Top Stories category, Page 1091
Westmoreland pension fund at all-time high with $675 million banked
Stock market advances and a cash infusion pushed Westmoreland County’s pension fund to a record level, with more than $675 million socked away to pay benefits for the county’s 1,400 retirees. Proceeds from a $126 million bond purchase this summer hit the pension fund in August, a move county officials said...
Experts: UPMC’s reputation is safe despite federal false billing allegations
UPMC likely will not be significantly impacted by news this week that the U.S. Attorney’s office is suing the health system and its head of cardiothoracic surgery, according to experts in health care marketing. On Thursday, the federal government filed a civil action against Dr. James Luketich and UPMC, alleging...
Alle-Kiski Valley employers across all business sectors looking for workers, employment agency says
PA CareerLink Alle-Kiski said Friday it has received more than 300 job postings in the past month. “Jobs are available from virtually every business sector,” said Phil Grove, account representative for PA CareerLink Alle-Kiski. Jobs range from ones for which applicants need no previous experience to ones requiring advanced degrees,...
Trafford man dies in motorcycle crash
The Westmoreland County Coroner’s office has released the identity of a man killed early Saturday in a motorcycle crash on Mt. Pleasant Road in Hempfield Township. The coroner’s office said Tanner B. Van Woundenberg, 19, of Trafford was headed north on Mt. Pleasant Road on a 2008 Yamaha motorcycle when,...
‘Where the plane went down’: Shanksville remains small, quiet, but forever connected to 9/11 and United Flight 93Video
When someone from Shanksville travels and is asked where they’re from, the question typically gets answered with a generality: “Pittsburgh” — even if they hail from about 80 miles east, in Somerset County. If pressed, they get more specific. Shanksville. Where is that? “Where the plane went down,” said Robin...
‘Hallowed ground’: Families of those on United jetliner, Shanksville community and others forged resolve to see Flight 93 National Memorial come to lifeVideo
Fate threw them together. Two decades later, the unlikely coalition of Flight 93 family members, residents of Somerset County and the National Park Service that worked for years to preserve the story of what happened aboard that United Airlines jetliner will meet this week at the Flight 93 National Memorial,...
3 injured in shooting in Homewood South
Three people were hurt in a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Homewood South neighborhood Saturday afternoon, Pittsburgh police said. According to police, officers responded to alerts for multiple rounds fired in the 7300 block of Hamilton Avenue and 500 block of Panke Avenue at 3:20 p.m. The victims, two men and a...
Centenarian Celebration: Upper Burrell woman’s motto are words to live by
“Eat Right. Think Right. Do Right. Live Right.” That’s been Marion Yates’ motto for 100 years. The Upper Burrell resident turned 100 Thursday. A birthday celebration of her 10 decades of life was held Saturday at United Presbyterian Church of New Kensington. It’s the church she has belonged to (including...
The muddier the better: Runners and the adventurous slog up and down Seven Springs mountain just for funVideo
Miranda Veliky was caked in mud Saturday morning, and she didn’t care a bit. Veliky, 23, of New Stanton was one of about 1,000 athletes who jumped, swam, climbed and toppled through mud and water and along the wooded trails that traversed up, over and down the Laurel Mountains during...
Murrysville native ‘truly gained a family’ through Penn State THONVideo
Penn State’s THON initiative — raising money to support the families of children affected by childhood cancer, culminating in a 46-hour dance marathon at the school’s main campus — sounded like a lot of fun to Emily Vannatta of Murrysville. The 2015 Franklin Regional graduate, who now lives in Arkansas,...
Navy declares 5 missing sailors dead after helicopter crash
SAN DIEGO — The U.S. Navy declared five missing sailors dead nearly a week after a helicopter crashed in the Pacific Ocean, shifting the search for them to a recovery operation on Saturday. The move followed more than 72 hours of coordinated rescue efforts and nearly three dozen search and...
Former Steeler, broadcaster Tunch Ilkin dies after fight with ALS
Tunch Ilkin, the former broadcaster and tackle whose hard-nosed play on the football field was matched by his kindness and generosity off it, died Saturday after a year-long fight with ALS, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced. He was 63. Ilkin had a four-decade association with the Steelers, the first 13 as...
Police: Lower Burrell man enters stranger’s home, sleeps on couch
Lower Burrell police have charged a city man with illegally entering a city home, sleeping on the couch and then leaving the house wearing a pair of blue athletic shoes owned by one of the residents. Nicholas Sabo, 19, is charged with criminal trespass, loitering and prowling and public drunkenness....
Police: Man in critical condition after ATV crash in Pittsburgh
A man was hospitalized in critical condition after his off-road vehicle crashed in an alley in Pittsburgh. Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said the crash occurred around 8:15 p.m. Friday along the 1200 block of Faust Street. Emergency responders found the man on the ground several yards behind his overturned...
Loaded handgun found in purse at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport checkpoint
A Cambria County woman was stopped by Transportation Security Administration officers on Friday when they discovered a loaded gun in her purse at the security checkpoint at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity. It was the fifth handgun caught at the airport so far in 2021, up from three found...
Butler County parents among those in lawsuit challenging Pa.’s new school mask mandate
The Republican leader of the state Senate and a group of parents — some of which are from the Butler Area School District — filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to overturn the Wolf administration’s new mask mandate for Pennsylvania schools. Gov. Tom Wolf’s spokesperson dismissed what she called the GOP’s...
‘Body’ found on Duquesne hillside turns out to be hoax
Some utility workers received quite a scare Friday morning when they discovered what appeared to be a body over a steep hillside at the Duquesne Place Drive apartment complex. Instead it turned out be a silicone replica. According to a Duquesne Police Facebook post, patrol officers arrived shortly after 7:30...
Arizona man who wore horns in Capitol riot pleads guilty to felony
PHOENIX — An Arizona man who sported face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns when he joined the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge and wants to be released from jail while he awaits sentencing. Jacob Chansley,...
Teen accused of shooting 3 in Arnold ordered to stand trial as an adultVideo
Two men testified Friday that they were shot when a 15-year-old Arnold boy opened fire on a group of people with an assault-style rifle following an argument involving the teen’s sister. Ikquan Hassain Amid Lynn was ordered to stand trial on multiple counts of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and simple...
Pa. to refund $19M to 109,000 people it overcharged in unemployment error
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 — The state Department of Labor and Industry will pay out more than $19 million in refunds after it overcharged...
Pittsburgh police announce charges against 4 in connection with ATV, dirt bike ‘ride-outs’
Pittsburgh police this week made their first arrests in connection with dozens of “ride-outs” across the city – groups riding off-road and all-terrain vehicles dangerously and haphazardly through city neighborhoods and parks. Pittsburgh and several other law enforcement agencies formed a taskforce last month in response to the issue, which...
Tree of Life director disputes Biden’s claim he visited after 2018 attack
Tree of Life synagogue’s executive director told a news outlet that President Joe Biden did not visit the synagogue in the aftermath of the Oct. 27, 2018, attack, despite a claim to that effect made by the president on Thursday. Barb Feige’s statement to the New York Post came in...
Grocery store, car wash proposed for former New Kensington Kmart site
A developer wants to build a grocery store and car wash on the former Kmart site in New Kensington in what would be a $1.8 million project, according to a paperwork submitted to the city. Demolition of the former Kmart store on Tarentum Bridge Road began recently. The store closed...
Woman sues Westmoreland County, claiming injuries from Giant Slide in Mammoth Park
A woman is suing Westmoreland County and its bureau of parks and recreation, claiming they’re liable for injuries she suffered more than a year ago while riding a slide in the Giant Slide Complex at Mammoth Park. Melissa A. Cooley of Allegheny County is seeking in excess of $30,000 in...
Sen. Toomey says it’s ‘completely unacceptable’ for GOP to pick Trump in 2024
Don’t make the same mistake twice, GOP. U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania conservative who is retiring next year, said that Republicans must not back Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee in 2024 because of his “completely unacceptable” effort to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden. “After what...
