Girl, 12, dies in snow fort collapse outside church
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — A 12-year-old girl has died after a snow fort collapsed while she was playing outside a church in suburban Chicago. Arlington Heights police are calling the death a “tragic accident.” Police say the girl, Esther Jung, was playing with a 9-year-old girl in the snow outside...
Teen in confrontation with Native American: I didn’t provoke
DETROIT — The student who stared and smiled at an elderly Native American protester drumming in his face outside the Lincoln Memorial as his schoolmates chanted and laughed says he did nothing to provoke the man in the videotaped confrontation and was only trying to calm the situation. The student...
Kamala Harris jumps into presidential race
WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris, a first-term senator and former California attorney general known for her rigorous questioning of President Donald Trump’s nominees, entered the Democratic presidential race on Monday. Vowing to “bring our voices together,” Harris would be the first woman to hold the presidency and the second African-American if...
2-for-1: Total lunar eclipse comes with supermoon bonus
The only total lunar eclipse this year and next came with a supermoon bonus. On Sunday night, the moon, Earth and sun lined up to create the eclipse, which was visible throughout North and South America, where skies were clear. There won’t be another until the year 2021. It was...
Bolton’s test: Massaging Trump tweets into foreign policy
WASHINGTON — In President Donald Trump’s Washington, matters of war and peace are decided in 280-character bursts. It’s up to John Bolton to massage them into a foreign policy. The mustachioed national security adviser developed a reputation as a bureaucratic bulldozer through more than three decades in and out of...
Shutdown goes on as Trump offer doesn’t budge Democrats
WASHINGTON — Thirty-one days into the partial government shutdown, Democrats and Republicans appeared no closer to ending the impasse than when it began, with President Donald Trump lashing out at his opponents after they dismissed a plan he’d billed as a compromise. Trump on Sunday branded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...
All Pittsburgh bridges reopen after 12 barges break loose on Mon River
Bridges carrying traffic across the Monongahela River were closed Monday morning after 12 barges hauling coal broke loose from a tow boat and floated away. The bridges reopened by mid-morning but not before the morning commute ground to a halt in some places and Port Authority of Allegheny County riders...
Apollo-Ridge students learn other lessons while learning how to play the guitar
“You may find a cushy job and I hope that you go far, But if you really want
to taste some cool success, You better learn to play guitar.” If John Mellencamp’s “Play Guitar” song is true, Apollo-
Ridge students are well on their way as the district’s education foundation bought...
Westmoreland Transit to buy new buses for paratransit program
The Westmoreland County Transit Authority will buy 16 new buses for its paratransit program this year. The agency’s executive director, Alan Blahovec, said a $756,000 state grant will be used to purchase 12 mini buses used in the shared-ride system that operates as Go Westmoreland. Another four buses will be...
Green Book helped African-Americans find welcoming places in Western Pa.
“Carry your Green Book with you … you may need it!” That was not an empty advertising slogan in the decades from the 1930s to ’60s in the United States, where Jim Crow laws reigned in the South and de facto segregation was observed in the North. In many cases,...
To protect concrete from road salt, Drexel engineers have an odd idea: bacteria
If past years are any indication, trucks will spread 900,000 tons of salt on Pennsylvania’s state roadways this winter, lowering the melting point of snow and ice to the point where some of it turns into harmless liquid. Their counterparts in New Jersey will disgorge an additional 300,000 tons. Great...
St. Clair talk to offer insight into military, political leader’s early lifeVideo
Local historians are familiar with the prominent roles Gen. Arthur St. Clair played in the early years of Westmoreland County, but many feel he hasn’t received the credit he’s due for his contributions on a national stage. Caretaker of the decommissioned Fort Ligonier in the late 1760s, St. Clair served...
Thief steals $1,000 from Girl Scouts selling cookies at mall
WOODBRIDGE TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Authorities say a thief stole $1,000 from a group of Girl Scouts who were selling cookies at a New Jersey mall. Woodbridge Township police say the theft occurred between 4:20 p.m. and 4:50 p.m. Friday on the upper level of the Woodbridge Center mall. The money...
Westmoreland County schools to form legislative committee
School districts across Westmoreland County are banding together to have their voices heard on the state level. Through the Committee on Legislative Action, or COLA, local superintendents will learn how proposed bills and laws could affect education in the county. The group, started by the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit — a...
Martin Luther King Jr.’s work touched Pittsburgh, continues today
Thousands of people squeezed into the pews of Central Baptist Church, excitement building as others lined the walls and the overflow crowd spilled out the doors onto Wylie Avenue in the Hill District. Martin Luther King Jr. stood in the sanctuary, preparing to give a highly anticipated speech to Pittsburgh...
Highlands High School brings back alumni for cabaret show benefiting spring musical
Highlands High School’s musical program puts the “fun” in fundraising. Each year, dozens of Highlands High School alumni team up with current Highlands musical students to perform a cabaret show that provides critical funds for the spring musical. “The average high school musical costs anywhere from $20,000-$30,000 — those are...
Inbound HOV lanes on Parkway North closed Monday due to damaged gate
The High Occupancy Vehicle lanes inbound on Interstate 279, the Parkway North, will be closed Monday. A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman said the closure is because of a damaged gate. More information will be provided prior to Monday’s afternoon rush hour. Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You...
Dear Mr. President, that’s not how global warming works
Sunday morning began with a stern, concerned warning from President Trump to thousands of Northeasterners expected to be affected by a massive weather system: “Be careful and try staying in your house,” the president tweeted. “Large parts of the Country are suffering from tremendous amounts of snow and near record...
Deputies shoot Oregon man after he kills 4, including baby daughter
PORTLAND — A rural Oregon man killed four members of his family at the home they shared and was shot by sheriff’s deputies as he tried to kill a girl, authorities said. Mark Leo Gregory Gago, 42, killed his parents, his girlfriend and their infant daughter Saturday night before deputies...
Pence links Trump’s push for border wall to Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy
On the eve of a holiday commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Vice President Mike Pence seemed to liken President Trump’s push for a border wall to the civil rights leader’s legacy. Speaking Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” the vice president quoted from King’s “I Have a Dream”...
Arctic blast, dangerous wind chills hit southwest Pennsylvania on Monday
Snowmageddon bypassed the region, but the Arctic cold didn’t. The region is in for a deep freeze over the next few days, with dangerous wind chills and temperatures expected to hit single digits and continue through Monday. The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory Sunday evening through 1...
L.A. school district, teachers meet all weekend to resolve strike
LOS ANGELES—Teams from the Los Angeles Unified School District and the teachers union worked long hours this weekend to settle a teachers’ strike that has so far cost students five days of normal instruction. The office of Mayor Eric Garcetti, which is mediating the talks, has been sending out the...
America’s original tobacco state considers hiking the smoking and vaping age to 21
RICHMOND, Va. — Some prominent legislators are backing a bill to raise the minimum age for buying cigarettes and vapes from 18 to 21 in Virginia, a state where tobacco once loomed so large that images of the leaves adorn its stately Capitol. Alarmed by rampant vaping by teens, a...
Native American Nathan Phillips says he tried to ease tensions at Mall
DETROIT — A Native American who was seen in online video being taunted outside the Lincoln Memorial said Sunday he felt compelled to get between two groups with his ceremonial drum to defuse a confrontation. Nathan Phillips said in an interview with The Associated Press that he was trying to...
Report: 2 injured when stolen car rolls on ice-covered West Mifflin street
Two people were hospitalized Sunday after the stolen car they were riding in flipped onto its roof in West Mifflin, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. Police were following the car that had been stolen in Pittsburgh along ice-covered Outlook Drive around 5:30 p.m. when it skidded off the street...
