Regional News category, Page 306
Friends of Flight 93 announces new leadership
The former senior executive director of the Pentagon Memorial Fund was appointed executive director of the Friends of the Flight 93 National Memorial. Officials said Andrew Ammerman, who served as senior executive director of the Pentagon Memorial Fund for more than 13 years, will assume the post as new leadership...
Money available for student buses to Flight 93 Memorial
Western Pennsylvania school districts can seek money to help pay to transport students to the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, which commemorates the 40 passengers and crew of United Flight 93, who gave their lives to prevent hijackers from crashing the plane in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001....
Reliving Western Pa.’s Snowmageddon — a decade later
Two days before what came to be known as Snowmageddon, the National Weather Service forecast that region should expect “6 to 8 inches of snow.” The following day, that forecast was revised: Winter storm warnings were calling for a heavy snowfall beginning on the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 5, 2010....
GOP reactions to budget proposal range from ‘cautiously optimistic’ to ‘fiscally irresponsible’
Republican lawmakers’ reaction to Gov. Tom Wolf’s $36.1 billion budget proposal on Tuesday ran the gamut from “cautiously optimistic” to “fiscally irresponsible.” “The governor’s proposal is a good start,” said state Rep. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “I am committed to holding the budget to...
Shelocta man wanted by state police on drug charges
State police in Indiana are seeking a Shelocta man wanted on drug charges following a Feb. 2 incident in White Township. Police charged Frederick James Moran, 29, with felony drug possession after troopers responded to a report of an intoxicated man acting erratically at an apartment complex on Roush Drive....
Pennsylvania flu deaths increase by 7, cases up 24%
Pennsylvania recorded another increase in flu-associated deaths in a season that has hit Southwestern Pennsylvania particularly hard. As of the week ending Feb. 1, flu-associated deaths increased by seven for a total of 40 this flu season, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Health. Most of...
Trial witness ties dealer to drugs prosecutors say killed Derry woman
Tyler Klapchar told a Westmoreland County jury Tuesday he watched his friend’s mother hand money to his drug dealer on Christmas Eve 2016. “It was very apparent. She gave him money and he gave her something. I definitely saw a hand-to-hand transaction,” Klapchar testified during the second day of the...
Inmate fight locks down state prison in Somerset; Fayette prison death being investigated as suicide
A portion of the state prison in Somerset County was placed on lockdown Tuesday after an inmate was injured in a fight, an official at SCI Somerset said. The injured inmate was transported to an undisclosed hospital for evaluation after the 11:30 a.m. altercation involving two inmates, according to prison...
Pittsburgh jobless rate rises in December, highest since April 2018
The Pittsburgh region’s economy showed signs of slowing in December as the unemployment rate in the seven-county region rose 0.2 of a percentage point to 4.5%, the highest rate since April 2018, the state reported Tuesday. The unemployment rate, as adjusted for seasonal hiring factors, was 0.3 of a percentage...
Verizon outage hits Western Pennsylvania
Cellphone outages and spotty service were being reported by many Verizon Wireless customers Tuesday morning, with problems popping up across the Pittsburgh region and beyond. Customers from Ross to Moon to McKeesport have posted on social media about cell service being down — and then up and down again. Verizon...
Police: Pittsburgh woman transferred drugs during kiss with state prison inmate
State police accused a Pittsburgh woman of transferring drugs during a kiss with a prison inmate in Somerset County. Jasmine Lanell Livingston, 21, was visiting her boyfriend Anthony Jackson, 26, also of Pittsburgh, on Jan. 23 at the state prison in Somerset Township, according to troopers. Police said the pair...
Florida man who stole $116K from customers in multi-state mail theft ring gets 21 months in prison
A Florida man convicted in a multi-state mail theft ring was sentenced to 21 months in prison, federal prosecutors said Monday. Cassio Orville Donald Slowden, 28, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., pleaded guilty in federal court in Downtown Pittsburgh, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said. Slowden bilked Citizens Bank, Bank of...
Victim of fatal Derry Township overdose was warned of drug’s potency
Westmoreland County prosecutors said Monday that a Christmas Eve decision to sell drugs to a Derry woman two years ago was both fatal and tragic. Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar told a Westmoreland County jury that Michelle Spillar, 38, died Dec. 26, 2017, from drugs sold to her by an...
Gasoline prices dip below $2 per gallon in spots as oil prices continue to sag
While not the case in the Pittsburgh area, nearly 5,000 stations across the United States are selling gasoline for less than $2 per gallon, according to price tracking service GasBuddy. “Oil prices continue to sag on worries over the spread of the coronavirus, blowing the door wide open for a...
Clarion University to introduce campus safety smart phone app
There’s an app for nearly everything and, next fall, Clarion University students will have the opportunity to tap one designed to fight sexual violence on campus. Officials at Clarion said the state-owned university located about 75 miles north of Pittsburgh will use a state grant to launch LiveSafe, a mobile...
Where’s the snow? Winter so far has failed to deliver much to Western Pa.
All those things that make winter wintry in Western Pennsylvania — at least one snowstorm, shoveling snow, making a snowman — haven’t happened much this year. “I don’t think I’ve shoveled once,” said Greg Phillips, manager and CEO of the Westmoreland Conservation District. While there was some measurable snowfall in...
Police: Father of 4-month-old unintentionally shot child
State police reported they believe the father of a 4-month-old child unintentionally fired a shot in an Indiana County apartment, hitting his son. According to police, the 21-year-old father fired a shot from a 9mm handgun while inside an apartment at 42 College Lodge Road in White Township, striking the...
Pennsylvania health department officials say ‘coronavirus threat remains low’
While China has accused the U.S. of causing panic in its response to the deadly coronavirus outbreak, the Pennsylvania Department of Health is doing what it can to keep residents calm. Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine reminded Pennsylvanians Monday that the threat from coronavirus remains low. There have been...
Public hearing in February set to discuss the Saturday open to deer season
Hunters across Southwestern Pennsylvania will have a chance this month to let state officials know how they feel about having rifle deer season open on a Saturday. The House Game and Fisheries Committee announced a public hearing is planned Feb. 20 in Speers, Washington County. The meeting will be from...
Déjà vu, again: Bill Murray is back for ‘Groundhog Day’ Jeep commercialVideo
Just like the premise of the movie “Groundhog Day,” its star Bill Murray, and others are back again — but this time riding in the new Jeep Gladiator as the getaway vehicle. The 60-second commercial debuted on television Sunday during Super Bowl LIV. For some, the biggest football game of...
Police investigating after 4-month-old boy shot in Indiana County
State police are investigating after a 4-month-old boy was shot at an Indiana County apartment. According to police, officers responded to College Lodge Road in White Township for reports of a shooting shortly before 6:20 p.m. Saturday. When they arrived on scene, they found the child had suffered a gunshot...
Punxsutawney Phil predicts early spring for 2nd consecutive yearVideo
Pennsylvania’s beloved and world-famous Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring Sunday morning after he did not see his shadow. Phil has only made such a prediction 20 times in the 134-year history of Groundhog Day, according to state officials. This year marks the first time he has envisioned an early...
Crashes, slick roads reported as region gets inch of snow
Almost an inch of snow fell across the Pittsburgh region overnight into Sunday morning, causing some slick road conditions, according to the National Weather Service. “It was expected,” said NWS meteorologist Myranda Fullerton. “We anticipated snow basically last evening through the overnight hours. We had more snowfall north of Interstate...
Woman killed in rollover crash on I-79 near Cranberry
A woman was killed Friday in the first of two back-to-back vehicle crashes along Interstate 79 near Cranberry, state police reported. Cristi Reibert, 41, of Lyndora was pronounced dead after she was involved in a crash at about 3:30 p.m., just north of Cranberry in Butler County. The initial investigation...
Police say Indiana County woman let child vape, then recorded it
Police said an 18-year-old Indiana County woman allowed a child to vape from a Juul smoking device, recorded it and laughed as the child laid coughing on the floor. State police at Indiana charged Berkley Noel Sutton of Shellbark Road, Armagh, with endangering the welfare of children for failing to...
