Top Stories category, Page 1048
Pa. woman sues over slot game payout; 13 others make same claim
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — A Pennsylvania woman is suing the manufacturer of a popular online slots game, claiming it wrongly refused to pay her a $100,000 jackpot due to “a bug” in the product. New Jersey regulators revealed Friday that 14 gamblers have filed the same complaint against the company,...
Missing Penn State student found dead
A Penn State student reported missing Thursday has been found dead, according to State College Police. Police did not name the 19-year-old woman. The Centre Daily Times, citing the university and family members’ social media, identified her as Justine Gross. Police said early indications are her death was accidental. It...
Allegheny County municipalities sue PennDOT over proposed I-79 bridge tolling project
Three Allegheny County municipalities have sued PennDOT to halt a bridge project along Interstate 79 that could result in tolls being imposed there to help pay for the work. The bridge, which borders Collier and is located in Bridgeville and South Fayette, goes over Route 50. It has been targeted...
Pittsburgh, Glasgow finalize sister city partnership
The cities of Pittsburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, finalized their partnership as sister cities Thursday with an in-person ceremony. The meeting between Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Leader of Glasgow City Council Susan Aitken came after a virtual signing ceremony last year and formalized the relationship between the cities. Thursday’s meeting...
Johnson & Johnson to split into two companies
Johnson & Johnson is splitting into two companies, peeling off the division selling Band-Aids and Listerine from its medical device and prescription drug business. The world’s biggest maker of health care products, founded in 1886, said Friday the move will help improve the focus and speed of each company to...
Police charge suspect with killing 70-year-old found on train tracks in Scott
Allegheny County police charged a 28-year-old with homicide after officers found a man dead along railroad tracks in Scott on Thursday evening. Joseph Williams, 70, was pronounced dead at the scene after he was found lying on railroad tracks behind South Hills Self Storage near a homeless encampment, officials said....
Highmark CEO David Holmberg’s pay dipped to $7.8M in 2020
Highmark Health CEO David Holmberg made $7.82 million in total compensation in 2020, about $325,000 less than the previous year, records filed Friday show. The reduced compensation and bonus package amid the covid-19 pandemic follows Holmberg reaping a pay increase of about $660,000 in 2019, an 8.8% hike, according to...
Gun buyback event planned in Wilkinsburg; Giant Eagle gift certificates will be given out
The Wilkinsburg Police Department is teaming up with the Wilkinsburg Sanctuary Project for Peace in an effort to reduce the number of firearms in the community in advance of the holiday season. A gun buyback event is slated for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13 in the lobby...
2 additional suspects arrested in Aug. 14 shooting death in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover
A man and a woman from Pittsburgh have been charged in the Aug. 14 shooting death of a man in the city’s Beltzhoover neighborhood. A city SWAT team and the U.S. Marshals Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force on Thursday arrested Mariah Harrison, 19, of the city’s Fineview neighborhood, on charges...
Wilmerding’s Westinghouse Castle coming back to life with new purposeVideo
The lights were back on in the old “Westinghouse Castle” in Wilmerding Wednesday night. A few of the folks who gathered on the lawn in front of the stately Romanesque/Renaissance Revival building probably swore they saw George Westinghouse waving from his old office. The property of the General Office or...
Police: Man found dead along railroad tracks in Scott Township
Allegheny County Police homicide detectives are investigating the case of a man found dead Thursday along railroad tracks in Scott Township. County 911 dispatchers were informed just before 6 p.m. of an unresponsive man along the tracks, off Creek Street. First responders discovered the man was deceased, and county police...
Snow possible as weather turns chilly this weekend
For the first time since last spring, that four-letter weather word — snow — is being mentioned again. And it’s not one bit unusual for this time of year according to Jenna Lake, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Moon Township. “It’s very typical for this time...
A dozen Western Pa. health systems pledge to comply with vaccine mandate for hospital workers
UPMC’s top doctor affirmed Thursday that Pennsylvania’s largest health system and nongovernment employer will comply with a newly issued federal mandate that all health care workers get vaccinated for covid-19 by early January, in line with prior pledges by competing medical providers in recent months. Dr. Donald Yealy, UPMC’s chief...
Experts say Pa. mask mandate appeal seeks broader precedent
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration announced last week that it was prepared to lift the school mask mandate by Jan. 17. Why then, after the Commonwealth Court ruled Wednesday that Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam didn’t have the authority to issue the order in the first place, would the administration even...
Authentic piece of Bloomfield’s Little Italy — Donatelli’s — to close by year’s end
In the 1930s, Frank Donatelli allowed customers to stop in and pick up grocery items they needed from Donatelli’s Italian Food Center on Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield – without paying. They could give him money later. “My grandfather started accounts for Italian immigrants,” said his grandson Russell Donatelli. “They paid...
Recount triggered for open Commonwealth Court seat, with Democrat Lori Dumas leading
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A close race for one of two open seats on a key Pennsylvania appellate court has triggered an automatic...
Family purchases Old Stone Tavern in Pittsburgh’s West End, promises to restore historic landmark
A family has purchased the Old Stone Tavern in Pittsburgh’s West End neighborhood, promising to preserve and restore the historic site, according to city officials. City Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, whose district includes the West End, identified the buyers as Barbara and Steve Porter and their son Robert Porter. They...
Pennsylvania to begin counting covid reinfections
Thousands of new covid-19 cases could appear in the state Department of Health’s Monday report as Pennsylvania begins counting reinfections, officials said. For the past 19 months, state health officials have counted only one case per infected person, even if that individual contracted the virus again at some later time....
Pittsburgh Veterans Day parade honors those who served
Pittsburgh’s annual Veterans Day Parade was back in force on Thursday, with representatives of all branches of the military in attendance to honor veterans past and present. “We’re out here to say thank you to those who served before us,” said Master Sgt. Cameron Culliver as he prepared to march...
Ligonier man walks memorial-to-memorial to raise awareness about veteran suicides
In the United States, more than 6,200 veterans committed suicide in 2019. And the suicide risk for veterans that year was 52.3% higher than that of the general population, according to the Veterans Affairs Department’s 2021 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Report. Veteran David Rogers of Ligonier wants more people to...
Route 66 in Gilpin reopens after crash
Minor injuries were reported in a crash that closed part of Route 66 in Gilpin Thursday morning, state police said. Crews responded to the highway around 6:30 a.m. for reports of a crash involving a tanker truck, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI reported. The road, which was closed between Schenley and...
‘They’re priceless’: Pa. Treasury program reunites unclaimed military medals with veterans, families
More than 500 military medals and memorabilia items — from Legion of Merits to Bronze Stars — sit unclaimed inside the country’s largest working vault in Harrisburg. It is Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity’s mission to return those decorations to their rightful owners. “As a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Army...
Editorial: Veterans deserve our leaders’ respect and support beyond just Veterans Day
Everyone loves a veteran. Especially a politician. On Veterans Day, that pride and appreciation of those who stood up and did their duty when asked or stepped forward to volunteer will be on display in many corners. Flags will be flown and speeches will be given. Ceremonies will be held,...
Part of Butler Street in Lawrenceville closed after building facade fell
Hundreds of bricks were piled up on Butler Street in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood Thursday morning as cleanup began after part of a building’s façade crumbled overnight. A majority of the bricks had been piled up by midmorning, but dozens more remained strewn along the sidewalk in the 4300 block of...
Norwin High School Band goes through final tune-up before national competition
Like athletic teams preparing to play for a championship, the Norwin High School Band went through a dress rehearsal Wednesday night of the show it will perform at a national band competition in Indianapolis over the next three days. Playing before several hundred people under the lights at the high...
