Regional News category, Page 9
Penn State faculty criticize administration’s unionization meetings
Penn State faculty trying to start a union are calling foul after university administration plans college-by-college meetings regarding unionization efforts. Members of the Penn State Faculty Alliance — a group of faculty pushing for unionization — say the meetings planned by administration are “anti-union.” On Tuesday, Penn State announced the...
Food pantry opens for Pittsburgh International Airport TSA agents
The Pittsburgh International Airport has arranged free meals for Transportation Security Administration agents affected by the government shutdown. Thursday marked the start of an ongoing partnership between the airport and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to provide meals to TSA workers until the shutdown ends. Although the shutdown —...
ICE detains 3 Las Palmas workers in Brookline
Three Las Palmas restaurant workers were detained by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Thursday morning in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood. In a Facebook post, Las Palmas Supermercados y Taquerias confirmed the detainments, which took place near Las Palmas’ location at 700 Brookline Blvd. “Good morning my people, with the bad...
March Madness vasectomy surge turns Western Pa. into SnipsburghVideo
It’s been almost 20 years since a marketing master stroke by the Oregon Urology Institute established March Madness as one of the most popular times to book a vasectomy. The pitch went something like this: For men looking to park themselves on the couch during the tournament’s jam-packed early rounds,...
Don’s Appliances founder dies at 82
Donald Lee Hillebrand, founder of Pittsburgh-area appliance retail empire Don’s Appliances, died this week. He was 82. Hillebrand, who founded the store with his late wife, Jill Ann Hillebrand, in 1971, died “peacefully surrounded by his family” on Monday, an obituary said. He was born Aug. 24, 1943, in McKees...
‘Brink of death’: Aliquippa man sent to prison for up to 32 years in brutal VFW beating
A judge Tuesday sentenced an Aliquippa man to up to 32 years in prison for brutally beating a fellow city resident inside a Veterans of Foreign Wars lodge last year. In January, a Beaver County jury found Brett Ours, 40, guilty of attacking Preston Coleman III, then 52, inside the...
Morning Roundup: Shooting in Homewood South injures 1; dog-fighting ring suspected in Beaver County
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, March 18: Homewood South shooting A man was shot in the stomach early Wednesday in Pittsburgh’s Homewood South neighborhood, authorities said. Crews responded at about 12:45 a.m. to the 7200 block of Kelly Street for a ShotSpotter alert...
UPMC logo atop Downtown tower turned blue to honor fallen state trooper
The signage at the top of Pittsburgh’s highest skyscraper has been tinted blue to honor Cpl. Timothy O’Connor Jr., a Pennsylvania state trooper killed during a traffic stop in Chester County earlier this month, UPMC says. The UPMC logo was set to blue Tuesday and will remain that color Wednesday,...
Summer Lee moves to impeach Attorney General Pam Bondi as GOP-led committee subpoenas her
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee and five Democratic colleagues on Tuesday introduced articles of impeachment against Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of files related to the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and what the lawmakers described as the politicization of the Justice Department. Separately Tuesday, the GOP-controlled House...
Gas prices near $4: What’s driving the spike in Pa.Video
Gas prices surged again Tuesday, climbing to just shy of $4 a gallon across Southwestern Pennsylvania — a fresh hit for motorists already bracing for higher costs. Lynda Lambert, a spokesperson for AAA East Central, said the spike is being driven by the escalating war in Iran, which has rattled...
From 70 degrees to snowfall: Pittsburgh region gets weather whiplash with high winds, snow
March madness took on a literal meaning across southwestern Pennsylvania early this week as a sudden burst of winter weather disrupted a string of springlike days. While the snowfall didn’t reach historic proportions, the region saw a wild temperature swing, dropping from a high of 70 degrees Sunday to 24...
Amazon launches 1-hour, 3-hour delivery options
If there’s something on Amazon you need today, you might be in luck. The company announced new one-hour and three-hour delivery options across the United States for over 90,000 products — including everyday household essentials. In a release Tuesday, Amazon said the new delivery options build on the same-day delivery...
Meteor lights up sky in Pittsburgh region as social media eruptsVideo
The western sky — and social media — lit up Tuesday morning when a meteor streaked over Western Pennsylvania skies and into the atmosphere over northeast Ohio. Jared Rackley, an employee with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, caught video of the large fireball as the suspected meteoroid entered the...
Costco adds fertility treatments to its discount services
Costco, the membership warehouse club known for selling bulk items at discount, is now offering lower prices for fertility treatments. Costco members will be able to save up to 80% on certain fertility medications like Follistim through the big-box store’s pharmacy programs, People reported. Some medications can cost thousands of...
Pittsburgh faces longer allergy seasons, study findsVideo
Allergy season in Pittsburgh kicks off in spring, but symptoms like sneezing, itchy eyes and congestion are starting sooner and lingering longer, a study shows, as warmer temperatures extend the pollen season. Climate Central, a nonprofit organization that researches climate science, released a study that showed Pittsburgh’s freeze-free season, which...
What happened to Daphy? Haitian woman’s death prompts Pittsburgh immigration lawyer to question ICE procedures
An immigration attorney is raising questions about a Haitian woman’s death in Pittsburgh this month days after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took her into custody and then released her with an electronic ankle monitor. Daphy Michel, 31, of Charleroi was found unresponsive at a bus shelter on March 2...
Penn State police crack down on e-scooter use
Penn State police will be cracking down on students’ e-scooter use following spring break. In a Facebook post before spring break, Penn State University Police and public safety asked those who currently use an e-scooter on campus to “please take it and leave it at home when you return.” “Police...
Canonsburg’s Coen Markets eyes sale to U.K.-based convenience store giant
Canonsburg-based Coen Markets could soon be part of a convenience store empire. Coen’s 50-plus stores in and around Southwestern Pennsylvania are being acquired by United Kingdom- based EG Group, the companies announced Thursday. EG Group owns more than 1,500 U.S. convenience stores across 10 brands, including Turkey Hill, Minit Mart and...
Coroner asks for public’s help with identifying man found in Youghiogheny River
Fayette County Coroner Dr. Bob Baker is seeking help identifying a man’s body that was found Sunday evening in the Youghiogheny River near Dawson. Baker said the white man is bald and has an athletic build at 5-feet, 11-inches tall and 182 pounds. He has a tattoo on his right...
Morning Roundup: Verona man shot several times; Butler firefighter injured in weekend windstorms
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, March 14: Verona man shot several times A man was shot several times late Sunday in Verona, according to borough police. First responders were called around 10:20 p.m. to the 500 block of Vogels Lane, where police Chief...
More damaging wind gusts possible ahead of 1-day cold snap
After being buffeted by winds that knocked out power for thousands this weekend, the Pittsburgh area is expected to get blasted again Monday followed by a one-day cold snap this week. A wind advisory began at midnight and is expected to end at 11 a.m. Monday for Western Pennsylvania. Winds...
St. Patrick’s Day is 1 of several times when sobriety checkpoints, roving DUI patrols are activated
If Castle Shannon police don’t make any arrests during a sobriety checkpoint, Chief Ken Truver won’t be upset. “We don’t want to do the enforcement. We will, but we don’t want to,” he said. “This campaign is all about educating the public and doing the safe and responsible thing.” Greensburg...
Duquesne Light, West Penn Power report progress in restoring electric service
Duquesne Light and West Penn Power crews were continuing to make progress Sunday night on restoring electric service to customers who have lost power because of damaging wind since Friday night. As of about 11 p.m. Sunday, about 23,250 households in the Pittsburgh area had power outages. That was down...
Indiana County man charged with terroristic threats at St. Patrick’s Day Parade
A man from Indiana County was arrested during Indiana Borough’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade and charged with terroristic threats and disorderly conduct. Chase Joshua Mansfield, 18, was taken into custody in the 600 block of Philadelphia Street by Indiana Borough Police officers on Saturday after witnesses told police they heard...
With SATs optional for many colleges, are the tests still relevant?
Greater Latrobe senior Autumn Blozowich took the SAT three times before and during her junior year, yet when she applied to Pitt, Kent State and Penn State, she didn’t submit her scores once. “I wasn’t really happy with my scores,” she said of the standardized entrance exam. “If you don’t...
