Top Stories category, Page 1180
Teen apprehended in connection with Jeannette shooting
A 16-year-old boy charged with attempted homicide in a Jeannette shooting this month was apprehended Monday, according to Jeannette Police Chief Shannon Binda. Desean Ingram of Jeannette, who also was shot during the altercation, was arraigned Monday afternoon and is being held without bond at the Regional Youth Services Center...
Police: 1 person dead after U-Haul crashes into Shaler home
One person died after a U-Haul truck crashed into a Shaler home Monday afternoon, according to a Facebook post put up by the Shaler Police Department. Crews responded to the intersection of Reese and Grant avenues around 1:30 p.m. in response to a vehicle crash into a structure. Update: The...
Police: Man shot at gas station in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood
A man is recovering at a hospital after being shot at a gas station in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood Monday afternoon. Public Safety spokesperson Maurice Matthews said the victim was in stable condition after the incident around 2:45 p.m. at the BP station along the 1900 block of Brownsville Road. Matthews...
Vaccinated Americans may get clearance to skip the masks outdoorsVideo
WASHINGTON — A growing call for health officials to relax rules about outdoor mask wearing could soon lead to one of the most significant changes in virus guidelines since the U.S. first told Americans to don face coverings to curb the spread of covid-19. Outdoor mask wearing has been the...
U.S. marks slowest population growth since the DepressionVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. population growth has slowed to the lowest rate since the Great Depression, the Census Bureau said Monday, as Americans continued their march to the South and West and one-time engines of growth, New York and California, lost political influence. Altogether, the U.S. population rose to 331,449,281 last...
California, Clarion and Edinboro could be renamed under consolidation plan
California, Clarion and Edinboro universities will get a new name under a consolidation plan likely to be approved Wednesday for a 60-day public comment period. The necessity for a single name as well as a pledge to keep all three campuses open and fully operational are among the points made...
Homeland Security launches review of extremism within agency
WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security on Monday announced an internal review to assess the threat of violent extremism from within the agency, part of a broader administration focus on domestic threats following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Senior DHS officials will immediately begin the review,...
Former cook at Westmoreland casino eatery alleges racial discrimination, harassment
A former line cook at celebrity chef Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen + Bar filed suit with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, saying he was subjected to racial discrimination, harassment and workplace retaliation at the popular restaurant at Live! Casino Pittsburgh in Westmoreland Mall. Speaking at a protest in the...
Pa. offering up rare whiskeys in lotteries
It’s a bourbon and rye whiskey lovers’ heaven this week in Pennsylvania. Keystone State residents will have a chance to purchase 213 bottles of 28 rare whiskeys this week. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) is holding five separate lotteries, each with multiple drawings, for Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve...
Pennsylvania will lose a U.S. House seat after redistricting
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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 will lose one of its seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Census Bureau has confirmed, setting...
Get it twisted: New Bloomfield shop makes handmade German soft pretzelsVideo
Connor Claussen mixes three types of flour, dry yeast, sea salt and filtered water. He divides the dough into equal parts, rolls it into logs, forms each into a distinctive pretzel shape, scores the tops, dips them in lye and puts them in the oven to bake. This Swabian German...
Family of Black man shot by deputy in Virginia seeks release of audio
SPOTSYLVANIA COURTHOUSE, Va. — The family of a Black man shot by a Virginia sheriff’s deputy last week demanded the release of additional audio recordings related to the incident Monday and said Isaiah Brown remained in “very critical” condition. Speaking at a news conference outside the Spotsylvania County courthouse, an...
Westmoreland County to pay jail inmates to get covid vaccine
Westmoreland County will provide $25 in commissary credit to prison inmates who receive a covid-19 vaccine. Members of the county prison board approved the plan Monday. “We’re still working out the final details, but this will be for all inmates,” county Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher said. Vaccine doses will be...
Covid deaths cause for caseload surge at Westmoreland coroner’s office
Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha said a meteoric 21% increase in the office’s caseload last year was fueled by coronavirus death investigations. The statistics detailing the sharp increase to 3,523 cases in 2020 compared with 2,906 cases in 2019 was included in Bacha’s annual report released Monday. Deputy Coroner Josh...
Attorney for ‘Pink Hat Lady’ says mesh mask was not meant to mock the court
The attorney for a Mercer County woman charged in the Capitol riot who was ordered to explain why she wore a see-through mask against court orders said Monday she never intended to violate the conditions of her release. In a 14-page response filed Monday, Rachel Powell apologized to the court...
Police review board again being considered by Allegheny County Council
Allegheny County residents will again have input about creating an independent police review board. But council may have already approved the legislation if the meeting is even held. “This is a very important issue that establishes a newly created board and I believe every resident that wants to be heard...
Pennsylvania officials set sights on vaccinating homebound residents
As the pace of covid-19 vaccinations continues to accelerate in Pennsylvania, state officials have turned their attention to people who are unable to leave their homes. “Now we’re at the point where supply is coming close to demand,” Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday during a news conference in Reading. “We...
Judge sets hearing on former Penn State president Graham Spanier’s pending jail sentence
HARRISBURG — Graham Spanier’s lawyers are expected to be in a Pennsylvania courtroom next month as a judge considers whether the former Penn State president should have to report to jail to start serving his sentence related to the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal. Dauphin County President Judge John F....
UPMC Magee encouraged by study of pregnant women receiving covid vaccine
Early findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine show the possible side effects of covid-19 vaccines in pregnant women were similar to those for all women. The first published results were released last week. Of the 35,691 participants ages 16 to 54 — at all stages of pregnancy...
Lawsuit accuses North Braddock police officer of false arrest
Two insurance salesmen who said an off-duty North Braddock officer tried to falsely arrest them because he suspected a scam filed a federal lawsuit. The complaint filed by James Biernesser and Douglas Holcomb, who sold life insurance for American Income Life, names as defendants Officer Sharon Jackson, who is currently...
Allegheny County posts lowest single-day covid case report in 6 months
For the first time since Oct. 26, Allegheny County has posted a single-day covid case number below 100. Monday’s report by the Allegheny County Health Department shows 94 new coronavirus cases, something that hasn’t happened in the past six months. While health officials have often said Monday’s case counts are...
Plum man says school district banned him for speaking out against virtual learning
A Plum man is suing the school district and its solicitor, alleging they conspired against him when he objected to virtual schooling during the covid-19 pandemic. Nathan O’Leath said in a federal lawsuit filed Friday he and his wife, Nicole O’Leath, have two children, 7 and 10. They said they...
Pa. student’s Snapchat profanity leads to high court speech case
WASHINGTON — Fourteen-year-old Brandi Levy was having that kind of day where she just wanted to scream. So she did, in a profanity-laced posting on Snapchat that has, improbably, ended up before the Supreme Court in the most significant case on student speech in more than 50 years. At issue...
TV Talk: Worst Oscars ever?
It’s tough to remember Oscars ceremonies from one year to the next, but the 2021 Academy Awards telecast may stand the test of time for all the wrong reasons. It was bad. Really bad. Producers Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher and Steven Soderbergh decided to eschew so many of the regular...
Michigan became hotspot as variants rose and vigilance waned
ROYAL OAK, Mich. — Eric Gala passed up an opportunity to get a coronavirus vaccine when shots became available in Michigan, and he admits not taking the virus seriously enough. Then he got sick with what he thought was the flu. He thought he would sweat it out and then...
