Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 12
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers buy another lottery ticket at quarterback
The Pittsburgh Steelers took a quarterback in the third round of this year’s NFL Draft for the simplest of reasons: They don’t have a quarterback. Not really. Aaron Rodgers remains uncommitted and, at 42, will soon turn to dust anyway. It’s too late for Mason Rudolph. He’s a career backup....
Tim Benz: What the selection of Drew Allar means for the Steelers’ quarterback roomVideo
During Monday’s pre-NFL Draft press conference, new Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike McCarthy made his thoughts known about the size of his quarterback room. “I believe in having three. Potentially, we’d love to have four if we can make one work on the practice squad,” McCarthy said. After drafting Penn State...
NFL Draft-driven restaurant traffic a tale of haves and have nots
McFadden’s Irish pub boasted a line down North Shore Drive on Thursday afternoon. The bar between PNC Park and Acrisure Stadium usually doesn’t get jam-packed until late at night, but business was booming most of Thursday and Friday. The reason why is hard to miss. McFadden’s is within eyesight of...
Public transit throughout Pittsburgh region emerges as star of NFL Draft
Whether rolling down the busway on a Football Flyer or screeching beneath the Allegheny River on the T, riders say Pittsburgh’s free public transit has proved to be one of the real winners of the NFL draft. Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s plan and free shuttles have generally held up under the...
Families make memories together at NFL Draft
Gail Friedman likely would not have attended the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh if it weren’t for her grandkids. “I’m not very sports-oriented, but I wanted to come because it’s Pittsburgh,” said Friedman, 77, of Mt. Lebanon. “I probably would not have come on my own, but because of their enthusiasm,...
Food21 explores building a dairy hub in Western PennsylvaniaVideo
Pittsburgh nonprofit Food21’s mission is to improve the design, operation and regulation of local and regional food economies, and to work to find funding to achieve it. A recent feasibility study commissioned by the group examined ways to establish a dairy processing plant, agricultural research center and demonstration farm, potentially...
NFL Draft Day 3 Live: NFL announces attendance record for Pittsburgh
The morning opened under a steady rain, but let up by afternoon, giving way to a drier backdrop as fans made their way through the final day of the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh. Gates opened at 9 a.m. Saturday. Teams made their picks in rounds four through seven, which all...
Kayden McDonald’s wait ends, as Texans take DL early in 2nd round in emotional momentVideo
It came a day later than he wanted, but Kayden McDonald finally got his hug from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. After announcing all of the 32 first-round draft picks, Goodell usually steps out of the spotlight on the second day of the NFL Draft. He cedes the responsibilities to former...
Steelers select Penn State quarterback Drew Allar in the 3rd round
Former Penn State quarterback Drew Allar has had to navigate some deep personal lows over the past several years. In the 2025 College Football Playoff semifinal, he threw a game-sealing late interception vs. Notre Dame and then, last October, he broke his ankle vs. Northwestern and had to watch from...
Review: Bret Michaels and Wiz Khalifa show their city some love at the 2nd night of the NFL Draft
As Bret Michaels said onstage Friday evening, the NFL Draft brings all football fans together as one big family. But night two of the three-day event opened with some decidedly Pittsburgh flavor, with a performance from hometown heroes Bret Michaels and Wiz Khalifa. Right on time at 5:15 p.m. Friday,...
‘Everything happens for a reason’: Max Iheanachor’s unconventional path to Steelers started long before draft night
The manner in which Max Iheanachor wound up in Pittsburgh isn’t unique. At least not to him. The massive offensive tackle was discovered by the D-I college football world while he was attending East Los Angeles College. Fresno State offensive line coach Saga Tuitele went there to check out a...
Away from the main stage, a different kind of Draft day unfolds in the Hill District
The NFL Draft remained free to enter Friday but thousands who flocked to Pittsburgh’s North Shore dug into their wallets to snatch up Draft-themed T-shirts featuring the city’s iconic bridges ($49.99) or down an ice-cold IPA beer ($21.25 a can). Ra’Dale Taylor was less interested in celebrating the Draft with...
Steelers trade up in 2nd round, select Alabama receiver Germie BernardVideo
This time, it was the Pittsburgh Steelers who got aggressive and traded up for a wide receiver. One day after a targeted wideout got snatched away at the last minute, the Steelers moved up six spots in the second round Friday night to choose Alabama’s Germie Bernard with the 47th...
He didn’t play football until college, but Max Iheanachor became a Steelers’ 1st-round pick
As he introduced Max Iheanachor for an introductory news conference Friday at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II noted that Iheanachor had made it there from his home in Los Angeles in less than 12 hours from the point he was drafted in the first round...
WCCC president: college changes inevitable to achieve improvement
The president of Westmoreland County Community College said Friday continued efforts to improve the college’s educational programs will involve change. “We have to adapt to change,” said Kristin L. Mallory. “We are not going to stay stagnant. We are moving forward.” Mallory, 63, has been president of the 4,000-student community...
Visitors feel welcomed by Pittsburgh, making the most of draft experience
The 2026 NFL Draft marked Brennan Bach’s first trip to Pittsburgh, and the Baltimore native said the city made a lasting impression. “I like the rivers, I like the scenery — it’s really nice. The city feels pretty clean,” Bach said. “So far, everyone’s been friendly.” Outside of draft activities,...
Pittsburgh, state leaders use NFL Draft to woo investors, promote region
A delegation of investors and business leaders got a glimpse of Western Pennsylvania’s development potential ahead of the NFL Draft on Wednesday as local officials used the NFL backdrop to pitch the region’s potential. “We knew we wanted to showcase Pittsburgh to folks who make decisions about where companies expand...
Attending the NFL Draft comes with a hefty price tag
If ya wanna play, ya gotta pay. That’s the mindset of many 2026 NFL Draft Experience attendees who are spending plenty of dollars at the Draft. Admission to the 2026 NFL Draft may be free, but costs incurred to enjoy all the Draft Experience has to offer — like food,...
Table for who? Some restaurants see drop-off in diners during NFL Draft
With the 2026 NFL Draft taking place only a few blocks away, Peppi’s sandwich shop on Pittsburgh’s North Side simplified its menu, stocked up on ingredients and brought in extra staff ahead of what owner Jeff Trebac expected to be a hectic three days. Business on Thursday — the draft’s...
Enthusiasm continues for 2nd day of NFL Draft in Pittsburgh
Crowds lined both sides of the Allegheny River on the second day of the NFL Draft Experience, as fans poured into Point State Park shortly after the gates opened, filling the riverfront with a steady buzz and early arrivals. While Point State Park grew crowded within the first hour Friday,...
B Marshall’s Draft Bash sees minority-business owners soldier through permitting issues
In the shadow of a behemoth commercial event raking in millions while christening new millionaires from a grand stage, on Friday afternoon, a group of 40 minority business owners was just looking to make ends meet in a relatively empty nearby North Side park. The picturesque scene at day two...
Shuttles to the NFL Draft win over attendees
If there hadn’t been a convenient, free option to get into Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft, Isabel Papariella and her mother Rose might not have ventured out. “We didn’t want to have to pay for parking and with traffic, you never know what it’s going to be like,” Isabel Papariella...
Pair pleads guilty to $4.4M Greensburg Beverage estate theft
Jennifer Knopp knew something was wrong when her $4.4 million share of her mother’s estate never arrived. It wasn’t until she made calls from her Florida home that she learned money accrued over decades through her family’s ownership of Greensburg Beverage had been disbursed as part of a plan she...
Justice Department to allow firing squads for executions in move to ramp up capital punishment
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department will adopt firing squads as a permitted method of execution as the Trump administration moves to ramp up and expedite capital punishment cases, officials said Friday. The Justice Department is also reauthorizing the use of single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital that were used to carry...
All Aboard: NFL Draft draws thousands onto Pittsburgh’s T
David Covington blasted Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” from a handheld speaker as he descended the stairs Friday to the Gateway T station in Downtown Pittsburgh. It was an apt song choice for the scenes he described aboard Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s light rail system during the 2026 NFL Draft. Covington, 55,...
