TribLive stories, Page 2215

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, appears on the front page taking UPMC to court to force it to permit Highmark Medicare recipients to forever be entitled to UPMC’s lower in-network rates for their physicians, services and hospitals, eliminating the inherent competition between the two firms (“AG Shapiro: UPMC’s...

We moved to Vandergrift from another state, and although we were born in Pennsylvania, this is our first impression. Some of the borough employees appear to have the attitude that the citizens of Vandergrift work for them. Any Vandergrift employees with that mindset, please be advised that you work for...

Why are people so up in arms (pun intended) about Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto wishing for a gun ban? Little girls wish for ponies and to be princesses; little boys wish to be cowboys and astronauts. Parents don’t tell them that wishing is wrong, and that most wishes don’t come...

It took five playing days and nearly a week’s time, but the opening round of the 2019 WPIAL girls basketball playoffs is in the books. Now, it’s down to the Elite Eight in each classification with not only berths in the district semifinals up for grabs, but state playoff berths,...

NEW YORK — On a year where one of the lead Oscar contenders is titled “The Favourite,” the 91st Academy Awards lack a clear front runner. Normally a fairly predictable process with one or two favorites, this year’s best picture race has been maddeningly unclear, almost devious in its contradictions....

Seven years after her daughter’s murder, Colleen Bowers’ fight to raise awareness of domestic violence is going strong. The fourth annual fundraiser held in memory of Melissa A. Bowers, who in 2012 was slain in Carnegie by an ex-boyfriend, has raised $8,900 and counting for the Center for Victims in...

Carnegie Borough is celebrating its 125th birthday, and the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall is very much a part of the borough’s rich history. The “Carnegie Carnegie” will celebrate with a performance chosen to entertain the whole family. Chris Laitta’s TV Tunes, presented by UPMC Health Plan, will...

Pine-Richland is welcoming a new member to the district team. At its meeting Feb. 11, the board hired Jeffrey Zimmerman as director of facilities management. Most recently, Zimmerman served as the regional facilities director for CBRE Group Inc. at 16 art institute locations throughout the eastern United States. Prior to...

NEW YORK — The leaders of President Trump’s inaugural committee saw trouble coming and tried to get ahead of it. It was January 2018, a year after the black-tie balls and candlelight dinners in Washington. Journalists were asking questions about how the Presidential Inaugural Committee had raised — and spent...

The Freeport and Ringgold boys basketball teams were both on lengthy streaks without a WPIAL playoff victory. Freeport’s last win came in 2010 while Ringgold last appeared in the playoffs in 2011, when it lost in the first round. It was a tale of two halves for the No. 8-seeded...

Billy Deshields had the hot hand Wednesday night and carried Uniontown to a 72-53 victory over Beaver in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball playoffs at Peters Township. Deshields drained seven 3-pointers and had 29 points for the No. 4 Red Raiders (19-3). Bryant Grady had...

It will be a Section 1-3A convention of sorts Thursday for a WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball doubleheader to kick off quarterfinals weekend. In the opener, Aliquippa faces Neshannock at 6:30 p.m. followed by Lincoln Park facing Beaver Falls at 8 p.m. in the third meeting of the season between...

WASHINGTON — The annual Munich Security Conference is usually a somnolent affair, a ritual renewal of vows between the United States and its European allies. This year was different. Germany’s outgoing chancellor, Angela Merkel, finally said what she thinks of President Trump. Without using Trump’s name, she described his “America...

High Schools Basketball Boys WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals Saturday’s schedule Pine-Richland (20-2) vs. Peters Township (16-7) at North Hills, 3 p.m.; Upper St. Clair (19-3) vs. Butler (18-4) at Canon-McMillan, 1:30 p.m.; Latrobe (18-2) vs. Canon-McMillan (15-8) at Norwin, 3 p.m.; Mt. Lebanon (19-3) vs. Fox Chapel (16-7) at...

Every Wednesday during the 2018-19 WPIAL basketball season, the TribLive High School Sports Network releases Power Rankings during the WPIAL Roundball Report at 6:30 p.m. Then, after the show, the Trib Ten is posted online at TribHSSN.TribLive.com. These rankings have zero classification boundaries. Here are the rankings for the Week...

America’s surging shale oil production shows little sign of abating, despite industrywide spending cuts, as explorers learn to do more with less. Almost all the independent producers have reduced their budgets for 2019, but many still expect to deliver double-digit growth in production this year, fourth-quarter earnings reports show. Growth...

Pleasant Hills leaders are looking to fill a vacancy on borough council, after Regis Brown resigned effective Feb. 28. Council members accepted Brown’s resignation at their meeting on Feb. 19. Anyone interested in filling the vacancy should submit a letter of interest or resume by March 4. In his resignation...

“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with disorderly conduct after he allegedly filed a false police report about an attack he said occurred as he walked to his apartment building in the Streeterville neighborhood last month. The charge, a felony, was announced by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office...

The people have the right to know. The people have the right to care. The people have the right to question. And in most cases, the government doesn’t have the right to say, no. Highlands School District does not have the right to shadowy decision-making. In January, the school board...

La Roche pitcher Tre Thomas had a 2018 season many of his peers would envy. Then a sophomore, the Ambridge grad went 9-1 with a 1.47 ERA, earned honorable mention All-American honors from D3Baseball.com and was the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Pitcher of the Year. But Redhawks coach Chase Rowe...

Riddle me this: In today’s paper it was reported that Westmoreland County may have to spend $7 million to upgrade its voting machines to make them more secure (“Commission recommends Pennsylvania security measures for elections,” Jan. 29, TribLIVE) — but not one word about doing something to help make the...

The 2019 primary election season is fast approaching, and the spring always promises us daffodils, weeds and yard signs. Regardless of your party, you will be choosing between candidates for local positions. Our choices are not always clear, as many candidates are inexperienced and have no record, or experienced and...

Are politicians really working for us? Can there be no compromise? Is the revelation that a governor put on a black face or white sheet, more than 30 years ago, really more offensive than the bill he backs that legalizes the murder of an infant in the late third trimester?...