Westmoreland school officials to form legislative action committee
Westmoreland County public school officials are forming a committee to present a common front when they address legislative issues that affect local education. The planned Westmoreland County Committee On Legislative Action, or COLA, is expected to include representatives from the county’s 17 public school districts, three associated career and technology...
Newborn baby found dead in trash can at Amazon warehouse
A newborn baby was discovered dead in a trash can Wednesday night in an Amazon warehouse in Phoenix. The Associated Press reports police and firefighters responded to a 911 call about “a deceased infant in the women’s restroom located inside the secured facility,” the Phoenix Police Department said. ABC15 in...
Rudy Giuliani: ‘I never said there was no collusion’ between Trump campaign and Russia
Rudy Giuliani claimed Wednesday night that he “never said there was no collusion” between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia leading up to the 2016 presidential election. In a remarkable, and at times contentious, interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, the president’s lawyer appeared to contradict his own past statements about...
2020 Democrats face a choice: Fight Trump or ignore him?
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — When Sen. Elizabeth Warren took the stage earlier this month at this city’s ornate Orpheum Theatre, Tricia Currans-Sheehan posed a pointed question to the expected presidential contender. “Why did you undergo the DNA testing and give Donald Trump more fodder to be a bully?” the Iowa...
GOP dismisses suggestion that State of Union be postponed
WASHINGTON— A grand Washington ritual became a potential casualty of the partial government shutdown as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked President Donald Trump to postpone his Jan. 29 State of the Union speech. She cited concerns about whether the hobbled government can provide adequate security, but Republicans cast her move...
Deteriorating Arnold building creates problems for neighboring property
Arnold Volunteer Fire Company 2 is asking city council to demolish a Fifth Avenue structure that is damaging a building it owns. Chris O’Leath, who recently stepped down as Company 2 chief after five years, spoke to council on behalf of the company to request 1708 Fifth Ave. be torn...
TV documentary series featuring Dakota James case premieres Saturday
The television documentary series purporting Duquesne University student Dakota James was the victim of something more than an accidental drowning premieres 7 p.m. Saturday on the Oxygen Network. The series, called “Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for Justice,” chronicles retired New York City detective Kevin Gannon and colleagues as they...
Meteorologist: Today’s snow nothing compared to what’s coming this weekend
Some snow this afternoon and evening will be an appetizer for the main course expected on Saturday. Between 1 and 2 inches of snow is in the forecast for today, starting in the mid-afternoon and ending around midnight, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Kennedy said. “It doesn’t look like it’s...
Lawrenceville Distilling selling absinthe named for legendary haunted house
The Green Fairy is alive and well in Pittsburgh. Lawrenceville Distilling recently debuted its own brand of absinthe, after years of research and experimentation and approval by the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Nicknamed “The Green Fairy,” it became notorious for its hallucinogenic effects. The Swiss spirit...
Pittsburgh food truck owner buys, re-brands Wilkinsburg diner
When Jordan Robarge visited Nancy’s East End Diner in Wilkinsburg last spring, he knew it was the place he had been searching for. The 25-year-old founder of Pittsburgh food truck Revival Chili had been criss-crossing the city, looking for a spot to set up a brick-and-mortar restaurant. “There was just...
Judge limits evidence allowed in alleged Hempfield rape case
Statements that a Hempfield woman made — and later recanted — to police and medical personnel that she was raped last year cannot be used against the man she initially accused, a judge ruled on Thursday. Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy Krieger also said prosecutors will not be able to...
Chelsa Wagner launches site to show impact of UPMC-Highmark split
Judy Hays credits her oncologist and team of health care workers at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center with saving her life. Hays, 75, of Crescent Township has spent the past nine years battling chronic lymphocytic leukemia. After undergoing four types of chemotherapy and several new drug treatments, she’s finally found a...
Irwin OKs lawsuits to enforce rental ordinance
Irwin officials plan to crack down on landlords who are not complying with the borough’s tenant registry and inspection ordinance enacted last year. Borough council has authorized borough solicitor Zachary Kansler to file lawsuits against property owners to enforce the local rule requiring the inspection of rental units for a...
Greensburg Salem votes to keep any tax increase below state limit
In a ritual that marks the beginning of budget season, the Greensburg Salem School Board voted unanimously Wednesday to keep any tax increase for 2019 to the limit set by the state. This limit, established by the state’s Act 1 Index, prevents the board from raising taxes more than 2.72...
1 reported trapped in Port Vue house fire
Several Mon Valley fire departments responded to a two-alarm blaze at 807 Weldon Drive in Port Vue Wednesday night. Allegheny County dispatchers said the call for the fire came in around 9:51 p.m. One person was reportedly entrapped in the house. It was unclear if there were any injuries. Michael...
North Huntingdon to hire 4 cops to replace retirees
North Huntingdon is looking to hire four police officers, a move that will cost about $227,100 in salaries to replace several officers who retired in the past two years. The hirings will return North Huntingdon’s police force to its full complement of 30 officers, said Jeffrey Silka, township manager. He...
ACLU: Government mistakenly wanted to deport U.S. veteran
DETROIT — A Marine veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder was held for three days for possible deportation before federal authorities learned that he was a U.S. citizen born in Michigan, lawyers said Wednesday. Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, 27, lives in the Grand Rapids area. He was released on Dec. 17 from a...
Michigan State President Engler resigns after he said sexual abuse victims enjoyed spotlight
The embattled interim president of Michigan State University sent a letter Wednesday that he is resigning, becoming the school’s second leader in a year to step down under pressure because of the scandal involving a university physician convicted of sexually abusing girls and women. John Engler, a former Republican governor...
Georgia man plotted attack on White House, authorities say
ATLANTA — Federal authorities Wednesday arrested a Georgia man they said was plotting to attack the White House but instead got entangled with the FBI. Hasher Jallal Taheb, 21, of Cumming was taken into custody in Gwinnett County while allegedly trying to exchange his vehicle for explosives. He later appeared...
Family, 7 pets escape from Jeannette house fireVideo
A family of three and their seven pets were temporarily displaced when an electrical fire damaged their Jeannette home Wednesday evening. Robert Rundle said he’d been gone just 15 minutes from the home in the 300 block of Margaret Street when his wife, Magi, called at about 7 p.m. with...
Trump administration to roll out new missile defense plan
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will roll out a new strategy Thursday for a more aggressive space-based missile defense system to protect against existing threats from North Korea and Iran and counter advanced weapon systems being developed by Russia and China. Details about the administration’s Missile Defense Review — the...
Building inspectors find code violations at R. Kelly studio, including evidence of use as residence
CHICAGO — Building inspectors on Wednesday identified a number of code violations at R. Kelly’s Chicago recording studio, finding evidence that the industrial space was used as a residence even though it was not zoned for that purpose, the city Buildings Department announced. A team of inspectors spent about an...
‘Where’s Mitch?’ As shutdown grinds on, Dems accuse McConnell of ducking members of Congress
WASHINGTON — Furloughed federal workers have displayed their unpaid bills at Mitch McConnell’s Senate office in protest. House freshmen marched to his office Wednesday to urge a vote. And he’s drawn the ire of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the newest star of the Democratic Party. Yet through it all, the Senate majority...
Officials: Abducted Penn Hills teen found safe, suspect arrested
A 19-year-old man accused of assaulting and kidnapping a 16-year-old girl from her Penn Hills home Wednesday afternoon was in the Allegheny County Jail Thursday morning. Jermaine LaQuay Rodgers was taken into custody after a standoff in McKeesport, the Trib’s news partner, WPXI-TV, reported. Rodgers allegedly broke into the Glenbrook...
Mercer County DA takes stand to defend himself from obstruction charges
Mercer County District Attorney Miles K. Karson has been practicing law in this western Pennsylvania county for more than four decades. In that time, he’s prosecuted and defended clients in a wide variety of matters. On Wednesday morning, Karson, a 73-year-old McKeesport native who lives in Sharon, was sworn under...
