Natasha Lindstrom stories, Page 31
3 fallen Marines with ties to Pa. honored with flags flown at half-staff
Flags at the state Capitol and public buildings across Pennsylvania began flying at half-staff Thursday to honor three Marines killed in the line of duty. Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all U.S. and state flags to remain lowered through sunset Sunday and invited others to participate. Local emergency services officials and public...
Coraopolis man gets 2 years in prison, must pay $2.3M for evading payroll taxes
A Coraopolis man who tried to skirt four years of payroll taxes he owed to the IRS will spend two years behind bars, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Amarender Tiparthy, 50, owner of a software and IT consulting firm, also must pay restitution in the amount of $2.28 million — the...
3 adults, 3 kids injured when SUV crashes into bus near Andy Warhol Museum
Six people, including three children, were injured Thursday afternoon when a car collided with a Port Authority bus near the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh’s North Side. Five passengers on the bus were injured as well as the driver of the car, according to Port Authority of Allegheny County spokesman...
Colombian man pleads guilty to jewelry heist targeting traveling salesman in McCandless
A Colombian man pleaded guilty to federal robbery charges for trying to steal as much as $1 million worth of jewelry and gemstones from a salesman outside a McCandless store in 2013, officials said Tuesday. Oscar Javier Rodriguez Roa, 36, of Bogota, Colombia, admitted as part of his guilty plea...
Forensic evidence helps nab man accused of killing 2 Penn Hills women in 1973
A fresh lead and forensic evidence spurred this week’s arrest of a man in New York accused of murdering two Penn Hills teenagers while they were vacationing in Virginia Beach nearly 46 years ago, police said Tuesday. Ernest Broadnax, 80, of the St. Albans section of Queens, faces charges of...
Joint state House, Senate session planned to honor of Tree of Life victims
The state Legislature plans to hold a rare joint session this week in remembrance of the synagogue shooting that claimed 11 lives in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood in late October. The House and Senate chambers will convene on Wednesday as an act of solidarity in support of the people and...
McKeesport woman takes plea deal to avoid death penalty for killing her son
A McKeesport woman took a plea deal Monday to avoid the death penalty for suffocating her 17-month-old son out of anger when she believed her boyfriend was cheating on her. Christian Clark, 24, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing her son, Andre Price III, by...
Think you can lie about hitting a deer? 25 charged in Western Pa. insurance fraud sweep
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro sent a message Friday to anyone who thinks they can get away with lying to pocket an insurance check: We’re going to catch you. State prosecutors from the Western Regional Office have charged 25 people in a far-reaching insurance fraud sweep during February and March,...
Turtle Creek man gets 4 years behind bars for illegally owning AR-15 engraved with ‘Let it rain’
A Turtle Creek man was sentenced to four years and three months behind bars after twice getting caught illegally owning weapons — including an AR-15 rifle with the engraving, “Let it rain,” prosecutors said Thursday. Iklas Richard Davis, 38, pleaded guilty to federal firearms charges following three days of trial...
Judge adds 3 years to Shaler man’s 12-year sentence for selling heroin paraphernalia
A federal judge added three more years to a Shaler man’s 12-year prison sentence because he continued to sell heroin paraphernalia at his family’s stores in the North Hills even after getting caught, prosecutors said Thursday. Mayank Mishra, 38, pleaded guilty to criminal contempt and drug charges in November for...
UPMC-Highmark agreement can’t be extended, judge rules
A judge ruled Wednesday that Attorney General Josh Shapiro cannot delay this summer’s looming breakup of rivals UPMC and Highmark, starting the clock on an 88-day countdown until thousands of seniors, cancer patients, and people with disabilities will no longer have affordable access to most UPMC doctors and hospitals. Commonwealth...
D. Raja concedes, Democrat Pam Iovino takes 37th state Senate seat
Democrat Pam Iovino will be the new senator for Pennsylvania’s 37th state Senate district. Republican D. Raja conceded the race at about 9:30 p.m., when unofficial vote tallies showing Iovino leading by almost 4,000 votes with more than 87% of precincts reporting. With all 214 Allegheny County precincts reporting, Iovino...
Wilkinsburg man gets 4 years in prison for dealing heroin, fentanyl out of Monroeville hotel
A Wilkinsburg man faces four years behind bars for conspiring to sell heroin and fentanyl after officials caught his drug-dealing crew operating out of a Monroeville hotel, federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh said Tuesday. Termane Thomass Eleam, 33, was sentenced this week after pleading guilty in October, U.S. Attorney Scott W....
Apollo woman pleads guilty to fraudulently collecting Social Security benefits
An Apollo woman admitted to defrauding the federal government of more than $25,000 in Social Security benefits by lying about her marital status, prosecutors said Tuesday. Tara Jo Frain, 33, pleaded guilty to a theft charge for pocketing Supplemental Security Income benefits that she knew she wasn’t entitled to receive,...
Democrat Pam Iovino, Republican D. Raja vie for 37th state Senate seat
Voters in the South Hills and part of Washington County will decide Tuesday who fills the Pennsylvania Senate seat left vacant by Republican U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler with a special election garnering national attention. Democrat Pam Iovino is vying for the 37th District seat against Republican D. Raja. Iovino, 62,...
DISH Network strikes deal to avoid subscribers losing access to WPXI
WPXI-TV struck a last-minute deal with DISH Network to avoid interrupting viewers’ access to the Pittsburgh station, officials said Monday. Their prior contract expired Sunday. The NBC-affiliate headquartered in Pittsburgh’s Summer Hill neighborhood had warned that viewers who use DISH Network for their satellite TV services might lose the channel...
Multiple injuries reported in crash along Route 66 in Washington Township
Multiple people were injured in a car crash Sunday morning on Route 66 in Washington Township, officials said. The wreck, which involved at least three vehicles near Route 819, happened shortly after 10 a.m., a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher said. Murrysville Medic One ambulance service reported multiple injuries. Dispatchers said...
Car crashes into utility pole, overturns in Ross
One person was injured when a car crashed into a utility pole and overturned Sunday in Ross, officials said. The report of the crash on Babcock Boulevard near Tally Drive came in shortly before 6 p.m. Medics took one person to the hospital by ambulance, an Allegheny County 911 shift...
Car plummets over Route 66 hillside, lands in creek in Washington Township
A car crashed over a Washington Township hillside, plummeted about 50 feet and landed on its roof in a creek Sunday morning, officials said. Dispatchers received a report of the crash along Route 66 at Greensburg Road shortly after 10 a.m., a Westmoreland County 911 shift commander said. One person...
Woman injured Sunday when car crashes into billboard in Springdale Township
A car veered over a hillside along the Allegheny River in Springdale Township and crashed into a billboard Sunday afternoon, injuring the woman who was driving, officials said. Shortly before 6 p.m., officials received a report of a single-vehicle crash on Freeport Road just south of the New Kensington Bridge....
Motorcyclist dead after crash with vehicle in Elizabeth Township
The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office has identified the man killed after a crash between a motorcycle and a vehicle in Elizabeth Township. Douglas G. Vranish, 61, of Irwin, died of his injuries at UPMC Presbyterian hospital around 8:17 p.m. Saturday. Vranish was the motorcyclist. The crash happened shortly before...
Allegheny County homeowners have until Monday to pay property taxes at 2% discount
Allegheny County residents now have until the end of Monday to pay their property taxes at a 2 percent discount. County Treasurer John Weinstein said Saturday he was extending the discount window by an extra day because the original deadline, March 31, fell on a Sunday. Real estate taxes are...
Body recovered from Allegheny River near Fox Chapel Yacht Club
Officials found a body Saturday in the Allegheny River near the Fox Chapel Yacht Club. The report of the body floating in the water came in about 11:30 a.m., Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs said. The club’s workers found the body wedged beside or under the dock. Blawnox Volunteer Fire...
Missing Armstrong County man found unharmed a few miles from home
An Armstrong County man who had been missing for more than 24 hours was found unharmed Wednesday in the woods a few miles from his home, officials said. Officials confirmed they found Paul Walker sleeping on the ground in the brush shortly before 5 p.m., Trib news partner WPXI-TV reports....
Highmark reports strong financial picture for 2018
Highmark Health took in $515 million more in revenue last year than the previous year, making 2018 its second-best financial performance since the integrated health care system’s inception, CEO David Holmberg said Tuesday. “We’ve continued to grow and expand, remain financially strong and stable, and maintain our relationships in the...
