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...
DNA sought of males at center where comatose woman had baby
PHOENIX — Police have served a search warrant to get DNA from all male employees at a long-term care facility in Phoenix where a patient who was in a vegetative state for years gave birth, triggering reviews by state agencies and putting a spotlight on safety concerns for severely disabled...
Police: 2 assault transgender woman in North Carolina bathroom
RALEIGH, N.C. — Police in North Carolina say two women sexually assaulted a transgender woman at a Raleigh bar. News outlets report 38-year-old Amber Harrell and 31-year-old Jessica Fowler are charged with second-degree kidnapping and sexual battery. The woman told Raleigh police she was inside the bar’s bathroom in December...
5 charged with kidnapping, torturing pregnant woman in New Castle
State police have charged five people with kidnapping and torturing a pregnant woman in Lawrence County in an attempt to find missing money. The captors allegedly duct taped the victim’s legs together, gagged her with duct tape, injured her toe with a clamp, hit her feet with a hammer and...
Pelosi, Schumer rebuttal sparks ‘angry parents’ memes on Twitter
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s address from the Oval Office drew lots sparked lots on comments and memes on Twitter Tuesday night. The top Democrats said Trump “has chosen fear” in his drive to build a southern border...
Mon Valley residents at risk following fire at Clairton Coke Works
Officials from the Allegheny County Health Department are encouraging Mon Valley residents — especially those with asthma, bronchitis or emphysema, as well as children and the elderly — to limit outdoor activities until further notice following a Dec. 24 fire at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works. This recommendation includes residents...
Wider runway, 2 millionth passenger eyed at Arnold Palmer airport in 2019
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport expects to reach a milestone in 2019: serving its two millionth passenger since February 2011, when Spirit Airlines became the facility’s sole commercial carrier. Officials at the Unity airport also plan to widen the runway as preparations proceed for installing a second passenger boarding bridge. The...
Roommate stole man’s lottery ticket, police say — turns out, it was worth $10M
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Should you ever win a big prize playing the lottery, you may want to be careful who you tell. According to the Vacaville Police Department, after purchasing a $30 California Lottery Scratcher ticket on Dec. 20 from Lucky Grocery Store on Peabody Road, a Vacaville man was...
Pennsylvania criticized for how it handles elder abuse cases
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state watchdog agency is criticizing how county-level agencies investigate thousands of complaints they receive about elder abuse and how the state ensures complaints are investigated adequately. Among the shortcomings identified by the Office of State Inspector General were failures to properly investigate complaints under timelines required...
Police: Man who stole $4,000 from Pleasant Hills bank caught, confesses to robbery
Police arrested Tuesday a man suspected of robbing a Pleasant Hills bank this week. Richard D. Parrish, 40, of Jefferson Hills, allegedly confessed to robbing the bank once police tracked him down in Monongahela. Parrish is accused of robbing the Dollar Bank branch at 500 Clairton Boulevard at about 1...
North Huntingdon man accused of speeding in December crash that seriously injured driver
A North Huntingdon man was arraigned Tuesday on accusations that he was speeding before a violent crash in December that seriously injured another driver. Chad William Brutout, 24, is charged with aggravated assault by vehicle and summary vehicle code violations. A westbound BMW 300xi T-boned a Honda Accord around 8:30...
Russian lawyer in Trump probe denies U.S. charges against her
MOSCOW — The Russian lawyer at the heart of the investigation into possible collusion between President Donald Trump’s election campaign and Russia has rejected the U.S. charges leveled against her. Natalya Veselnitskaya, who attended the 2016 Trump Tower meeting that is a focus of the U.S. investigation, was charged Tuesday...
Man says he ‘chopped’ up grandmother, landlord ‘in the name of the Lord’
UTICA, N.Y. — A central New York man charged with the deaths of his 90-year-old grandmother and her 87-year-old landlord said in court that he “chopped” up the women “in the name of the Lord.” According to the Observer-Dispatch , Naythen Aubain was taken into Utica City Court on Tuesday...
Rose McGowan to plead no contest to reduced drug charge
LEESBURG, Va. (AP) — A lawyer for Rose McGowan says the actress and activist will plead no contest to a reduced drug charge in Virginia and avoid jail time. Attorney Jim Hundley tells WTOP-FM that the commonwealth agreed to reduce the felony cocaine possession charge to misdemeanor possession of a...
AP fact check: Trump and the disputed border crisis
WASHINGTON — In his prime-time speech to the nation, President Donald Trump declared a border crisis that’s in sharp dispute, wrongly accused Democrats of refusing to pay for border security and ignored the reality of how drugs come into the country as he pitched his wall as a solution to...
State police seek woman who used stolen bank card at North Huntingdon store
State police are looking for a woman who they say used a Blairsville woman’s debit card information to make a purchase at the Target store in North Huntingdon. Investigators said the suspect stole the victim’s bank information and bought $110.23 worth of merchandise on Dec. 24. Troopers released a surveillance...
On his Mideast trip, Pompeo makes unannounced Iraq stop
BAGHDAD — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Iraq on Wednesday in an unannounced stop on his Mideast tour meant to promote the White House’s hard-line position on Iran. The trip comes amid confusion over conflicting statements by President Donald Trump and senior U.S. officials about a planned U.S....
7-car pileup cleared on Route 28 near Highland Park Bridge
A seven-car crash on southbound Route 28 slowed the commute Wednesday morning. The crash happened around 7:20 a.m. near the Highland Park Bridge and was cleared by 8:40 a.m., according to state police in Kittanning. Traffic backed up to RIDC Park. By 8:30 a.m., traffic cameras showed the crash had...
AP source: Rod Rosenstein expected to leave Justice Dept. in weeks
WASHINGTON — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed special counsel Robert Mueller and remains his most visible Justice Department protector, is expected to leave his position soon after William Barr is confirmed as attorney general, a person familiar with the plans said Wednesday. Barr, who served in the position...
Democrats: Trump using misinformation, malice in wall debate
WASHINGTON — Top congressional Democrats said President Donald Trump “has chosen fear” in his drive to build a southern border wall and called on him to reopen the government shuttered because of the standoff over his demand for money for the barrier. Speaking moments after Trump made his case for...
Trump pleads on TV for wall money; Dems say he stokes ‘fear’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump urged congressional Democrats to fund his long-promised border wall in a somber televised address that was heavy with dark immigration rhetoric but offered little in the way of concessions or new ideas to break the standoff that has left large swaths of the government shuttered...
Driver flees after knocking down pole in Penn Hills
A motorist Wednesday fled after crashing into a pole on Universal Road in Penn Hills, according to the Penn Hills Volunteer Fire Department. Universal Road was closed between Stotler Road and Joslyn Drive and wasn’t expected to reopen until noon Wednesday, according to the fire department. The car hit the...
Towering 45 feet above Lawrenceville, NREC’s latest robot is its tallest
A yellow steel structure has been looming 45 feet above Lawrenceville for about three months. You can see it from the 40th Street Bridge and from Polish Hill. Sometimes secretive about its projects, Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center isn’t exactly hiding its tallest robot. The 45-foot robot has...
Planet Fitness to open in East Huntingdon
Residents in the Mt. Pleasant area are about to have another health and fitness option. Planet Fitness is set to open its doors this fall at the former Big Lots location along Crossroads Plaza Road next to Save-A-Lot and Tractor Supply Co. in East Huntingdon. The 10,000-square-foot gym will offer...