TribLive stories, Page 2321
North Allegheny gears up for musical ‘Good News’
North Allegheny is presenting the musical “Good News” on March 13, 14, 15 and 16 at 7 p.m., and March 17 at 2 p.m. The show is set in the 1920s on the campus of Tait College. It follows a star football player who is struggling in one of his...
Youngstown native remembered for passion, love for life
Helene Smith would be ready to travel at the drop of a hat. “She’d pack up, let’s go,” her husband Wayne Smith Jr. said. “I would have a tough time keeping up with her.” But her passion for traveling and meeting new people lead Mrs. Smith to write and publish...
YouTube suspends comments on videos of kids to curb pedophiles
SAN FRANCISCO — YouTube said Thursday it will turn off comments on nearly all videos featuring kids — potentially affecting millions of posts on the site — after reports last week that pedophiles were leaving inappropriate comments on innocuous videos of children. The change comes as YouTube grapples with moderating...
Working parents are an endangered species. That’s why Democrats are talking child care.
Democrats’ child-care proposals, such as the plan put forward by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., last week, target an increasingly rare breed: the working parent. Parents make up a smaller share of the U.S. labor force now than at any other time in at least a century, according to our analysis...
Gap to create 2 independently publicly traded companies
NEW YORK — Gap Inc. is splitting into two. The retailer said Thursday that it’s creating two independent publicly traded companies — low-priced Old Navy and a yet-to-be named company, which will consist of the iconic Gap brand, Athleta, Banana Republic, Intermix and Hill City. The San Francisco-based company said...
Laurels & lances: Cyber school, a hero’s honor and what happens in Vegas
Laurel: To public school districts such as Leechburg, Hempfield, Jeannette, Seneca Valley, Norwin and a growing list of others across the state that are reaching out to families in search of cyberschool options with district-based cyber programs that save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those programs also offer high-achieving...
Protesters in Ukraine call for president’s impeachment
KIEV, Ukraine — Hundreds of demonstrators marched across the Ukrainian capital Thursday calling for the impeachment of the country’s president over embezzlement claims. President Petro Poroshenko, who is seeking re-election in a March 31 vote, has come under fire over a media investigation that implicated one of his senior associates...
Cooking challenge puts budding Eden Hall chefs to the test
The cafeteria kitchen at Eden Hall Upper Elementary School could have passed for the set of Master Chef Junior on Feb. 27 as six of the school’s budding young culinary wizards put their recipes to the test. The fourth and fifth graders were chosen as finalists in the 2019 Sodexo...
Moscow court orders prominent U.S. investor to remain in jail
MOSCOW — A Moscow court on Thursday rejected an appeal by a prominent U.S. foreign investment manager and ordered him to remain in jail for at least the next month-and-a-half in connection with an embezzlement probe. The Moscow City Court’s decision to keep Michael Calvey behind bars until April 13...
W.Va. governor signs bill mandating high school computer science
BECKLEY, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has signed legislation requiring students to take computer science classes before graduating high school. Justice held a ceremonial bill signing Thursday at Cranberry-Prosperity Elementary School in Beckley. The governor’s office says in a news release West Virginia is the first state to...
Shaler Area gym rockin’ and rollin’ during bocce match
On Feb. 27, Shaler Area High School’s gymnasium was packed to watch a Unified Bocce match between students from Shaler Area and Moon Area High Schools. Each team is a combination of special education students and typical students who went toe-to-toe. The Shaler Area student body showed up in support...
Arizona town bans phone use by drivers
FLORENCE, Ariz. — A town in central Arizona has banned the use of phones while driving beginning in March. The Casa Grande Dispatch reported Thursday that the Florence Town Council passed an ordinance on Feb. 19 prohibiting the use of “portable wireless communication devices” while behind the wheel. The ordinance...
You can dance, you can jive at TJ High’s ‘Mamma Mia!’Video
Thomas Jefferson High School students are inviting audiences to sing and dance with them as they journey to Greece to bring the heartwarming tale of “Mamma Mia!” to life. The high school stage at TJ will transform into the Greek islands from March 14 to 16, where the largest cast...
Officials probe why so little of $4.3M Westmoreland firefighter grant has been used
Hardly any of a $4.3 million firefighter grant aimed at benefiting Westmoreland County fire departments has been spent since it was awarded in 2017. Awarded Sept. 1, 2017, by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant gives departments the ability to...
Baldwin officer working to get more discounted door cameras for borough homes
Two years ago, a shooting in the north end of Baldwin Borough left police with little to go on. The suspects took off on foot, running through multiple streets before fleeing the area by car. Baldwin Borough police Officer Keith Hagan spent a day walking the streets looking for evidence,...
Martha Stewart partners with Canadian cannabis firm
No, you’re not smoking something. Martha Stewart is really joining the cannabis craze. The domestic diva said Thursday she is partnering with Canopy Growth Corp. to assist in developing new products that contain non-psychoactive CBD and other hemp-derived cannabinoids. First to come will be offerings for pets. Stewart didn’t specify...
Review: ‘Greta’ is both tremendously silly and kind of a blast
Imagine you’re a 20-something living in New York City and you spot a particularly nice and structured green leather handbag on the subway. Do you report it to the MTA? Ignore it and move on? Claim it and its contents for yourself? Return to the owner? For Chloe Grace Moretz’s...
Lady Gaga: Bradley Cooper duet was acting, not loveVideo
LOS ANGELES — It was acting, not love, when Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper sang a duet Sunday at the 91st Academy Awards. Gaga discussed the emotional performance of “Shallow” from their film “A Star Is Born” during an appearance Wednesday on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live .” The duet led...
DeVos to pitch federal tax credit for ‘educational freedom’
The Trump administration is proposing a federal tax credit for donations made to groups offering scholarships for private schools, apprenticeships or other educational programs. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is unveiling the plan Thursday, while legislation is being proposed by Republicans in the House and Senate. The proposal, called the Education...
U.S. economic growth just missed 3 percent mark in 2018
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy slowed in the final three months of last year to an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent, the slowest pace since the beginning of 2018, as the government shutdown and other factors took a toll on growth. Economists believe growth has slowed even more in...
SeaWorld parks see first annual gain in attendance since 2015
Last year proved to be a comeback for long beleaguered SeaWorld Entertainment, which saw its first annual gain in attendance since 2015, the company reported Thursday. Total visitation in 2018 grew by approximately 1.8 million guests to reach 22.6 million, an increase of 8.6 percent. Company revenue also rose by...
Hyundai, Kia recall over 500K vehicles as fire risk spreads
DETROIT — Hyundai and Kia have added more than a half-million vehicles to 3½-year string of U.S. recalls for engine failures and fires. Three recalls released Thursday by the government add new problems and vehicles to the Korean automakers’ list of safety woes, which have brought hundreds of complaints about...
Rescuers pass water, food to Indonesia mine buried
BOLAANG MONGONDOW, Indonesia — Rescuers have passed water and food to some of the dozens of people trapped in a collapsed Indonesian gold mine, an official said Thursday, calling the grueling rescue effort in a remote inaccessible location a race against time. The national disaster agency said 19 people had...
Letter to the editor: Sunday hunting
I speak for legions of outdoors-loving residents and non-residents alike who welcome Sunday as a day to walk, hike, bird/wildlife watch, mountain bike, etc. without the worry or threat of hunters in the neighborhood (“Sunday hunting clears first hurdle in state Senate,” Feb. 5, TribLIVE). If you watch wildlife, you...
Letter to the editor: Westmoreland’s ‘death spiral’
The famous line from “Field of Dreams” is “If you build it, they will come.” At the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce State of the County luncheon Jan. 10, County Commissioner Chuck Anderson said that “our county is in a death spiral” regarding population growth. Have the commissioners done their...
