AG Shapiro provides answers to students jilted by abrupt closure of Brighton Career Institute
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Wednesday offered guidance and resources to students jilted by last month’s abrupt shuttering of Brightwood Career Institute in Downtown Pittsburgh and related vocational campuses across Pennsylvania. “The sudden closing of Brightwood schools left many students across the Commonwealth unsure of their academic status and...
State police to release details of nearly 20-year-old abduction, rape of Somerset girl
State police plan to announce Thursday details of a nearly 20-year-old investigation into the abduction and rape of a 10-year-old Somerset County girl that resulted in the arrest Wednesday of a 50-year-old Maryland man. Trooper Stephen Limani said Trooper Jeff Brock arrested Timothy D. Nelson Jr., 50, of Cumberland, Md.,...
Municipal Authority water rates to remain steady in 2019-20 budget
Water rates for Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will remain steady for the first time in four years. Authority board members on Wednesday unanimously approved a new $110 million budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year, which will start in April, retains the current water rate structure for the utility’s 120,000...
Missouri boy missing for 5 months found in attic crawl space
CAMDENTON, Mo. — A 6-year-old boy who was reported missing by his father in August has been found safe, hidden in an attic crawl space in the southwest Missouri home of his mother and her boyfriend, authorities said Wednesday. Braedence Jones was found Tuesday in the crawl space with his...
Housing Authority program helped Pittsburgh woman buy first homeVideo
Danielle Fest is a public housing success story. The 38-year-old single mother is a recovering drug addict. She’s lived in at least a half dozen places over the past 10 years and was homeless at one point. She relied on a federal Housing Choice Voucher Program known as Section 8...
Adviser: Billionaire Tom Steyer won’t run for president in 2020
DES MOINES, Iowa — Billionaire investor and Democratic activist Tom Steyer said Wednesday that he will not run for the White House in 2020 and will instead focus on calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment. Steyer, who has spent $50 million on his Need to Impeach campaign and announced plans...
Trump stalks out of shutdown session with Dems — ‘Bye-bye’
WASHINGTON — President Trump stalked out of his negotiating meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday — “I said bye-bye,” he tweeted soon after — as efforts to end the 19-day partial government shutdown fell into deeper disarray over his demand for billions of dollars to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico...
Arnold appoints deputy treasurer to fill treasurer role
Arnold has a new treasurer. Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to appoint Deputy Treasurer Cathy Ozdany, 65, of Arnold, at a salary of $45,364. She will fill the position vacated by Joseph Puet, who was hired as Cheswick’s borough secretary last year. “She was the only one that applied for...
Scottdale robbery suspect doesn’t mind judge’s decision to increase bail to $250K
A district judge sternly told a Scottdale-area man already in Westmoreland County Prison on robbery charges that he had no choice but to increase his bond since he was accused of committing two more pre-Christmas holdups. Clyde C. Mensch, 42, and two alleged accomplices were arraigned Wednesday before East Huntingdon...
Blizzard adds tribute to Stan Lee in World of Warcraft
Stan Lee is getting a tribute in Stormwind. As reported by the fan site “WoWHead,” games company Blizzard is adding a tribute to the late comics legend in its massively multiplayer online role-playing game, “World of Warcraft.” Lee died in November. He was 95. According to WoWHead, Bas Schouten found...
Penn Township man found not guilty of dog law citations in UPS driver mauling
A district judge found a Penn Township man not guilty of three summary citations connected to a dog attack last year that seriously injured a UPS driver from Hempfield. Matthew Zavarella had been accused of failing to keep his three German shepherds under control in the Aug. 28 mauling at...
Elvis Presley’s jewelry, clothing sold at Graceland auction
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jewelry, clothing and other Elvis Presley-related memorabilia have been sold at auction in Tennessee. Elvis Presley Enterprises says the auction at The Guest House Graceland netted more than $600,000 Tuesday on what would have been his 84th birthday. The Guest House is a hotel located steps from...
Pittsburgh police seeking graffiti vandal leaving chicken tags
Pittsburgh police are searching for a graffiti vandal leaving images of oblong chickens across the South Side, including in the bathroom of a 22nd Street bar. The man struck Rugger’s Pub just after midnight Dec. 1 when he walked in, ordered a drink, then disappeared to the bathroom, according to...
Direct flights to Birmingham, Memphis, Hartford coming to Pittsburgh airport
New year, new airline. That was the message officials had Wednesday when they announced a new carrier would be adding three new nonstop flights from Pittsburgh International Airport in the coming months. “It’s a perfect match,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. Via Airlines will be adding direct flights to...
Police: Woman breaks into Pa. police station, wanted to date cop
WYOMING, Pa. — Police say a woman smashed her way into a closed Pennsylvania police station looking for an officer she’d been sexually harassing ever since he arrested her. Police say 27-year-old Ashley Keister of Nanticoke used a large cigarette butt receptacle to smash glass doors into the West Wyoming...
Peoples pledges to plug leaking methane from Pittsburgh gas lines
Peoples Gas hopes to cut methane emissions from its Pittsburgh distribution system by 50 percent by the end of the year using new leak detection technology, the utility company said. Peoples’ pledge is described as the first of its kind by a U.S. utility. The utility plans to use leak...
Iran says it is holding U.S. Navy veteran
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran confirmed Wednesday it is holding U.S. Navy veteran Michael R. White at a prison in the country, making him the first American known to be detained under President Donald Trump’s administration. White’s detention adds new pressure to the rising tension between Iran and the U.S., which...
U.S. orders refuges to staff for hunters despite shutdown
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is directing dozens of wildlife refuges to return to work to make sure hunters and others have access despite the government shutdown, according to an email obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The partial restaffing of 38 wildlife refuges is angering wildlife...
Police: Teen falls from high-rise condominium building, dies
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — A teenager has fallen from the ninth floor of a high-rise condominium building in Florida and died. WKMG-TV quotes Miami Beach police as saying that Samuel Farkas fell off a balcony at the La Costa condominium. They say the teenager would have turned 16 on Wednesday....
Sheriff: Girls accused of killing mom tried to run her over
MAGNOLIA, Miss. — Just days before her death, a Mississippi woman called deputies to her home for help with two daughters now accused of fatally shooting and stabbing their mother, officials said. Pike County Sheriff’s Office Chief Investigator Chris Bell said deputies went to Ericka Hall’s residence last week when...
Police: After nearly hitting officer with car, Arnold man tells them, ‘I’m drunk and high’
Police say an Arnold man nearly hit an officer with a car during a high-speed car chase through three Alle-Kiski Valley municipalities Monday night. Police allege Robert Maxwell Vining Jr. was drunk and high at the time. Vining allegedly apologized to the officer for nearly striking him with the car....
Property tax unchanged, electric cost up in Tarentum 2019 spending plan
Property taxes aren’t going up in Tarentum in this year despite nearly $1 million in increased spending. Council approved the borough’s $3.58 million 2019 general fund budget. That’s up about 32 percent from the $2.71 million 2018 general fund budget. The property tax rate remains at 5.48 mills. The owner...
Highlands Middle School could host proposed rain garden
Ground at Highlands Middle School has been selected as the site of a “green infrastructure” project in Harrison. If permitted by the school district, the proposed rain garden would be built this year, said Jeff Bergman, director of community forestry with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. The garden is part of...
Parts of Laurel Highlands could get 3-5 inches of snow by Thursday
The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for parts of the Laurel Highlands through noon Thursday. Snow accumulations of 3 to 5 inches are expected, with winds gusting as high as 35 mph, according to the NWS Pittsburgh office in Moon Township. The advisory covers the ridges...
Mascot Skate returns to Schenley Park ice rink Saturday
Mascots from across the region will take to the ice Saturday in Schenley Park in Pittsburgh for the annual Citiparks Mascot Skate. In its 32nd year, the event brings the likes of Iceburgh, the Pirate Parrot, Kenny Kangaroo and others to the Schenley Park Skating Rink each winter to skate...
