$530 million investment in Aurora Innovation could create Pittsburgh jobs
A $530 million infusion into a self-driving startup could mean dozens of new jobs in Pittsburgh. Announced this week, Aurora Innovation raised the money from a group of investors that includes the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, Amazon and T. Rowe Price Group. Founded two years ago, the...
Longtime Valley News Dispatch sports editor remembered for his keen eye for young talent
During his 26-year tenure as sports editor for the Valley News Dispatch, Bob Schank oversaw a drastic transformation of the local sports scene. From the mergers of Alle-Kiski Valley high school sports programs to the elevation of the Pirates and Steelers from punchlines to world champions, Schank saw it all....
Video of Broward deputy calling a black father ‘boy’ amid foul language sparks complaint
MIAMI — The actions of a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy with a history of making false arrests drew a complaint from the Broward Public Defender’s Office after bodycam video from a July 2017 incident emerged last month. Deputy James Cady confronts Allen Floyd, a black father calmly holding his infant,...
Pittsburgh police: Resident, suspect in Knoxville home invasion shot; suspect critical
Pittsburgh police are investigating an alleged home invasion in the Knoxville neighborhood in which two people were shot Friday night. Soon after arriving at the 300 block of Moore Avenue about 7 p.m., police found “multiple shell casings and a male resident with a gunshot wound to the hand,” spokesman...
Shapiro charges 13 in alleged Allegheny-Westmoreland gambling ring
The office of state Attorney General Josh Shapiro has charged 13 people, including residents of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, with taking part in a gambling ring that involved illegal sports bookmaking and lotteries. Based on a grand jury investigation launched in March 2015 with the Attorney General’s Office and state...
Pilot had been disciplined for dangerous flying years before Southern California crash
LOS ANGELES — Years before his plane plunged into an Orange County suburb, killing him and four others on the ground, Antonio Pastini was disciplined twice by federal regulators for flying in dangerous conditions and lying about his credentials, records show. A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration told the...
Programs to combat homelessness in Pennsylvania to receive $108 million in federal grants
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $108 million in Continuum of Care Program grants to support local homeless programs in Pennsylvania, officials announced Friday. “Local communities in Pennsylvania are on the front lines, working day in and day out to reduce homelessness,” said Joe DeFelice, regional administrator...
Ice causes crashes across Alle-Kiski Valley
Ice on a sunny, but cold afternoon apparently caused two accidents within 20 minutes in the Alle-Kiski Valley and numerous others across the region. An Apollo man was driving down a small car down South Leechburg Hill in Allegheny Township at about 5:40 p.m. when he hit a patch of...
Arizona wants care unit where patient was raped to stay open
PHOENIX — The embattled operators of an Arizona long-term care facility agreed Friday to be regulated by the state, effectively nixing a plan to close down the unit where an incapacitated woman gave birth after being raped. The state received written confirmation that Hacienda HealthCare would enter into a voluntary...
Snowbound California guests freed after 5 days at lodge
LOS ANGELES — More than 120 visitors and staff who were snowbound in a Sierra Nevada resort for five days have been freed, authorities said Friday. Up to 7 feet of snow trapped the guests and staff at Montecito Sequoia Lodge in Sequoia National Forest starting Sunday following a storm,...
$1 billion needed for infrastructure, maintenance at Pennsylvania state parks, forests
Deferred maintenance on Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests comes with a costly price tag of $1 billion and no clear way to pay for it, according to a new report. “The Legacy of Pennsylvania Parks and Forests: The Future Is in Our Hands,” a 48-page report from the Pennsylvania Parks...
Pittsburgh man sentenced to 9 months in prison, ordered to pay back nearly $422K for federal tax and Social Security fraud
A Pittsburgh man was sentenced to nine months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $422,000 in restitution for federal tax and Social Security fraud, federal authorities announced Friday. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Robert Alan Seth Sr., 58. He was also sentenced to...
Flooding closes both ‘bathtub’ on Parkway East and nearby Parkway North ramp, detours announced
Flooding has closed both the westbound “bathtub” section of the Parkway East (Interstate 376) and the southbound Parkway North (I-279) ramp to the Parkway East outbound in Pittsburgh. The closures occurred at about 8:20 Friday night. The dip in the Parkway East known as “the bathtub” was expected to close...
Reckoning time: Trump checks in for another medical checkup
BETHESDA, Md. — It’s reckoning time: President Trump had his annual medical exam Friday, a year after his doctor advised him to up the exercise and cut the calories. Trump spent more than four hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a checkup supervised by Dr. Sean P....
AP sources: Prosecutors probing National Enquirer after Jeff Bezos report
NEW YORK — The National Enquirer’s alleged attempt to blackmail Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos with intimate photos could get the tabloid’s parent company and top editors in deep legal trouble and reopen them to prosecution for paying hush money to a Playboy model who claimed she had an affair with...
Congressional negotiators near deal offering Trump much less border money
WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators neared a deal Friday that would offer President Trump far less than the $5.7 billion he’s sought for walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, as lawmakers worked to prevent another government shutdown next week. Two people familiar with the talks said the understanding among Republicans is that...
Bridgeville suboxone clinic owner gets federal prison sentence, fine
An Upper St. Clair woman was sentenced Friday to serve more than a year in federal prison and pay a fine for violating federal drug dispensing laws and defrauding an insurance company. U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer sentenced Terri C. Brown, 53, of Morrow Road to a year and...
Accused Tree of Life gunman Robert Bowers to be arraigned Monday
Accused Tree of Life gunman Robert Bowers will be arraigned on 63 charges Monday in federal court. Bowers was originally indicted last year on 44 federal charges related to the Oct. 27 shooting that left 11 people dead inside the Squirrel Hill synagogue. A federal grand jury returned a superseding...
Abortion case shows Roberts firmly at Supreme Court’s center
Chief Justice John Roberts broke with the Supreme Court’s other conservative justices and his own voting record on abortion to block a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Roberts didn’t explain his decision late Thursday to join the court’s four liberal justices. But...
NY gov raps Amazon critics amid report company’s rethinking
NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned Friday about what he called “political pandering” to critics of Amazon’s proposed secondary headquarters amid a report that the company is reconsidering its planned New York City headquarters. But opponents said they’d keep fighting a project they consider corporate welfare. The back-and-forth came...
Second woman accuses Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault
RICHMOND, Va. — A second woman has come forward to accuse Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault. The woman said in a statement Friday that the attack took place when she and Fairfax were students at Duke University. “I deny this latest unsubstantiated allegation. It is demonstrably false....
Beaver pipeline explosion cited in DEP move to halt permits
The state Department of Environmental Protection says it is not approving any more clean water permits for Energy Transfer LP until the Texas-based company corrects problems related to a Beaver County pipeline explosion in September . DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said Friday that Energy Transfer, operator of the Revolution pipeline...
Pittsburgh officials eye new towing rules in wake of shooting
Pittsburgh officials hope to keep towing companies from competing with each other to reach crash sites by designating one towing for each of the city’s six police zones. The announcement comes less than a week after a dispute between two tow truck drivers escalated to violence, with one driver going...
Virginia Democrats try to thread the needle on crisis
RICHMOND, Va. — Confronted with a triple threat to the party’s top ranks, Virginia Democrats are trying to thread the needle, demanding anew that Gov. Ralph Northam resign but giving the benefit of the doubt — for the time being — to the lieutenant governor and attorney general. Key Democratic...
Westmoreland Manor administrator out, replacement named
The private company that manages Westmoreland Manor has hired a new administrator to oversee day-to-day operations at the county-owned nursing home. Premier Healthcare Resources, the Penn Township-based firm that was paid more than $586,000 last year to run the 408-bed facility in Hempfield, this week replaced John Austin, the nursing...
