Local category, Page 2487
Western Pa. police chiefs support some reforms in Trump executive order, question others
Police departments in parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania applauded some elements of President Trump’s executive order on police reform and expressed skepticism toward others, particularly those aimed at bringing social services into some police situations. Trump announced the executive order Tuesday in a Rose Garden press briefing after weeks of protests...
Former Speaker Mike Turzai starts as Peoples’ general counsel
Former Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai’s whirlwind week continued Tuesday, when he started his life in the private sector as general counsel of Peoples, the Pittsburgh-based gas utility. His last day in office as speaker Monday was spent advancing two bills out of committee that would change how police are...
Man sentenced for sending pornographic images to Derry Township girl
A Forest County man will serve time in jail for sending pornographic pictures of himself to a 15-year-old Derry Township girl last year. Shawn M. Negley Jr., 19, pleaded guilty to two felony offenses in connection with pictures police said he sent to the juvenile via social media. According to...
Westmoreland courts to resume jury trials in August
Jury trials in Westmoreland County will resume in August with a little help from a neighbor. The Palace Theatre in Greensburg will serve as an alternate site to host jury selection for cases assigned to some of the smaller courtrooms where social distancing cannot be accommodated, Westmoreland County Common Pleas...
Pittsburgh residents decry grant funding for city police
Pittsburgh is getting separate grants totaling about $1.6 million for a violence prevention program and as reimbursement for police overtime during two past high-profile events, and at least five residents strongly urged officials to spend it on anything other than the police bureau. City Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to...
Hempfield restaurant donates 100 meals to state police thanks to grant program
Despite being reopened for a little over a month, Susan Domasky, co-owner of Ferrante’s Lakeview Banquet Facility in Hempfield, knew she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to help first responders in the community working long hours due to the coronavirus pandemic. Domasky, with the help of co-owner Cindy Henderson and...
Pennsylvania offers $1,500 to help cover dairy farmers’ losses
Dairy farmers can get at least $1,500 from the state to recover some of their losses if they dumped milk or could not sell products after markets dried up when covid-19 shutdowns closed schools and limited restaurants. Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday announced a $40 million aid package for Pennsylvania...
Pittsburgh City Council overwhelmed with calls for police reform
Messages to Pittsburgh City Council calling for a reduced police budget are arriving daily by the hundreds. Council members responded Tuesday by saying they would work to enact police reform, but they aren’t inclined to disband the police department. Councilwoman Deb Gross of Highland Park said she’s received nearly 3,000...
YWCA Greater Pittsburgh’s Downtown building is on the market
YWCA Greater Pittsburgh’s building on Wood Street Downtown is on the market, its leader said Tuesday. The move was in the works before the coronavirus pandemic and is part of the YWCA’s new organizational strategy to focus its resources to supporting race and gender equity, especially for women of color,...
Scott residents ask commissioner to resign for health secretary comments
A group of Scott Township residents have penned a letter asking Commissioner Paul Abel to resign for his recent public comments about the state health secretary’s gender. The letter, from a newly formed group called Building Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, also includes a list of demands the township must enact...
Westmoreland officials planning to dole out $30 million in pandemic relief money
Westmoreland County will allocate $30 million to help local governments, small businesses and nonprofit organizations that suffered financial losses during the coronavirus pandemic. That broad spending plan constitutes a baseline of how county officials said they intend to dole out the $31.5 million grant awarded this month as part of...
Monroeville restaurants get temporary OK to use parking lots, sidewalks as outdoor seating
Monroeville council placed a temporary relaxation to its rules governing how restaurants manage outdoor seating. The resolution, passed unanimously, allows restaurateurs to apply for a temporary permit allowing them to reconfigure parking lots, and in some cases, sidewalks, into outdoor seating areas. Allegheny County is one of 34 in the...
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter sues newspaper over protest coverage ban
A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter is suing the newspaper, claiming racial discrimination and retaliation after management barred her from covering local protests stemming from the death of George Floyd. The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday is the latest in a series of events that began June 1, the date on which the...
Ross adopts policy for new police body cameras
Ross Township police officers are on track to be issued body-worn cameras by the end of summer. Commissioners voted unanimously June 15 to approve a policy governing the police department’s use of body cameras to record encounters between law enforcement officers and the public. The process of obtaining the cameras...
Western Pa. high schools honored for voter registration efforts
Eight local schools are among 42 statewide honored with the Governor’s Civic Engagement Award for their efforts to register students to vote during the 2019-20 school year. Brentwood, City Charter School, Deer Lakes, Elizabeth Forward, Franklin Regional, Kiski Area, Leechburg Area and Mt. Pleasant Area were among nearly 160 Pennsylvania...
Butler woman accused of fatally stabbing boyfriend
Police said a Butler woman stabbed her boyfriend to death in their apartment on Sunday. Butler City Police on Monday charged Shaina Ann Helen Grush, 31, with criminal homicide in connection to the death of Robert Wagner, 43. The two lived together in an apartment on the city’s West Jefferson...
Former Washington Co. youth soccer coach pleads guilty to sending explicit photos to minor
A Washington County youth soccer coach pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to charges of transfer of obscene material to a minor, according to U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady. Timothy Cribbins, 46, of California used Snapchat twice to send explicit photos to a female under the age of 16 in...
Scott man accused of hurting 3 Pittsburgh cops during Downtown protest
A 24-year-old Scott man who is accused of hurting three Pittsburgh police officers during the May 30 protests Downtown has schizophrenia and is in jail after an unrelated June 10 incident at his grandparents’ home, according to criminal complaints. Authorities used surveillance camera footage to identify Andrew Augustyniak-Duncan as the...
Black bear roams, naps in Pittsburgh’s Highland Park area
Residents of Pittsburgh’s Highland Park got a visit Tuesday from a large black bear who decided the neighborhood was a good place to take a nap. Public Safety officials first tweeted about the bear, which weighs at least 250 pounds, around 1:15 p.m. At the time, it was calm and...
Drilling underway on Ohio Township road
Drilling operations on Red Mud Hollow Road (Route 4043) in Ohio Township have begun. According to a PennDOT news release, work will occur from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through June 22 at two locations between Mt. Nebo Road and Brighton Drive. Single-lane alternating traffic will be controlled by...
Franklin Regional gets update from its ‘back-to-school task force’
The Franklin Regional school board will hold a special meeting in July to lay out plans for how education will work in the 2020-21 school year. That meeting date has not been set yet, but members of the district’s back-to-school task force updated the board Monday night on their work....
Ross OKs organized bow hunt to thin deer population
Beginning in September, an organized group of archery hunters will fan out on public and private land in Ross Township to thin the herd of deer blamed with causing vehicle accidents, spreading Lyme disease through the ticks they carry and damaging expensive landscapes. Commissioners on June 15 voted 7-1 to...
Grand jury indicts 19 in Philadelphia-to-Indiana County drug trafficking operation
A federal grand jury in Johnstown indicted 19 people from Indiana County and Philadelphia for participating in a drug trafficking ring that distributed cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine for nearly two years, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said. The suspects were arrested last week on three counts of violating federal narcotics...
1 new coronavirus case, no new deaths reported in Westmoreland County
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Tuesday reported one new covid-19 cases and no additional deaths in Westmoreland County. The countywide case total is now 493 with 38 deaths, according to the department . There have been no reported coronavirus deaths in Westmoreland County since May 18. County Coroner Kenneth...
Wexford salon offering free haircuts for medical workers, first responders
The owners of a Wexford styling salon are so elated with the prospects of emerging from the state-mandated shutdown that they are using it as an opportunity to thank emergency responders and medical professionals. Neha Patel, one of the owners of Tonic Salon, said the business opened in November but...
