Morning Roundup: Pittsburgh drivers to get warnings about passing stopped school buses

Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, May 17, 2023:

Pittsburgh drivers to get warnings about passing stopped school buses

Drivers illegally passing stopped Pittsburgh Public School buses will get warning letters with no monetary penalty starting Wednesday under the district’s new stop-arm camera program.

Citations can be issued when the program goes live July 3, according to a spokeswoman.

The school bus upgrades are meant to curtail reckless driving habits that put students in danger, Superintendent Wayne N. Walters said in a press release. The upgrades to the district’s fleet of 150 buses, in partnership with BusPatrol, did not cost taxpayers anything and are violator-funded.

The stop-arm cameras capture the license plates of scofflaws.

The district’s buses have been equipped with the cameras since the beginning of the school year. Since January, nearly 30,000 violations have been captured, according to the statement.

Drivers must stop at least 10 feet away from school buses that have their stop-arm extended and red lights flashing under state law. Penalties can include fines, points on a drivers license and a license suspension. For more details about the program, visit pghschools.org/buspatrol.

Crime Stoppers searches for answers to 1976 homicide

Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers is looking for help in cracking a 47-year-old cold case homicide in Washington County.

John Joseph Wapinski, 80, was found dead in the women’s restroom at Wapinski’s Tavern in East Bethlehem on May 15, 1976. State police determined he had been hit once in the head and then shot with a handgun. They believe he was robbed at the tavern he owned. Wapinski died the next day at a hospital.

Anyone with information is asked to call state police in Waynesburg at 724-627-6151 or 800-4PA-TIPS or leave a tip online here. Tipsters could be eligible for a cash reward, according to Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers.

Details on Washington County mine incident: 3 injured

Three miners were injured Tuesday at Consol Energy’s Enlow Fork Mine in Washington County after what officials described as an underground accident involving supply cars and a man trip carrier, according to a statement from the company obtained by Tribune-Review news partner WPXI.

Two people had minor injuries and were released from a hospital after being transported there from the Morris Township site. The third person was taken by medical helicopter to a hospital for treatment of what officials described in the statement as non-life threatening injuries.

The incident was reported around 4 a.m.