Longtime McKeesport Daily News sports editor covered kids, pros
For more than three decades, Norman Vargo wrote about everything from high school volleyball to Super Bowls. He was there to chronicle the Pittsburgh Steelers’ dynasty in the 1970s, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ World Series title in 1979 and the Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup runs in the early 1990s. As the...
Police find body in Cyprus lake, tie rape to serial killings
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Police in Cyprus recovered a second suitcase containing decomposing human remains Sunday from a contaminated lake where a military officer who confessed to killing seven foreign women and girls told authorities he dumped the bodies of three victims. The lake is part of an abandoned copper pyrite...
Kim Jong Un’s weapon test may have included ballistic missile
Kim Jong Un oversaw a live-fire military exercise Saturday that potentially included North Korea’s first ballistic missile launch since 2017 — challenging President Trump’s bottom line in nuclear talks. Kim watched as “large-caliber, long-range multiple-rocket launchers and tactical guided weapons” were fired off North Korea’s eastern coast Saturday, according to...
At least 40 dead in Russian plane’s fiery emergency landingVideo
MOSCOW — At least 40 people died when an Aeroflot airliner burst into flames while making an emergency landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport Sunday evening, officials said. The Sukhoi SSJ100 operated by national airline Aeroflot had 73 passengers and five crew members on board when it touched down and sped...
Passenger video shows people lining up on wing of plane in Florida river
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A passenger shouted “Watch out! Watch out!” as other passengers and crew members cautiously walked out on a wing of the Boeing 737, just moments after it had landed at a Florida military base, crashed through a stone seawall, and ended up in a river. Another passenger...
Trump picks Obama-era Border Patrol chief Mark Morgan to lead ICE
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has selected an Obama-era chief of the U.S. Border Patrol to be the next director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “I am pleased to inform all of those that believe in a strong, fair and sound Immigration Policy that Mark Morgan will be...
Latrobe outdoorsman blazed new trails
When Kevin Seremet went into the woods, he went as far off the beaten path as he could go. “He always said he wanted to step on land that no other man had ever stepped on before,” said his brother, Kenneth Seremet. Kevin Seremet was always happiest outside. He gardened,...
Fines, jail time? Trump team resists oversight, Dems dig in
WASHINGTON — They’re talking at the Capitol about jailing people. Imposing steep fines. All sorts of extraordinary, if long-shot, measures to force the White House to comply with Democratic lawmakers’ request for information about President Trump stemming from the special counsel’s Russia investigation. This is the remarkable state of affairs...
Critical injuries avoided as military-chartered jet ends up in river
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A military-chartered jet carrying 143 people landed hard, then bounced and swerved as the pilot struggled to control it amid thunder and lightning, ultimately skidding off the runway and coming to a crashing halt in a river at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. It meant chaos and terror...
Preparation limits toll of cyclone
DHAKA, Bangladesh — A mammoth preparation exercise that included the evacuation of more than 1 million people appears to have spared India a devastating death toll from one of the biggest storms in decades, though the full extent of the damage was yet to be known, officials said Saturday. Cyclone...
Sources: Putin backs U.S. on denuclearization in Kim meeting
SEOUL, South Korea — Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 25 called on North Korea for its final, fully verified denuclearization, which the United States sought, during his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vladivostok, Russia, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. The move suggests Putin has shown...
Appeals made to military in Venezuela power struggle
CARACAS, Venezuela — When a protester handed over a written appeal for the military’s support on Saturday, a Venezuelan policeman burned the document and let the ashes fall to the ground. The armed forces “won’t be blackmailed or bought,” said a second officer standing nearby. Benito Rodriguez fumed as he...
Trump critical of social media sites after Facebook bans
STERLING, Va. — President Trump criticized social media companies after Facebook banned a number of extremist figures, declaring he was “monitoring and watching, closely!!” Trump, who tweeted and retweeted complaints Friday and Saturday, said he would “monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms.” He has previously asserted...
A pregnant inmate came to term in jail. Lawyers say she was forced to give birth there – alone.
Tammy Jackson was ushered into an empty jail cell by sheriffs. Then one morning, she was there with someone else: her newborn baby. According to a letter dated May 3, written by Broward County public defender Howard Finkelstein, the full-term, mentally ill 34-year-old began complaining to officers about contractions around...
Longtime NYC prosecutor, former judge Richard Brown dies
NEW YORK — A New York City prosecutor and judge whose 40-plus years in criminal justice stretched from the gritty “Mean Streets” era of the 1970s to today’s opioid crisis has died at the age of 86. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown died Friday, Chief Assistant District Attorney John...
Man reflects on being part of 1st gay prom couple in 1979
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A man who was one half of the first gay couple to attend a high school prom says he didn’t expect to become entrenched in LGBTQ rights history and that he looks back on the event in South Dakota 40 years later as “just a moment.”...
Expelled in 1956, black woman gets doctorate at U of Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Autherine Lucy Foster, the first African-American student to attend the University of Alabama, received an honorary doctorate degree Friday from the university where her presence brought mobs of protesters in 1956. The Tuscaloosa News reported that Foster, 89 received the degree during graduation ceremonies. She enrolled at...
Adult website offers to double reward for arrest of Texas beehive vandals
Adult video streaming website YouPorn is offering to double the reward for the information that leads to the apprehension of those responsible for killing more than 500,000 bees earlier this week. According to the New York Times, someone torched, toppled and tossed into a nearby pond more than 20 European...
Illinois governor proposes legalizing marijuana
CHICAGO — A proposal to legalize marijuana in Illinois would allow possession of up to 30 grams of the plant for residents 21 and over, a $30 million low-interest loan program to promote “social equity” in business ownership, and expungement of misdemeanor and class 4 felony marijuana convictions. Adults would...
SpaceX launches supplies to space station after power delays
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched a load of supplies to the International Space Station on Saturday following a pair of unusual power delays. A Falcon rocket raced into the pre-dawn darkness, carrying a Dragon capsule with 5,500 pounds (2,500 kilograms) of goods. This recycled Dragon — which is making...
Curacao officials board quarantined ship in measles case
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao — Authorities in Curacao on Saturday boarded a ship that arrived in the Dutch Caribbean island under quarantine, to start vaccinating people to prevent a measles outbreak. Health officials said only those who already have been vaccinated or have previously had measles will be free to leave the...
Israel strikes Gaza targets in response to heavy rocket fire
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired scores of rockets into southern Israel on Saturday, wounding at least two Israeli civilians and triggering retaliatory airstrikes and tank fire against militant targets in the blockaded enclave and shattering a month-long lull in violence. Israeli officials said...
No deaths as plane carrying US military crashes into river
A chartered jet carrying 143 people from the U.S. military base in Cuba tried to land in a thunderstorm in north Florida and ended up in the river next to Naval Air Station Jacksonville. Authorities said everyone on board emerged without critical injuries, climbing onto the wings to be rescued....
Nobody hurt in Vandergrift kitchen fire
Nobody was hurt in a kitchen fire in Vandergrift Friday night, according to Westmoreland County 911. The fire on the 500 block of Longfellow Street was reported around 10:15 p.m., dispatchers said. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze. Details about how the fire started and how much damage it did to...
Felon voting bill goes to Florida governor amid outcry
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida felons will have to pay court-ordered financial obligations if they want their voting rights restored under a bill sent to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday that would implement a voter-approved constitutional amendment. The bill, though, caused outrage among Democrats who say Republicans are adding hurdles...
