TribLive stories, Page 2370
‘Trump Show,’ Act III: What to watch as House Democrats take control
WASHINGTON — Act III of the Trump presidency, which can often feel like an off-Broadway production, officially began at noon Thursday when Democrats took control of the House and everything changed for Donald Trump. Republicans controlled the House for the first two years, or acts, of the “Trump Show,” but...
Laurels & lances: A baby, a DUI, deaths and support
Laurel: To Miles Everett Bartko. It isn’t every kid who gets this much attention, especially at just a couple of days old. But kudos to young Miles for his keen sense of timing. He wasn’t just the first baby born in Westmoreland County this year. He was the first birth...
Bad stuff the stock market worried about is starting to happen
All of a sudden, the fundamentals aren’t looking as strong. First it was Apple’s $5 billion revenue miss, hints of which lopped 30 percent from its stock over three months. Now it’s a closely watched gauge of U.S. factory activity, which dropped to a two-year low and missed every estimate...
Baldwin-Whitehall Girls on the Run group supports classmate with fundraiser
Makaylah Perri used to be known for the elaborate braids she wore in her hair. The fifth-grader at Whitehall Elementary in Baldwin-Whitehall School District also loves to dance and would pull her hair up in ponytails to perform. Two weeks before the start of this school year, Makaylah shaved her...
Bird counters flock to North Park for annual event
Bird watchers descended on North Park Dec. 29 for the 119th Annual Christmas Bird Count. Meg Scanlon, an interpretive naturalist for the Allegheny County Parks Department at its Latodami Environmental Education Center in North Park, coordinated the North Park count. The annual bird counts are important sources of information gathered...
Women navigate toxicity, other barriers in esports
NEW YORK — Susie Kim thinks the women gamers are out there. As general manager for a championship esports team, she would know. She’s not surprised none of them are on her roster. The Entertainment Software Association reported this year that 45 percent of U.S. gamers are female, yet women...
Letter to the editor: Headline inaccurate, offensive
I am writing about the above-the-fold “Mattis waves white flag” headline on Page One Dec. 21. It is both inaccurate as to the Secretary of Defense’s actions, and offensive to anyone who served in the armed forces. Remind your copy desk that it’s better to be accurate than clever. Sally...
Letter to the editor: Let’s go back to paper over plastic
Everyone talks about how much plastic is in our oceans, landfills, etc., and now even the recyclers don’t want it. To help this situation, I propose that all stores and supermarkets revert back to using paper bags instead of putting one or two items in a little worthless plastic bag....
Letter to the editor: Pa. has sunshine, too!
A recent cartoon questioned whether Pennsylvania has enough sunshine for Gov. Tom Wolf’s 10 percent solar goal. Germany was the No. 1 solar nation for years, and we get more sun than they do. If you look at a graph of the price of solar in the last 15 years,...
Smithsonian and National Gallery held on as long as they could, but they’re closed
Funds that kept the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art in Washington open since the beginning of the government shutdown have run out. That means that all 17 of the District’s Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo and the National Gallery and its popular skating rink in the...
Carrie Ann Inaba gets host gig on ‘The Talk’
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Carrie Ann Inaba is no longer a temp on “The Talk.” The CBS daytime show announced Wednesday that Inaba has joined the panel of hosts, moving up from recurring guest host. “The Dancing With the Stars” judge replaces Julie Chen, who left the talk show in...
Letter to the editor: Before casino opens, look to prevent theft
Well, this is certainly great news for the area. The new casino will be open this year. The politicians are anxious to spend that new revenue. But, there is only so much money available for recreation, and the gambling money will have to come from somewhere. You may have noticed...
Holiday Mural Lights Tours big hit at Millvale’s St. Nicholas Croatian Church
The Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka presented its annual Holiday Mural Lights Tours from Dec. 26 to 28. More than 300 people attended and enjoyed a 60-minute docent-led tour featuring the traditional decorations in St. Nicholas Croatian Church in Millvale and the lighting of artist Maxo...
‘The Masked Singer’ premieres and it’s even weirder than you imagined
How weird is Fox’s new reality singing competition “The Masked Singer”? Even before the show debuted Wednesday night, the ads were seriously strange, as they featured celebrities cloaked in deranged-looking animal costumes while they belted out songs onstage. Here are some helpful descriptions: “The Masked Singers not only wear masks,...
Lindsey Graham: If Trump gives in on shutdown, it’s ‘probably the end of his presidency’
WASHINGTON — With the government shutdown, President Donald Trump has put himself in an impossible position. He’s tied his support for a solution entirely to securing billions of dollars to build a wall on the Mexican border. House Democrats say that’s a total non-starter. Meanwhile Trump has rejected compromise deals...
Steelers receiver Antonio Brown wins inaugural episode of ‘The Masked Singer’
The circus has no end. As the fevered pitch of Antonio Brown’s antics around the Steelers hit a high, we were all introduced to the receiver’s vocal pitch. Brown, who grabbed headlines with his actions before, during and after Pittsburgh’s last game with the Cincinnati Bengals, now has upped the...
Police charge 15-year-old Philadelphia mom after newborn found dumped in trash
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police on Wednesday charged a 15-year-old girl with murder because she allegedly placed her newborn son in the trash in a North Philadelphia street. The girl, Jani Morris, was arrested when the infant’s body was discovered Monday night, police said. She was charged with murder, endangering welfare...
NASA: Icy object past Pluto looks like reddish snowman
LAUREL, Md. — A NASA spacecraft 4 billion miles from Earth yielded its first close-up pictures Wednesday of the most distant celestial object ever explored, depicting what looks like a reddish snowman. Ultima Thule, as the small, icy object has been dubbed, was found to consist of two fused-together spheres,...
No deal to end shutdown; Trump says ‘could be a long time’
WASHINGTON — The shuttered parts of the federal government were no closer to being reopened Wednesday after President Trump and congressional leaders met for the first time since the shutdown began nearly two weeks ago. “I don’t think any particular progress was made today, but we talked,” Senate Majority Leader...
U.S. Catholic bishops to pray over clergy sexual abuse scandal
MUNDELEIN, Ill. — U.S.-based Roman Catholic bishops are gathering Wednesday for a weeklong retreat near Chicago on the church sexual abuse scandal that organizers say will focus on prayer and spiritual reflection and not formulating policy. The retreat begins a day after The Associated Press reported that the Vatican blocked...
Peter Morici: Better ways to appoint Supreme Court justices
How about this new year’s resolution for Congress: find a better way to appoint Supreme Court justices. The spectacle of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings — character assignation largely motivated by his fairly conservative approach to the Constitution — illustrates that Congress has made the process toxic. And, it has...
With Zinke out, former lobbyist David Bernhardt becomes acting secretary at Interior
WASHINGTON — As Ryan Zinke left his post heading the Interior Department on Wednesday, the agency’s No. 2 official, David Bernhardt, joined President Trump at a meeting of Cabinet officials. Bernhardt, who has been serving as deputy Interior secretary since his confirmation last July, is taking over as acting Interior...
Editorial: More nickels, dimes for Pennsylvania Turnpike
Keep a couple extra coins in the cup holder of your car. The Pennsylvania Turnpike is hungry. On Sunday, the toll will go up again, meaning that ride to the office, or that trip in a truck for work, or just that weekend jaunt to Grandma’s house — all of...
Pete Davidson accuses Louis C.K. of trying to get him fired from ‘SNL’
Pete Davidson kicked 2018 to the curb on Monday night with a stand-up set about breakups, tattoos and Louis C.K. The “Saturday Night Live” star performed in Boston on New Year’s Eve and had some choice words for the fellow comedian, who recently made headlines for a stand-up set mocking...
Tesla cuts prices as 4Q deliveries miss analysts’ estimates
DETROIT — Shares of electric car and solar panel maker Tesla Inc. tumbled Wednesday after the company cut vehicle prices by $2,000 and announced fourth-quarter sales figures that fell short of Wall Street estimates. The company said in a statement before the markets opened that it delivered over 245,000 electric...
