Top Stories category, Page 1008
Mardi Gras gator a big hit at Slovak American Club in Tarentum
If you want to celebrate Mardi Gras with a genuine Louisiana delicacy, you don’t need to go to Bayou country to enjoy it. Over the weekend, the Slovak American Club in Tarentum brought a full-grown alligator to its headquarters on West Seventh Avenue for its Saturday night Mardi Gras celebration....
New York to lift statewide school mask mandate by March 2
NEW YORK — New York’s statewide masking requirement in schools will be lifted by March 2, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday, citing a dramatic drop in covid-19 infections and new federal guidelines. Hours later, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he’s considering lifting vaccine mandates on restaurants, bars and...
Inflation pain means Biden gets no credit for roaring economy
WASHINGTON — Karen Downing, a U.S. Navy retiree living on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, voted for Joe Biden in November 2020 — expecting the new president to end the covid-19 crisis and then pivot to tackling broader and long-standing social ills, like alleviating student loan debt and increasing access to mental...
Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board removes Russian-made products from state store shelves
That didn’t take long. Following a strongly worded message from Gov. Tom Wolf urging it to do so, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) on Sunday ordered Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores to remove all Russian-made booze from shelves, in a show of support for the people of Ukraine....
Jeremy Shaffer, former Ross commissioner, to run for Congress
A former Ross Township commissioner is the latest candidate to enter the race to replace U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb. Jeremy Shaffer joins at least three other Republicans vying for the seat representing Beaver County and many suburbs north and west of Pittsburgh. The boundaries of the congressional district were finalized...
Trump talks Putin, grievances as GOP focuses on midterm wins
ORLANDO, Fla. — Leading Republicans spent much of three days avoiding Donald Trump’s chief grievances or ignoring him altogether as they unified behind a midterm message designed to win back the voters the polarizing former president alienated while in office. That changed Saturday night. Facing thousands of cheering activists at...
On cusp of Biden speech, a state of disunity, funk and peril
WASHINGTON — In good times or bad, American presidents come to Congress with a diagnosis that hardly differs over the decades. In their State of the Union speeches, they declare “the state of our union is strong,” or words very much like it. President Joe Biden’s fellow Americans, though, have...
Fence being reinstalled around U.S. Capitol for Biden speech
WASHINGTON — Fencing installed around the U.S. Capitol for months after the January 2021 insurrection will be put back up before President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday as concern grows about potential demonstrations or truck convoys snarling traffic in the nation’s capital. Capitol Police Chief Tom...
How is Russia-Ukraine war linked to religion?
Ukraine’s tangled political history with Russia has its counterpart in the religious landscape, with Ukraine’s majority Orthodox Christian population divided between an independent-minded group based in Kyiv and another loyal to its patriarch in Moscow. But while there have been appeals to religious nationalism in both Russia and Ukraine, religious...
‘Saturday Night Live’ opens with tribute song to UkraineVideo
NEW YORK — “Saturday Night Live” normally kicks off each show with some humor, but the comedy sketch series opened with a tribute performance to Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian invasion. The Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York performed a “Prayer for Ukraine” during the opening of “SNL” on Saturday....
Putin puts nuclear forces on high alert, escalating tensions
KYIV, Ukraine — President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated East-West tensions by ordering Russian nuclear forces put on high alert Sunday, while Ukraine’s embattled leader agreed to talks with Moscow as Putin’s troops and tanks drove deeper into the country, closing in around the capital. Citing “aggressive statements” by NATO and...
Police make arrest following Coraopolis shooting
A Coraopolis man has been arrested after, police say, he shot another man in an apartment in the 900 block of Sixth Avenue early Sunday morning. The man who was shot is in critical condition, officials said. Coraopolis police responded to the apartment around 4:45 a.m. Sunday. They found a...
Lawsuit claims Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau failed to protect New Ken 3-year-old killed in 2020
The maternal grandfather of a nearly 3-year-old New Kensington boy beaten to death in 2020 claims the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau failed to protect the child after it received allegations he was subjected to repeated incidents of physical and sexual abuse at the hands his mother and her live-in boyfriend....
Murrysville, North Huntingdon Republicans blast new congressional map; Democrats invigorated by changes
Republicans in Westmoreland County towns included in a redrawn congressional district based in Pittsburgh said they fear their communities will be excluded from key decision-making and have a reduced voice in national politics. Meanwhile, local Democrats said the move to align the county’s largest municipalities with traditional Democratic enclaves will...
Liquor privatization in Washington state could provide lessons for Pennsylvanians
Another attempt is underway to privatize Pennsylvania’s state-run liquor system and end the monopoly of state-owned stores being the only place to buy distilled spirits. A proposed constitutional amendment introduced by state Rep. Natalie Mihalek is the latest effort in a decades-long campaign by state Republicans to do away with...
Holy Virgin Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Arnold holds special memorial service for Ukraine
As Russian troops closed in on Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv on Saturday morning and the world wondered how long the Ukrainians could hold off Vladimir Putin’s assault, 5,000 miles away in Arnold, a Ukrainian-American pastor prayed for the dead. The Very Rev. Mark Swindle stood at the altar of...
Russian troops zero in on Kyiv as 150,000 Ukrainians flee
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian troops closed in on Kyiv and skirmishes flared on its outskirts Saturday as Ukraine’s leader vowed to continue battling an invasion by a much better-armed adversary. Terrified men, women and children sought safety inside and underground amid a 39-hour curfew the government imposed to keep people...
Trout stocking is underway. Here’s how the Westmoreland fishing community is preparing for the upcoming season
There’s something fishy in Westmoreland County’s waters. During the next three months, hatchery-raised rainbow, brown and brook trout will be released into the county’s waters for anglers to catch during trout season, which opens statewide April 2. Locally, the first trout of 2022 were released Tuesday in Loyalhanna Creek. Throughout...
1 in custody following brief standoff in Export
One person was taken into custody by state police around 11:30 p.m. Friday after a brief standoff in Export. State police and Murrysville police closed a small part of the lower section of Italy Road in the borough while responding to a domestic situation. Police were called to Italy Road...
Coroner: Warren County man killed in Madison crash
A Warren County man was killed Friday night after his car veered off the road and collided with a tree in Madison, according to the Westmoreland County coroner. John D. Kelly, 73, of Sugar Grove Township was the lone occupant of the vehicle when it crashed in the 300 block...
DA’s office investigating district judge accused of delay in signing arrest warrant in Uber driver homicide case
Detectives with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office are investigating a local district judge a week after his failure to sign a warrant in a homicide case led to a three-hour delay in the suspect’s arrest. Magisterial District Judge Mik Pappas told the Tribune-Review on Friday that he was never...
CDC loosens mask guidance, Pa. health chief says state moving into ‘next phase’ of living with covid
As the federal government loosens masking guidance for a majority of healthy Americans, Pennsylvania officials said they will follow suit while keeping an eye on covid-related hospital admissions and case counts should they begin to rise again. “Pennsylvania is moving in the right direction,” said Acting Secretary of Health Keara...
Woman accused of being drunk when she crashed into New Kensington hotel that caught fire
Police accuse a woman of being drunk when she crashed into a New Kensington hotel early Sunday, which caught the building on fire when her car sheared a natural gas line, authorities say. Jaden Saje Price, 27, of the 2600 block of Chestnut Street, Lower Burrell, was charged with driving...
CDC: Most Americans can stop wearing masks as risk of severe covid infection eases
Most Americans live in places where healthy people, including students in schools, can safely stop wearing masks under new U.S. guidelines released Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlined the new set of measures for communities where covid-19 is easing its grip, with less of a focus on...
Man sues, alleging wrongful imprisonment for deadly fire in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield
A man who said he spent nearly 14 years wrongfully imprisoned for a fire that killed three people in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood is suing the prosecutor and two police officers who led the investigation. Daniel Carnevale, 58, filed the federal lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution, fabrication of evidence and civil conspiracy...
