Natasha Lindstrom stories, Page 28
16-year-old shot, exchanged gunfire in Homestead
Police are searching for the suspects involved in a gunfight in Homestead on Friday afternoon in which a 16-year-old boy was shot. The victim was treated for a gunshot wound to the right leg, which was not life-threatening, according to Allegheny County Police. Medics took the victim to a nearby...
Judge: UPMC-Highmark split set for June 30
A Commonwealth Court judge on Friday ruled against Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s request to block the insurance network split of UPMC and Highmark at the end of this month. Judge Robert E. Simpson determined that Shapiro’s legal team “cannot state a cause of action” for changing the expiration date...
2 Western Pa. doctors found not guilty of alleged Suboxone scheme
Two Allegheny County doctors are not guilty of illegally prescribing medication used to treat addiction to narcotic painkillers, a West Virginia jury found Thursday. Dr. Krishan Kumar Aggarwal, 75, of Moon Township, and Dr. Cherian John, 66, of Coraopolis, were acquitted on all charges of health care fraud, conspiracy and...
Kennywood to bring back Heinz ketchup
The Kennywood ketchup controversy is over. Heinz is returning to the West Mifflin amusement park, along with Sandcastle and Idlewild & SoakZone. “Kennywood has had the honor to be in business for the past 120 years because of our guests,” park officials said in a statement Wednesday. “We value and...
3 Ohio men accused of robbing 6 pharmacies, hitting stores in Oakland, Bridgeville, Erie
A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh has accused three Ohio men of an eight-month pharmacy robbery spree in a scheme to sell stolen opioid painkillers and dozens of other types of prescription medication on the street, U.S. Scott W. Brady said . Abdulrahman Abdelaziz Jamea, 21, Arthur Lee II, 21,...
Monroeville pair accused of scheming to sell heroin/fentanyl mix
Two Monroeville residents are accused of conspiring with a Somerset County man to sell a mixture of fentanyl and heroin to addicts in Western Pennsylvania, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. A grand jury in Pittsburgh indicted the three defendants: Harvey G. Hicks, 49, and Breanna M. Bane, 27, both of Monroeville,...
Kennywood to bring back Heinz ketchup
The Kennywood ketchup controversy is over. Heinz is returning to the West Mifflin amusement park, along with Sandcastle and Idlewild & SoakZone. “Kennywood has had the honor to be in business for the past 120 years because of our guests,” park officials said in a statement Wednesday. “We value and...
Man hit by car, killed on Saltsburg Road in Penn Hills
A 66-year-old man died Wednesday afternoon after being hit by a car while crossing Saltsburg Road toward a McDonald’s restaurant in Penn Hills, police said. Allegheny County police said in a news release that a man, who has not yet been identified, was crossing Saltsburg Road when he was hit...
UPMC attorney lashes out at Highmark over agreement’s end date
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania State Attorney General Josh Shapiro has no right to “gut” and rewrite a five-year agreement between UPMC and Highmark by changing its June 30 expiration date, UPMC’s top legal executive testified Tuesday in Commonwealth Court. “A deal is a deal,” UPMC Chief Legal Officer Thomas McGough said...
AG Shapiro begins making case for blocking UPMC-Highmark split
HARRISBURG — Three types of patients never were supposed to be affected by the insurance network split of UPMC and Highmark — children, the poor and seniors, Jim Donahue of the Pennsylvania Attorney’s General Office said Monday in Commonwealth Court. State officials decided to intervene in the clash of Western...
AG Shapiro: Legal war against health giant UPMC has just begun
UPMC’s newly relaxed prepay rules for Highmark-insured seniors and cancer patients have not assuaged Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s intensity in his legal fight against the health giant. As he prepares to face off UPMC in Commonwealth Court on Monday, Shapiro appears more determined than ever to take on UPMC...
Cheswick Christian Academy’s close-knit class of 10 students celebrate 2019 commencement
Here is the Cheswick Christian Academy Class of 2019: Sterling James Coles, Warren Eugene Godleski, Rebekah Emily Grant, Josiah Vladimirovich Ivanov, Natalie Ann Jones, Bethany Rose Kosor, Jada Rose Kress, Journee Renee Kress, Deanna Marie Ormesher, Anna Kimmarie Visk....
US attorney says FBI not meddling in accused Tree of Life shooter’s case
The FBI did not block the defense attorneys of accused Squirrel Hill synagogue gunman Robert Bowers from interviewing witnesses, federal prosecutors said in court Friday. The U.S. Attorney’s Office dismissed the allegation that the FBI was meddling in the case and related demands made by defense attorneys last week as...
Pittsburgh man pleads guilty to heroin-dealing in Greenway Boy Killas street gang case
A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty to his role in a heroin ring with ties to the Greenway Boy Killas street gang in Pittsburgh’s West End, federal prosecutors said Rashem Littleberry, 29, admitted to working with others to obtain and sell heroin from November 2017 through last June. He was among...
UPMC preserves access to Hillman Cancer Center for all Highmark-insured patients
Days before a Commonwealth Court showdown against Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, UPMC announced Thursday that it will preserve access at in-network rates for Highmark-insured patients who seek oncology care from Hillman Cancer Center’s 60 locations across Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. The decision applies not only to seniors and people...
1 injured in hillside crash near Freeport Road in O’Hara
A man was injured Tuesday afternoon when his car veered across traffic and rolled onto a hillside just off Freeport Road in O’Hara Township, officials said. Rescue workers used special tools to cut the man from his vehicle, O’Hara Township police Officer Keith Carney said. Emergency dispatchers received a report...
Judge denies UPMC’s attempt to block Highmark from hearing
Highmark’s attorneys will be allowed a seat alongside Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s legal team during next week’s Commonwealth Court showdown with UPMC, a judge ruled Tuesday. Highmark — which sides with Shapiro in his broader quest to force UPMC to contract with any willing competitor — seeks to testify...
Man stabbed on Federal Street in Pittsburgh’s North Side
A man was in critical condition Monday night after being stabbed earlier in the day on a commercial section of Federal Street in Pittsburgh’s North Side, officials said. Zone 1 police and medics responded to a report of a man injured by a knife shortly after 4 p.m., Pittsburgh Department...
Judge to decide next week if AG Shapiro can block looming UPMC-Highmark split
Western Pennsylvanians should know by next Friday whether Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s legal fight to block the June 30 split of health care giants UPMC and Highmark can go on. After last week’s split decision by the state Supreme Court, UPMC and Shapiro’s legal teams next are scheduled to...
Allegheny Health Network ramps up spending on new construction
Buoyed by eight back-to-back quarters of positive earnings, Highmark’s Allegheny Health Network is ramping up spending this year on new constructions and upgrades to hospitals and neighborhood health care centers across Western Pennsylvania, its chief financial officer said Friday. Between Jan. 1 and March 31 alone, the Pittsburgh-based provider network...
The Who rocks Pittsburgh in orchestra-studded show
The Who rocked PPG Paints Arena in an orchestra-studded show Thursday night that paid tribute not only to nostalgic fans but also to the resiliency of the city of Pittsburgh. “It’s great to be back in Pittsburgh, thank you for coming out to see us tonight,” legendary guitarist and songwriter...
Ohio man gets 7 years in prison for heroin, laundering ring more than $60K
An Ohio man will spend seven years in prison for his role in a heroin and related money laundering ring, federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh said Tuesday. James Nelson, 31, of Wellsville, Ohio, was convicted of conspiring to sell more than a kilogram of heroin and launder $60,000 of the profit...
Supreme Court sends legal fight over UPMC-Highmark split back to lower court
The state Supreme Court on Tuesday sent Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s legal push against UPMC back to a lower court to determine whether the looming split of health care rivals UPMC and Highmark can be delayed in the name of public interest. In a split ruling, the state’s highest...
Workers, patients confront UPMC execs at board meeting
Demanding attention from UPMC executives and blasting CEO Jeffrey Romoff’s recent $2.4 million pay raise, several hundred union supporters and workers rallied outside UPMC Montefiore hospital in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood Tuesday afternoon. Joined by Democratic elected officials, patients and faith-based leaders, protesters chanted in the name of worker rights and...
Frazer police: 1,029 THC cartridges worth nearly $61K in West Deer man’s car
A West Deer man faces drug charges after Frazer police said they found more than 1,000 highly potent THC cartridges with an estimated street value of nearly $62,000 in the back seat of his car during a traffic stop Monday afternoon. Police stopped a car driven by Adam Stephen Viale,...
