Top Stories category, Page 1064
Police: Westmoreland prison inmate had homemade shank in jail cell
A Greensburg man in jail on charges of attempting to stab his community college teacher with a screwdriver was arraigned Tuesday for allegedly possessing a homemade weapon, or shank, in his cell. A guard reported that while on routine rounds Nov. 21, he saw a shank lying on a blanket...
Greensburg doctor gets nearly 5 years in prison for painkiller scheme
A former Greensburg doctor who pleaded guilty to health care fraud and conspiracy for illegally prescribing a potent painkiller will serve nearly five years in prison. Thomas Whitten, 71, pleaded guilty in July to taking kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company that makes Subsys, a painkiller 50 to 100...
Federal court hears arguments in lawsuit over Port Authority’s Black Lives Matter mask ban
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday in the federal lawsuit over a Port Authority of Allegheny County uniform policy banning Black Lives Matter facemasks and other political speech. In July 2020, an employee complained about Black Lives Matter facemasks being worn by some bus drivers, prompting...
2 men accused of breaking into Digital Foundry construction site in New Kensington to steal tools
New Kensington police have accused two men of breaking into the construction site of Penn State’s new innovation and manufacturing lab along Fifth Avenue to steal tools. Randy Dean McGuire Jr., 31, of Pipers Road in West Leechburg, and Kevin Paul Pierce, 32, of First Avenue in Hyde Park were...
Major outage hits Amazon Web Services; many sites affected
Amazon Web Services suffered a major outage Tuesday, the company said, limiting service at many key and popular sites. The company provides cloud computing services to many governments, universities and companies, including the Associated Press. Amazon said in a post an hour after the outage began that it had identified...
Biden-Putin square off as tension grows on Ukraine border
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin squared off Tuesday over the massive buildup of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border, the U.S. president eager to use his video call with Putin to serve notice that Moscow will face economy-jarring sanctions if it invades neighboring Ukraine. Just hours...
Pittsburgh bans parking in bike lanes, with exceptions
Pittsburgh drivers are now barred from parking in bike lanes, with some exceptions. City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed an ordinance that forbids people from parking in the city’s bike lanes. Bike lanes are now added to a list of places drivers can’t park — with other areas including crosswalks,...
Justices take up Pennsylvania’s deadly force rules for cops
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s high court may soon decide whether state law on police use of deadly force during arrests gives officers too much leeway to take the life of a fleeing suspect. The state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday on the question, which arose during the criminal...
Norwin to avoid mask mandate by holding school board meetings off school property
The Norwin School Board has taken a novel approach to dodging the state mandate that people wear masks when inside school buildings, an apparent concession to board members and several people in the audience this week who did not wear masks. Board members voted to hold their January meetings within...
Person taken to hospital after car collides with train in Duquesne
Police are investigating a crash involving a train and a vehicle on Tuesday morning in the city of Duquesne. Police, fire and emergency medical services were dispatched to the intersection of Grant Avenue and Duquesne Boulevard shortly before 4:30 a.m., according to an Allegheny County 911 supervisor. The supervisor said...
Churchill to vote this month on controversial Amazon distribution center
Churchill officials have set a date to vote on a controversial plan to turn the former George Westinghouse Research and Technology Park into an Amazon distribution center. The seven-member borough council will meet at 6 p.m. on Dec. 21 to consider a proposal from Hillwood Development to build a 2.6-million-square-foot...
Victim of fatal shooting in Rankin identified, police seeking tips about case from public
A man who was shot to death in Rankin on Monday night has been identified. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office identified the victim as Tyler Lewis Wade-Jackson, 20, of Penn Hills. The medical examiner will perform an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of his death. Officers responded...
Police investigating after dogs that got loose in Hunker found shot in New Stanton woods
State police are investigating after two pet dogs that escaped from their Hunker home last week were found dead of apparent gunshot wounds, officials said. Hunters discovered the dogs — Hagrid, 5, and Aspen, 4 — in the woods behind Calvary Baptist Church in New Stanton with gunshot wounds to...
Gov. Wolf visits Tree of Life synagogue to announce $6.6M grant to rebuild site
Officials gathered outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill on Monday, the last day of Hanukkah, to receive what leaders called a gift that will help the congregation move forward with its mission to remember, rebuild and renew. The rainy gathering of Gov. Tom Wolf, Mayor Bill...
2 Pittsburgh zoo tigers test positive for covid as zoo awaits vaccines
Two tigers at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium have tested positive for covid-19, officials said Monday as the Highland Park facility remained on a waiting list for specialty vaccines developed specifically for animals. The tigers were tested via nasal swab after they started showing symptoms, including “occasional coughing and...
Westmoreland drug court still awaiting Chew pledge as others step up with donations
A donation Commissioner Doug Chew promised in September to keep a weekend testing program in place through the end of the year for Westmoreland County’s drug court never was made, the Tribune-Review confirmed Monday. Chew, a first-term Republican, faced criticism this summer when it was disclosed he had yet to...
Pitt continues to sort through vaccine mandate
Officials at the University of Pittsburgh aren’t saying how many students, faculty and staff are facing ouster for failure to meet today’s deadline to provide proof of covid-19 vaccination or an approved exemption. Unlike officials at Excela Health System and UPMC who have temporarily put their vaccine mandates on hold,...
Westmoreland County passes 1,000 covid-related deaths since pandemic began
An ominous mark is here: 1,000 covid-related deaths in Westmoreland County, making it the ninth county in Pennsylvania to reach four digits. Two deaths reported Monday pushed the county to 1,001 lives lost, according to figures from the state Department of Health. Of those, 400 deaths occurred in nursing homes....
New York City to impose vaccine mandate on private sector employersVideo
NEW YORK — From big Wall Street banks to corner grocery stores, all private employers in New York City will have to require their workers to get vaccinated against covid-19, the mayor announced Monday in the most sweeping vaccine mandate of any state or big city in the U.S. The...
Justice Department sues to block gerrymandered Texas congressional mapVideo
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration sued Texas on Monday to block its new congressional map, accusing the state of gerrymandering to shut out nonwhites in violation of federal voting rights law. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the enforcement action at Justice Department headquarters, saying the redistricting plans Texas adopted in...
East Deer man admits to killing father in Harmar, gets 10 to 20 years in prison
An East Deer man will serve at least 10 years in state prison after pleading guilty Monday to killing his father last year. Shane Howard, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter in the Feb. 26, 2020, shooting of David Howard, 47, of Harmar. A criminal complaint filed...
No injuries in Fox Chapel fire
There were no injuries when fire tore through a Fox Chapel home Monday afternoon. Fox Chapel police Chief Michael Stevens confirmed everyone escaped the home safely. Fire crews from several surrounding communities responded to the fire shortly after 1 p.m. along Hunt Road, with more than a dozen emergency vehicles...
Charges related to Scottdale standoff withdrawn upon man’s death
A criminal complaint against a Scottdale man who was the subject of a police standoff last month was withdrawn because of his death, according to court records and prosecutors. Toxicology results are pending for Matthew B. Gribble, 44, who died Nov. 24, according to the county coroner’s office. He was...
101-year-old returns to Pearl Harbor to remember those lost
When Japanese bombs began falling on Pearl Harbor, U.S. Navy Seaman 1st Class David Russell first sought refuge below deck on the USS Oklahoma. But a split-second decision on that December morning 80 years ago changed his mind, and likely saved his life. “They started closing that hatch. And I...
2 weekly Millionaire Raffle prizes of $50K go to tickets sold in Allegheny, Westmoreland counties
Winning tickets for two $50,000 weekly prizes from the New Year’s Millionaire Raffle were sold in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, Pennsylvania Lottery officials said. The raffle features two prizes of $50,000 each week for two months leading up to the Jan. 8 drawing. The third week’s winning numbers — 00095198...
