Earthquake reported off coast of Maryland
OCEAN CITY, Md. — A light earthquake has been recorded off the coast of Maryland. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 4.7-magnitude earthquake struck Tuesday evening in the Atlantic Ocean, about 136 miles southeast of Ocean City, Md. No tsunami warning has been issued. In a Facebook post, Ocean City...
Paul Manafort misled grand jury on Trump administration contacts, filing says
WASHINGTON — Prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller have intensively scrutinized Paul Manafort’s activities after President Trump’s election — including after Manafort was criminally charged — and indicated they have extensive details not yet made public about Manafort’s interactions with former Russian aide Konstantin Kilimnik and others, a Tuesday...
GoFundMe raises $25K for family of Butler County boy killed in bus stop crash
Donations poured in Tuesday from around the country in support of the Butler County family coping with the death of their 11-year-old son, who died after being struck by a car while waiting beside his siblings for their school bus. Mark Fike, 11, died at Butler Memorial Hospital on Monday...
California storms bring mudslide fears, blizzard warning
LOS ANGELES — Authorities told residents to evacuate hundreds of Southern California homes in areas burned by wildfires as storms brought steady rainfall Tuesday and forced a rare blizzard warning for much of the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe in the northern part of the state. Mandatory or voluntary evacuations...
Democrats remain unified in border wall fight, confounding Trump and GOP
WASHINGTON — Hoping to make a crack in Democratic unity as the partial government shutdown reached Day 25, President Trump invited a handful of moderate Democrats to the White House on Tuesday for lunch and a chat. None showed up. That despite the fact that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,...
Al-Shabab extremists claim deadly attack on Nairobi hotel
NAIROBI, Kenya — Extremists stormed a luxury hotel in Kenya’s capital on Tuesday, setting off thunderous explosions and gunning down people at cafe tables in an attack claimed by Africa’s deadliest Islamic militant group. A police officer said at least 15 people had died. “It is terrible. What I have...
Florida official faces backlash for saying Muslim lawmaker may ‘blow up’ Congress
WASHINGTON — A rookie commissioner from a South Florida beach city is facing calls for her resignation after she called newly elected Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib a “danger” and said the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress may decide to become a “martyr and blow up Capitol Hill.” From Washington to...
Cops: Philadelphia men stole iPhones worth $41K from Frazer Walmart
Two Philadelphia men are accused of stealing nearly $41,000 worth of cellphones last month from the Walmart store in Frazer, and they are suspected in similar thefts in at least two other states. “This is the biggest theft we’ve ever had at that Walmart by far. It is the largest...
Kirsten Gillibrand to enter presidential race featuring record number of women
WASHINGTON — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a central figure in the Democratic Party’s debate about the #MeToo movement, is preparing to join a 2020 presidential primary contest that features a record number of women in the wake of the midterm election tidal wave of female candidates. Gillibrand, 52, will announce...
Super Bowl planners: Shutdown brings ‘uncharted territory’
ATLANTA — A day after travelers waited nearly 90 minutes in snail-speed security lines at the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s mayor is concerned about the waits that could result when the city hosts the 2019 Super Bowl. The ongoing partial government shutdown is “uncharted territory” amid planning for one of...
New postings show wide range of Pennsylvania college hazing
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania colleges and universities began posting online reports Tuesday on documented cases of hazing over the past five years, from forced drinking and toe-licking to the dunking of students in ice water, as required by a law passed as a result of the 2017 death of a Penn...
New postings show wide range of Pennsylvania college hazing
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania colleges and universities began posting online reports Tuesday on documented cases of hazing over the past five years, from forced drinking and toe-licking to the dunking of students in ice water, as required by a law passed as a result of the 2017 death of a Penn...
Monessen shooting case begins despite defense claims of misconduct
A Westmoreland County judge refused to grant a mistrial or dismiss the cases against two men charged in connection with a shooting on a Monessen street despite defense attorneys alleging a clear case of prosecutorial misconduct. Testimony in the attempted murder and conspiracy case against Joseph Heath, 29, and Rashawn...
IRS recalling 46,000 workers to handle taxes
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is recalling about 46,000 of its employees furloughed by the government shutdown — nearly 60 percent of its workforce — to handle tax returns and pay out refunds. The employees won’t be paid. With the official start of the tax filing season coming Jan....
Mercer County woman gets up to 52 years in prison for killing husband after he asked for divorce
A Mercer County woman accused of killing her husband in a fit of rage after he asked her for a divorce was sentenced to 23 ½ to 52 years in prison, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Tuesday. Amy Emmett, 49, of Hempfield Township pleaded no contest to third-degree murder...
House rebukes GOP’s Steve King over racist remarks
WASHINGTON — A Democratic measure rebuking Republican Rep. Steve King for his comments about white supremacy won easy approval Tuesday in the House. In a twist, the nine-term Iowa congressman was among those supporting the measure of disapproval, which was adopted, 416-1. King said he agreed with Majority Whip James...
Wave of resignations leaves Cheswick police short-handed
Cheswick officials say the resignation of seven part-time officers from the borough’s police department last month has led to shifts going unstaffed and a reliance on neighboring police departments to respond to calls. The resignations come as the department adjusts to the loss of former Chief Bob Scott, who retired...
Man who stabbed 5 at Homestead mental health facility gets 30 to 60 years
JoAnn Latshaw spent years organizing medications for her patients at Turtle Creek Valley Mental Health. Now, more than two years after she was critically injured in Dustin Johnson’s 2016 stabbing spree at the facility, she cannot keep track of her own medications. “It’s frustrating to not be able to do...
Tom Wolf begins second term as Pennsylvania governor
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf kicked off his second term Tuesday with a call for Pennsylvanians to work together to build a stronger, fairer and more prosperous future, and said progress in his first term is proof the state can overcome its challenges. Wolf, 70, returns for a second term...
United Way offers aid to furloughed government employees
As the partial federal government shutdown edged toward its 25th day, officials at the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania urged government employees facing financial difficulties to contact its 2-1-1 services for assistance. Some 800,000 federal employees across the nation have been furloughed or ordered to work without pay and thousands...
Extended No Wake Zone proposed at Pittsburgh’s Point
Relief is on the way for boaters who know the bump and grind of wakes from speeding boats when they dock along the Allegheny River as the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has proposed an extension to the No Wake Zone at Pittsburgh’s Point. The change is intended to create...
3 new police officers hired in New Kensington
New Kensington council Monday hired three new police officers to fill vacancies created by retirements, city Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti said. Michael A. McSherry of Leechburg, Jerry Hobeck of New Kensington and Jeffrey Vertullo of Export were selected from a list approved last week by the city’s Civil Service Commission. They...
Derry Township farmer: To save dairies, modernize milk pricing system
Faced with chronically low milk prices, some Pennsylvania dairy farmers are calling for reforms in the way those prices are set. The U.S. system for determining what dairy farmers are paid for their product is notoriously complex — and has become even more so under the influence of global markets...
Silicon Valley landlord rents $1,500 studio to 2 cats
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Two cats are living large at a $1,500-a-month studio apartment their owner rents for them in Silicon Valley, where a housing shortage has sent rents skyrocketing. The Mercury News reports the 20-pound (9-kilogram) cats named Tina and Louise moved to the studio in San Jose after...
Joy Riders program will provide bike rides to people with limited mobilityVideo
As soon as Karen Primm of Smithton saw the video — about an Australian man who designed a tandem bicycle with a wheelchair in the front, so that his disabled wife could go out on rides with him — she knew she needed to bring something similar to Pittsburgh. Luckily...
