Top Stories category, Page 1122
Ligonier Valley Historical Society holds living history weekend at Compass InnVideo
History lovers who braved intermittent rain showers Saturday afternoon were transported back to the 1800s as the Ligonier Valley Historical Society presented its second living history weekend this year. The event was held at the Compass Inn Museum in Laughlintown. It featured members of Ship’s Company, a Maryland-based maritime reenactment...
Alle-Kiski Valley firefighters practice driving firetrucks in tight spaces
Parallel parking is often the most difficult part of any driver training course — staying between the orange barrels, learning to use your side mirrors and hoping you don’t hit the curb. Now imagine doing it in a 40-ton fire rescue truck. “This is like a driving test, but way...
Kiski Township traffic stop turns up drugs, guns
Police arrested an Indiana man this week after a traffic stop turned up drugs and guns, authorities said. Sahid Nasir-Evans, 27, faces charges related to firearms violations and possession of marijuana, said Kiski Township Police Sgt. Thomas Dessell. Officers stopped Nasir-Evans just after 1 a.m. Monday on Route 56 near...
Western Pa. among nationwide areas seeing dangerous rise in opioid epidemic
Throughout the height of the covid-19 pandemic, it seemed as if the opioid epidemic had come to a sudden halt — largely because coronavirus headlines dominated newsstands, television broadcasts and everyday conversation. The latest overdose death figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, convey a starkly opposite...
Westmoreland places ‘leveraged bet on market’ to shore up county pension debt
Westmoreland County’s largest ever bond issue, which will put taxpayers on the hook for $173.6 million, won’t lay water or sewer lines, pave roads, fix aging bridges or set a single steel beam. Instead, debt on the $126.48 million in bonds to be paid by taxpayers over the next 20...
Astrobotic’s MoonRanger rover a step closer to lunar mission
On the 52nd anniversary of the day Apollo 11 blasted off and headed for its historic moon landing, Astrobotic has taken a “giant leap” toward its own moon landing. The Pittsburgh-based aerospace company has announced the autonomous rover MoonRanger it partnered with Carnegie Mellon University to create, has passed another...
Gilpin man hospitalized after large tree falls on his campground homeVideo
A Gilpin man was taken to a local hospital for treatment after a tree fell on his porch Friday. Neighbors Lori and Brian Barbieri said they heard a snap as the late-afternoon storms died down and watched as the tree came down across their neighbor’s home in the Kiski River...
‘A blaring siren’ for Democrats after ruling halts DACA
Immigrants and advocates are urging Democrats and President Joe Biden to quickly act on legislation to protect young immigrants after a federal judge in Texas on Friday ruled illegal an Obama-era program that prevents the deportation of thousands of them brought into the U.S. as children. Plaintiffs have vowed to...
McKeesport residents warned not to drink tap water after commercial building fire
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County is asking residents in the Lower 10th Ward of McKeesport to not use the tap water after firefighting foam may have been sucked into a fire hydrant as crews battled a blaze at McKeesport Auto Body on Friday night. According to an advisory posted...
Man who shot at Pittsburgh officers said he wanted them to kill him, gets 15 to 30 years
Issa Abdus-Salaam had a difficult childhood, including being moved from his home in Philadelphia at age 7 to live with strangers in Senegal, West Africa. Although his parents eventually joined him four years later, it wasn’t before he had lived in filth, saw a man beaten to death in the...
Latrobe police say neighbors’ complaints led to drug arrests
Multiple complaints this month over an influx of pedestrian and vehicle traffic at a Latrobe home resulted in the arrests of a couple Thursday by city police on charges of trafficking cocaine and heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia. William E. Schall, 34, and Bobbi Rae Ragazzini, 26, who live...
Brookline couple faces charges after 6-week-old tests positive for cocaine
A Brookline couple faces charges after doctors discovered cocaine in the system of their 6-week-old infant, according to charges filed by Pittsburgh police Thursday. Matthew Bell and Lindsey Satterfield both face charges related to drug possession, assault and child endangerment. According to the criminal complaint, Satterfield took her infant son...
Owners of Vandergrift home destroyed in blaze thankful to be alive
Robert Harvey Mills and his wife Caroel Mills watched a fire destroy their Vandergrift home of 51 years Thursday morning. They helplessly stood by as their their home on Holland Street burned — along with two neighboring houses. Still, the couple said they’re thankful to be alive, and determined not...
Police: Desperate notes in Walmart, Fallingwater led to woman held captive
The first note appeared just over a week ago. Stuck to a mirror in the women’s restroom at the Walmart on Washington Pike in Scott, a handwritten note pleaded for help, police said. The writer, a woman, wrote that she was being held captive by a man named Corey Brewer...
Former Excela nurse accused of stealing pain pills from patients
A former nurse at Excela Health Westmoreland hospital in Greensburg was arrested this week by the state Attorney General’s office on accusations of stealing prescription painkillers from patients over a five-month period in 2020, according to court papers. Joel M. Gazal, 34, of North Versailles, was arraigned on two counts...
Pennsylvania jobless rate down slightly, payrolls up in June
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate and labor force shrank slightly in June as payrolls crept up, according to state figures released Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point to 6.9% from May’s adjusted rate, the state Department of Labor and Industry said. May’s initial rate had been...
Wolf admin sat on 2017 probe of unemployment error but denies ‘cover-up’
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 — Pennsylvania’s top labor official said Thursday there was never an attempt within her department to deliberately conceal an error...
Pink Day fundraiser founder contracts cancer, yet ups game with new Leechburg event
A Leechburg woman diagnosed with cancer hasn’t let personal hardship diminish her passion for fundraising. Sherry Price, founder and organizer of Pink Day, was diagnosed with breast cancer in February during a routine mammogram. “Never in a million years did I think I’d get breast cancer,” said Price, 57. She...
Former industrial space in Etna to become ‘tech flex’ hub 51 Bridge Street
A former steel pipe manufacturing space in Etna is set to become a “tech flex” hub called 51 Bridge Street, the developer AM Group announced Thursday. “The borough of Etna is rooted with a strong history during Pittsburgh’s steel production and 51 Bridge Street will revitalize and transform it into...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County: July 16-18
A good laugh Latrobe Elks will offer its first-ever comedy show at 8 p.m. Friday at the Elks golf club, off Route 981 in Derry Township. “Sips N Giggles Comedy Night” will feature Pittsburgh-based comedians Mike Travers and Derrick Knopsnyder, who have been performing their show across the country since...
Retirement plans should include physical, emotional well-being
Retirement planning often seems to center around finances: How much is in my 401(k)? When should I start drawing Social Security? Will I be able to afford my current lifestyle? But retirement is about more than just money. It’s also about “where you want to go and what you want...
Labor Day Parade returns to Pittsburgh in September
Pittsburgh’s annual Labor Day Parade is returning this year after it was cancelled in 2020 because of the covid-19 pandemic. The Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council has announced the parade is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 6, starting at 10 a.m. Pittsburgh’s Labor Day Parade is one of the largest and oldest...
Fully vaccinated Americans may enter Canada as of mid-August
TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that Canada could start allowing fully vaccinated Americans into Canada as of mid-August for non-essential travel and should be in a position to welcome fully vaccinated travelers from all countries by early September. Trudeau spoke with leaders of Canada’s provinces and...
Another Pa. county raises objection to lawmaker’s election audit
HARRISBURG — Another Pennsylvania county targeted for an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of the 2020 presidential election being pushed by former President Donald Trump is raising strong objections to a sweeping demand for access to its voting equipment and records. York County’s three commissioners — two Republican and one Democrat —...
Mt. Pleasant massage parlor owner facing deportation seeks withdrawal of human trafficking plea
A former Mt. Pleasant massage parlor owner who served more than a year in jail for human trafficking told a Westmoreland County judge Thursday she did not understand English well enough to plead guilty in late 2019. Hui Xu, 46, testifying through a translator, claimed she did not fully comprehend...
