickly means it is likely to determine whether the widespread loan cancellations are legal by late June. That’s about two months before the newly extended pause on loan repayments is set to expire. The administration had wanted a court order that would have allowed the program to take effect even as court challenges proceed. But as a fallback, it suggested the high court hold arguments and decide the issue.

BEIJING (AP) – Street protests that broke out in several Chinese cities over the weekend may have come as a surprise, but the ruling Communist Party has been preparing for this moment for years, decades even. Ever since the last major demonstrations culminated in the bloody military crackdown of 1989, China has been building an internal security force aimed at overwhelming, intimidating, imprisoning and silencing all challenges. By most estimates, China spends more on internal security than on national defense. This includes police, paramilitary troops and internet spies that have honed their skills against minority rights activists, pro-democracy advocates and independent labor organizers. That’s what faces anyone daring to protest China’s severe anti-COVID-19 measures.

HONOLULU (AP) – Glowing lava from the world’s largest volcano is a sight to behold, but for many Native Hawaiians, Mauna Loa’s eruption is a time to pray, make offerings and honor both the natural and spiritual worlds. An eruption of a volcano like Mauna Loa has a deep yet very personal cultural significance for many Native Hawaiians. It can be an opportunity to feel a connection with creation itself through the way lava gives birth to new land, as well as a time to reflect on their own place in the world and the people who came before them.