Regional News category, Page 334
Girl Scouts add 42 badges for outdoor adventures, computer coding
New badges could soon decorate Girl Scouts vests — 42 to be exact. The badges, which center around outdoor adventures and computer coding, are a way to enhance the organization’s program while offering independent decision making scenarios to help build confidence in leadership abilities in girls in kindergarten through 12th...
Rare lion cub born at Grove City’s Keystone Safari
“The Lion King” remake won’t hit theaters until later this week, but another Simba recently made his debut in Pennsylvania. The lion cub — named in honor of the movie — was born at Keystone Safari in Grove City in May. After spending his first six weeks indoors with his...
Fire reported at Sons of Italy in Fayette County
Firefighters from multiple departments were battling a blaze at a Fayette County social hall Tuesday morning. The fire at the Sons of Italy on Rogers Avenue in Connellsville Township was reported shortly before 6 a.m., a Fayette County emergency dispatcher said. The fire was under control by 7 a.m., the...
Questions remain in death of North Huntingdon teen in fall at YMCA camp
Family and friends are mourning the death of a North Huntingdon teen while questions remained about his death Monday after a fall from a remote Somerset County rock outcrop. Nathan Kanczes, 15, fell more than 40 feet while attending a teen wilderness camp at YMCA Deer Valley Camp in Fort...
Police: 1 person killed in front loader crash in Somerset County
One person driving a front loader was killed Monday afternoon in Somerset County, according to state police. The one-vehicle accident occurred as the person drove along Oden Street in Confluence Borough, near the borough’s VFW, officials said. When officers arrived on scene shortly after 12:30 p.m., they determined the driver...
Remnants of Hurricane Barry to bring more rain to waterlogged Pittsburgh region
Remnants of Hurricane Barry are expected to bring more rain to Western Pennsylvania this week — possibly as soon as Tuesday — as the region is still drying out from last week’s heavy storms. Barry strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 75 mph by Saturday morning when...
6 rescued after raft goes over falls at Ohiopyle State Park
Six people are lucky to be alive after their raft went over the falls at Ohiopyle State Park in Fayette County over the weekend. Park manager Ken Bisbee said the six, who are from the Pittsburgh and Monroeville areas, had bruises and scrapes after being rescued from a swollen Youghiogheny...
Police: Summit Academy escapee stole car, remains at large
A juvenile who police say stole a car after escaping from a Butler County detention center Saturday night remained at large on Monday afternoon, according to authorities. The unidentified juvenile, whose age and gender were not released, is believed to have escaped from The Summit Academy in Summit Township around...
Gas prices rise in Pittsburgh region
Gas prices are up in the Pittsburgh region, and the national average has risen for a third straight week on higher oil prices blamed on geopolitical tensions, declining oil inventories and Hurricane Barry. “With Barry in the rearview, we are unlikely to see major disruptions arise, and gas prices nationally...
Pennsylvania law protects those who rescue children from hot cars
A state law protecting Good Samaritans who rescue children locked inside hot cars took effect Monday. Gov. Tom Wolf signed the bill into law May 16. The law provides protection from liability for damages if a person believes a child is in imminent danger, provided they have made a good...
Penn State’s Eric Barron third highest paid public university president
Penn State alumni can claim boasting rights this week thanks to a ranking that has nothing to do with college sports. A survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education found Penn State President Eric J. Barron was the third highest paid public university president in the nation last year when...
State police prepare to host Sunny Day Camp for children, adults with special needs
The state police’s annual Camp Cadet summer program offers children a chance to meet and interact with law enforcement. A few years ago, a trooper in the Lancaster area decided that opportunity should also extend to children and adults with special needs or disabilities, and the Sunny Day Camp program...
Shelter in place lifted 2nd time for chemical fire in Beaver County
Firefighters and a hazardous materials team remained at the scene of a fire and chemical release in Rochester Saturday afternoon, but officials said it was safe for residents of the immediate area to leave their homes. Authorities issued two “shelter in place” orders advising residents to stay in their homes...
French connections abound in Southwestern PennsylvaniaVideo
On Sunday, when France celebrates its day of independence, Bastille Day, it’s a good time to acknowledge the strong influence that country and its people have had on Westmoreland, Allegheny and surrounding counties — beginning before the United States existed. A number of Southwestern Pennsylvania communities have names that reflect...
Western Pa. residents grow weary of rain, flood cleanups
Thursday’s torrential rains may have been the final straw for Janet Seman. After six floods since moving to her North Huntingdon Township home in 2004, Seman doesn’t know if she can clean mud out of her basement one more time. “I have sump pumps, I have what I’m supposed to...
Pregnant woman, son die after car swept away in Berks County flooding
BOYERTOWN — A series of storms socked the Northeast with heavy rains and strong winds, causing the deaths of a boy and his pregnant mother whose car was swept away by floodwaters while she was on the phone with emergency officials. The rain started falling Thursday and continued through early...
Lancaster man accused of sex abuse at Kenyan orphanage he founded
Federal prosecutors say a Pennsylvania man sexually molested four teenage girls at a Kenyan orphanage he founded with a church’s help. U.S. Attorney William McSwain announced charges Friday against 60-year-old Gregory Dow, of Lancaster, hours after Dow was taken into custody. McSwain says Dow fled Kenya in September 2017 after...
FBI seeks leads in 1994 murders of Beaver County girl, 2nd from Ohio
A quarter-century has not abated the FBI’s desire to find out who killed Sarah Boehm and Kathryn Menendez and left their bodies in an Ohio park. Boehm was 14 when she was last seen alive leaving her Rochester Township home in Beaver County on July 14, 1994. Her body was...
T-shirts remind Dr. Phil that, yes, there is a Slippery Rock University
Remember that time Slippery Rock University and Dr. Phil got into a spat? SRU does. The university had T-shirts made to commemorate the dust-up, and some of the proceeds will go into a student scholarship fund, according to spokeswoman Rita Abent. In April, Phil McGraw, the TV celebrity therapist better...
Officials: Uniontown man found dead with dog biting at neck
Police are investigating after a Uniontown man was found dead in his home Thursday morning with his dog biting his neck, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI reported. The news station identified the man as 52-year-old Homer Utterback, who investigators say suffered from seizures. Officials believe Utterback had an episode and fell...
Expect another huge blob of algae on Lake Erie this summer
TOLEDO, Ohio — Scientists are likely to warn that another massive harmful algae bloom will blanket western Lake Erie this summer when they release their forecast. It will be released Thursday. Researchers are expecting that record-setting rains in Ohio and neighboring states in recent months will fuel a large mass...
Prosecutors go to court in support of Philly drug injection site
PHILADELPHIA — More than 60 prosecutors and other law enforcement officials have filed a court brief in support of a proposed supervised drug injection site that Philadelphia’s top federal prosecutor is trying to block from opening. The officials say that Safehouse’s proposed injection site would prevent overdose deaths and help...
Torrential rain leads to widespread flooding across Western Pa.
Traffic on several roads remained affected in Allegheny County Friday morning after heavy rains pounded Western Pennsylvania Thursday, causing widespread flooding and hazards that shut down major thoroughfares throughout the region. PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said those roads spanned from Frazer Township to Crescent Township: • A bridge on Kittanning...
Ohio woman sentenced to prison for federal drug crimes and money laundering
An Ohio woman was sentenced in federal court in Pittsburgh to four years and four months in prison for her convictions on conspiracy to distribute heroin and money laundering. Senior U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on Britny Beaver, 25, of East Liverpool. Federal authorities said Beaver...
Pa. principal who wore blackface to take sabbatical, be teacher
GLEN ROCK — A Pennsylvania school principal who wore blackface to a staff meeting last year is taking a one-year sabbatical and will return as a teacher. The York Dispatch reports that minutes from a June 20 school board meeting indicate that Friendship Elementary School principal Lisa Boyer’s yearlong leave...
