Regional News category, Page 329
Firefighter was dad to 3 of 5 kids killed in day care blaze
ERIE — Three of five kids killed in a fire at a home child care center in Pennsylvania were the children of a volunteer firefighter who was responding to another call, an official said Monday. Luther Jones’ two daughters and a son were trapped in a blaze in the lakeside...
Monongahela group sets Guinness world record for largest wedding cookie tableVideo
It’s official — the Monongahela Area Historical Society on Sunday established a new Guinness World Record, that of “largest wedding cookie table.” Christina Conlon, Guinness adjudicator, said that by late afternoon, it was clear the tables set up in Chess Park held more than 50,000 cookies. “We know that you...
Texas, Ohio shootings worry but don’t scare away area shoppers
Last weekend’s mass shootings at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and on a street in downtown Dayton, Ohio, haven’t stopped area residents from shopping at local retail centers. But it has made them more wary about what they may encounter in busy spaces where people congregate. “It makes you...
Pa. man dies in fall after trying to climb cell tower
State police say a man who tried to climb a 280-foot cellular tower in western Pennsylvania apparently slipped and plunged to his death. Police in Venango County say 55-year-old William Eugene Wall of Centerville was with family and friends at a campfire in Jackson Township early Thursday when he walked...
Dayton mass slaying victim Nick Cumer remembered in Washington, Pa. as hero
Elementary school teachers, high school friends, college fraternity brothers, family members and hundreds of others filled every free spot inside a Washington funeral home to say goodbye to a local man killed in a mass shooting last weekend in Dayton. “He just wanted to bring everybody together,” friend Mike Hammond...
‘History in motion’: Restored military vehicles to parade in Ligonier, marking centennial convoy
Downtown Ligonier next week will witness a parade that is long on horsepower — mostly of the mechanical kind. Around noon Tuesday, Aug. 13, 60 some restored military vehicles will proceed on East Main Street and circle part of Diamond Park before parking at Fort Ligonier and other nearby lots....
Pennsylvania distributes wildfire funds on Smokey Bear anniversary
Seven volunteer fire departments in Westmoreland County are among recipients of state grants for wildfire equipment and training. The funding is from the latest round of grants announced by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for departments in rural areas that regularly fight wildland and brush fires. “Too...
KDKA returns to local DirecTV customers ahead of Steelers season
DirecTV customers, break out the black and gold. The Pittsburgh Steelers — starting with Friday’s first preseason game — will be back on your television thanks to an agreement reached by CBS Corp. and AT&T. The multi-year agreement, reached Thursday, ended a three-week blackout for viewers, which started as a...
Erie County man drowns in Lake Erie
MAYVILLE, N.Y. — Federal and local authorities are continuing the search of Lake Erie for an Erie County man who drowned while swimming at the Ripley Beach area in Chautauqua County, New York, late Thursday afternoon. The man who drowned has not been identified. Information released by the Chautauqua County...
Police: Benedum, AVH, other bomb threats came from same phone number
Police continue to investigate bomb threats called into five establishments in two counties Thursday. The threats were made from the same phone number, Allegheny County police said Friday . The bomb threats were called in between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. to Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison, St. Clair Hospital...
Bomb threat at Monongahela Valley Hospital temporarily closes entrance road
Carroll Township police are investigating a bomb threat called in to the Monongahela Valley Hospital Thursday night in Monongahela, according to a Washington County 911 supervisor. The threat was reported at 9:08 p.m. Just before midnight, police remained at the scene. According to the supervisor, the main road to the...
Watch out for invasive Northern Snakehead fish
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is warning anglers to kill and report an invasive fish known as the Northern Snakehead. There are no records of the Northern Snakehead in the three rivers in Southwestern Pennsylvania, according to Doug Fischer, non-game fisheries biologist with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission...
Western Pa. libraries struggle with changing e-book rules
It’s never been easier to borrow an e-book from the library, but it’s getting harder for libraries to pay to make those books available. When a library buys a physical book, it often does so at a discount. Buying e-books, which can be read on digital devices like the Kindle...
Officials in Pa. exhume body of man found frozen in cave in 1970s to test DNA
HAMBURG, Pa. — Investigators in Pennsylvania have exhumed the body of an unidentified man who was found frozen in a cave along the Appalachian Trail about four decades ago. Officials in Berks County say the man’s dental records recently were matched to missing men from Florida and Illinois. Berks County...
Trump reschedules visit to Beaver County cracker plant
The White House said Thursday that President Trump has rescheduled his visit to a $6 billion ethane cracker plant being built in Beaver County for Tuesday. The president canceled a trip to the Potter Township site this week after two mass shootings over the weekend left 31 dead and dozens...
Uniontown nuns to host 85th annual pilgrimage Labor Day weekend
The 85th annual pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help will be held at Mount St. Macrina, Uniontown, Aug. 31-Sept. 1. This year’s theme is “Mary, Cause of Our Joy.” The Labor Day weekend event is the oldest and largest Byzantine Catholic pilgrimage in the country. A focal...
Sandusky to be resentenced next month in molestation case
Jerry Sandusky will be taken from prison to a central Pennsylvania courtroom next month for resentencing on his 45-count child sexual abuse conviction, six months after a state appeals court ruled mandatory minimums had been improperly applied. Judge John Foradora filed an order Wednesday scheduling the proceeding for Sept. 23...
3 killed when small plane crashes in backyard of Pa. home
A small plane has crashed in the backyard of an eastern Pennsylvania home, killing three people aboard the aircraft. The single-engine plane went down around 6:20 a.m. Thursday in Willow Grove, shortly after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. It wasn’t immediately known where it was headed. Upper Moreland Police...
Erie woman pleads guilty to setting woman on fire
A 59-year-old woman faces up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to using rubbing alcohol to set another woman on fire at an east Erie residence in December. Mary E. Hull of Erie pleaded guilty to first-degree felony counts of aggravated assault and arson. Erie County Judge...
Services set for Nick Cumer, grad student killed in Ohio
LORETTO — Services are set for a Pennsylvania graduate student killed in a shooting rampage in an Ohio nightclub district. Nicholas Cumer was a graduate student in the master of cancer care program at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa. The 25-year-old was in Dayton as part of his internship...
Inmate charged with attempted murder of state troopers during Indiana County transport
An inmate at Indiana County’s Pine Grove state prison is charged with attempting to kill two state troopers when he seized a gun from one of the troopers and fired it twice as they were driving him back to the prison from a district court hearing. In addition to two...
Census takers identifying hard-to-reach populations across Western Pa., country
Disconnected doubters, wary skeptics, eager engagers and head nodders — these are all ways Census Bureau officials describe people living in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Released in late June, the 2020 Census Predictive Models and Audience Segmentation report is helping officials create a plan for the once-a-decade survey that determines the amount...
Pa. mother sentenced to 25 to 50 years in child’s poisoning death
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A suburban Philadelphia mother has been sentenced to 25 to 50 years in the alleged poisoning death of her 2-year-old son a year ago. Forty-three-year-old Jennifer Clarey pleaded no contest Tuesday to third-degree murder and child endangerment. Bucks County prosecutors alleged that she poisoned Mazikeen Clarey using...
Trucker gets 28½ to 78 years in I-83 crash that killed 3
A Mississippi truck driver has been sentenced to 28½ to 78 years in prison in an alcohol-related crash on a Pennsylvania interstate that killed three people, including a toddler. PennLive.com reports that a Dauphin County judge imposed the sentence Tuesday on 29-year-old Jack Satterfield III. Satterfield pleaded guilty in June...
W.Va. man sentenced to 2nd life term in I-81 slaying
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — A West Virginia man has been sentenced to a second life term in the shooting death of a motorist on Interstate 81 in central Pennsylvania more than 5½ years ago. Forty-two-year-old John Strawser Jr. of Terra Alta was convicted of first-degree murder Tuesday. Authorities in Franklin County...
