Police seek public’s help in solving Penn Hills homicide
Pittsburgh Crime Stoppers is looking for the public’s help in solving an open homicide case. Police are looking for information on a Nov. 6 shooting that left 21-year-old Calvin Anderson dead. Police initially responded to a call of shots fired in the 6800 block of Alcoma Drive in Penn Hills....
Oregon begins killing sea lions after relocation fails
PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon wildlife officials have started killing sea lions that threaten a fragile run of winter steelhead in the Willamette River. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife obtained a federal permit in November to kill up to 93 California sea lions annually below Willamette Falls south of...
Expanded facilities are recipe for success at Leechburg Area High SchoolVideo
There’s no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen at Leechburg Area High School now. A new, expansive Family and Consumer Science Room renovation project was completed last year, providing five state-of-the-art kitchen areas for students in grades 7-12 enrolled in various cooking classes, culinary arts, finance, sports...
Mt. Pleasant Twp. store owner to fight corruption chargesVideo
A Mt. Pleasant Township grocery store owner, accused of racking up millions of dollars in illegal profits by selling stolen items, waived his preliminary hearing Thursday and opted to proceed to trial. But don’t read too much into the decision, his lawyer warned. “There is no plea agreement,” said Francis...
Florida man not hurt after rolling over flatbed tractor-trailer on Route 28 in Harrison
A truck driver from Florida was not hurt after rolling over his flatbed tractor-trailer on Route 28 in Harrison early Thursday afternoon. The crash was reported shortly after 12:30 p.m. It happened on the southbound side of the highway just past the curved bridge over Saxonburg Road past Exit 16...
Freeway closed after human waste spills from truck
ERIE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A freeway in southeastern Michigan just north of the state line with Ohio has been closed after a truck hauling human waste rolled over and spilled its contents along the roadway. The crash happened about 9:40 a.m. Thursday on northbound Interstate 75 near Monroe County’s Erie...
Second North Side resident to challenge Darlene Harris for Pittsburgh City Council seat
A second North Side resident announced plans Thursday to challenge Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Darlene Harris in the Democratic primary on May 21. It would be Bobby Wilson’s third attempt to unseat Harris, 66, of Spring Hill, who has said she would seek a fourth term. Wilson, 36, also of Spring...
Trump threatens emergency declaration ahead of border visit
MCALLEN, Texas — President Trump threatened on Thursday to declare a national emergency to circumvent Congress if he can’t reach a deal with Democrats to fund his promised border wall. He spent most of the day in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border to draw further attention to his case after...
Louisiana police officer fatally shot while leaving for work
SHREVEPORT, La. — A recently graduated Louisiana police officer has been fatally shot as she was leaving for work on the night shift. Shreveport Police Chief Ben Raymond says Officer Chateri Payne had graduated from the police academy Nov. 16, and was shot outside a home Wednesday night. He couldn’t...
3 school employees charged with abuse of autistic student
STANFORD, Ky. — Court documents show that three Kentucky school employees have been charged with criminal abuse involving a special-needs student. News outlets report the incident occurred Jan. 3 at Lincoln County High School in a special education class. A criminal summons for teacher Rebecca Spurlock said teacher’s aide Janie...
Officials visit Hempfield to announce grant to promote school-business ties
As state and local officials toured Hempfield Area High School on Thursday, they saw students working with high-tech manufacturing machinery and discussing detailed business plans they’d designed and enacted themselves. State Labor and Industry Secretary W. Gerard Oleksiak said he was impressed, and that he hopes a $126,050 grant to...
Norovirus outbreak sickens 277 on Oasis of the Seas
MIAMI — Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas is returning to a Florida port a day early and giving passengers full refunds of their fare after 277 guests and crew members were hit with an outbreak of Norovirus as it sailed to Jamaica. Cruise line spokesman Owen Torres told The...
Lenape vo-tech head hopes strong bond will continue with the school districts it serves
School officials are hoping the solid bonds the Freeport Area School District has with the Lenape Vocational School continue. Wesley P. Kuchta, Lenape’s new administrative director, spoke before the school board Wednesday night and emphasized the success Freeport Area students have had at Lenape. “It’s important that superintendents and I...
Driver injured in tractor-trailer rollover on Route 28 exit near Tarentum
The driver of a tractor-trailer truck was injured late Thursday morning after he lost control of his truck and it flipped onto its side on the off-ramp of Route 28 near Tarentum. State police charged the driver, Brian Dawson, 52, of Cabot, with driving a vehicle at unsafe speeds. State...
West Virginia lawmaker to resign, focus on run for president
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A retired Army paratrooper and West Virginia lawmaker who formalized his campaign for the presidency on Veterans Day is stepping down from the state Senate. Democrat Richard Ojeda told news outlets that he’s resigning as of next week because he doesn’t want his seat to sit...
Charges dropped against woman in North Versailles theater altercation that went viral
A judge on Thursday dismissed all charges against a Wilkinsburg woman arrested last year during an incident at a North Versailles movie theater. Charges against Melanie Carter, 36, of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and defiant trespass were dismissed by Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Cashman. The charges...
Cops: Burglar who ate officer’s chicken dinner in closed police substation left own ID
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — To identify the burglary suspect who broke into a closed Florida police substation and ate an officer’s chicken dinner, detectives didn’t need to lift fingerprints or get DNA from the discarded meal. The ID cards authorities say the suspect left behind did the trick. Boynton Beach...
As Trump visits border, Texas landowners prepare wall fight
HIDALGO, Texas — As President Donald Trump travels to the border in Texas to make the case for his $5.7 billion wall , landowner Eloisa Cavazos says she knows firsthand how the project will play out if the White House gets its way. The federal government has started surveying land...
Lawyer: Pa. woman’s coat-chewing could’ve thrown off breath test
BERWICK, Pa. — An attorney for a Pennsylvania woman charged with drunken driving hinted his client’s coat-chewing could’ve thrown off the results of her breath test. The (Bloomsburg) Press Enterprise reports the argument came during a hearing Tuesday for 47-year-old Jana Moschgat. An officer who pulled Moschgat over testified she...
UPMC Mercy moving women’s care to Magee
UPMC plans to transition its inpatient women’s health, obstetrics and neonatal intensive care unit from UPMC Mercy to UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. Officials said in a news release Thursday that UPMC Magee already provides deliveries as well as other clinical care provided by specialists for high-risk mothers and newborns. UPMC Magee...
Pa. school board votes to postpone policy to arm teachers
TAMAQUA, Pa. — School board members in Pennsylvania have voted to postpone a policy allowing teachers to carry guns in school. In a 2-1 vote Tuesday evening, the Tamaqua school board’s Security Committee says it will suspend the implementation of the policy pending a court hearing on its validity. Both...
Much pared down, Penn State frat death case plods ahead
HARRISBURG — A string of guilty pleas has left just five defendants still fighting charges in the hazing-related death of a pledge at a Penn State fraternity two years ago. The case centers on what occurred at the Beta Theta Pi house in February 2017, when 19-year-old Tim Piazza of...
Elderly man staying in South Buffalo still missing after 2 weeks
Police still have not found the elderly man who went missing from South Buffalo more than two weeks ago. Several hundred emergency volunteers, family and friends searched for Kenneth L. Himes, 70, after he left the home of a family member along Cadogan-Slate Lick Road between 11:30 p.m. Christmas night...
Woman, cat safe after fire breaks out at Greensburg apartmentVideo
Linda Erickson wasn’t sure what the loud noise was that she heard Thursday morning from inside her Greensburg apartment. But when a neighbor started banging on her door on Park Street around 9 a.m., she raced down the steps of her second-floor unit amid heavy smoke, leaving behind her 5-year-old...
WCCC nursing professor honored as outstanding teacher
There is no question that longtime Westmoreland County Community College nursing professor Rebecca Gediminskas has the respect of her students and her peers. For the third time in 20 years, they honored her as WCCC’s Outstanding Teacher of the year. Gediminskas, of Irwin, previously received the award, which faculty present...
