Top Stories category, Page 1005
Fayette priest gets prison term for sexually abusing altar boy
UNIONTOWN — A western Pennsylvania Roman Catholic priest who sexually assaulted an altar boy for several years has been sentenced to 2 1/2 to five years in state prison. The Rev. Andrew Mark Kawecki of Greensburg will also have to register as a sex offender for 10 years once he’s...
Invisible Man Brewing secures enough Girl Scout cookies to host brew pairing event
Cookies and milk are a classic combination. Kids love them. Santa loves them. Cookies and beer? Not quite as common. Despite supply-chain issues that have affected the delivery of Girl Scout cookies in some parts of the country, the annual treats will be paired with several local beers, courtesy of...
Chance discovery sparks renewed interest in North Park’s pine tree ‘star’ planted in 1938Video
Ken Interval doesn’t think of himself as some sort of sleuth. But the Pine resident has keen observational skills that came into play when he recently spotted what appeared to be a stand of trees in North Park that were planted in the shape of a giant star. “I’m a...
Former trolley trail to be revitalized as walking, biking path in Pittsburgh’s West End
A former trolley trail connecting Crafton with Pittsburgh’s West End neighborhood is going to be transformed into a walking and biking path. Pittsburgh City Council President Theresa Kail-Smith said she’s been working to revamp the trail since before she took office in 2009. The West End Trolley Trail will begin...
Pittsburgh group Black, Young & Educated grows to keep amplifying Black youth’s voices
Created three years ago by high school students, a Pittsburgh group to increase the visibility of Black youth’s voices continues to grow along with its founders. Black, Young & Educated (BYE) is, among other projects, planning to create a documentary called “We Got Power,” highlighting the Black experience in Pittsburgh....
New Kensington police investigating fights at Valley High School
New Kensington police are investigating two fights that broke out at Valley High School on Wednesday, police Chief Bob Deringer said. According to New Kensington-Arnold Superintendent Chris Sefcheck, about 10 girls got into a shouting match that escalated into a fight Wednesday in the hallway outside the cafeteria and near...
Talks at home, school can help children process Ukraine war images, information
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been dubbed the TikTok war by some, as videos of the violence have surfaced across that and other social media platforms favored by many of today’s youths. “It makes it more real for them, not just some distant event,” said Jaime Rininger, who teaches geography...
‘Smashing bots’: High schools battle in regional robotics competition
Riley Davison’s Wednesday was filled with excitement for one reason: “smashing bots.” The Pine-Richland senior was among dozens of high school students who crowded in Robert Morris University’s John Jay Center for the 17th annual BotsIQ, a regional competition in which student-made robots fight each other gladiator-style. In one corner,...
Jan. 6 panel claims Trump engaged in ‘criminal conspiracy’
WASHINGTON — The House Committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection said Wednesday night that its evidence shows former President Donald Trump and his associates engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election, spread false information about it and pressured state officials to...
Homewood North shooting victim identified
A Pittsburgh man died after being shot in the city’s Homewood North neighborhood Wednesday night. Officers responded shortly after 6:30 p.m. to a ShotSpotter alert and 911 calls for multiple rounds of gunfire in the 800 block of Inwood Street. Police said that on arrival they found 34-year-old Durell L....
Allegheny County Jail corrections officers contemplate no-confidence vote against warden
The union representing corrections officers at Allegheny County Jail has authorized a no-confidence vote against Warden Orlando Harper. Brian Englert, the president of the union, said following Wednesday’s Jail Oversight Board meeting that they had already collected 150 signatures. Still, Englert said he’s not sure every officer will vote in...
Former state senator Bob Regola gets probation for DUI
Former state senator Bob Regola was ordered Wednesday to serve one year on probation for a drunken driving arrest last October in Penn Township. Regola, 59, of North Huntingdon, was charged with two counts of driving while under the influence of alcohol and three traffic offenses after a traffic stop...
Allegheny County has ‘turned a corner’ in covid pandemic, health official says
Allegheny County’s top health official said Wednesday that she is optimistic the county has “turned a corner” in the covid-19 pandemic, though disparities remain high among Black residents in every metric, including vaccination rates. “I am an optimist at heart, and I am optimistic that we have turned a corner,”...
West Deer police standoff ends with house fire
A man is in custody after holding police at bay in West Deer and setting his home on fire Wednesday, according to authorities. Police had much of the 3500 block on Huntertown Road blocked off and fire crews were called to extinguish the smokey fire shortly after noon, according to...
Gov. Wolf tours Pittsburgh company working to send cargo to the moon
Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday toured Astrobotic, a company on Pittsburgh’s North Side that is working toward sending unmanned vessels to the moon. Astrobotic CEO John Thornton told reporters that the company is scheduled for a lunar launch this year and another in 2023. If Astrobotic is able to beat...
State trooper in New Stanton charged with possessing child porn, jailed on $500K bond
A state trooper assigned to the turnpike detail in southwestern Pennsylvania remains in jail after investigators allege he possessed dozens of computer files containing child pornography, including on a personal cellphone he was carrying when arrested Tuesday at the New Stanton station. Sean R. McKenzie, 37, a corporal, is charged...
Pittsburgh-area steelworker Joseph Burgess gets front-row seat at State of the Union address
You’re minding your business, going to your job at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works, and the next thing you know, you have a front-row seat for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. How does that happen? For Joseph “JoJo” Burgess of Washington, Pa., it started with an...
Court throws out school mask lawsuits by Upper St. Clair, North Allegheny
The Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday dismissed as moot two lawsuits against local school districts over mask mandates. The court said in its order that the complaints against the Upper St. Clair and North Allegheny school districts no longer present a controversy because Allegheny County isn’t deemed...
Pittsburgh man pleads guilty for role in Downtown protests over George Floyd’s death
A man from Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes pleaded guilty Wednesday to obstructing law enforcement during Downtown protests over George Floyd’s death on May 30, 2020. Jordan Coyne, 26, agreed to an 18-month federal prison term in exchange for his plea. He will be sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Arthur...
Hempfield leaders approve rezoning of former Cherry Creek Golf Course
Hempfield supervisors this week granted a zoning change that could pave the way for residential development at the former Cherry Creek Golf Course. The zoning status will change from agricultural to suburban residential for about 100 acres of the golf course, which closed in 2015. While site plans for possible...
Biden admin: Covid should no longer ‘dictate how we live’
WASHINGTON — It’s time for America to stop letting the coronavirus “dictate how we live,” President Joe Biden’s White House declared Wednesday, outlining a strategy to allow people to return to many normal activities safely after two years of pandemic disruptions. One highlight is a new “test to treat” plan...
Shadyside’s poorly rated South Negley Avenue Bridge in ‘sufficient operating condition,’ mayor says
Pittsburgh’s poorly rated South Negley Avenue Bridge is in “sufficient operating condition,” according to Mayor Ed Gainey. Some residents have expressed concern about the bridge because wooden posts underneath the deck appear to be supporting the structure. Gainey said the wooden posts do not support the full weight of the...
Space junk on 5,800-mph collision course with moon
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The moon is about to get walloped by 3 tons of space junk, a punch that will carve out a crater that could fit several semitractor-trailers. The leftover rocket will smash into the far side of the moon at 5,800 mph (9,300 kph) on Friday, away...
Ohio woman embezzled $2.1M from Beaver credit union to buy 4-wheelers, farm animals, FBI says
An Ohio woman sentenced in January on charges of embezzling more than $2 million from a Beaver credit union spent much of it on agricultural purchases, including attempting to start a pig farm, federal investigators said. Stacey Shaw of Salem, Ohio, was sentenced to more than four years in prison...
Refugee count tops 1 million; Russians besiege Ukraine ports
KYIV, Ukraine — The number of people sent fleeing Ukraine by Russia’s invasion topped 1 million on Wednesday, the swiftest refugee exodus this century, the United Nations said, as Russian forces kept up their bombardment of the country’s second-biggest city, Kharkiv, and laid siege to two strategic seaports. The tally...
