Trump meets with N. Korean official at White House amid talk of 2nd summit
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump met with a senior North Korean official at the White House on Friday amid speculation that the two sides could soon announce a second summit between him and Kim Jong Un. Trump welcomed Kim Yong Chol, a former spy chief, who was reported to be...
Romney backs Trump in shutdown showdown, questions Pelosi
OGDEN, Utah — U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said Friday he supports President Donald Trump’s push for a border wall that has led to a government shutdown and questioned why Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi won’t agree to “another few miles” of barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border. Romney also...
Police: Missing 11-year-old girl ‘located and is back home safe’
A missing 11-year-old girl has returned home, according to Pittsburgh police. Ava Scott went missing on Thursday. She had last been seen around 2 p.m. when she walked away from Clayton Academy in the city’s Perry North neighborhood. Police said around 8 a.m. Friday that Scott “has been located and...
Perdue recall: Those chicken nuggets may contain wood
Georgia-based Perdue Foods has recalled more than 68,000 pounds of ready-to-eat frozen chicken nuggets that may be contaminated with wood. The recall applies to 22-ounce plastic bags of gluten-free Perdue Simply Smart Organics breaded chicken breast nuggets with a “best by” date of Oct. 25, 2019. The bags, which bear...
Acmetonia Elementary reopening celebrated in Harmar
Acmetonia Elementary School is bigger, brighter and loaded with high tech enough to take the Allegheny Valley School District’s elementary students into the challenges of the future. At a grand opening Thursday evening, the expanded gym sparkled with the district’s orange and black. The renovated kitchen, cafeteria, and classrooms were...
Greensburg police investigating car break-ins
Several reports of car break-ins in Greensburg are being investigated, police said. According to a post on the department’s Facebook page, break-ins have occurred over the past few days in the Academy Hill area of the city. Surveillance footage taken 2 a.m. Thursday shows three people wearing hoods walking up...
Opioid crisis brings unwanted attention to wealthy Sackler family
BOSTON — The Sackler name is emblazoned on the walls at some of the world’s great museums and universities, including the Smithsonian, the Guggenheim and Harvard. But now the family’s ties to OxyContin and the painkiller’s role in the deadly opioid crisis are bringing the Sacklers a new and unwanted...
Jurors convict man in Temple University student slaying
PHILADELPHIA — A man was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without possibility of parole Thursday in the slaying of a 22-year-old Temple University student. Jurors convicted Joshua Hupperterz of first-degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime in the death of Jenna Burleigh. He earlier pleaded guilty...
From sidewalk salt to bread to wine, stores are ready for storm shoppers
Many are doing what they can to prepare for snow, rain and sleet predicted to pelt the region this weekend. “We’re ready to go,” said Steve Cowan, spokesman for PennDOT’s District 11, which covers Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Lawrence counties. He said crews have pretreated the roads with a brine...
Amtrak cancels area trains ahead of weekend storm
Anyone traveling by rail this weekend is encouraged to check Amtrak’s schedule as officials make some of the first cancellations ahead of the expected winter storm. The storm has caused cancellation of several Pittsburgh-area trains on Sunday. The Pennsylvanian Service, from New York to Philadelphia to Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, has...
If Patriots lose, Goodwill customers will win
Don’t be sad, Pittsburgh, that the Steelers never made the playoffs this season. Now you have another reason to root against the hated New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. If the Patriots lose this Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Goodwill will offer a 30 percent discount...
North Huntingdon woman loved to sing
Helen Medic loved to sing, whether it was classical music, operas or church hymns. Her voice was so good that she was selected as the soloist at Duquesne High School for her graduating class of 1941, said her daughter, Joyce Yovetich of North Huntingdon. “She was always singing. She would...
Tom Marino resigning from Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation for private-sector job
HARRISBURG — Tom Marino, a five-term Republican congressman who helped steer Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign in Pennsylvania, said Thursday that he is resigning just days into a new term. In a statement, Marino said his last day will be Jan. 23 and that he is taking a job in...
Michael Cohen hired tech firm to rig polls in Trump’s favor
Michael Cohen paid a tech firm with ties to Jerry Falwell’s evangelical college to rig online polls in President Trump’s favor. Trump’s former fixer paid John Gauger, the IT tech at Liberty University and the head of RedFinch Solutions, with a bag of cash and a boxing glove — and...
Highmark Health’s IT business eliminates 40 positions, including 25 in Pittsburgh
Highmark Health’s information technology division axed 40 positions on Thursday, including 25 in Pittsburgh, officials said. HM Health Solutions, which supports 13 Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans and nearly 10 million members in multiple states, eliminated the positions as part of staffing adjustments aimed at “the best long-term interest of our...
Saint Vincent library expansion topic of public meeting
The public is invited to Saint Vincent College at 9 a.m. Wednesday to learn about and provide comment on the library renovation and expansion that is under construction. The meeting will be held in Room 2AB on the upper floor of the Fred M. Rogers Center, Unity. Parking will be...
Man gets 15 to 30 years in prison for rape of Lower Burrell girl
A Pittsburgh man was sentenced Thursday to serve up to 30 years in prison from the repeated rape of a 7-year-old girl who he claimed initiated the sex acts. Jeremy Alan Miller, 29, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and other offenses in connection with...
House floor erupts when lawmaker shouts ‘Go back to Puerto Rico’
WASHINGTON — The House floor erupted Thursday after Congress adjourned for the week when an unidentified Republican congressman yelled a controversial and potentially racially charged remark across the aisle as Democratic Rep. Tony Cardenas was at the podium. “Go back to Puerto Rico!” the lawmaker shouted, punctuating a stream of...
Model who claimed U.S.-Russian collusion held in Moscow on prostitution charges
MOSCOW — A model from Belarus who claimed to have recordings shedding light on the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia was detained Thursday at a Moscow airport on prostitution allegations, the police said. The model, Anastasia Vashukevich, had been deported from Thailand earlier in the day after spending nine months...
More, deeper wells planned for existing Marcellus site in Washington Township
CNX has applied to the state Department of Environmental Protection for a permit to drill four new wells to tap natural gas from Utica shale at an existing Marcellus shale well pad in Washington Township. The site is known as the Mamont South 1 Pad. It’s located near Evans Road,...
Government contractors to lose out on shutdown pay, dragging down economy
Like others caught up in the government shutdown, Brent Langdon has been cutting back on spending and is worried about his next mortgage payment. Yet unlike the hundreds of thousands of federal workers affected by the funding impasse, Langdon can’t look forward to eventually getting back pay because he is...
New evidence triggers mistrial in Monessen attempted homicide case
A Westmoreland County judge on Thursday cut short the attempted murder and conspiracy trial of two Monessen men, saying damaging evidence against the defense was turned over too late by prosecutors. Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani said the mistrial in the combined case against Joseph “Jo Jo” Heath III...
Dad delivers baby in 7-Eleven parking lot in New KensingtonVideo
A child arrived just the other day. He came to the world in an unusual way. In a gas station parking lot. Bobby and Lindsay Elliott of Allegheny Township had been doing what expectant parents do: driving to the hospital to give birth to their son. But Beau Elliott decided...
Judge acquits 3 Chicago officers of Laquan McDonald cover-up
CHICAGO — A judge on Thursday acquitted three Chicago police officers of trying to cover up the 2014 police shooting of Laquan McDonald to protect the white officer seen pulling the trigger on dashcam video that showed the black teen getting hit with 16 bullets. In rejecting the prosecution’s entire...
Franklin Regional’s Piraino recognized as Pa. superintendent of the yearVideo
It was only fitting for Gennaro Piraino to be sitting at Saint Vincent College as he received recognition as the Pennsylvania School Administrator Association’s 2019 Superintendent of the Year. Originally slated for Harrisburg, poor weather moved the recognition luncheon to the Unity school, just a few miles from Piraino’s hometown...
