Top Stories category, Page 1101
Haiti gang seeks $1M each for kidnapped U.S. missionaries
A gang that kidnapped 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group is demanding $1 million ransom per person, although authorities are not clear whether that includes the five children being held, a top Haitian official told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The official, who wasn’t authorized to speak to the...
Norwin resident seeks racial sensitivity, diversity training for school staff after students wore Confederate flag clothing
A Norwin resident upset over two high school students wearing Confederate flag clothing last week wants the district to consider instituting training programs for racial sensitivity and diversity inclusion. LaSchalle Armstrong of North Huntingdon asked school officials Monday to consider having the racial sensitivity training for the staff, who are...
Another person sues Westmoreland County, claiming injuries from Giant Slide in Mammoth Park
A woman claims she broke her nose and multiple ribs as well as suffered a concussion along with multiple abrasions and bruises more than a year ago when she became airborne and wiped out after hurtling down a metal racing slide in Mammoth Park. Michelle D. Lynch, who only lists...
Sun Country Airlines to add nonstop service between Pittsburgh International, Minneapolis
Pittsburgh International Airport will add another budget airline to its stable of carriers beginning next year when Sun Country Airlines adds a nonstop flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul, airport officials announced this week. “We’re thrilled to have Sun Country’s low-cost service for Pittsburgh travelers heading to the Twin Cities,” said Bryan...
Jury to begin deliberating fatal shooting at Club Erotica in McKees Rocks
Seth McDermit wouldn’t be dead if Charles Becher and his relatives had let McDermit and his friends leave a McKees Rocks strip club early Jan. 29, a prosecutor told an Allegheny County jury Tuesday. Instead, Becher, 24, and the two women he was with escalated the situation, Assistant District Attorney...
New Kensington mother of 4 grateful family was not home when car crashed into house
Renata Diaz calls the living room of her New Kensington home her “bright place.” But Diaz was grateful that she and her four young children — ranging from her newborn daughter to her 10-year-old son — weren’t there Monday morning. On Tuesday, Diaz said that because her 3-year-old daughter wanted...
Pittsburgh City Council approves appointments in Mayor Peduto’s waning days in office
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved more than a dozen appointments and reappointments to city boards and commissions, despite concern from at least one council member that Mayor Bill Peduto has only a few months left in office. Council approved four new appointments and 14 reappointments to several boards, including...
Johnstown man, Tyrone woman killed in head-on crash in Indiana County
A man from Johnstown and a woman from Tyrone were killed when the vehicles they were driving collided head-on early Tuesday in Indiana County, according to authorities. Dorian Caton, 22, of Johnstown, and Cassandra Lee Jones, 33, of Tyrone, each died of blunt force trauma in the crash that happened...
Rachel Levine becomes 1st openly transgender official to be named 4-star admiral
Dr. Rachel Levine is making more history. Levine, the former Pennsylvania health secretary, was ceremonially sworn in Tuesday as a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps. Levine becomes the nation’s first openly transgender four-star officer across any of the uniformed services of the United States....
Covid-19 and pregnancy: Women regret not getting the vaccine
PHENIX CITY, Ala. — Sometimes when she’s feeding her infant daughter, Amanda Harrison is overcome with emotion and has to wipe away tears of gratitude. She is lucky to be here, holding her baby. Harrison was 29 weeks pregnant and unvaccinated when she got sick with covid-19 in August. Her...
Section of I-79 in Kennedy reopens after morning crash
Authorities on Tuesday afternoon reopened a section of Interstate 79 in Kennedy that closed after a multiple-vehicle crash in the morning. The crash involving a tractor-trailer, dump truck and van happened around 9 a.m. at the Crafton/Route 60 exit. The tractor-trailer overturned and the dump truck ended up through a...
State Rep. Summer Lee launches campaign for Congress
Second-term state Rep. Summer Lee launched her campaign for Congress on Tuesday, a day after longtime U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle said he wouldn’t seek reelection in the district representing Pittsburgh and suburbs in eastern and southern Allegheny County. “For too long, communities like mine have suffered and been left behind...
McKeesport man sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on drug, weapons violations
A McKeesport man was sentenced Monday to 14 years in a federal prison in connection with drug and weapons offenses. Derrick Walker, 31, was arrested after prosecutors said he sold stamp bags of fentanyl marked “Pray for Death” to a man on June 15, 2019. That man was found dead...
Mandatory masking in schools: A nuisance, but no big deal for most students
Parents have been at the forefront of urging school administrators to take a stand against the state’s September mandate requiring mask-wearing in K-12 schools. Meanwhile, objections from students have been rare. And school administrators responsible for enforcing mask-wearing have reported little to no issues from students. After the state Department...
Parkway East reopens after tractor-trailer overturns
The Parkway East’s inbound lanes reopened Tuesday morning after an overturned tractor-trailer prompted a four-hour shutdown that snarled rush-hour traffic. The crash happened before 5 a.m. between the Edgewood/Swissvale and Wilkinsburg exits, according to PennDOT. The tractor-trailer was on its side, blocking much of the three-lane highway. All lanes were...
N. Korea confirms missile test designed for submarine launch
North Korea announced Wednesday that it had tested a newly developed missile designed to be launched from a submarine, the first such weapons test in two years and one it says will bolster its military’s underwater operational capability. The test Tuesday was the fifth missile launch since September and came...
Vaccine mix-and-match approach poised to get FDA clearance
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is poised to clear the use of a covid-19 booster from a different manufacturer than the one that supplied a patient’s original inoculation, according to people familiar with the matter. The FDA is still considering the scope of the measure, including whether to...
Shapiro makes campaign stop in Greensburg on ‘Big Fights’ bus tour
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro made a stop in Westmoreland County on Monday evening, the 15th of 18 counties he’ll visit during a six-day bus tour after his announcement last week he is running for governor. Shapiro is calling it the “Big Fights” bus tour, promoting his work exposing decades...
Westmoreland election bureau to remain open evenings and weekends through Nov. 2
Westmoreland County’s Election Bureau will remain open until 8 p.m. through the Nov. 2 election, officials said. The hours will allow additional time for the office to process mail-in ballot applications and perform other administrative duties, according to election bureau Office Manager Jessica Goughnour. The elections office willbe open daily...
Allegheny County police union files suit over vaccine mandate
The union that represents the Allegheny County Police Department is suing the county over a mandate that all executive branch employees be vaccinated against covid-19, alleging that it is a mandatory subject of collective bargaining. The complaint, filed last week in Common Pleas Court, seeks an injunction to halt the...
Hacker who sold UPMC employee data on the dark web sentenced to prison
A Michigan man was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison for hacking into UPMC databases and stealing data of more than 65,000 employees and selling it on the dark web in 2014. U.S. District Chief Judge Mark Hornak imposed the maximum sentences against Justin Sean Johnson, 30, for the...
Dillner farm in West Deer receives state investment to be preserved as farmland
Dillner Family Farms of West Deer has received a nearly $700,000 investment from the state Department of Agriculture to preserve the property as farmland through permanent conservation easement. It is one of 21 farms that received an easement last week and the only farm in Allegheny County. Dillner Family Farms...
Trump files lawsuit to block release of Jan. 6 documentsVideo
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump on Monday sought to block the release of documents related to the Jan. 6 insurrection to the congressional committee investigating the attack, challenging the decision of President Joe Biden. In a federal lawsuit, Trump said the committee request was “almost limitless in scope,” and...
Allegheny County jury begins deliberations in South Side sexual assault case
Adnan Pehlivan’s defense attorney conceded Monday that his client may have acted strangely at Kopy’s bar on Pittsburgh’s South Side the night of May 15, 2018. In closing arguments during Pehlivan’s trial on sex charges, defense attorney Lee Rothman said it was true that his client bought himself and three...
Derry Township man pleads guilty to sexual assaults of women in Ligonier, Penn Township
Two women told a Westmoreland County judge that three years after they were sexually assaulted by a man they once considered a friend, they still struggle to deal with the emotional and physical implications of the attacks and his continued freedom. “I’ve felt like a prisoner since that day,” a...
