Ripples of Parkland, Fla., school shooting still felt in Pennsylvania a year later
The cafeteria at Mt. Pleasant Area High School buzzed as 300 teenagers laughed and traded gossip while wolfing down pizza, tacos and the occasional apple. The scene Friday afternoon was far removed from the angst that gripped students across the country in the aftermath of the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting...
1 hurt when wires fall after Hempfield vehicle crash
One person was hurt Monday morning after a crash on Penn Adamsburg Road in Hempfield, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The person was taken by ambulance to an area hospital after live wires came down on the vehicle just before 8 a.m. Nearby resident Paul Berginc said he noticed...
Researcher took wood, made it better
As an undergraduate student at West Virginia University, Joseph Ayres got in on the ground floor of a technology that increased the durability and uses of wood. Mr. Ayres was involved with research efforts in the early 1960s that developed wood-plastic combinations using gamma irradiation techniques. “It had never been...
Potomac Avenue reopens after 3-car crash in Pittsburgh’s Banksville neighborhood
No one was injured in a three-car crash that closed Potomac Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Banksville neighborhood Monday morning, according to Allegheny County 911. All three vehicles slid off the road, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV reported. The crash happened just before 8 a.m. The steep, icy street was closed for more...
Trump tries to turn border debate his way with El Paso rally
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is trying to turn the debate over a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border back to his political advantage as his signature pledge to American voters threatens to become a model of unfulfilled promises. Trump will hold his first campaign rally since November’s midterm elections in...
Iranians mark anniversary of victory day in 1979 revolution
TEHRAN, Iran — Waving Iranian flags, chanting “Death to America” and burning U.S. and Israeli flags, hundreds of thousands of people poured out onto the streets across Iran on Monday, marking the date that’s considered victory day in the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. On Feb. 11 that year, Iran’s military...
Top Pentagon official in Afghanistan amid push for peace
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Pentagon’s top official made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Monday to meet with U.S. commanders and Afghan leaders amid a push for peace with the Taliban. Pat Shanahan, the recently installed acting secretary of defense, said he has no orders to reduce the U.S. troop...
Victim identified in fatal Fayette County fire
A 96-year-old man died after a house fire in Fayette County, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office. Clare Geary died in a Pittsburgh hospital after he was flown Sunday morning from his home on Stanton Road in Saltlick Township. The fire started in the home’s living room, Tribune-Review...
Demolition of Pittsburgh buildings makes way for North Side development
Demolishing three vacant buildings in Pittsburgh has generated considerable controversy in recent years over plans for redevelopment of the North Side’s Garden Theater Block. The latest plan for the block, along North Avenue between Federal and Reddour streets, includes demolition of the three buildings and construction of a new one...
Two teenagers killed in Mercer County crash
Two teenage girls were killed Sunday night in a crash on I-80 eastbound in Mercer County, according to Youngstown news station WKBN. Alexis Myers, 16, and Danielle Nelson, 15, were passengers in an SUV that crashed into a tractor-trailer around 6:40 p.m. The 17-year-old girl who was driving the SUV...
Pittsburgh-area school districts ranked best in Pennsylvania by Niche website
Several area school districts are included in a Pittsburgh-based research website’s list of top schools in Pennsylvania. Researchers at Niche examined academic and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as reviews and other information gathered from users to compile the 2019 Best School Districts rankings....
John Regoli’s son raises money for childhood cancer in honor of late father
Watching his father, former New Kensington Councilman John W. Regoli Jr., fight for 14 months and then lose his life at the age of 54 to brain cancer “still hurts a lot,” said Nico Regoli, a Penn State New Kensington student. But Regoli has taken his grief and applied it...
Raw sewage floods unit at McMurtry Towers in Vandergrift
A clogged sewage pipe in the McMurtry Towers in Vandergrift forced one resident out of her apartment and a cleanup of raw sewage, some of which was reported in the lobby of the Westmoreland County-owned high rise. Late Friday evening, McMurtry Towers resident Tammy Trentin, 45, heard gurgling coming from...
Senior lawmakers say they’ve agreed on border bill
WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators announced an agreement late Monday to prevent a government shutdown and finance construction of new barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, overcoming a late-stage hang-up over immigration enforcement issues that had threatened to scuttle the talks. Republicans were desperate to avoid another bruising shutdown. They tentatively agreed...
Former White House aide Cliff Sims sues Trump after attack over tell-all book
WASHINGTON — A former White House aide who penned an insider account about President Trump is now suing the president after Trump’s lawyers filed an arbitration claim saying the book violated a non-disclosure agreement. The former communications aide, Cliff Sims, filed the suit in District of Columbia court Monday after...
Suspect charged in fatal shooting of Milwaukee officer
MILWAUKEE — A man who was charged Sunday with killing a Milwaukee officer during a drug raid on his home told investigators that he didn’t realize it was police trying to break down his door, authorities said. Jordan P. Fricke, 26, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and other crimes...
Even in best-case scenario, opioid overdose deaths will keep rising until 2022
In the nation’s opioid epidemic, the carnage is far from over. A new projection of opioid overdose death rates suggests that even if there is steady progress in reducing prescription narcotics abuse nationwide, the number of fatal overdoses — which reached 47,600 in 2017 — will rise sharply in the...
Horror film in Leechburg looking for extras to be bar patrons for Mia Z performance
A horror film that is shooting a scene in Leechburg and featuring singer Mia Zanotti is seeking extras to play bar patrons. The scene is slated to be shot sometime in April. The website for the movie, “Occurrence at Mills Creek,” describes the film’s premise as: “Cassandra awakens to a...
Sen. Schumer pushes for fentanyl sanctions against China days before trade talks
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer announced legislation Sunday to crack down on fentanyl producers in China, the world’s largest exporter of the lethal synthetic drug. The bill aims to impose economic sanctions on China and other countries that have turned a blind eye to companies and traffickers producing fentanyl,...
Congressman Walter Jones Jr. of North Carolina dies at 76
RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr. of North Carolina, a once-fervent supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq who later became an equally outspoken Republican critic of the war, died Sunday, his 76th birthday. The congressman’s office confirmed his death in a statement, saying Jones died...
2 state legislators hear from proponents of Sunday hunting at Penn State New Kensington event
About 30 residents gathered at Penn State New Kensington on Sunday to learn more about a bill being considered in the state Legislature that would allow hunting on Sundays during hunting season. Most, if not all, of those in attendance were already in favor of such a change, but wanted...
2nd day of search in Brush Creek fails to locate reported body, officials say
For a second day Sunday, multiple Westmoreland and Allegheny County emergency response crews were unable to locate a body that a witness told police he saw floating Saturday in Brush Creek in North Huntingdon. Crews on Sunday entered the creek in inflatable rafts, dive teams from Monroeville and Murrysville responded,...
9 hurt when DUI suspect drives onto sidewalk in California
FULLERTON, Calif. — Witnesses and emergency responders lifted a pickup truck off people trapped when a driver plowed into a crowd on a sidewalk in Southern California early Sunday, injuring at least nine, authorities said. Police arrested a 22-year-old man on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs after...
Trump’s Afghan envoy intensifies peace efforts with Taliban
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s special envoy for Afghanistan is returning to the country after stops in Europe and the Middle East for an extended diplomatic tour aimed at pushing a U.S. peace initiative. The State Department said in a statement Sunday that Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad...
Memorial set for Nashville musician Kyle Yorlets killed in robbery
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mourners plan to gather Monday at a memorial service in Tennessee for musician Kyle Yorlets after the frontman for the rock band Carverton was gunned down during a robbery. The service will be held at Belmont University, Yorlets’ alma mater, the Nashville-based band said in a statement....
