Morning roundup: Somerset County man killed in 2-vehicle crash; SWAT standoff ends with 1 person in custody
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Jan. 8: ______________________________ Somerset County man killed in 2-vehicle crash A man was killed Wednesday night in a two-vehicle crash in Fayette County. Michael Duritsky Jr., 28, of Addison, a tiny Somerset County town 5 miles north of...
McKeesport man gets 2 life sentences for murdering his mother and her friend
Pennsylvania state law required an Allegheny County judge Wednesday to sentence a McKeesport man to life in prison without parole in the 2024 killing of his mother and her friend. Prosecutors and pair of mourning families, however, asked Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Satler to do more — and acknowledge “the...
McCandless couple charged in ‘elaborate’ food-stamp fraud
Pennsylvania’s attorney general has charged a McCandless couple with running an “elaborate scheme” to illegally buy food stamps at a cut rate, use them to purchase nearly $180,000 in food from area stores, then resell the items at their Pittsburgh deli and restaurant. Rachna Anwar, 46, and her husband, Munir...
Stretch of I-79 in Washington County reopens after rockslide
Interstate 79 in Washington County is open to traffic again following a Wednesday morning rockslide that shut down its northbound lanes. Crews reopened the lanes around 8:35 a.m. after removing rock debris that had fallen on the roadway, said Melissa Maczko, a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokeswoman. Southbound traffic was...
Morning Roundup: Man pinned by equipment in Strip District; police seek Uniontown shooter
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, Jan. 7: ______________________________ Man pinned by equipment in Strip District A man was hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday after “a piece of industrial equipment” pinned him to a building in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Pittsburgh police, firefighters and EMS...
Why did a helicopter land in Point State Park?
A helicopter hovered above — and landed in — Point State Park Tuesday morning in Downtown Pittsburgh as part of Pennsylvania State Police preparations for the 2026 NFL Draft coming to the city this spring. The state police helicopter touched down just before 9 a.m. for about eight minutes, according...
Police: Pittsburgh man hit cruiser, drove into oncoming traffic at 90 mph during wild pursuit
Police have arrested a Pittsburgh man they say drove a stolen car into oncoming traffic on Route 30 “with speed upwards of 90 mph” during an early morning police chase last weekend that ended in a wrecked cruiser, a discarded gun and the suspect’s arrest. The suspect said he should...
Turtle Creek man charged with attempted homicide after teen shot at close range in Duquesne
Police early Tuesday arrested a Turtle Creek man they say was one of two gunman who fired dozens of shots a day earlier at a 15-year-old boy in Duquesne, grazing his elbow. Jamar Saunders, 21, fired at the victim around 2:30 p.m. near a grassy lot at on Auriles Street,...
Snow out, rain in, as thaw displaces deep freeze in Pittsburgh area
Goodbye, snow. Temperatures in Pittsburgh this week could reach 60 degrees and lead to snowmelt in a winter warm-up set to end a six-day run of frigid weather, according to the National Weather Service in Moon. The mercury started rising Monday morning in Pittsburgh and is expected to plateau in...
Steelers vs. Ravens: What they’re saying in Baltimore after loss
There were plenty of key plays when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens 26-24 in a winner-take-all Week 18 game at Acrisure Stadium. But, holy water aside, sports writers in Baltimore — and angry Ravens fans on Instagram — zeroed in Sunday and early Monday mostly on Ravens kicker...
The new Hail Mary? Fans credit holy water blessing for Steelers’ division-clinching win
A priest might have helped save the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season after blessing an Acrisure Stadium end zone with holy water before Sunday night’s winner-take-all battle against the Baltimore Ravens. At least that’s what Monday morning quarterbacks are arguing on social media. TV cameras caught the Rev. Maximilian Maxwell of Saint...
A less-deadly year: In 2025, Pittsburgh notched fewest killings in decades, mirroring national trend
The gunfire didn’t stop in 2025, but it quieted, more than it has in years. Pittsburgh recorded 35 homicides last year, the fewest since at least the turn of the century, part of a broader regional and national downturn in violent crime. From New York City and Los Angeles to...
Pittsburgh police arrest woman for hitting puppy, sealing it in suitcase
Pittsburgh police arrested a “heavily intoxicated” woman on the North Side for stuffing a puppy into a suitcase and zipping the bag closed. Jayme White, 56, remained Monday in the Allegheny County Jail on $1,000 bail, court records show. Her home address was not listed in court records. Pittsburgh police...
Man charged with attempted homicide after Homestead shooting
An argument that started Friday morning in a Homestead store ended with one man being shot in the leg and the other being taken to jail. Homestead police were dispatched shortly before 11 a.m. to the 100 block of East 8th Avenue after several 911 callers reported that a man...
Bitty & Beau’s, coffee shop known for inclusive hiring, quietly closes Strip District store
A coffee shop chain staffed by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a group dramatically underemployed nationwide, has permanently shuttered its only Pittsburgh-area location. Bitty & Beau’s Coffee on Tuesday closed the doors on its shop in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. “Unsustainable financial loss” led to the shutdown, according to a...
Oakmont Elks lodge Christmas dinner blends tradition, community, holiday spirit
The dozens of meals that volunteers served at an Elks lodge in Oakmont on Thursday afternoon felt as much about tradition as they did the spirit of Christmas Day. About 50 people gathered to break bread at 2 p.m. in the Washington Avenue lodge’s dining room — and the details...
No ham, no hassle: Chinese buffet, Jewish-run bookstore give Christmas a different spin
Greg Schmitt didn’t need a ham dinner with green beans and scalloped potatoes to celebrate Christmas with his family Thursday. Instead, the Tarentum man traded in the traditional holiday spread for a plateful of piping-hot General Tso’s chicken at a modest Chinese buffet. “It’s nice to have a place to...
Feast of the 7 Fishes fuels Christmas Eve frenzy in Pittsburgh’s Strip District
Brad Quartuccio refused to allow fate to disrupt a Christmas Eve tradition — prepping for his family’s Feast of the Seven Fishes, an Italian-American celebration revolving around succulent seafood. The Morningside resident and his son Sal, 7, marched proudly around 10 a.m. Wednesday through Wholey’s packed aisles, bags of shrimp...
Pa.’s top election official battles DOJ demand for voter data
Pennsylvania’s top election official wants a judge to toss out a lawsuit by the federal government demanding “highly sensitive personal information” about the state’s voters. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Pennsylvania in September after the state initially failed to turn over data about its nearly 9 million registered voters....
Gainey to let 2026 Pittsburgh budget become law without his signature
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey plans to let next year’s $693 million, City Council-backed budget — and the 20% property tax hike set to come with it — become law without his signature. Gainey, in a letter Tuesday to council President R. Daniel Lavelle, called the 2026 budget he initially pitched...
Kiski School sued for racial discrimination alleged by Black ex-employees
A Black couple who spent more than two decades working at The Kiski School have sued the 137-year-old private school and its headmaster, claiming racial discrimination. The civil rights lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Pittsburgh, alleges “racial discrimination and retaliation for opposing racial discrimination,” as well as violations...
Weekend vandalism targets North Side Pittsburgh police facilities, vehicles
Someone vandalized Pittsburgh police headquarters, one of its precincts and a marked cruiser on the North Side over the weekend. Officers discovered early Sunday that the letters “ACAB” — a possible acronym, police said, for “All cops are (expletive)” — had been spray-painted on the police bureau’s headquarters on Western...
Strip District scaffolding collapse damages vehicles
A section of scaffolding collapsed Friday morning at a Strip District construction site, damaging multiple vehicles. The developer of the six-story, mixed-use building told TribLive it’s “too soon to say” whether gusty winds triggered it. No injuries were reported after the scaffolding fell around 10 a.m., according to the developer...
Police: woman critically injured, man found shot dead in Banksville home
A woman was assaulted Thursday and police found an unidentified man dead in a home in Pittsburgh’s Banksville neighborhood. Pittsburgh police said they were dispatched around 9:45 a.m. to a home in the 2600 block of Winchester Drive. Inside, officers found a woman suffering from “significant” injuries such as “facial...
Double-amputee Marine sent to prison for sexually assaulting teen
A U.S. Marine and Purple Heart recipient who lost both legs to a bomb in Afghanistan is headed to jail for up to 24 years on charges that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl multiple times this spring. Brandon Rumbaugh, 36, of Pleasant Hills had sex with the teen four...
