Regional News category, Page 353
Fayette County coroner releases identification of woman killed in fire
The Fayette County Coroner’s office has identified a 70-year-old woman who was killed in a fire early Thursday in Springhill Township. The office said the victim was Sylvia Chambers Lavitsky, who lived alone at 128 Greater Point Marion Road. Multiple fire department responded to the small home about 4 a.m.,...
‘Minor’ injury in Indiana Borough accidental shooting
Indiana Borough Police said one person suffered a minor injury Tuesday when a firearm accidentally discharged inside an apartment. Police said the shooting occurred at 7:10 a.m. in an apartment on the 900 block of Fleming Avenue. The identity of the resident who suffered a “minor” injury and was treated...
Columbia Gas announces possible rate decrease
Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania wants to lower its rates for area customers. An advertisement which appeared in Monday’s Tribune-Review announced the utility’s request with the Pennsylvania Utility Commission for an adjustment of $17 million, starting Oct. 1. The request is an annual adjustment in gas cost rates that sets the...
Pitt names new president for Bradford-Titusville campuses
The University of Pittsburgh went halfway around the world to find a new president for its Bradford and Titusville campuses. Pitt officials Monday announced Catherine Koverola, inaugural provost and senior advisor at the African Leadership University in Mauritius, Africa has been named president of its Bradford and Titusville campuses, effective...
Airlines’ on-time average drops; Spirit leads area carriers
On-time arrivals of U.S. flights were down overall in January, but several airlines with area operations ranked near the top for sticking close to their schedules, according to the latest Air Travel Consumer Report from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Some airlines that serve Pittsburgh didn’t fare as well, falling...
AAA campaign focuses on Distracted Driving Awareness MonthVideo
Drivers talking on a cellphone are up to four times as likely to crash compared to other drivers, while those who text while driving being up to eight times as likely to be involved in a crash, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. April is Distracted Driving Awareness...
Three local winners share in $400,000 Cash 5 jackpot
This might be as rare as lightning striking twice in the same place. The odds of picking all five numbers in Pennsylvania’s Cash 5 lottery game start out at just a hair below one in a million — one in 962,598, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery Commission. On Saturday, two...
Local, national gas prices continue to rise in spring run-up
After a week of no change, gas prices are on the rise again in the Pittsburgh area. Pittsburgh gas prices have risen 1.3 cents per gallon in the past week to an average of $2.78 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 731 stations. Prices are 10.7 cents per gallon...
Walmart looks for expansion into Pa. alcohol sales in Fayette
Walmart is looking to begin selling alcoholic beverages in Fayette County, a first for the retail giant in Pennsylvania. The chain submitted a winning bid of $65,000 for an expired restaurant liquor license in Redstone Township — one of 62 offers received from various bidders for 22 such licenses in...
Temperatures plunge 30 degrees overnight, warm weather to return later this week
Saturday it looked like March would go out like a lamb, but that changed early Sunday morning as temperatures plunged about 30 degrees. Saturday’s high temperature was almost 70 degrees. Then a coldfront swept in from the Northwest shortly before dawn Sunday, dropping temps into the low 30s, according to...
Beaver County auto repair shop owner recounts surviving explosion Saturday evening
A Beaver County auto repair man said he is lucky to be alive after his garage exploded in flames Saturday evening while he was inside. Sam Botinovch, owner of Sam’s Auto Salvage and Repair in Pulaski Township said, “Honestly — I don’t know what happened. It just exploded. I pulled...
Pa. woman convicted in cult-related slaying of boyfriend
STROUDSBURG, Pa. — A woman has been convicted of killing her boyfriend, which she said he asked her to do because of issues with an online cult. Jurors in Monroe County deliberated for nine hours before convicting 42-year-old Barbara Rogers of third-degree murder Friday in the death of 32-year-old Steven...
Historic Philly street closed due to danger of collapse
Officials say a stretch of street in Philadelphia’s historic Independence National Historical Park has been closed out of concerns that the road might collapse. The Philadelphia Water Department says the stretch of street that runs past the old City Hall, which is attached to Independence Hall, is “severely undermined.” Water...
Scranton man sentenced to life in death of neighbor found in bathtub
SCRANTON, Pa. — A northeastern Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to life in prison in the death of a neighbor found slain in a bathtub five years ago. The (Scranton) Times-Tribune reports that a Lackawanna County judge on Friday tacked on two to four more years to the sentence of...
Concealed-carry events set in Fayette County
A seminar and after-hours permit event for Western Pennsylvania residents interested in concealed-carry for a firearm will take place this month. The Markleysburg Fire Department and officials from State Rep. Matt Dowling’s office on April 13 will host a concealed-carry seminar, including presenters from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, the...
IUP student honored with Biden Courage Award for stopping sexual assault
Adrianna Branin says she has never seen herself as a hero; others do. Last week, former Vice President Joe Biden honored the petite coed with the Biden Courage Award for intervening to stop a sexual assault outside of an off campus party at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Branin, a 20...
Coroner: Slain Pa. family died by suffocation, strangulation
MORRISVILLE, Pa. — Officials say four of five family members killed in a suburban Philadelphia apartment earlier this year were suffocated, and the fifth was strangled. It’s the latest development since authorities charged a mother and her adult daughter with killing their close family members in February. The Bucks County...
Train vs. dump truck crash reported in Beaver County, no injuries reported
No injuries were reported when a tractor-trailer truck was struck by a train Friday at a crossing on Route 68 in Industry, Beaver County. The mishap occurred shortly before noon. Beaver police Chief Dan Madgar, whose department patrols Industry, said the trailer-trailer driver was crossing the tracks when the railroad...
Entire school system in a West Virginia county closes for flu outbreak
NEW CUMBERLAND, W.Va. — All of the schools in a West Virginia county are being closed because of a flu outbreak. A state Education Department spokesperson forwarded a voicemail from the Hancock County school superintendent confirming the Friday closures. In the voicemail, Superintendent Timothy Woodward says all schools in the...
Police seek man accused of holding woman at gunpoint at Slippery Rock Campgrounds
State police said a Munhall man convicted of third-degree murder and robbery kidnapped his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint Thursday at the Slippery Rock Campgrounds. She escaped unharmed. John Thomas Oleary, 52, the man accused of kidnapping the woman, remained at large Friday morning. Breaking: State police say this man kidnapped a...
Pittsburgh Bishop Zubik creates diocesan department to address sex abuse claims
Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik on Thursday announced the formation of a new diocesan department to respond to sexual abuse claims and make good on promises he outlined in a pastoral letter released earlier this month. The Secretariat for the Protection of Children, Youth and Vulnerable Adults will begin work...
16th possible arson damages vacant Somerset mobile home
The cause of a suspicious fire inside an abandoned Somerset mobile home early Thursday morning is being investigated as the 16th possible arson at the same mobile home court since last May, Somerset police said. Somerset police and the state police fire marshal are seeking the cause of the fire,...
Rare cancers prompt Pa. Health Department reviews
The rare Ewing sarcoma cancers that struck 12 children and young adults in southeastern Westmoreland County between 2011 and early 2018 did not reach the threshold to be considered a statistically significant cancer cluster, a state health department spokesman said Thursday. “We looked at all the cases and determined there...
Pa. Ag secretary praises farmers for thinking outside the glass
Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding praised dairy processors such as Penn Hills’ Turner Dairy Farms on Thursday for thinking beyond fluid milk. “We need more dairy processing in the state to correspond with where the consumer trends are,” Redding said at the annual Turner Dairy Producers Luncheon in Blairsville. Those...
Armstrong County billboard owner on controversy: ‘I will not give in’Video
The owner of an Armstrong County gas station said Thursday he might close his business after Sunoco and at least two local fuel suppliers cut ties with him over controversial messages he posted to a digital billboard. John Placek, who owns both the billboard and a gas station along Route...
