Megan Guza stories, Page 53

A status conference Monday for accused synagogue shooter Robert Bowers yielded little more than an extension for both sides to trade evidence and file pre-trial motions. Bowers, 46, wasn’t at the hearing, which lasted about five minutes. The deadline for pre-trial motions was Thursday, but U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose...

Elementary school teachers, high school friends, college fraternity brothers, family members and hundreds of others filled every free spot inside a Washington funeral home to say goodbye to a local man killed in a mass shooting last weekend in Dayton. “He just wanted to bring everybody together,” friend Mike Hammond...

Dona Dreeland had a quick wit, a passion for words and an appreciation for any writer who knew how to turn a phrase. “She focused more on quality writing than anything,” said Adam Brandolph, a former Tribune-Review reporter who got his start at the Sewickley Herald. “It wasn’t always just...

Bob Pastin was a passionate newsman who considered the newsroom his second home, making an appearance at least once a day, even on weekends. “He really just loved the newsroom. He just liked being there,” said Kim Palmiero, former managing editor for Trib Total Media’s weekly newspapers. After stints across...

Pittsburgh’s Bishop David Zubik was recovering Monday afternoon after spinal surgery earlier in the day, according to diocesan officials. The surgery at UPMC Mercy was to fuse collapsing disks in the bishop’s spine. The procedure was successful, according to Chancellor Ellen Mady. It was the fourth time Zubik, who turns...

A Washington High School graduate was among the nine killed in a mass shooting at a Dayton, Ohio, bar early Sunday. Nicholas Cumer, 25, graduated from the Washington school in 2012, his family said. “We are heartbroken by the loss of our Nicholas in this senseless act on August 4,”...

Pittsburgh police are investigating after a stolen truck was found crashed and abandoned Saturday morning, authorities said. The incident happened about 11:45 a.m. on Mountain Avenue near Wagner Street at the border of Mt. Oliver and Carrick, according to Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri. First responders arrived and found a...

Kennywood’s new Steel Curtain roller coaster will be closed for the remainder of the weekend, according to the amusement parks’ Facebook page. It’s at least the third time the coaster, which opened July 13, has shut down for maintenance. The coaster closed partway through its opening day, and its reopening...

New Kensington police are asking for help identifying a suspect in a Friday night robbery. The incident happened at a New Kensington convenience store. The department posted a photo from a security camera to their Facebook page indicating the man shown is a suspect in a strong-arm robbery. Anyone with...

Saint Raphael School in Pittsburgh’s Morningside neighborhood will not reopen for the 2019-2020 school year, officials with the Diocese of Pittsburgh said Saturday. The board of Pittsburgh East Regional Catholic Elementary Schools voted Friday night to recommend the school’s closure for the coming school year, board president the Rev. Kris...

Pittsburgh police responded to two separate shootings early Saturday morning, including one that left a man in critical condition, authorities said. Officers responded about 1:30 a.m. to a ShotSpotter notification in the Hill District near Perry Street and Wylie Avenue, said Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz. Police found no victim...

Duquesne University plans to add an osteopathic medical school to its offerings with an eye toward turning out more family practitioners, officials said Thursday. University officials said the school aims to enroll its first class of 75 students in fall 2023 with the hope of bringing enrollment to 600 once...

The funeral for slain Pittsburgh police Officer Calvin Hall is scheduled for Tuesday at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland. Hall, 36, was shot several times while he was off-duty and visiting friends in Homewood early Sunday, police said. He died shortly after noon Wednesday at UPMC Presbyterian. An...

A federal grand jury indicted a 21-year-old Syrian refugee on charges he concocted plans to blow up a Pittsburgh church in the name of the terrorist organization ISIS, according to court records unsealed Thursday. Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, who lived with his family in Northview Heights, has been in federal custody...

Nationwide drug overdose deaths fell last year for the first time since 1990, a decline mirrored statewide and locally, new data show. The drop of 5.1% turned the tide on a nearly 30-year increase driven in recent years by heroin and other powerful opioids. The numbers come from preliminary data...

An annual report from Pittsburgh police shows a continuing racial disparity among the people they arrest, pull over and frisk. The total number of arrests, traffic stops and frisks has dropped in recent years, but African-Americans continue to experience numbers disproportional to their population in the city. A consent decree...

The Black Political Empowerment Project is calling on city and police officials in Pittsburgh to immediately review officer recruitment after a report showed just 4% of the latest recruit class was African-American, according to a letter released Monday. Tim Stevens, executive director of B-PEP, wrote in the letter dated July...

At 57, Marvin Balk was ready for a career change — his fifth. Among other careers, he ran his own company for 27 years. He sold it and set his sights on his next endeavor: months of training to become a Pittsburgh paramedic. “I decided I wanted to do something...

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed a K&L Gates attorney from Pittsburgh as a U.S. District Court judge in Pennsylvania’s Western District. J. Nicholas Ranjan, a managing partner with the firm, was nominated by President Trump in July 2018, according to a release from the firm. His term will begin...

A man wanted for more than a month in connection with a deadly shooting in Wilkinsburg was arrested Monday. Triq Peek Price, 39, was arrested in McKeesport, according to Sgt. Venerando Costa of the Allegheny County Police. Price is accused of shooting and killing David Herbin during an apparent robbery...

Sophisticated algorithms mean Fourth of July fireworks don’t interfere with ShotSpotter, Pittsburgh’s gunshot detection system. The system gives police a better way to pursue illegal celebratory gunfire, said Dan Shak, the Public Safety Department’s technology manager. “We continually analyze incidents within ShotSpotter, looking at certain time periods during those holiday...