Top Stories category, Page 1149
With $10B to spend, advocates press Wolf, Pa. lawmakers to prioritize poor people
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 — As Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-led legislature begin the final month of budget negotiations, a coalition of groups...
Scratch-off ticket worth $3 million sold in Ligonier
A scratch-off ticket worth $3 million was sold to a 30-year-old Indiana County man at the Giant Eagle in Ligonier, the Pennsylvania Lottery announced Tuesday. The ticket sold was a MONOPOLY 100X scratch-off, the lottery said. The store at 117 South Walnut St. will receive a $10,000 bonus for selling...
Allegheny County election results certified; Moreno still undecided on running as Republican
Voters may have a choice in the fall Pittsburgh mayoral election, if Tony Moreno claims the Republican nomination he earned by getting 1,379 write-in votes in the May primary. Moreno has previously said he was awaiting for certification of the results before announcing whether he will continue his campaign for...
Senate report details sweeping failures around Jan. 6 attack
WASHINGTON — A Senate investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has uncovered broad government, military and law enforcement missteps surrounding the violent attack, including a breakdown within multiple intelligence agencies and a lack of training and preparation for Capitol Police officers who were quickly overwhelmed by...
Alcohol seized from Strip District bar Savoy, owner arrested
A Strip District restaurant was raided last week and its owner arrested on misdemeanor charges, according to police and court records. Officers from the state Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement received several tips that Savoy on Penn Avenue was operating without a valid liquor license. Officers said the situation was...
Swaths of internet go down after cloud outage
LONDON — Multiple websites went offline briefly across the globe Tuesday after an apparent outage at the cloud service company Fastly, revealing how critical a handful of companies running the internet’s plumbing have become. Dozens of sites including the New York Times, CNN, some Amazon sites, Twitch, Reddit, the Guardian,...
Pa. advocates optimistic about new FDA-approved Alzheimer’s disease drug; doctors mixed on whether it will work
Advocates for nearly 300,000 Pennsylvanians living with Alzheimer’s disease celebrated the federal government’s approval Monday of a controversial new drug some say could prove “life-changing” for those showing early signs of the memory-destroying disorder. Though debate persists over just how well the novel treatment could work, the Food Drug and...
‘A lot of anxiety’ for Democrats as Biden agenda stalls
WASHINGTON — Hopes for a big infrastructure investment are teetering. An ambitious elections and voting bill is all but dead. Legislation on police brutality, gun control and immigration has stalled out. After six months of Democratic control in Washington, the party’s progressive wing is growing increasingly restless as campaign promises...
Leader in Pittsburgh Pagans Motorcycle Club pleads guilty to violating firearms laws
A top leader in the Pagans Motorcycle Club Pittsburgh chapter pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to one count of violating firearms laws, according to the Department of Justice. Patrick Rizzo, 46, of McKees Rocks, vice president of the club, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Robert J. Colville....
Ex-college athlete sentenced for burning Minneapolis police station
MINNEAPOLIS — A U.S. District Court judge sentenced the last of the four men who have pleaded guilty to burning a Minneapolis police station last summer to two years and five months in federal prison and to help pay $12 million in restitution for the damage. In court Monday morning,...
Capitol riot suspect blames ‘pack of lies,’ seeks release
DES MOINES, Iowa — A Des Moines, Iowa, man pictured prominently with a QAnon shirt ahead of a crowd of insurgents inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack asked a judge on Monday to release him from jail, saying “he feels deceived, recognizing that he bought into a...
Bathroom hidden camera earns North Huntingdon man jail term
A North Huntingdon man will serve up to 23 months in jail for recording video of female co-workers in the bathroom of a business where they worked and eavesdropping on conversations another had with a supervisor. Nicholas Traill, 35, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of burglary, invasion of privacy, possession...
Police say video refutes Greensburg man’s alibi in woman’s murder
The man prosecutors contend killed a Vandergrift woman and burned her remains four years ago claimed he was at home and asleep when she died, a detective testified Monday. Westmoreland County Detective Ray Dupilka said Walter Cable admitted he was with 34-year-old Ronny Cable the night she disappeared but that...
Short-term parking rates rise at Pittsburgh airport while new economy lot offers $7 daily rate
Parking costs for drivers spending less than an hour at Pittsburgh International Airport will double compared to earlier this year under new parking rates put into place Monday. But to serve fliers seeking a low-cost daily rate, the airport created a new economy lot for a $7 flat rate. A...
Washington Township centenarian credits ‘good Italian genes,’ active lifestyle for longevityVideo
Frank Pugliano Sr. of Washington Township doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet. The new centenarian remains almost entirely self-sufficient, including handling his weekly lawn-mowing duties on his own. “I have to trim too,” Pugliano said. Pugliano, a World War II veteran, celebrated his 100th birthday with a large,...
Leslie Rossi, Abby Major break records as they take office in Harrisburg
Pennsylvania’s newest lawmakers, state Reps. Leslie Rossi, R-Unity, and Abby Major, R-Ford City, are breaking molds with every step they take. The two, who won special elections last month to fill unexpected vacancies, were sworn into office Monday in Harrisburg. They are the first women to represent, respectively, the 59th...
Zappala updates policy on how prosecutors should deal with discrimination claims; rescinds policy against Raiford
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. issued updated guidance to prosecutors in his office Sunday detailing how they should deal with allegations of discrimination. A spokesman for the office said the new policy rescinds a previous one issued against defense attorney Milton Raiford. That policy forbade prosecutors from...
Carbon dioxide levels hit 50% higher than preindustrial time
The annual peak of global heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air has reached another dangerous milestone: 50% higher than when the industrial age began. And the average rate of increase is faster than ever, scientists reported Monday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the average carbon dioxide level for...
Fire-damaged Gulf Tower undergoing repairs in Downtown Pittsburgh
The Gulf Tower won’t be disappearing from the Downtown Pittsburgh skyline anytime soon, its owners said Monday. The 89-year-old, 44-story Art Deco skyscraper at 707 Grant St. was damaged May 19 when an electrical fire broke out in a sub-basement. Last Wednesday, the city’s Permits, Licenses and Inspections department posted...
Police accuse Irwin florist of hiding camera in arrangement to take nude photos of woman
Police charged a 57-year-old Irwin florist with possessing obscene materials, saying he hid a video recording device in a floral arrangement he placed in a woman’s bedroom and downloaded nude images of her to his computer, according to court papers. North Huntingdon police also charged Eric J. Belak, a township...
Gun rights supporters rally outside Pennsylvania Capitol
HARRISBURG — A couple hundred gun rights enthusiasts attended an annual pro-gun rally on the Pennsylvania Capitol steps Monday, with many pushing for a proposal to let anyone who can legally possess firearms to conceal them without a license or permit when carrying them in public. The organizer of the...
Fallingwater’s artist in residence to showcase American dream through Black American lives
A portrait of longtime Fallingwater cook Elsie Henderson will be a highlight of a 2022 exhibition at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art. “Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance,” scheduled for Jan. 30-April 24 at the Greensburg museum, will examine the American dream through the lives of Black Americans. Henderson, who...
FDA approves much-debated Alzheimer’s drug panned by experts
WASHINGTON — Government health officials on Monday approved the first new drug for Alzheimer’s disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasn’t been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease. The Food and Drug Administration said it granted approval to the drug developed...
Polio: When vaccines and re-emergence were just as daunting
CINCINNATI — The covid-19 pandemic and the distribution of the vaccines that will prevent it have surfaced haunting memories for Americans who lived through an earlier time when the country was swept by a virus that, for so long, appeared to have no cure or way to prevent it. They...
‘Get used to me’: Postmaster Louis DeJoy evokes Trump style in Biden era
WASHINGTON — Louis DeJoy is uninterested in the niceties of Washington. The wealthy longtime businessman with an outer borough New York accent prides himself as a problem solver ready to disrupt an unwieldy bureaucracy. And he’s facing potential legal troubles. In other words, the postmaster general may be the closest...
