WJPA News

A fire at Maple Terrace in Washington is under investigation.  City firefighters were called out around one-thirty Friday afternoon to reports of explosions and a fire.  Washington Fire Chief Gerry Coleman tells WJPA News that when they arrived, they found an Orkin box truck with five propane tanks inside, on fire.  Coleman says the truck had its rear gate open and the fire was essentially feeding into unit 119, which had been the unit the truck was being used on.  Coleman says the driver of the truck, who was sitting in the cab, told them he heard a “whooshing” sound and when he got out, he saw the fire coming out of the rear of the vehicle.  Coleman says several departments were called in to assist, along with the Washington County Hazmat team.  He says there was one injury.  A Washington City Police Officer suffered minor injuries and was taken to an area hospital for treatment.  Coleman says unit 119 was gutted by the blaze and although several other units sustained some damage, once the utilities are turned back on, they will be habitable.

Brady Hugh Paul, 20 of Canonsburg had several hearings in front of Judge Valarie Costanzo on Friday. Paul is facing rape and statutory sexual assault charges from a December 2019 incident where he allegedly supplied a 16 year old girl with marijuana and raped her. That case was continued to a pre trial motion hearing on April 1. Bond revocation hearings were also held for previous incidents. Paul pleaded guilty to a DUI and received six months probation for an August 2019 violation. That case will have a resentencing hearing in the next 60 days. Paul also pleaded guilty to an unauthorized use of a vehicle charge from November 2019. He received 3-23 months probation for that incident. In testimony from the probation office Brady committed four technical violations of his probation. He failed to live at the address given, he did not report to his parole officer, he tested positive for controlled substances and finally he did not pay court costs associated with his convictions. Against advice from his attorney, Paul testified in his own defense and failed to convince Costanzo that he should not have his bond revoked. Costanzo sentenced him to the maximum of the remaining sentence in the Washington County jail.

CRAFTON, Pa. (WPXI) — Police are investigating a shooting on Stratmore Street in Crafton Heights. The road was shut down as of 10:30 p.m. Friday night. The scene was in the 300 block of Stratmore. Investigators were also looking into a crash scene less than a mile away from the reported shooting. The crash was located at the intersection of Berry Street and Middletown Road. One person was transported to the hospital from the shooting scene and one victim was transported from the crash scene. It’s not clear if the scenes are connected.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania is doubling the number of National Guard members it’s sending to help secure Washington after the violent riot last week in which angry supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday he’s sending about 1,000 more to help with the inauguration of Democrat Joe Biden on Wednesday. He’s previously deployed about 1,000 to Washington. Wolf has also called up about 450 Guard members to protect the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg and other possible targets of unrest. The FBI has warned of the potential for armed Trump supporters to cause trouble at state capitols.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced Friday that over the past twenty-four-hours they have added 6,047 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 754,611. County-specific information and a statewide map are available here.  Over the same period of time, there were 215 total deaths attributed to COVID-19, bringing the statewide death toll to 18,957. In nursing and personal care homes, there are 58,922 resident cases of COVID-19, and 11,065 cases among employees, for a total of 69,987 at 1,507 distinct facilities in all 67 counties. Out of our total deaths, 9,854 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities.  Approximately 21,326 of our total cases are among health care workers.  Washington County added 120 new infections for a total of 11,148 cases of COVID-19. The county’s death toll rose by two for a total of 168.  Allegheny County added 420 new cases for a total of 63,358 infections. The county also recorded two new deaths, bringing the death toll to 1,183.  Greene County’s added 59 coronavirus cases for a total of 2,135.  The county’s death toll remained steady at 25.  Across the United States, COVID-19 cases have now surpassed twenty-three-point-three-million and more than three-hundred-and-eighty-nine-thousand people have died. The state has issued a “Stay-At-Home Advisory” until further notice and mask wearing is REQUIRED in all businesses and whenever leaving home. Consistent mask-wearing is critical to preventing the spread of COVID-19.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden is pledging to boost supplies of coronavirus vaccine and set up new vaccination sites to meet his goal of 100 million shots in 100 days. It’s part of a broader COVID strategy that also seeks to straighten out snags in testing and ensure minority communities are not left behind. He says the lasting impact of his plan will come from uniting Americans in a new effort grounded in science and fueled by billions in federal money for vaccination, testing and outbreak sleuths. Biden spoke a day after unveiling a $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” to confront the virus and provide temporary supports for a shaky economy.

PHOENIX (AP) – Prosecutors who initially said there was “strong evidence” the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week aimed to “capture and assassinate elected officials” have backed away from that allegation. The withdrawal of the claim came after the head of the investigation cautioned that there was no “direct evidence” of such intentions. The accusation came in a court filing by prosecutors in the case against Jacob Chansley, the Arizona man who participated in the insurrection while sporting face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns. Prosecutor Todd Allison struck the assassination claim from a court filing, but said it may very well end up being appropriate at Chansley’s trial.

Federal safety officials are investigating people who took part in last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol to decide whether they belong on the federal no-fly list. The move is one of several that officials outlined Friday. They say they are increasing security at Washington-area airports leading up to next week’s presidential inauguration. The head of the Transportation Security Administration says that includes more police and bomb-detecting dogs, and more federal air marshals on certain flights.

The global death toll from COVID-19 has topped 2 million as vaccines developed at breakneck speed are being rolled out around the world in an all-out campaign to vanquish the threat. The milestone was reached on Friday, which is just over a year after the coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The number of dead was compiled by Johns Hopkins University. It is about equal to the population of Brussels, Mecca, Minsk or Vienna. It took eight months to hit 1 million lives lost. It took less than four months after that to reach the next million.

COPAN, Honduras (AP) – More than 1,000 Honduran migrants have pushed their way into Guatemala without registering, a portion of a larger migrant caravan that had left the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula before dawn. Honduran migrants are driven by deepening poverty and the hope of a warmer reception if they can reach the United States border. They quickly dispersed along the heavily trafficked highway to border crossings in western Honduras on Friday. Estimates of their number ranged from 2,000 to more than twice that. The migrants leave with little certainty about how far they will make it. Regional governments appear united in stopping their progress.

MAMUJU, Indonesia (AP) – Damaged roads, power blackouts and lack of heavy equipment are hampering Indonesia’s rescuers after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake left at least 45 dead and hundreds injured on Sulawesi island. Operations are focused on about eight locations in the hardest-hit city of Mamuju, where people are still believed trapped following Friday’s nighttime quake. Cargo planes carrying food, tents, blankets and other supplies from Jakarta landed for distribution in temporary shelters. Still, thousands spent the night in the open fearing aftershocks and a possible tsunami. Many survivors say aid has not reached them yet due to damaged roads. Mamuju city was strewn with debris from collapsed buildings. Patients with drips laid on folding beds under tarpaulin tents outside one of the damaged hospitals.

DALLAS (AP) – A Dallas-area real estate agent is facing charges for allegedly being part of the pro-President Donald Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week. A criminal complaint filed in a Washington federal court charges Jenna Ryan with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority” and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6. Five people, including a police officer, died in the violent attack. Matt DeSarno, special agent in charge of the FBI Dallas office, confirmed that Ryan had turned herself in and her Carrollton apartment was searched Friday.