Greensburg’s Aerobic Center pool to reopen Thursday after closure for repairs
The swimming pool at the Aerobic Center at Lynch Field in Greensburg will open as scheduled at 5 a.m. Thursday after a temporary closure cancelled swim lessons Wednesday night, according to posts on the center’s Facebook page. “We had a mechanical malfunction with our filter. We’re repairing it,” said Rachel...
Pittsburgh looking to borrow $62M for capital projects in 2019
Pittsburgh is poised to borrow $62 million for capital improvements in 2019. City Council on Wednesday gave preliminary authorization for the issuance of bonds to pay for such things as street paving, facility improvements and equipment. Members also approved the hiring of Clark Hill, a Downtown law firm, to serve...
‘Hamilton’ brings history to life for Pittsburgh-area studentsVideo
“Hamilton” is more than a hit musical for more than 2,700 students in the region who’ve earned a spot to be in the room where it happens — the Benedum Center — on Friday. They include 55 students at Valley High School in New Kensington who have been studying the...
Upper St. Clair dog attacked by rabid raccoon
The Allegheny County Health Department said Wednesday a raccoon found in Upper St. Clair tested positive for rabies. In a news release, ACHD said the raccoon was “involved in an altercation” with a dog on Shenandoah Drive in Upper St. Clair. The dog was up-to-date on its rabies vaccinations. The...
Melissa McCarthy has an early bedtime. Should all adults?
Do you ever wish that you could go to sleep shortly after you put your kids to bed? Maybe you should. Early bedtimes don’t have to be just for kids. Actress Melissa McCarthy, 48, has one. The actress, who earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in “Can You Ever...
New hotline could help Hempfield schools investigate potential threats
A new communications platform could help make the Hempfield Area School District safer. Safe 2 Say Something, a hotline where students and adults can submit anonymous tips about something suspicious online or from a person who proposes a threat to themselves or others, is set to start next week. The...
Los Angeles teachers approve contract, end strike
LOS ANGELES — Teachers overwhelmingly approved a new contract Tuesday and planned to return to the classroom after a six-day strike over funding and staffing in the nation’s second-largest school district. Although all votes hadn’t been counted, preliminary figures showed that a “vast supermajority” of some 30,000 educators voted in...
Car hits Derry Township house
A car hit a house on Smith Street in Derry Township Tuesday night, the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety said. Firefighters from Bradenville responded to the report of the crash at 10:55 p.m. There was no information available on whether there were any injuries. An ambulance was dispatched to...
Penn Hills School District, facing $10.9M budget shortfall, accepts state oversight
The state-tapped chief recovery officer set to begin work at Penn Hills School District next month will confront an anticipated 2018-19 budget shortfall of $10.9 million, looming spikes in debt payments and a proposed property tax rate hike that would make residents in Penn Hills among the highest-taxed in Allegheny...
Russell Baker, droll columnist and memoirist who twice won Pulitzer, dies at 93
Russell Baker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who for 36 years brought whimsy, irreverence and droll commentary to the Observer column in the New York Times and whose memoir, “Growing Up,” was a bestseller, died Jan. 21 at his home in Leesburg, Virginia. He was 93. The cause was complications from...
Greater Latrobe limits any tax hike to 2.36 mills
Greater Latrobe School District will not increase real estate taxes for the 2019-2020 school year more than 2.36 mills, and very likely it will be less than that, a school official said Tuesday. Daniel Watson, Greater Latrobe’s business administrator, said Tuesday he does not anticipate the school district will raise...
Vatican: No prior accusation of sex abuse against Argentine
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican is insisting that there were no accusations of sexual abuse against an Argentine bishop close to Pope Francis when he resigned suddenly in 2017 and was promoted to a job at the Vatican. Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti repeated Tuesday that the Vatican only received the...
Mueller looking into Trump campaign ties to NRA as part of Russia probe
Special counsel Robert Mueller is probing the Trump campaign’s “dealings” with the National Rifle Association as part of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday. Mueller’s investigators asked former Trump aide Sam Nunberg about the campaign’s relationship with the NRA...
Beijing urged to free detained Canadians
BEIJING — The United States will continue to seek the extradition of jailed technology executive Meng Wanzhou, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Tuesday, news that will intensify a high-stakes dispute between China and the United States. Meng, who is chief financial officer for Huawei Technologies, was arrested in Vancouver...
Salvadoran man to be charged in 4 fatal shootings in Nevada
LAS VEGAS — A man suspected of being in the United States illegally shot and killed four people in Nevada over the past two weeks, including an elderly Reno couple, authorities said, further inflaming the immigration debate. Wilbur Ernesto Martinez-Guzman, 19, from El Salvador has been jailed in Carson City...
Senate schedules 2 votes to reopen government
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Tuesday scheduled a pair of competing votes to reopen the federal government, announcing that he would bring up dueling proposals from President Trump and the Democrats that would amount to the first real action in the Senate since the shutdown began...
Kaye Ballard, boisterous singer and actress, dies at 93
LOS ANGELES — Kaye Ballard, the boisterous comedian and singer who appeared in Broadway musicals and nightclubs from New York to Las Vegas and starred with Eve Arden in the 1960s TV sitcom “The Mothers-In-Law,” has died. She was 93. Ballard died Monday night at her home in Rancho Mirage,...
Judge declares Iowa fetal heartbeat law unconstitutional
DES MOINES, Iowa — A state judge on Tuesday struck down Iowa’s restrictive “fetal heartbeat” abortion law, which would have been the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the nation. Judge Michael Huppert found the law unconstitutional, concluding that the Iowa Supreme Court’s earlier decisions that affirm a woman’s fundamental right...
Twitter takes down account that shared selective video of Covington controversy
Twitter has suspended an account with thousands of followers for violating its policy against “fake and misleading accounts,” because it posted a clip of the encounter between a Native American elder and several Kentucky high school students. The video, which was taken on Friday, has become a lightning rod for...
Mom arrested after dead baby found in Amazon site’s restroom
PHOENIX — A woman has been arrested on suspicion of unlawful disposal of human remains after her newborn baby was found dead inside a bathroom at an Amazon distribution center in southwest Phoenix last week, police announced Tuesday. Samantha Vivier, 22, was booked into jail. Police said their investigation into...
Anastasia Vashukevich, model who claimed U.S.-Russia collusion evidence, freed from jail
MOSCOW — A self-described sex trainer from Belarus who became an unlikely player in an investigation of Russian interference in the U.S. presidential campaign was released from a Moscow jail on Tuesday, a defense lawyer involved in the case said. Anastasia Vashukevich, also known as Nastya Rybka, and her partner,...
Pittsburgh police promote longtime sergeant to command staff
Pittsburgh police promoted a longtime sergeant to the rank of commander Tuesday in a small ceremony in Mayor Bill Peduto’s office. John Fisher, a Pittsburgh police officer for more than three decades, is now a commander in the administrative branch, where he will oversee the training academy, the Office of...
Jury for Michael Rosfeld, charged in killing of Antwon Rose, to come from Dauphin County
A jury will be chosen from Dauphin County in the homicide case against former East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld, charged in the 2018 killing of Antwon Rose II, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday. The DA’s office tweeted Tuesday that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered that Dauphin...
Former Brackenridge man pleads guilty to 2012 double murder in Arnold
An Allegheny County man was sentenced Tuesday to serve up to 30 years in prison for the fatal beating of an Arnold woman and her adult son more than six years ago. Robert Briestensky, 45, formerly of Brackenridge, pleaded guilty to two lesser counts of third-degree murder in connection with...
Apollo ready to fill secretary, solicitor vacancies
Apollo soon could have a borough secretary and a solicitor again. The borough’s personnel committee has candidates to fill the vacancies, which council is expected to vote on during its regular meeting on Thursday. Borough council will meet at 7 p.m., Thursday, at the borough building, 616 First St. Late...
