Girl, 12, dies after snow fort collapses near church
CHICAGO — A 12-year-old girl who was playing in the snow with a friend died after a fort they had built by a suburban church collapsed on top of them Sunday afternoon, authorities said. The girl was playing with a 9-year-old girl near Rothem Church in Arlington Heights, Ill., when...
Kiski Area School Board votes against renewing contract for girls soccer coach
In a 5-4 vote Monday night, Kiski Area School District board members voted not to renew the contract of girls soccer coach Melisa O’Toole. At least one parent said she was not comfortable with O’Toole coaching her daughter given the charges and the alleged behavior of her husband, Ryan O’Toole,...
Retired legislative assistant was cycling enthusiast, steady friend
Terri Mickolay Selembo lived life to the fullest, bringing her friends along for the ride. She loved cycling with others, a passion that led her to complete multi-day treks in multiple states. In one memorable trip, she and her wife, Lori Cramer, were joined by friends in a south-to-north journey...
Part of Trump’s base is faulting him for the shutdown
MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. — Two years ago, Jeff Daudert was fed up with politics. He wanted to shake up the status quo. He didn’t mind sending a message to the establishment — and, frankly, he liked the idea of a disruptive president. But the 49-year-old retired Navy reservist has had...
Beaver County driver dies after crashing into Pennsylvania Turnpike building
A Beaver County woman died Monday after her SUV crashed into a Pennsylvania Turnpike building near a toll plaza in Lawrence County, officials said. The crash, which happened just after 10 p.m., caused traffic delays and temporarily blocked the right lanes of the Turnpike near mile-marker 18.6 between the Moravia...
Highlands to seek exceptions to increase property taxes by more than state limit
Property owners in the Highlands School District could be facing another increase in their school taxes. The school board on Monday approved advertising a preliminary budget, a step toward increasing the property tax beyond the district’s state-imposed limit. The board did not discuss specifics of the budget at the voting...
Norwin superintendent, asst. superintendent take retirement incentives
Norwin’s superintendent and one of its assistant superintendents will get incentives to retire one year early, under deals the Norwin School Board approved Monday. Superintendent William Kerr will receive an early retirement incentive of $56,353, while Timothy Kotch Sr., assistant superintendent for secondary education, will receive benefits equal to $76,871....
Western Pennsylvania school districts schedule two-hour delays ahead of frigid Tuesday
Freezing temperatures spurred many Western Pennsylvania school districts to call for two-hour delays Tuesday morning. The temperature in the Pittsburgh area was negative one degree just before 5 a.m., National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Frazier said. With the wind chill, it may feel like negative 3 to 5 degrees. “Winds...
Pitt students make a happy home for Humane Animal Rescue residents
Humane Animal Rescue officials hosted nearly 30 student volunteers at their East Shelter for a “Day of Service” in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The group of students was bussed to the Homewood shelter on Hamilton Avenue in the city’s East End, and spent hours decorating the windows...
Trump’s shutdown solution hangs in limbo
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s proposal to break through the budget deadlock appeared to be gaining little traction Monday, as another missed paycheck loomed for hundreds of thousands of workers and the partial federal shutdown stretched into its fifth week. Despite the fanfare of the president’s announcement, voting in Congress was...
Two students leave Oklahoma University over blackface video
NORMAN, Okla. — Two University of Oklahoma students have voluntarily withdrawn from the school after one appeared in a video posted on social media wearing black face paint and using a racial epithet, the university’s president said Monday. The Rev. Jim Gallogly said the two women apologized for what he...
Rotary seeking host clubs, families for exchange students
The Murrysville-Export Rotary Club is seeking host clubs and families for exchange students in the 2019-20 school year. Rotary Exchange students arrive in August and spend a year in a local high school. Many stay with up to three host families, each for a few months. Rotary Exchange students have...
Undeclared missile bases have been discovered in North Korea, according to new report
President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will have something new to discuss in February. An undisclosed North Korean missile base has been found 132 miles from the South Korean border, according to the nonpartisan think tank Beyond Parallel. The Sino-ri Missile Operating Base is the latest of...
Tower of Voices named No. 8 Best New Attraction in USA Today vote
The Tower of Voices at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County has been named the No. 8 Best New Attraction in the nation by USA Today’s 10Best.com. The Laurel Highlands memorial was selected from an initial list of 20 nominees, which was then pared down to 10 by...
3 injured in crash involving Port Authority bus, car in Pittsburgh’s Strip District
A crash involving a Port Authority of Allegheny County bus and a car in Pittsburgh’s Strip District sent three people to the hospital Monday afternoon with minor injuries, officials said. “None of the injuries are considered to be serious,” Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph said. A Route 88/Penn Avenue bus...
Norwin advertises for new superintendent
The Norwin School Board has launched a search for an experienced superintendent to replace William Kerr, who is retiring June 30. The school district seeks someone who has a doctorate in education, administration or related field, as well as five years of central office experience, according to an advertisement placed...
Highlands School Board sets hearing on closing former Fawn elementary school
The Highlands School Board is considering permanently closing the former Fawn Primary Center. The school was renamed the Highlands Support Center as part of the district’s controversial reconfiguration, which went into effect this school year. The school board voted Monday to schedule a state-required public hearing to consider the permanent...
Irwin rescue group captures, gets help for injured stray dog in Connellsville
A rescued dog will rest and recuperate in a new home after months of living on its own and finally being corralled by workers from an Irwin rescue organization. “It’s took a village to save this dog,” Lisa Duffy, founder of Cross Your Paws, said of the white-furred German Shepherd...
Trump ‘never spoke’ with Michael Cohen about false testimony, Rudy Giuliani says
President Trump did not speak with Michael Cohen before he testified falsely before Congress about plans to develop a skyscraper in Moscow during the 2016 campaign, Rudy Giuliani said Monday, backing off previous assertions that such talks may have taken place. The former New York mayor, who serves as Trump’s...
DA drops charges alleging Pittsburgh lawyer had sex with dog
Animal cruelty charges were dropped against a Pittsburgh attorney who police had alleged was having sex with his dog. Defense lawyers told the Tribune-Review on Monday that Ivan Devoren, 62, of Highland Park, never had sex with his dog, which is why prosecutors dropped those charges. They said Devoren had...
Plane crashes just after takeoff at rural airfield; 2 dead
APPLE CREEK, Ohio — Authorities say two pilots are dead after a plane crashed into the snow-covered front yard of a rural Ohio home shortly after taking off from a private airfield nearby. The State Highway Patrol says initial reports indicate the plane had engine trouble Monday morning after departing...
City salt truck rolls onto side in Pittsburgh
A Pittsburgh Department of Public Works salt and plow truck rolled onto its side around 12:45 p.m. Monday in Pittsburgh’s Chartiers neighborhood, according to the Tribune-Review’s news partner, WPXI-TV. WPXI said the truck rolled over while the driver was backing up in the 700 block of Litchfield Street. The driver...
More college students are turning to emotional support animals
Sometimes Liv Tempesta feels like she doesn’t have any emotions. That comes with the territory when you’re coping with clinical depression. The 19-year-old sophomore at Temple University last year tried a new type of treatment: a cat. Skittles, her 8-year-old tabby and her first emotional-support animal, lived on campus with...
Venezuela arrests 27 in failed revolt
CARACAS, Venezuela — Officials in Venezuela say they’ve arrested 27 members of the National Guard accused of launching an uprising against the government. Socialist party chief Diosdado Cabello says more arrests could come. Tensions are thick in Venezuela, where the political opposition leaders have called for nationwide protests on Wednesday...
Notre Dame to cover up murals of Columbus in the New World
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame will cover murals in a campus building that depict Christopher Columbus in America, the school’s president said, following criticism that the images depict Native Americans in stereotypical submissive poses before white European explorers. The 12 murals created in the 1880s by...
