Top Stories category, Page 1014
Allegheny County courts suspend jury trials for January amid dramatic spike in covid-19 cases
Owing to the recent dramatic increase in covid-19 cases in Allegheny County, the county’s Court of Common Pleas ordered that no jury trials will take place for the remainder of the month in any division. Beginning Dec. 23, daily positive case counts for Allegheny County began outpacing its worst previous...
Murrysville Democrats hold vigil on anniversary of attack on Capitol, call for federal voting lawVideo
On the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Bill Hohlweg of Murrysville said he’s disturbed by the lack of acknowledgement, particularly by the Republican political class, about what happened in Washington, D.C. “To me it was a disgrace,” Hohlweg said. Murrysville Export Democratic Club President...
Warrant: 5-year-old might have started deadly Philly blaze
PHILADELPHIA — Investigators are looking into whether a 5-year-old who was playing with a lighter set a Christmas tree on fire, sparking a conflagration that killed 12 family members in a Philadelphia rowhome, officials revealed Thursday. That disclosure was included in a search warrant application as city and federal investigators...
Off-duty trooper alerts Unity family to house fire
Jeffrey and Michelle Miller had just gone to sleep Wednesday when they were awakened by someone pounding and kicking at their front door along Donohoe Road in Unity. “He was actually kicking through the door, and, when I got dressed and down there, he pointed around the back toward the...
Advocates: Allegheny County Jail violating solitary confinement ban
A referendum banning the use of solitary confinement at Allegheny County Jail took effect Dec. 5. Yet, according to the Jail Oversight Board Segregation Report dated Wednesday and posted online, nearly 300 people were locked down in the jail throughout the month. Many of those people spent the entire month...
Gunfire at North Versailles custody exchange injures 2, including 6-year-old girl
A custody exchange in the North Versailles police parking lot ended in gunfire Wednesday, leaving one man and a 6-year-old girl wounded, according to police. Shawn Coles-Lundy, 29, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and five counts of reckless endangerment after police said he fired into an SUV...
Pittsburgh City Council reintroduces legislation on single-use plastic bags
Legislation calling for a ban on most single-use plastic bags was reintroduced to Pittsburgh City Council Tuesday. The measure, originally introduced by Councilwoman Erika Strassburger in November, did not pass before the end of the 2021 legislative cycle because council members were seeking to address questions about equity, enforcement and...
2 Pa. children found after police say biological parents took them from placement, fled state
Two children were found Thursday evening after state police said they were endangered when their biological parents removed them from a placement through Greene County Children and Youth Services. Trooper Forrest Allison said the children — ages 5 and 3 — were in the agency’s custody at a home placement...
Hempfield man accused by police of fathering child with 2nd 15-year-old girl
A man arrested last month on state police accusations that he fathered a child with a Hempfield teen was charged Wednesday in connection with a child born to a 15-year-old Connellsville girl in 2020, according to court papers. Tristin Michael Huffine, 21, of Hempfield remains in the Westmoreland County Prison....
Cause undetermined in Philadelphia house fire that killed 12
PHILADELPHIA — Investigators worked Thursday to determine the cause of a fire that tore through a Philadelphia rowhome, killing 12 people, including two sisters and several of their children. Specialists from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took photos and then entered the charred, three-story brick duplex,...
Ex-Norwin guidance counselor waives hearing on drug charges
A former Norwin Middle School guidance counselor accused of having illicit drugs on school property last year waived his rights to a preliminary hearing Wednesday in district court in North Huntingdon. Richard Wesley Kean, 54, of Verona was scheduled to have a hearing before District Judge Wayne Gongaware on charges...
Duquesne Light, HeroX launch contest to replace ‘Tree of Lights’ at Point State Park
Duquesne Light Co. and HeroX, a platform for crowd-sourced solutions, are looking for some bright ideas. The companies announced a competition called “Reimagining the Duquesne Light Company Tree of Lights” on Thursday. The challenge is for someone to design an iconic holiday light display to replace the “Tree of Lights”...
Powerball tickets sold in Wisconsin, California split $632M
MADISON, Wis. — Powerball tickets sold in Wisconsin and California were winners of the latest jackpot and will split $632 million, officials said. The Wisconsin Lottery didn’t immediately announce where the winning ticket in its state was sold. The winning ticket in California was sold at a 7-Eleven convenience store...
Omicron surge vexes parents of children too young for shots
Afternoons with Grammy. Birthday parties. Meeting other toddlers at the park. Parents of children too young to be vaccinated are facing difficult choices as an omicron variant-fueled surge in covid-19 cases makes every encounter seem risky. For Maine business owner Erin Connolly, the most wrenching decision involves Madeleine, her 3-year-old...
Biden decries Trump backers as ‘trying to rewrite history’ on anniversary of Capitol breach
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden accused Donald Trump and his supporters of holding a “dagger at the throat of democracy” in a forceful speech Thursday marking the anniversary of the deadly breach of the U.S. Capitol. He warned that though it didn’t succeed, the insurrection remains a serious threat to...
Trump maintains grip on GOP despite violent insurrection
WASHINGTON — As a raging band of his supporters scaled walls, smashed windows, used flagpoles to beat police and breached the U.S. Capitol in a bid to overturn a free and fair election, Donald Trump’s excommunication from the Republican Party seemed a near certainty, his name tarnished beyond repair. Some...
Harmar candy store gets innovative while figuring out how to stay afloat
A year ago, Oh How Sweet It Is owner Robert Wyant was unsure of his candy store’s future in Harmar. Wyant had to close the store for two months in March 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic. While the store was closed, Wyant missed out on his busiest holidays,...
Pittsburgh police: Boy in stable condition after head grazed by bullet
Pittsburgh police are investigating after a boy was found with a “graze-type wound” to his head after a shooting Wednesday night, officials said. Crews responded to the 5500 block of Penn Avenue near the city’s Garfield and Friendship neighborhoods around 8:45 p.m., said Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz. First...
Police investigating after man shot in North Versailles
Allegheny County Police are investigating after an unidentified man was shot in North Versailles on Wednesday night, officials said. North Versailles police responded to the 1400 block of Greensburg Pike around 8 p.m. for reports of the shooting. According to county police, the victim drove from the scene. He was...
Employee airlifted from ATI Vandergrift after suffering burns
An ATI employee was flown by medical helicopter from the company’s Vandergrift facility Wednesday after suffering burns, officials confirmed. According to spokeswoman Natalie Gillespie, the employee was performing operational maintenance when the person was burned. “Out of an abundance of caution, the employee was ‘life-flighted’ for treatment, receiving the care...
17 from Western Pa. charged so far in connection with Capitol riot
The federal government has filed criminal charges against more than 725 people in connection with its ongoing, sprawling investigation into rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Of those charged so far, 59 were from Pennsylvania and 17 came from Western Pennsylvania. Eight of the Western Pennsylvania defendants...
Monessen man to serve prison sentence for sexual assault of child
A Monessen man will serve up to seven years in prison for the sexual assault of a 7-year-old girl. Damien R. Bryan, 21, was convicted by a Westmoreland County jury in July of two felony charges of indecent assault of a person under age 13, corruption of minors and one...
U.S. urges covid boosters starting at age 12 to fight omicron
The U.S. is urging that everyone 12 and older get a covid-19 booster as soon as they’re eligible, to help fight back the hugely contagious omicron mutant that’s ripping through the country. Boosters already were encouraged for all Americans 16 and older, but Wednesday the Centers for Disease Control and...
Hospitals across Pittsburgh region brace as covid surge delivers more patients
Hospital systems across Southwestern Pennsylvania are braced for another surge of patients seeking treatment for covid-19 — though they are weathering the storm for now as cases increase and staffing shortages persist. The number of ICU covid-related patients at Allegheny Health Network hospitals is holding steady, though there has been...
Covid positivity rate in Allegheny skyrockets to 26% as omicron spreads
The covid-19 positivity rate in Allegheny County has skyrocketed over the past week as the omicron variant spreads, and Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said the fast-spreading variant likely makes up most of the county’s cases at this point. The seven-day average for positive PCR tests in the county is...
