Social media’s ‘Plainpotatoess’ charged over viral videos
BALTIMORE — A Baltimore man who goes by ‘Plaintpotatoess’ on social media is charged with 21 counts of harassment and trespassing in connection with the making of his viral videos. The Baltimore Sun reports 20-year-old Marquel A. Carter was charged Thursday. Carter has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on...
‘Everyone deserves to be heard,’ Va. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax says; Dems explore impeachment
RICHMOND, Va. — Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax said he will not step down and will preside over the Senate on Monday regardless of any attempts to remove him from office amid allegations that he sexually assaulted two women. In a telephone interview with The Washington Post Sunday night, as fellow...
Seton Hill meets ambitious scholarship goal
Seton Hill University is celebrating its good fortune on surpassing a $10 million centennial fundraising goal for scholarships at the Catholic university. The Greensburg-based school that celebrated its 100th anniversary last year announced Monday it has beat its goal, raising slightly more than $10 million from alumni and other backers...
West Newton parents accused of refusing to have infant treated for medical concerns
The parents of an infant girl in West Newton were arrested Saturday on charges of child endangerment and reckless endangerment for failing to follow a pediatrician’s advice to have the child treated at an area hospital for concerns over low weight and having a below-normal body temperature. Tiffany M. Aquilina,...
State police looking for man suspected of stealing 5 Rokus from Walmart
State police in Indiana County are seeking information on a man who stole several television streaming devices from a Walmart in White Township. Police said the man entered the store around 7 p.m. on Feb. 7 and took five Roku streaming devices into the restroom, where he unwrapped them, placed...
Attorney for Robert Bowers hopes to resolve Tree of Life case without trial
Accused Tree of Life gunman Robert Bowers pleaded not guilty Monday to new hate-crime charges filed against him, and his renowned attorney, Judy Clarke, expressed interest in a plea deal rather than a trial. Bowers — with his feet shackled and his wrists chained to his waist — wore a...
Westmoreland asks state to investigate sale of Rivertowne tavern property
A Mt. Lebanon real estate company got quite a deal when it bought the 2.9-acre parcel containing the vacant Rivertowne tavern on Route 30 in North Huntingdon for $7,500 — or $512,500 less than the Rivertowne owners paid in 2011. The sale by Christian Fyke, who owned one-half interest in...
Female acts, rap songs win big at the Grammy Awards
LOS ANGELES — Women and rap triumphed at the Grammys on Sunday as female acts took home top prizes including album of the year and best new artist, and Childish Gambino made history when his hit “This Is America” became the first rap-based track to win record and song of...
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...
