Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1250
Greensburg man convicted of Indiana County fire bombing
A Greensburg man accused of trying to burn down an Indiana County home last May by throwing “Molotov cocktails” at it was convicted this week in a non-jury trial, according to court records. Derrick John Weber, 21, was found guilty by Indiana County Judge William J. Martin of attempted arson...
Proposal to open Arnold Palmer airport restaurant lease triggers social media furor
A plan to open the restaurant lease at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport for competitive proposals has drawn a social media backlash. With county commissioners publicly urging the move this week, the Westmoreland County Airport Authority is preparing a request for proposals to lease the terminal space — once an agreement...
Lack of bus drivers remains major problem at Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials are still rushing to find solutions to a severe shortage of bus drivers and available seats for students. “We are going to continue to work as much as possible to ensure we’re able to try to get our students back in,” said Minika Jenkins, the district’s...
Pine-Richland board member resigns amid backlash over football coach’s firing; parents call for reinstatement
A Pine-Richland school board member resigned his post without explanation Friday amid community uproar over the school district’s decision to fire championship-winning football coach Eric Kasperowicz earlier this week. The school board held a special online meeting at noon Friday to accept the resignation of first-term school board member Ben...
Allegheny, Westmoreland bars and restaurants hit with covid mitigation violations
Nearly 20 bars and restaurants in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties received violations from the state police last month for violating pandemic-related mitigation measures, records show. For more than a year, bars and restaurants have faced some degree of restriction – measures meant to slow the spread of covid-19. Many of...
Retired Ohio sheriff and tiny K-9 partner die the same day
CLEVELAND — The Ohio county sheriff and his tiny police dog were inseparable, their lives unwaveringly intertwined. It thus seems fitting that retired Geauga County Sheriff Dan McClelland, 67, and his crime-fighting partner Midge, 16, would both die on Wednesday — McClelland, at a hospital after a lengthy battle with...
Southmoreland school board member dons paper bag in protest of mask policyVideo
A retired school psychologist and veteran member of the Southmoreland School Board is gaining notoriety after she attended a meeting Thursday with a paper bag pulled over her head. A video recording of the meeting on YouTube shows Catherine Fike sitting at one the end of the meeting table with...
‘Pink hat lady’ charged in Capitol riot could have bond revoked over mesh face maskVideo
The woman known from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot as the “Pink hat lady” has 10 days to explain to a federal judge why she shouldn’t have her bond revoked or be held in contempt for actively flouting one of her conditions of release — wearing a mask in public....
Heavy metal guitarist is 1st suspect to plead guilty in Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — A heavy metal guitarist on Friday became the first defendant to plead guilty to federal charges in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Jon Ryan Schaffer, the frontman of the band Iced Earth, has agreed to cooperate with investigators in hopes of getting a lighter sentence,...
Pennsylvania sounds alarm on vaccine hesitancy
A growing number of unfilled appointments and low uptake among nursing home workers are early signs that vaccine hesitancy is becoming an issue in Pennsylvania, prompting state officials to sound the alarm Friday and urge residents to get their covid-19 shots as quickly as possible. After months of demand outstripping...
Pennsylvania casinos top $400M in March, shatter monthly revenue record
Monthly casino revenues in Pennsylvania for the first time topped $400 million in March, according to figures released by the state Gaming Control Board. Combined gambling revenues totaled more than $403 million, up significantly from the $154 million in revenues seen in March 2020, when non-life-sustaining businesses were forced to...
Lawyer: Video shows Aaron Donald did not beat up man in South Side brawl
An attorney for Pittsburgh native and NFL defensive standout Aaron Donald says the L.A. Rams player helped save the man accusing him of assault from further injury, contradicting claims from this week Donald beat up the man in a South Side melee. Attorney Casey White said there’s no dispute Devincent...
Pennsylvania sees rising covid cases, deaths, hospitalizations
Pennsylvania on Friday reported 5,650 new cases of covid-19, raising the seven-day average to 4,916, the highest average since early February. There have been 1,098,502 cases recorded since the pandemic began, according to data from the state Department of Health. The state added 56 new covid-related deaths, the second most...
Change in course: Pirates move pierogies race from PNC Park to Clemente BridgeVideo
Alana and Jimmy Maxey came from Austin, Texas, to PNC Park Thursday to catch a Pirates afternoon game. They had heard about the racing pierogies as well. “Friends and family told me about the pierogies race, so I was excited to see that,” said Alana Maxey, a huge Pittsburgh sports...
Mark Madden: Pine-Richland’s shameful firing of Eric Kasperowicz deserves better than ‘no comment’
Pine-Richland High School fired Eric Kasperowicz after eight seasons as football coach. He won two state championships and four WPIAL titles, including one of each this past season. Kasperowicz was 85-18. He’s beloved by his players and known for his professionalism. Plenty of Kasperowicz’s players got football scholarships. Kasperowicz wasn’t...
Duquesne Light seeks to raise rates by 7.7%
Duquesne Light Co. wants to raise the electric bills for residential customers by 7.7%, an increase that would cost users another $7.73 a month on average, or about $92 a year, the Pittsburgh-based company said. The request was filed Friday with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. If approved, which is...
Body of missing Beechview man found in Ohio River
The body of a Beechview man missing since late January was found Thursday night in the Ohio River, authorities said. Thomas Hughes, 25, was found in the river near Monaca, according to Pittsburgh police. The Beaver County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy and determine a cause and manner...
U.S. has been wracked with several mass shootings in 2021
a significant drop in mass shootings in the United States during a pandemic-hit 2020, this year has already seen several deadly cases. Police in Indianapolis say eight people were shot and killed in a shooting late Thursday at a FedEx facility. The shooter also killed himself. It follows a lull...
‘History, character and charm’: Hempfield home inspired by work at Penguin Court mansionVideo
The new owners of the Italian Provencal-style house at 729 Harvey Ave. in Hempfield will find plenty of reminders of the home’s past. Above the living room fireplace are carved the initials of the original occupants, building contractor Anson T. Zambano and his wife, the former Emma Seeno. Zambano built...
FBI says it interviewed FedEx mass shooter last year
INDIANAPOLIS — The FBI says that last year it questioned the man who fatally shot eight people at a FedEx plant in Indianapolis. Paul Keenan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis field office, said Friday that agents questioned 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole after his mother called police...
Police: 1 person dead, another injured after crash in Duquesne
One person died and a child was injured after a single-vehicle crash in Duquesne early Friday morning, according to Allegheny County police. Crews responded to Route 837 near North Second Street around 3:30 a.m. where they found a man ejected from a vehicle and a child still inside the car,...
Hempfield Area temporarily closes middle school because of covid-19 cases
A Hempfield Area middle school is closed today due to positive covid-19 cases, according to district officials. Students at West Hempfield Middle School are attending classes remotely after the district was informed that two students contracted the virus and were at school while infectious, according to a letter from Superintendent...
Police: Juveniles shot, 1 killed, in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood
A teenage boy was killed and another hospitalized in shootings in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood Thursday night. Police responded to a Shotspotter alert along the 1300 block of Sorrell Street around 8:10 p.m., Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews reported. Officers found two boys had been shot. One was unresponsive and later...
Police: Scammers calling Oakmont residents, claiming to be police and FBI seeking Social Security numbers
Oakmont police are warning residents about phone scammers claiming to be from the department or the FBI seeking personal information. Chief Michael Ford said the caller is attempting to obtain Social Security numbers and other personal financial information as part of an “investigation.” At least one resident alerted the borough...
‘I’m glad Tarentum’s opening up’: Night Market draws customers to small businesses on covid reboundVideo
David Gartner paused to get a satisfying whiff of the ribs and chicken sizzling atop a barbecue grill on the sidewalk outside J&G Corner Store on Thursday night. The 66-year-old Tarentum resident and his companion had just “completed the whole circuit” of small businesses participating in the Tarentum Night Market,...
