Fired Pittsburgh police officer plans to sue city, detective
The attorney for a fired Pittsburgh police officer said Wednesday he plans to sue the city and a police detective for malicious prosecution, claiming the detective lied in court. Robert Kramer, 29, was fired in 2017 following an incident in which he was accused of pointing a silver revolver at...
Ex-W.Va. Supreme Court justice Allen Loughry gets 2 years for corruption
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former West Virginia Supreme Court justice who had a $32,000 blue suede couch in his office and was at the center of an impeachment and corruption scandal was sentenced to two years in federal prison Wednesday. “I have not seen evidence of remorse,” U.S. District Judge...
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette union files unfair labor action against publisher
The union representing Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newsroom workers on Wednesday filed unfair labor practice charges against Publisher John Robinson Block for what witnesses described as a “berserk” newsroom meltdown over the weekend. Block intimidated staff members when he stormed into the North Shore newsroom Saturday night, ranting and raving and acting...
Prison an ‘amazing experience’ for Bill Cosby, spokesman says
Since he was sentenced to prison in September, Bill Cosby has given up coffee, bread and dessert, and he’s dropped down to 195 pounds, according to the actor’s spokesman. “He said despite the circumstances, this is an amazing experience,” said Andrew Wyatt, Cosby’s spokesman, in an interview with NBC10 in...
U.S. says ex-intel official Monica Witt defected to Iran, revealed secrets
WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran despite warnings from the FBI has been charged with revealing classified information to the Tehran government, including the code name and secret mission of a Pentagon program, prosecutors said Wednesday. The Justice Department also accused Monica Elfriede...
Westmoreland water authority will seek repayment from gas driller for additional water tests
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County officials said Wednesday the agency will seek repayment for the cost of water quality tests conducted this week at the Beaver Run Reservoir in the aftermath of a pressure drop at a deep gas well on the property. “We increased our testing to every day,...
Hempfield native in line to serve as Assistant U.S. Secretary of Labor
Hempfield native Robert F. Bozzuto III is in line to become President Trump’s assistant secretary of labor. The White House on Wednesday said Bozzuto, a University of Pittsburgh graduate, is among a group of individuals Trump intends to nominate to fill vacancies in the administration. Bozzuto, 38, is White House...
In House’s Yemen vote, Congress reasserts war-making powers
WASHINGTON — Asserting congressional authority over war-making powers, the House passed a resolution Wednesday that would force the administration to withdraw U.S. troops from involvement in Yemen, in a rebuke of President Trump’s alliance with the Saudi-led coalition behind the military intervention. Lawmakers in both parties are increasingly uneasy over...
Jacobs Creek Watershed plans busy year of projectsVideo
Members of the Jacobs Creek Watershed Association braved the elements on Wednesday to announce a series of 2019 projects that will remove 20,000 pounds of trash, plant 200 trees and mitigate the effects of 2 million gallons of stormwater. “We’re doing some really big things this year as a result...
Reward hits $27,000 for info about elderly man last seen in South Buffalo
The family and personal care home of a missing elderly man have more than doubled a reward, now $27,000, for information leading to his whereabouts. Kenneth “Kenny” Himes, 70, of Pittsburgh, who is autistic and has early-onset dementia, was last seen at his brother’s home along Cadogan-Slate Lick Road in...
Authorities say suspect in suitcase death is in the country illegally
A man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and dumping her body in a suitcase in Connecticut is a citizen of Portugal who has been in the U.S. illegally for more than a year, federal authorities said Wednesday as the victim’s loved ones gathered for her funeral. Javier Da Silva Rojas,...
Trump’s coal pledge could be tested by TVA vote this week
FRANKFORT, Ky. — President Trump’s support for the coal industry — and for a particular power plant — will face a test this week when a utility board he appoints considers whether to close a coal-fired Kentucky plant whose suppliers include a mine owned by one of his campaign donors....
FEMA chief Brock Long, who faced questions over his use of government vehicle, to resign
WASHINGTON — Less than two years into a tenure marked by five major hurricanes, multiple lethal wildfires and a tense relationship with his boss, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator William “Brock” Long resigned Wednesday “to go home to my family,” as he put it in an official statement released by...
Winning Cash 5 ticket sold in Richland
A winning Cash 5 ticket for Tuesday’s drawing was sold at a Richland Township business. The winner will split the $800,000 jackpot with another winner in Erie. The ticket was sold at The Brew House, 312 Northtowne Square. The store will receive a $500 bonus for selling the ticket. Each...
Private Industry Council receives more than $443,000 in grant money
A local organization was awarded over $443,000 to expand two of its services. The Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/Fayette is set to use the PAsmart Advancing Grant money to expand their Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program, or STEM, along with their computer science program. “Grants like these help schools,...
Prosecutors dispute racial motivation alleged in charge against Mills mall shop owner
Allegheny County prosecutors are contesting the claim that the owner of a Pittsburgh Mills store was charged with selling counterfeit merchandise because of his race. The District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday said the “police acted appropriately and without racial motivation” in the case against Tommy Wang. “The police, pursuant to...
Condolences pour in mourning the loss of NASA’s Mars rover
A robot tugged at our emotions with just eight little words. “My battery is low and it’s getting dark.” The poignant words were the last sent to Earth by NASA’s Opportunity, the Mars rover that spent the past 15 years exploring the planet before it stopped communicating about eight months...
Owner of 4 Shop ‘n Save stores accused of falsifying coupons worth $300K
The owner of a string of Pittsburgh-area Shop ’n Save grocery stores allegedly ordered employees to hoard unused coupons and used them to bilk more than $300,000 from manufacturers over the course of four years, according to theft charges filed against him Wednesday. Michael Mihelic, 59, of Franklin Park, owns...
Former Nike Missile Command Center in Collier transforming into Grist HouseVideo
This is going to take some time to transform. The owners will definitely need a beer after they are done. Fortunately, for them, lots of fresh suds will be ice cold and within reach. Grist House Craft Brewery is in the process of turning a former Nike Missile Command Center...
Kentucky bishop says Covington students were not instigators
COVINGTON, Ky. — Investigators hired by a Kentucky diocese have found that Catholic school boys didn’t instigate a confrontation at the Lincoln Memorial that went viral on social media. Covington Bishop Roger Foys initially condemned the students’ behavior after a video showed a teenage boy face-to-face with a Native American...
NASA rover finally bites the dust on Mars after 15 years
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s Opportunity, the Mars rover that was built to operate for just three months but kept going and going, rolling across the rocky red soil, was pronounced dead Wednesday, 15 years after it landed on the planet. The six-wheeled vehicle that helped gather critical evidence that...
Rep. Ilhan Omar rejects calls for resignation, fires back at Trump
WASHINGTON — Rep. Ilhan Omar rejected President Donald Trump’s call for her resignation by accusing him of having “trafficked in hate your whole life” while she privately has tried to make amends with her Jewish colleagues for her anti-Semitic comments. The Minnesota Democrat, who fired back at Trump in a...
Frank Rossi, founder of the Pittsburgh Banjo Club, dies at 83
As is tradition, the Pittsburgh Banjo Club will practice Wednesday night at the Allegheny Elks Lodge on the city’s North Side. The group will attract a crowd of people of all ages and walks of life who come for the camaraderie, cheap drinks and, of course, the banjos. But absent...
Supermoon to light up sky for 2nd month in a row
Almost a month after January’s supermoon lunar eclipse, another supermoon is set to appear. On the morning of Feb. 19, the moon will be at perigee, meaning its closest orbit to Earth, according to NASA. The moon will be at perigee at 4:04 a.m., and will become a full moon...
Police dog tracks fleeing warrant suspect in Claridge
Police chased a man Wednesday afternoon from Jeannette to Penn Township where he crashed his vehicle and hid underneath a mobile home in Claridge, according to Penn Township Police Chief John Otto. There was a heavy police presence and streets closed near Claridge Elliott Road until Greensburg K9 Falco located...
