Justin Vellucci stories, Page 28
Swissvale therapist accused of having sexual relationship with teen ordered to stand trial
A Pittsburgh-area therapist was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on charges accusing her of having a yearslong sexual relationship with a boy starting when he was 14, but three of the most serious charges against her were thrown out. Rachel Witkowski, 42, of Swissvale, waived her preliminary hearing Wednesday in...
Pittsburgh man pleads guilty to killing Oliver Citywide student
A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty Wednesday to third-degree murder in connection with last year’s fatal shooting of an Oliver Citywide Academy student at the North Side school. Eugene Watson, 19, of Crafton Heights, also pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit third-degree murder and two firearms charges. Watson, 17 at...
Environmental groups claim victory in EPA ruling on U.S. Steel plant in Clairton
Government regulators sided with environmental advocates, in part, when they ruled recently that a U.S. Steel plant in the Mon Valley might be violating clean-air laws under a current permit that restricts its emissions. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) delivered a split decision last month over petitions by four...
TSA stops 35th gun at Pittsburgh airport, tying single-year record
Transportation Security Administration officers last weekend seized the fifth gun in seven days at Pittsburgh International Airport, bringing the total number of guns confiscated this year to 35. Saturday’s gun catch ties Pittsburgh’s all-time record number of guns seized in a year, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. The 35-gun total...
Family seeks answers in death of Wilkinsburg teen on Parkway East ramp
Delmar “Delly” Greer wants answers. His 19-year-old son, Delmar Greer Jr., was struck by a car and killed on April 29 on a Parkway East off-ramp as he walked home from his car, which had broken down nearby on the highway, according to family members. State police are investigating but...
2 teens ordered to stand trial in Stanton Heights slaying
Two teens were ordered Friday to stand trial on charges that they conspired to set up and then fatally shoot a 21-year-old man in Pittsburgh late last year. Jared Goodwine was murdered late Nov. 6, 2022, in the 900 block of Millerdale Street in Stanton Heights, according to a criminal...
Police, faith leaders to join community at Western Pa. events for 4th annual Faith & Blue Weekend
The Rev. Markel Hutchins was born a decade after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. But the work that Hutchins does now as chairman and CEO of the Atlanta-based MovementForward Inc. is deeply informed by the spirit of King and other civil-rights activists who came before him. In 2020, Hutchins...
Pittsburgh launches site to track crime
Pittsburgh police Thursday launched a new publicly available, online public safety tool, which provides a general overview of criminal activity that occurs across the city. Data for 2023 is collected from the police bureau’s records management system and will be manually updated on a monthly basis to reflect the preceding...
Morning Roundup: Man charged in Downtown stabbing; McKeesport teachers ready to strike
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Oct. 6: Police say argument led to assault A Thursday night altercation near the Second Avenue Commons shelter ended with one man being stabbed, hospitalized and charged with assault. Marvin Kennedy, 53, of Pittsburgh, was awaiting arraignment early...
Garfield groups confront market-rate development push with affordable housing projects
Rick Swartz believes the 25 affordable houses his group is building in Garfield will help transform a neighborhood that illustrates how Pittsburgh is tackling development, blight and housing-market trends. The Bloomfield-Garfield Corp. executive director walked through the wooden-beamed skeleton of a home under construction at 234 N. Aiken Ave., pausing...
Carnegie Museum bans controversial diorama, enacts new policy
A popular but controversial diorama the Carnegie Museum of Natural History displayed for museum-goers for more than 120 years will be permanently removed from public view, due to a newly enacted human-remains policy, museum officials said Thursday. The Oakland museum’s move, in the works for several years, comes amid debate...
Cars and more up for grabs at this weekend’s Pittsburgh International Airport auction
Items that travelers leave behind at Pittsburgh International Airport tell their own kinds of stories. Seven iPads, nine Samsung tablets, and 34 Amazon Kindles or Kindle Fires. Eleven Apple watches, 17 lots of assorted sunglasses. Legions of wallets, jewelry, handbags. A Kingstone flute, model K-L-505S, with case included. A pair...
TSA nabs 34th gun of year at Pittsburgh airport
Pittsburgh International Airport is one weapon away from tying the record for most guns confiscated in a single year, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials announced Thursday. TSA officers stopped a Greensburg man early Thursday from carrying a loaded, .22 caliber pistol onto a flight at Findlay-based Pittsburgh International Airport, TSA...
Morning Roundup: Security guard shot in leg; man hospitalized after train crash; homicide victim identified
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Oct. 5: Police: Security guard shot in leg after approaching alleged car burglars in East Liberty A security guard was shot in East Liberty Wednesday night after he approached several teens who were attempting to break into cars....
Coroner IDs 2 victims fatally shot in Pittsburgh’s Hill District
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified two people killed Wednesday following a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood. Robert Lee Freeman, Jr., 33, of Pittsburgh, was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head at 3:09 a.m. in the 2300 block of Webster Avenue, after Pittsburgh police...
Pittsburgh Public Schools employee accused of raping teen ordered to stand trial
A Pittsburgh Public Schools employee has been ordered to stand trial on charges that he raped a 14-year-old girl this summer at his Baldwin home. Bryan Deering, 46, is accused of giving the girl alcohol and at least two “marijuana cigarettes” before sexually assaulting and raping her after a night...
Morning Roundup: Kittanning man found guilty of sexual assault; West Mifflin man missing
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, Oct. 4: Kittanning man found guilty of sexual assault A Kittanning man has been convicted of multiple sexual offenses and domestic violence crimes against three young women between the ages of 16 and 20. A jury on Tuesday...
2 men killed in Hill District shooting
Two men were killed early Wednesday following a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood. Pittsburgh police from Zone 2 responded to the 2300 block of Webster Avenue for a 16-round ShotSpotter alert at about 3 a.m., police spokeswoman Cara Cruz said. Officers found a man with a gunshot wound to...
Record October heat possible in Pittsburgh before temps plummet
Pittsburghers will be dealing with potentially record-breaking heat for much of the week before a dramatic cold shift this weekend. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Moon said Allegheny County might experience patchy fog Tuesday morning, followed by a mostly sunny day with “unseasonably warm” temperatures. The temperature should...
Woman dies in Allegheny County’s first West Nile virus case of 2023
Officials have identified the first human case of West Nile virus in 2023 in Allegheny County. The woman, who was in her 80s and lived in Pittsburgh’s Elliott neighborhood, experienced fever and weakness, leading to hospitalization, the Allegheny County Health Department said Monday. She died in late September. The state...
Police say Beechview woman contributed to friend’s fentanyl-related death
A Pittsburgh woman has been criminally charged with contributing to the fentanyl-related death of her best friend. Scott police on Monday charged Mackenzie Bell, 24, of Beechview with criminal conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility in the March 11 death of Allison Schreiner, 24, of Scott Township, according...
Morning roundup: Fire impacts 3 Murrysville businesses; arrest made in robbery of 2 Pitt students
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Oct. 3: Fire in Murrysville impacts 3 businesses A fire broke out in a business building early Tuesday in Murrysville. The fire was reported at about 2:30 a.m.on the 4000 block of William Penn Highway. The structure houses...
Another gun detected at Pittsburgh International; airport on pace for record number of confiscations, TSA says
The Transportation Security Administration confiscated a loaded handgun from a Georgia man at Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday, the third gun intercepted at the airport in a week, officials said. “We are on the cusp of setting a new all-time high in the number of guns our team has detected...
Police say McKees Rocks mother stabbed her child’s father in the chest
Munhall police say a child-custody exchange turned violent Sunday afternoon when a woman stabbed her daughter’s father in the chest outside his Munhall apartment. Police said they responded to the 3800 block of Shady Avenue around 3:15 p.m. and found a man identified as Victor Harvey suffering from a stab...
Crash sends motorcycle passenger over Pittsburgh’s 31st Street Bridge onto train tracks below
A motorcyclist struck a concrete barrier on the 31st Street Bridge early Monday, sending a female passenger over the bridge onto train tracks below, Pittsburgh police said. The crash closed the bridge to traffic for about two hours. Authorities responded to the incident around 4:30 a.m. Police spokeswoman Cara Cruz...
