Rostraver crash sends 3 to area hospitals
Three motorists were taken at area hospitals for treatment following a two-vehicle collision Sunday on Route 51 in Rostraver Township. The crash happened around 12:45 p.m. in the southbound lanes of the highway, near Willowbrook Plaza. Two patients were taken by ambulance to a local hospital. A third was taken...
Grandfather: Wisconsin teen in ‘good spirits’ after rescue
BARRON, Wis. — The grandfather of a 13-year-old northwestern Wisconsin girl says she’s in “exceptionally good spirits” after being found nearly three months after authorities say she was kidnapped during a home invasion that left her parents dead. Jamye Closs had been missing for nearly three months when she approached...
DNA of wolf declared extinct in wild lives on in Texas pack
DALLAS — Researchers say a pack of wild canines found frolicking near the beaches of the Texas Gulf Coast carry a substantial amount of red wolf genes, a surprising discovery because the animal was declared extinct in the wild nearly 40 years ago. The finding has led wildlife biologists and...
Trump dodges question on whether he has worked for Russia
WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump avoided giving a direct answer when asked if he currently is or has ever worked for Russia after a published report said federal law enforcement officials were so concerned about his behavior after he fired James Comey from the FBI that they began investigating whether Trump...
Snow blankets Pittsburgh region, temperatures to remain freezing
Western Pennsylvania residents are digging out Sunday morning after the first measurable snow fall of 2019 hit overnight. Shannon Hefferan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Moon, said the Pittsburgh region saw, on average, about 3 inches of snow overnight Saturday into Sunday. Hefferan said the area hit the...
Beef-friendly Nebraska eyes regulations on the word ‘meat’
LINCOLN, Neb. — More than four months after Missouri became the first U.S. state to regulate the term “meat” on product labels, Nebraska’s powerful farm groups are pushing for similar protection from veggie burgers, tofu dogs and other items that look and taste like real meat. Nebraska lawmakers will consider...
Millsboro lumber store considered total loss in Saturday fire
Firefighters suspect a wood-burner heating system may have sparked a blaze that destroyed the main retail building of Millsboro Lumber and Hardware Saturday afternoon in Washington County. No one was injured. The East Bethlehem Township business was evacuated when an employee reported the fire at about 2 p.m., East Bethlehem...
State police are looking for suspect in Somerset County bar break-in
State police are looking for a suspect who took money and alcoholic beverages during a break-in early Thursday at a bar in Boswell, Somerset County. An unidentified white male suspect entered a rear window between 2:50 and 3 a.m. at Merchants Restaurant and Lounge, 325 Main St., broke into a...
Pope to parents: It’s OK to fight, just not in front of kids
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis offered new parents a bit of advice Sunday, telling them it’s perfectly normal to fight, but just not in front of the children. Francis warned of the “anguish” of children who see their parents fight during a ceremony to baptize 27 newborns, an annual tradition...
A brief guide to Rep. Steve King’s ‘long history of racist statements’
With nearly two decades of Steven Arnold King as a national political figure, the American public has become well-acquainted with the Groundhog Day-like parameters of the Steve King news cycle. 1. King, R-Iowa, says or tweets something widely viewed as racist, anti-Semitic, white nationalist, or he insults immigrants, blacks, Latinos,...
Democrats say they will step up investigations after new reports on Trump and Russia
WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats Sunday pledged heightened scrutiny of President Trump’s dealings with Russia, spurred by news reports of extraordinary secrecy surrounding his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the opening in 2017 of an FBI counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump worked on behalf of the Kremlin. Trump’s Republican...
Richland woman uses rare cancer diagnosis to help others, spread awareness
Ten years ago, Jean Diesch finally got the answer she had been looking for after suffering for years from chronic pain and fatigue. Diesch, then in her early 50s, was diagnosed with a form of a rare blood cancer called a myeloproliferative neoplasms — or MPN for short — that...
As birth rates drop, hospitals are rethinking how babies are delivered
The region’s top health care providers are taking different approaches to delivering babies as birth rates continue to drop. UPMC is consolidating its services to one of its main specialty hospitals and using telemedicine to provide services to those outside of the city, while Allegheny Health Network is focusing on...
Human and financial costs mount as shutdown enters fourth week with Trump threatening longer standoff
WASHINGTON — The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history ground into a fourth week Saturday with President Trump showing fresh defiance on Twitter, congressional Democrats firmly resolved to resist his calls for a border wall, and unpaid workers caught in the middle. “We will be out for a long...
Get the scoop on growing tomatoes from seed
Everyone loves growing tomatoes, but not everyone takes the time to start their own plants from seed. Most gardeners head to their favorite local nursery and pick up a few transplants when planting time arrives. But, starting your tomatoes from seed means you’ll have a far wider selection of varieties...
Clean Slate law offers offenders a fresh start without public criminal record
Pennsylvania state court officials are preparing a massive initiative that could pave the way for courts across the country to offer people convicted of minor offenses a fresh start outside the shadow of their past. In late June, Pennsylvania officials plan to begin running a computer program that will flag...
Coal mine collapses in China, killing at least 21
BEIJING — Twenty-one coal miners were killed when a mine collapsed in northern China, state media reported Sunday. The disaster occurred Saturday in Shenmu in Shaanxi province in the heart of the country’s coal-mining belt, according to state TV and the Xinhua News Agency. Sixty-six other miners were rescued, the...
Ex-Cardinal McCarrick accuser cooperates with NYC prosecutors on Catholic Church sex abuse
VATICAN CITY — The key accuser in the sex abuse case against ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has met with New York City prosecutors, evidence that the scandal that has convulsed the papacy is now part of the broader U.S. law enforcement investigation into sex abuse and cover-up in the Catholic Church....
Storm moves to Mid-Atlantic; at least 5 dead in crashes
ST. LOUIS — A massive winter snowstorm that blanketed several Midwest states was a factor in at least five road deaths on Saturday and forced the grounds crew to scramble to clear snow from Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City ahead of the NFL divisional playoff game. The storm moved into...
Trump has concealed details of his face-to-face encounters with Putin from senior officials in administration
President Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including on at least one occasion taking possession of the notes of his own interpreter and instructing the linguist not to discuss what had transpired with other administration officials, current and former...
It’s shaping up to be a stellar year for space flight
Elon Musk is prone to tweeting out artistic renderings of the rockets and spacecraft he intends to build, offering his followers a glimpse of the future he imagines for humanity on other planets. So when he recently posted a photo of a launchpad walkway leading out to his rocket and...
Requests to bring in child brides OK’d; legal under U.S. laws
WASHINGTON — Thousands of requests by men to bring in child and adolescent brides to live in the United States were approved over the past decade, according to government data obtained by The Associated Press. In one case, a 49-year-old man applied for admission for a 15-year-old girl. The approvals...
Notre Dame Club to visit Greensburg synagogue for special Shabbat service
In the days after the Tree of Life Congregation shooting, Monsignor Roger Statnick thought about ways he and his fellow Catholics could show support for the Jewish community in Pittsburgh and Greensburg. Then he met Rabbi Stacy Petersohn of Congregation Emanu-El Israel in Greensburg. The introduction turned into an opportunity...
FBI’s investigation of Trump included counterintelligence inquiry
WASHINGTON — The FBI investigation into President Trump that was opened almost immediately after he fired then-director James Comey also included a counterintelligence component to determine if the president was seeking to help Russia and if so, why, according to people familiar with the matter. The decision by then-acting FBI...
Greensburg woman was active in Scouting, loved working with children
William Vaglia remembers his mom donning the Cub Scouts uniform and taking him to his meetings, a uniform she recently dusted off for her young nephew. “Not a lot of 70-year-old grandmothers get into uniforms and do the Cub Scouts thing,” Vaglia said. But Patricia McDonald always strived to go...
