Local category, Page 2475

Police officers will step up their presence at Kiski Area High School on Wednesday because of a non-credible threat received Tuesday, the district announced. Police and police dogs searched the school Tuesday in response to an “anonymous, non-specific threat,” according to the district. Officers did not find any danger, but...

A Dormont man who authorities say was involved in one of the largest cocaine distribution rings in Western Pennsylvania has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison, prosecutors said. Robert Forbes, 46, is the brother of Hector Forbes, who authorities identified as the kingpin in a 17-member...

A dormant spot in Downtown Pittsburgh’s version of restaurant row is reopening as a new venue looking to capitalize on the emerging trend of self-serve beer. The Standard Market and Pint House will open in the spring in a newly renovated space in the Courtyard by Marriott hotel first occupied...

Less than two weeks after his acquittal of murder in connection to the 2016 mass shooting in Wilkinsburg, Cheron Shelton is facing a new federal gun charge, records show. Shelton, 33, of Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood has been indicted by a grand jury for being a felon allegedly possessing a gun,...

Threats to elections in the United States and democracy as we know it are a given in the age of the internet, said David Hickton, founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security. The good news: There’s something we can do about it, he...

Pittsburgh is in line for a better interest rate on a $50 million capital improvement bond it intends to issue next month after Fitch Ratings upgraded the city’s bond rating Monday to positive, Mayor Bill Peduto said. It had been rated as stable. “We had gotten up to stable, and...

Herb Hughes of New Kensington sees the positives of working on the Pioneer Apartments project in New Kensington. It’s close to Hughes’ home, and the project by Wesley Family Services aims to inject life into the city’s business district. The $18.2 million apartment building is being built on the site...

Jocie Van Kirk, the 21-year-old Slippery Rock University psychology student who fell 80 feet on Sunday while hiking at McConnells Mill State Park with her friends, recounted the experience as “definitely one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever been through.” “I was absolutely terrified,” Van Kirk said. She said...

Pittsburgh, which has more than its share of pet alligators roaming loose, is moving to ban the sale and ownership of the reptiles in the city. City Councilman Bruce Kraus on Tuesday introduced a bill that would repeal an ordinance passed by council late last year that permitted but regulated...

Leechburg is looking to hire a third full-time police officer. Council gave the Civil Service Commission permission to advertise for the position, which would help the borough come closer to having 24/7 police coverage, officials said. “It’s going to make it so we have better coverage,” Mayor Wayne Dobos said....

Travelers flying out of Pittsburgh International Airport will soon not have to display a boarding pass to get past security, airport officials said this week. Boarding passes will still be required at the gate to board the plane. Officials with the airport and Transportation Security Administration announced that Pittsburgh is...

A former Uniontown funeral director who pleaded guilty to stealing from more than 80 elderly clients on Tuesday was sentenced to four to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $555,000 in restitution. Authorities said Stephen E. Kezmarsky III, 52, the former owner and operator of the Kezmarsky Funeral...

A West Deer man involved in a crash along Route 8 in Hampton in early December has been charged with causing the death of his passenger, Allegheny County Police said Tuesday. Investigators said Carl John Keating, 32, was traveling north at a high rate of speed on Dec. 11 when...

Robert Prah, a Democrat seeking the vacant state House seat for the 58th District in next month’s special election, picked up an endorsement this week from the Service Employees International Union. Prah, 38, of Rostraver, is the director of Military and Veterans Affairs at California University of Pennsylvania. He’s a...

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is accepting public comment through Thursday on six proposals, including one that would replace the existing Allegheny Tunnel in Somerset County with a $332 million-plus “cut” and bypass across the Allegheny Ridge. The commission and representatives from engineering consultant L.R. Kimball in Ebensburg recently held an open...

The Carnegie Science Center’s beloved Miniature Railroad & Village has been around for more than a century. Now, after 100 years of wear and tear, the Science Center is looking to make sure the railroad keeps running for centuries to come. It is launching the Miniature Railroad & Village 100th...

The man sentenced to death this month for murdering New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw on Tuesday contended Westmoreland County jurors reached a faulty verdict because of his “Muslim-sounding name” and because they were intimidated by a heavy law enforcement turnout during trial. Defense attorneys Tim Dawson and James Robinson...

A 9-year-old Unity boy reported that he was locked inside a screwed-shut closet Sunday so two adults could attend a relative’s birthday party, state police reported. It wasn’t the first time, he told authorities. The Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau alerted state police after receiving a phone tip that the boy...

Westmoreland County’s deep coal mining history will be explored during a March 14 program at the Westmoreland History Education Center at Historic Hanna’s Town on Forbes Trail Road in Hempfield. Marion Piccolomini, a native of Cardale, Fayette County and author of “Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Coal Region,” will speak about the area’s...

Forming a historical society involves a lot more than just finding a bunch of old photos and collecting them in one place. In fact, as members of the fledgling Delmont Historical Society looked to get their group off the ground, they found themselves initially researching the history of their predecessors,...

Latrobe officials learned they cannot charge for accepting smaller recyclable items at the city’s solid waste transfer station and will have to look for another way to cover associated labor costs. City manager Michael Gray said this week that the state Department of Environmental Protection confirmed Latrobe must continue to...

A Jeannette woman is accused of filling up her freezer and cupboard with food she took from other residents at Jeannette Manor, according to court papers. Mary Jane Burch, 49, was charged Tuesday with burglary, criminal trespass, retaliation, theft and related offenses. Police said they were called Monday to the...