Storm prompts vehicle, speed restrictions on northern interstates
Predictions of ice-coated roadways late Monday and early Tuesday have prompted officials to reduce the speed limit and temporarily ban motorcycles and some trucks on interstates in Pennsylvania’s northern tier. Between 11 p.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday, traffic restrictions will be in place on:Interstate 80, east of the junction...
The shutdown fight becomes a rhetorical war
WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham went on national television Sunday morning and declared that there would be no deal to end the partial government shutdown until top Democrats stopped calling Republicans “racists” for supporting a U.S.-Mexico border wall. But none of the four top congressional Democrats negotiating an end to...
In ‘long overdue’ change, New Kensington’s Gunny’s Lounge goes smoke-freeVideo
Patrons of Gunny’s Lounge in New Kensington will notice major changes this year, notably a lack of cigarette smoke in the air. After decades of allowing smoking inside, owners of the longstanding restaurant and bar said they decided to ban smoking in an effort to make the establishment more family...
Opening statements in Latrobe murder trial to begin Tuesday
Opening statements will begin Tuesday morning in the first-degree murder trial of a Latrobe man police said fired two shots on a city street, killing a friend who attempted to intervene in an armed robbery of a drug dealer. The prosecution contends Zachary McGrath, 23, concealed his identity when he...
Verona man arrested in killing of Woodland Hills student
A Verona man was arrested Monday by the Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force in connection with the 2017 killing of a Braddock teen. Augustus Gray, 14, died Nov. 25, 2017 at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Oakland after being shot in the head in the Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhood of Pittsburgh. City police...
Salaries set for North Huntingdon officials
North Huntingdon’s top administrators will receive salary increases ranging from 2 to 7 percent this year. Police Chief Robert Rizzo, who was promoted to the position of chief in September, will receive an annual salary of $121,179 in 2019, an increase from the 2018 pro-rated salary of $118,750. Rizzo was...
New Kensington Kmart closes after nearly 55 years
Lisa Wilson made an impassioned farewell speech to customers at New Kensington’s Kmart store as it ended operations Sunday after more than a half-century. “The time now is 6 p.m., and the night has come that’s bittersweet,” Wilson said over the store’s loudspeaker in a video that was posted to...
Harrison commissioners approve new contract with public works employees
Harrison commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a new contract with the union representing the township’s public works employees. The three-year agreement is retroactive to Jan. 1 and runs through Dec. 31, 2021. Commissioners voted at a special meeting held Monday afternoon. About 10 employees are represented by Local 238 of...
IRS will pay tax refunds during government shutdown, official says
The Internal Revenue Service will issue refunds to taxpayers even if the U.S. government shutdown extends into the filing season, a decision that may reduce political pressure on Congress and President Trump to reach a deal to reopen the federal government. “Tax refunds will go out,” the acting director of...
Cyntoia Brown, sentenced to life as a teen in killing, wins clemency
NASHVILLE — A woman who says she was a 16-year-old sex trafficking victim when she killed a man in 2004 was granted clemency Monday by Tennessee’s governor and soon will be released from prison. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam granted clemency to Cyntoia Brown, who had been serving a life sentence...
Alleged gunman in holdup at East Huntingdon store jailed on $100K bail
State police on Monday arrested a Scottdale man and accused him of being the alleged gunman in the Dec. 22 holdup of the Dollar General store at Crossroads Plaza in East Huntingdon. Clyde C. Mensch, 42, was arraigned on charges of robbery, theft, making terroristic threats, receiving stolen property and...
Suspect sought in Pleasant Hills bank robbery
Authorities are trying to identify a man who robbed the Dollar Bank branch Monday afternoon in Pleasant Hills. At about 1 p.m., a man entered the Dollar Bank branch at 500 Clairton Boulevard, handed a note to the teller demanding money and left the bank on foot with an unspecified...
County judges pick retired teacher to fill vacancy on Norwin School Board
A retired Franklin Regional school teacher is the newest member of the Norwin School Board. Westmoreland County’s nine Common Pleas Court judges Monday selected William Essay, 57, of North Huntingdon, to complete the last year of a term left vacant by the resignation of board member Shawn Petrisko in August....
Armed protesters pillory Peduto during peaceful rally Downtown Pittsburgh
Mayor Bill Peduto was among the most unpopular people in Pittsburgh on Monday as hundreds of gun rights protesters openly carrying rifles, shotguns and pistols hurled insults and criticism at him and a proposed gun ban during a rally in front of the City-County Building in the city’s Downtown. They...
Tree of Life rabbi to offer invocation at Gov. Wolf swearing-in
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life Congregation in Squirrel Hill will deliver the invocation at Gov. Tom Wolf’s second term swearing-in ceremony Jan. 15 in Harrisburg, the inaugural committee announced Monday. “Governor Wolf’s 2019 inauguration is about the people of Pennsylvania, and we are proud that our swearing-in...
Mt. Lebanon couple sues Hitchhiker Brewing, claims it’s a nuisance
A Mt. Lebanon couple is suing a brewery that recently received national accolades contending its local pub brings large crowds, parking problems and unruly behavior to the community. Hitchhiker has become “a victim of their own success,” according to attorney Robert Goldman who represents the couple living near the taproom...
Ohio regulatory approvals bring second ‘cracker’ plant in region closer to reality
Southeastern Ohio has moved closer to joining Southwestern Pennsylvania as the location of an ethane “cracker” plant that could be a boon for employment for the natural gas industry and plastics manufacturers. The proposed plant near Shadyside, Ohio, in Belmont County, cleared its final regulatory hurdles in late December, when...
Doors Open black history tour will focus on city’s AME churchesVideo
The spiritual history of Pittsburgh’s black community will be on full display Jan. 19, when nonprofit Doors Open and local African Methodist Episcopal church officials partner to host a “Ride with the King” black history tour the Saturday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Bonnie Baxter of Pittsburgh got the...
Braddock council to select interim mayor Tuesday
Braddock Borough Council will swear in an interim mayor Tuesday, choosing between finalists Isaac Bunn and Pedro Valles. “We felt that both of them could handle the designated responsibility of being mayor well, and we felt confident that they were the top two candidates” Council President Tina Doose said Monday....
Jefferson Township woman escapes captors by popping car trunk, running to home
DRY TAVERN — Police say two men kidnapped a woman from her Jefferson Township apartment, hogtied her with electrical tape and threw her into the trunk of a car, but she managed to pop the trunk and run to a nearby home. State police tell the Observer-Reporter 40-year-old Demitrius Davis...
Cops: Former Greensburg man abandoned infant and toddler in failed escape
A former Greensburg man told city police he “panicked” when pulled over Saturday and ran from a traffic stop, abandoning a two-month-old infant and 18-month-old toddler inside his running car. Patrick D. Davis, 31, of New Alexandria, was arraigned Monday on two counts of child endangerment and single counts of...
Seton Hill dean to lead IUP College of Fine Arts
A Seton Hill University dean and professor of music who led the efforts to build two new centers for art and performing arts at the Greensburg university will be the next dean of the College of Fine Arts at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. IUP officials Monday announced the selection of...
Orthodox Christians celebrate ChristmasVideo
Holy Ascension of Our Lord Serbian Orthodox Church, which has stood in Youngwood for more than a century, celebrated Christmas on Monday — as Orthodox Christians who follow the Julian calendar marked Christmas on Jan. 7. There is a 13-day difference between the Julian calendar, which was introduced under the...
Fire crews respond to overturned truck leaking diesel fuel in Sewickley Township
Multiple fire departments were summoned to the scene of a fuel spill Monday on Waltz Mill Road in Sewickley Township. Authorities reported a tri-axle truck loaded with gravel overturned on the 900 block of the roadway and was leaking diesel fuel and motor oil. The accident occurred at 1:27 p.m....
1 dead, others hospitalized in Canonsburg carbon monoxide leak
Officials say a carbon monoxide leak in a multiple-family home left a man dead and several people hospitalized. Police were called to the home in Canonsburg just after 7 a.m. Monday. Officers responding reported a strong odor of natural gas and called the fire department. When crews went inside, they...
