Local category, Page 1903
Allegheny Land Trust closes deal to acquire the former Churchill Country Club for about $3 million
The Allegheny Land Trust officials announced Wednesday that they have closed on the deal to purchase the former Churchill Valley Country Club. It’s an event more than two years in the making. The 151-acre site at the Churchill/Penn Hills border will be preserved for recreation. The Sewickley-based Allegheny Land Trust...
Police: 16-year-old boy hospitalized after shooting in McKees Rocks
A 16-year-old boy was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries Wednesday after being shot in McKees Rocks, police said. Allegheny County emergency dispatchers were notified around 3:15 p.m. of a shooting victim in the 800 block of Gray Street. On scene, officers with the Allegheny County Police Department, who responded to...
Thousands return to Larry Mills Park in Plum for Summerfest
A carnival atmosphere, new community group and food vendor area combined with warm weather and no rain were all part of this year’s Summerfest in Plum. The annual seasonal celebration returned to Larry Mills Park on June 24-26 after being canceled last year due to the pandemic. Patrons responded in...
Council, business leaders say Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s work is needed amid pandemic recovery
The shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic proved the importance of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership to the city’s business district, its members and administrators told city council members Tuesday. “Everything came crashing down,” said Casey Henderlong, describing how it hurt businesses like the Richard Deshantz Restaurant Group, where Henderlong is...
2 men who ran onto Super Bowl field given year of probation
TAMPA, Fla. — Two men who ran onto the field during the final quarter of Super Bowl LV in February pleaded no contest to trespassing and agreed to a year of probation. The two reached the deal Tuesday during a virtual hearing in Tampa, Fla. Under the terms of their...
Spokesman for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto leaves post for job with the Pittsburgh Penguins
The spokesman for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has resigned from his position after accepting a similar role with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the city announced Wednesday evening. Timothy McNulty first joined the Peduto Administration in March 2014 after spending 18 years covering politics and government for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. His final...
Arnold man facing drug charges dies after arrest
An Arnold man died Tuesday after being arrested on drug charges the previous day. Khalies Khorhid Lewis, 39, died Tuesday afternoon at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg, the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office said. Although an autopsy has been completed, no information on the cause or manner of Lewis’ death...
Carjacking, kidnapping outside Westmoreland prison nets Jeannette man up to 30 years
A Jeannette man will serve up to 30 years in prison for carjacking a West Leechburg woman parked in front of the Westmoreland County Prison as her 13-month-old grandson was in the vehicle, which later crashed two miles from the lockup. Thomas Lee Williams, 38, formerly of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty...
Police: Drugs, guns found in car after driver almost struck Duquesne officer
A West Homestead man faces DUI and other charges after he nearly hit a Duquesne police officer who was conducting a traffic stop early Tuesday, authorities said. The incident happened around 1:30 a.m. as a Duquesne City officer was making a traffic stop along Route 837. Police said a second...
‘The numbers prove it’: Allegheny County officials point to rising vaccination rates and falling case counts
Eighty percent of Allegheny County’s adult population is at least partially vaccinated against covid-19, officials said Wednesday, a rate that continues to rise as case counts and positivity rates continue to fall. “Let’s get that last 20%,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, “so we can all feel safe, we...
Business owner sues Pittsburgh police, judge after parking lot dispute
A woman who says she was unlawfully detained after she called Pittsburgh police about a person illegally parked in a Greenfield lot that she owns filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday alleging retaliation and excessive force. Marsha Simonds, and her husband, Matthew, sued the City of Pittsburgh, as well as...
New Special Agent in Charge of FBI’s Pittsburgh office talks priorities
Newly appointed Special Agent in Charge of the Pittsburgh FBI field office Michael Nordwall spoke on a range of topics in a news conference Wednesday, including the bureau’s priorities in Pittsburgh and the importance of help from the public. Nordwall comes from Washington, D.C., where he’d been serving as the...
Guy Fieri says discrimination claim stemming from Hempfield restaurant ‘has been resolved’
Celebrity chef Guy Fieri in an interview with The New York Times this week said a situation involving a former line cook who alleged racial discrimination at Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen + Bar at Live! Casino Pittsburgh in Hempfield was resolved. “The situation has been resolved,” Fieri said. “And I...
Controller: Pittsburgh’s finances took hit in 2020, but population loss is bigger worry
If the reason the Pittsburgh labor force is shrinking is a decline in the city’s population, there’s reason to be alarmed, Controller Michael Lamb said Wednesday. “That’s the biggest concern to me,” Lamb said during a virtual news conference when he released the 2020 Popular Annual Financial Report. The report...
Man gets 26 to 52 years for deaths of 2 men found in burning Point Breeze home
Vincent Smith lived a wanderer’s lifestyle. He didn’t drive, traveled the country, rode his bike everywhere, loved reading Jack Kerouac and fancied discussion about Kierkegaard. At his sentencing hearing on Wednesday, a long-time friend called him nonviolent, peaceful and kind with a “gentle soul.” But Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney...
Hempfield resident John Ventre announces bid for Pa. governor
Hempfield Republican John Ventre said he’s been stewing for years, believing Gov. Tom Wolf’s “one size fits all and scorched earth policies” hurt state residents. Ventre, 64, announced Wednesday he is running for governor in 2022. Wolf, a Democrat, will leave office in 2023 because of term limits. “You don’t...
William Howard Taft sworn in as chief justice a century ago, made mark in Pittsburgh
One hundred years ago Wednesday, William Howard Taft, the 27th president of the United States, made history. On June 30, 1921, Taft was sworn in as chief justice of the United States, making him the first and only U.S. president to also serve as chief justice of the Supreme Court....
Pittsburgh Controller Lamb questions outgoing Mayor Peduto’s federal relief proposal
Pittsburgh’s top fiscal watchdog Wednesday questioned the timing of a four-year plan released Monday by outgoing Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration for the city’s $335 million federal pandemic relief money. “I think it’s premature for the mayor to suggest a four-year spending plan when there’s going to be a new mayor...
Greensburg, area firefighters bid final farewell to one of their own, Richard A. Fry
In the sweltering summer sun, the firehouse bell rang out 21 times Wednesday as firefighters from across the greater Greensburg and Pittsburgh areas lined the driveways outside their departments to honor the death of one of their own. Richard A. Fry was a member of Greensburg Hose Company No. 7...
Parts of I-79 to close from July 9-12
Parts of Interstate 79 and state Route 65 will be closed beginning July 9 at 9 p.m. through July 12 at 5 a.m. The Ohio Township Police Department announced the closure on Facebook on Tuesday. I-79 northbound will be closed at the Coraopolis exit, and all traffic will be detoured...
Shaler man wins $1 million from Publishers Clearing House sweepstakesVideo
Each time Lou Isabella of Shaler has entered the Publishers Clearing House contest during the past three years, he’s said a silent prayer in hopes of winning. Isabella believes his appeals to the Almighty were answered June 30 when a three-member Prize Patrol team knocked on his door to present...
Indiana Twp. man charged with defrauding Highmark of over $50K in security clothing
An Indiana Township man was taken into custody Tuesday amid criminal allegations he defrauded Highmark Health of more than $50,000 in connection with the purchase of clothing for security personnel. Derek Robert Dowiak, 37, has been charged with 11 counts of forgery, two counts of theft by deception, one count...
Westmoreland County, 8 jail staffers added as defendants in lawsuit over inmate beating
A federal civil lawsuit by a former Westmoreland County Prison inmate who was assaulted by a guard last year claims incident reports filed by a dozen other jail staffers contained no mention of the beating. The lawsuit was amended June 15 and asserts that the omission of the assault of...
Replenishment blood drive in honor of 8-year-old Shaler boy taking place during shortage
Tommy Wainwright, 8, was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma cancer in April 2020. After 14 rounds of chemotherapy, 20 blood transfusions, and surgery in August 2020 to remove three ribs, Tommy is cancer-free as of Jan. 11 . “Tommy is just the happiest, sweetest boy you’ll ever meet,” said Amanda Pietrone,...
Woman, whose attorney refused representation amid dispute with Allegheny Co. DA, pleads guilty to DUI crash
A Corliss woman whose case became embroiled in the controversy between a Black defense attorney and Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday to drunken driving-related charges with a new attorney by her side. Vanessa Williams, 59, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault while driving under the...
