Pittsburgh investigating damage to Lawrenceville cars from salt truck
A Pittsburgh Public Works Department salt truck sideswiped several vehicles in Lawrenceville early Sunday, and the driver failed to report the mishap until Monday, a city official said. Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, said public works officials are investigating. He said it was unclear if the driver, who...
Congress prepares to skip planned recess if shutdown goes on
WASHINGTON — Staring down the next deadline to pay federal workers, the White House shifted tactics, trying to bypass House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to negotiate with rank-and-file lawmakers even as President Donald Trump dug in for a prolonged shutdown. The House and Senate announced Tuesday they would stay in session,...
From travel to IPOs, how shutdown is upsetting U.S. economy
WASHINGTON — Delta Air Lines can’t get eight new aircraft in the air. Roughly a million government employees and contractors aren’t being paid. Some Americans who are trying to start small businesses face delays in obtaining the required tax identification number from the IRS. As the partial government shutdown moves...
Craft beer taps squeezed as shutdown delays new releasesVideo
MILWAUKEE — The nation’s craft beer taps are being squeezed by the government shutdown, which has put new releases on hold, prevented new breweries from opening and stopped shipments of some suds across state lines. The partial shutdown halted operations at the federal agency that regulates alcohol production and distribution....
Knoch High School student accused of Snapchat threat to stand trial
A Knoch High School student was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on charges of making online threats to shoot classmates. District Judge Sue Haggerty moved all charges against Jason Bowen, 18, of Middlesex, to Butler County Common Pleas Court during a preliminary hearing. He is accused of making terroristic threats,...
Many schools delayed as slick roads hamper morning commute
Light drizzle and flurries caused icy road conditions in parts of the Pittsburgh area Wednesday morning, causing many school districts to call two-hour delays. A winter weather advisory for slippery road conditions, especially on untreated roads and elevated surfaces, was in effect until noon. Shortly before 9 a.m., the National...
1 hurt when PennDOT truck, passenger vehicle crash on Route 30 in Ligonier Township
One person was hospitalized after a crash involving a passenger vehicle and a PennDOT plow Wednesday afternoon in Ligonier Township, according to PennDOT. Route 30 eastbound was closed for about 40 minutes as firefighters worked to free one person who was trapped in a vehicle, according to a Westmoreland 911...
Pittsburgh-area meteorologists track potential for mega-snowfall
KDKA Meteorologist Ron Smiley typically takes to Twitter early each week to share a social media video of the seven-day snow forecast. About 3 a.m. Monday, he was a little hesitant. “I almost don’t even want to do it because of how big these totals are that are coming in,”...
John Bogle dies at 89; fought for lower fees for investors
VALLEY FORGE — John C. Bogle, who simplified investing for the masses by launching the first index mutual fund and founded Vanguard Group, died Wednesday. He was 89. Bogle did not invent the index fund, but he expanded access to no-frills, low-cost investing in 1976 when Vanguard introduced the first...
Police: Ligonier Township homeowner admits to setting own house on fire
A Ligonier Township man told authorities he smoked methamphetamine before allegedly setting fire to his rented home, according to court papers. Brian W. McVicker, 54, had a lighter in his hand when authorities arrived after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday at the house, located behind the Washington Furnace Inn along Route 30,...
Forward Township man, 75, dies in house fire, 2 firefighters injured
A man died Tuesday night after a fire ripped through his Forward Township home. Robert Morgan, 75, died at 5:30 p.m. inside his house on Morgan Run Road, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Wednesday. His cause and manner of death has not yet been released. According to the...
Earthquake reported off coast of Maryland
OCEAN CITY, Md. — A light earthquake has been recorded off the coast of Maryland. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 4.7-magnitude earthquake struck Tuesday evening in the Atlantic Ocean, about 136 miles southeast of Ocean City, Md. No tsunami warning has been issued. In a Facebook post, Ocean City...
Paul Manafort misled grand jury on Trump administration contacts, filing says
WASHINGTON — Prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller have intensively scrutinized Paul Manafort’s activities after President Trump’s election — including after Manafort was criminally charged — and indicated they have extensive details not yet made public about Manafort’s interactions with former Russian aide Konstantin Kilimnik and others, a Tuesday...
GoFundMe raises $25K for family of Butler County boy killed in bus stop crash
Donations poured in Tuesday from around the country in support of the Butler County family coping with the death of their 11-year-old son, who died after being struck by a car while waiting beside his siblings for their school bus. Mark Fike, 11, died at Butler Memorial Hospital on Monday...
California storms bring mudslide fears, blizzard warning
LOS ANGELES — Authorities told residents to evacuate hundreds of Southern California homes in areas burned by wildfires as storms brought steady rainfall Tuesday and forced a rare blizzard warning for much of the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe in the northern part of the state. Mandatory or voluntary evacuations...
Democrats remain unified in border wall fight, confounding Trump and GOP
WASHINGTON — Hoping to make a crack in Democratic unity as the partial government shutdown reached Day 25, President Trump invited a handful of moderate Democrats to the White House on Tuesday for lunch and a chat. None showed up. That despite the fact that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,...
Al-Shabab extremists claim deadly attack on Nairobi hotel
NAIROBI, Kenya — Extremists stormed a luxury hotel in Kenya’s capital on Tuesday, setting off thunderous explosions and gunning down people at cafe tables in an attack claimed by Africa’s deadliest Islamic militant group. A police officer said at least 15 people had died. “It is terrible. What I have...
Florida official faces backlash for saying Muslim lawmaker may ‘blow up’ Congress
WASHINGTON — A rookie commissioner from a South Florida beach city is facing calls for her resignation after she called newly elected Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib a “danger” and said the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress may decide to become a “martyr and blow up Capitol Hill.” From Washington to...
Cops: Philadelphia men stole iPhones worth $41K from Frazer Walmart
Two Philadelphia men are accused of stealing nearly $41,000 worth of cellphones last month from the Walmart store in Frazer, and they are suspected in similar thefts in at least two other states. “This is the biggest theft we’ve ever had at that Walmart by far. It is the largest...
Kirsten Gillibrand to enter presidential race featuring record number of women
WASHINGTON — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a central figure in the Democratic Party’s debate about the #MeToo movement, is preparing to join a 2020 presidential primary contest that features a record number of women in the wake of the midterm election tidal wave of female candidates. Gillibrand, 52, will announce...
Super Bowl planners: Shutdown brings ‘uncharted territory’
ATLANTA — A day after travelers waited nearly 90 minutes in snail-speed security lines at the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s mayor is concerned about the waits that could result when the city hosts the 2019 Super Bowl. The ongoing partial government shutdown is “uncharted territory” amid planning for one of...
New postings show wide range of Pennsylvania college hazing
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania colleges and universities began posting online reports Tuesday on documented cases of hazing over the past five years, from forced drinking and toe-licking to the dunking of students in ice water, as required by a law passed as a result of the 2017 death of a Penn...
New postings show wide range of Pennsylvania college hazing
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania colleges and universities began posting online reports Tuesday on documented cases of hazing over the past five years, from forced drinking and toe-licking to the dunking of students in ice water, as required by a law passed as a result of the 2017 death of a Penn...
Monessen shooting case begins despite defense claims of misconduct
A Westmoreland County judge refused to grant a mistrial or dismiss the cases against two men charged in connection with a shooting on a Monessen street despite defense attorneys alleging a clear case of prosecutorial misconduct. Testimony in the attempted murder and conspiracy case against Joseph Heath, 29, and Rashawn...
IRS recalling 46,000 workers to handle taxes
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is recalling about 46,000 of its employees furloughed by the government shutdown — nearly 60 percent of its workforce — to handle tax returns and pay out refunds. The employees won’t be paid. With the official start of the tax filing season coming Jan....
