Top Stories category, Page 1061
High winds topple scaffolding at Etna construction site across the street from houses, no one hurt
Etna residents who live across a narrow street from an industrial building being overhauled were evacuated Saturday when high winds pulled scaffolding from the building. The incident took place at about 4:30 p.m. near the intersection of Butler and Bridge streets. There was a fire at the three-story industrial building...
Diocese of Pittsburgh announces Central Catholic alum will return to school as principal
The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has announced a Central Catholic alumnus will be the school’s next principal. Brother Michael Andrejko, FSC, has been named the next principal of the school in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, formally beginning in the position on July 1. A brother for more than 30 years, Andrejko...
GOP leaders call for task force to meet to fight covid surge; Wolf says it still meets
A group of key Republican leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, have urged Gov. Tom Wolf to reconvene a state covid-19 joint task force as hospitals across Pennsylvania are besieged by new cases and shrinking bed space. “The information-sharing capabilities established through the development of the task force helped...
Wilkinsburg community group files annexation petition to court, seeking to be added to Pittsburgh
The Wilkinsburg community organization behind the push for Pittsburgh to annex this neighboring borough submitted a petition to an Allegheny County court Friday, effectively initiating the process. The Wilkinsburg Community Development Corp. in the summer gathered the required number of signatures from Wilkinsburg residents in favor of an annexation, despite...
Medical examiner identifies West Mifflin mother who police say was murdered by son
The West Mifflin mother who was found dead in her backyard Friday after, according to police, her son murdered her has been identified. Officials said the woman was Helene Nulty, 52. Her cause of death is listed as ligature strangulation, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. Her son,...
Kentucky governor: Storms may have killed at least 70 people
MAYFIELD, Ky. — A monstrous tornado killed dozens of people in Kentucky and the toll was climbing Saturday after severe weather ripped through at least five states, leaving widespread devastation. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said upwards of 70 may have died when a twister touched down for more than 200...
Westmoreland boosts tourism with nearly $550,000 in grants to 44 institutions, groups
Westmoreland County’s tourism industry will get a boost of almost $550,000 next year with grants to 44 entities that draw tourists to the county. They include organizations, festivals, museums, theaters, historical societies, hotels and restaurants. Officials say the tourism industry is the second strongest economic driver in the county. The...
Historic Penn Salt Co. houses in Natrona being torn down; museum planned to preserve history
Work began this month on Federal Street in Harrison’s Natrona neighborhood to tear down two historic Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing houses from the 1850s. Harrison Commissioner Chuck Dizard said the houses were falling in under their own weight. “They were in terrible condition and unsafe for the neighborhood,” he said. The...
FBI agent said Pittsburgh man’s Twitter posts were intended to intimidate investigators
Part of FBI Special Agent Nicholas Edquist’s job as a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force was to review social media accounts for possible threats. In the fall of 2020, as he was involved in an investigation into a threat made a year earlier on YouTube, Edquist had attempted...
West Mifflin man arrested, accused of killing his mother
A West Mifflin man has been arrested for allegedly murdering his mother and discarding her body in garbage bags in her back yard. Jonathan Nulty, 21, is charges with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Allegheny County Police said the case began as a missing person...
Westmoreland water authority: Adamsburg waterline break won’t be fixed until at least late Saturday
Crews finished repairing a waterline break along Edna Road in Hempfield on Saturday night, according to the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. The waterline break was reported at about 3 p.m. Friday, leaving about 60 customers without water service. The repair was completed around 7:30 Saturday evening, according to MAWC...
Rest of December to feel more like September in Western Pa.
It’s beginning to look a lot like…spring? Maybe the alternative rock group Counting Crows should change the name of their hit song to “A Warm December.” Temperatures are expected to reach the mid 60s by Saturday and after a slight cool down to the mid 40s on Sunday, we’ll be...
2 dozen Arnold Manor residents displaced by fire expected to return to high-rise Tuesday
Residents displaced by a fire Thursday at Arnold Manor public housing in Arnold are expected to return to their apartments next week. The 76-unit high-rise complex, built in the 1970s, was evacuated about 2 p.m. Thursday when a fire erupted in apartment No. 411. The American Red Cross and a...
Beaver County district attorney consulted with state police before shooting, then ruled it justified
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 — In 2016, after eight hours of a violent standoff with a man in Beaver County, the Pennsylvania State Police...
Pa. Supreme Court upholds lower court decision throwing out mask mandate
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday affirmed a lower court ruling that the state’s acting secretary of health did not have the authority to issue a mandatory mask mandate for schools in August. The ruling ends the mandate effective immediately. Going forward, school districts can implement their own masking policies...
Georgia man arrested in Rostraver for using fake ID to buy iPhones, Airpods
A Georgia man who was being questioned Thursday by Rostraver police for allegedly using false information to purchase two iPhones at a Verizon store was arrested after he began struggling with an officer, according to court documents. Christopher D. Pace, 43, of Snellville, Ga., was arrested by township police for...
Explainer: Why U.S. inflation is so high, and when it may ease
WASHINGTON — Inflation is starting to look like that unexpected — and unwanted — houseguest who just won’t leave. For months, many economists had sounded a reassuring message that a spike in consumer prices, something that had been missing in action in the U.S. for a generation, wouldn’t stay long....
Vandergrift man accused of strangling girlfriend when she caught him using dating app
Vandergrift police say a man beat and strangled his girlfriend after she discovered him using the Tinder dating app, authorities say. Steven Joseph Trenga, 26, of Wallace Street in Vandergrift was charged with a felony count of strangulation and a lesser charge of simple assault in connection with a Dec....
Greensburg Salem parents speak out on school safety, board president’s Facebook post about Kyle Rittenhouse
Greensburg Salem parents have raised concerns about school safety following a recent middle school incident and a board member’s Facebook post referencing the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide case in Wisconsin. Speaking at the December school board meeting this week, Valerie Stillwagon criticized district administrators for not informing herself and other parents...
Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg leaders split on potential annexation
A meeting held Thursday on a proposal for Pittsburgh to annex neighboring Wilkinsburg revealed clear divisions of opinion on the would-be move, even as details about the proposal remain largely unclear. “I don’t feel that I — or any of us on council or members of the public — have...
Court won’t stop Texas abortion ban, but lets clinics sue
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday left in place Texas’ ban on most abortions, but ruled that clinics can sue over the state’s most restrictive abortion law in the nation. The court acted more than a month after hearing arguments over the law that makes abortion illegal after cardiac...
Van Gogh hot air balloon hovers over Oakland
Vincent Van Gogh has been called a larger-than-life character, and on Friday morning in Schenley Park, he was — kind of. A 92-foot-tall Vincent Van Gogh hot air balloon made a stop on Flagstaff Hill in Oakland. It was one of the balloon’s first stops as it travels around the...
David A. Regoli, respected lawyer, former judge from Lower Burrell, dead at 56
Tributes began rolling in on social media hours before the family announced the sad news. David A. Regoli, 56, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. A lawyer, former Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court judge and Lower Burrell councilman, his unexpected death due to complications from a routine cardiac procedure...
Penn-Trafford football team gets off to Hershey in styleVideo
Penn-Trafford High School students, family and community members sent their WPIAL championship football team off in style Friday morning as they cross the state seeking further glory. The Warriors will play in their first PIAA Class 5A championship game at 7 p.m. against Imhotep Charter at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey....
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend, Dec. 10-12
It’s the weekend. Here are some ways to spend it. Wintergarden event The 10th annual holiday show from 6 to 10 p.m. on Sunday by Jason Kendall Productions will include soul, gospel, rock, folk and blues. The event held inside the Wintergarden at PPG Place, Downtown, benefits the Greater Pittsburgh...
