Top Stories category, Page 1044
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...
Whistleblower lawsuit filed against Ruffs Dale company
A former quality assurance director at a Ruffs Dale in-home care company contends in a federal lawsuit he was fired after reporting allegations that covid-relief funds were misappropriated and staff-training documents were falsified. Bryan Kantorczyk claimed Gene Cook Supports Inc. — the company where he worked for more than six...
Recalling Jan. 6: A national day of infamy, half remembered
NEW YORK — Beneath a pale winter light and the glare of television cameras, it seemed hard not to see the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot for what it was. The violent storming of the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters bent on upending the election of Joe Biden was as...
Mark Patrick Flaherty, former Allegheny County controller, dies from covid complications
Mark Patrick Flaherty came from a well-known family of Democratic public servants. His father served as an Allegheny County commissioner and a state Commonwealth Court judge. His uncle was Pittsburgh mayor, deputy attorney general and later a county commissioner. It seemed inevitable then, that he would follow in their footsteps....
Allegheny, Westmoreland counties preparing for region’s 1st snowfall of year
The season’s first substantial snowfall appears to be heading for Western Pennsylvania, and the Allegheny and Westmoreland County public works departments want residents to know they’re ready. Snow is expected to begin Thursday night and continue into Friday morning with a total accumulation of about 1 to 3 inches, according...
Pittsburgh City Council must vote whether Wilkinsburg annexation will appear on borough’s ballot
Pittsburgh City Council must vote within three months to decide whether the city’s possible annexation of Wilkinsburg will be on the neighboring borough’s ballot later this year, a judge ruled Wednesday. The ruling came as supporters of the potential merger, in anticipation of the ruling, gathered outside the City-County Building...
Hospitals across Pittsburgh region brace as covid surge delivers more patients
Hospital systems across Southwestern Pennsylvania, including UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 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. Nationally, some experts say the focus should be on the health of...
Pa. authorities cracking down on unemployment benefits fraud, some reported in Westmoreland
State officials are examining the source of a reported increase in efforts to steal unemployment compensation benefits, which they are trying to thwart by adding a new process for identity verification. Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier said the agency is working with law enforcement to investigate and...
Beaver County men get 30 days behind bars for their participation in Capitol riot
Two Beaver County men who roamed around inside the U.S. Capitol for 25 minutes during the Jan. 6, 2021, riots and bragged about smoking marijuana in the building will serve 30 days behind bars. Mitchell P. Vukich, 26, of New Brighton, and Nicholas Perretta, 27, of Baden, were sentenced in...
Pine-Richland considers segregating masked, unmasked students
Faced with soaring coronavirus cases and a decision by the Pine-Richland school board to make masks optional for staff and students, district officials are now considering a plan that would segregate masked and unmasked children in classrooms. Citing the state Supreme Court ruling that the Pennsylvania Department of Health overstepped...
Treasure hunters sue for records on FBI’s Civil War gold dig in Pennsylvania
Treasure hunters who believe they found a huge cache of fabled Civil War-era gold in Pennsylvania are now on the prowl for something as elusive as the buried booty itself: government records of the FBI’s excavation. Finders Keepers filed a federal lawsuit against the Justice Department over its failure to...
