Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1268
High winds topple trees, down wires, disrupt Allegheny County 911 serviceVideo
Strong winds toppled trees and power lines across the region Friday, knocking out power, causing detours and disrupting 911 service in Allegheny County. Gusts reached up to 30 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Moon, with sustained speeds in the 20s, said meteorologist Myranda Fullerton. Fullerton said sustained...
‘Dad’s play’: Beyond Big Ben and Santonio Holmes, meet the man who helped make this play part of Steelers Super Bowl lore
I can always tell when the NFL Network is replaying the Steelers’ Super Bowl XLIII victory over the Arizona Cardinals. My text messages start to ding. I get a random bump in Twitter interactions. “Is that you right behind Santonio Holmes in the end zone during the game-winning catch?!” Yup....
Pittsburgh police investigate East Liberty shooting
One man was shot in the leg in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood Thursday night, according to the city Department of Public Safety. The city’s Shotspotter audio gunshot detection system alerted officers of shots fired near 700 N. Highland Ave. just before 11:30 p.m. Officers found the victim near the intersection...
Medical examiner IDs man killed in Homewood shooting
One man was shot to death and a juvenile was hospitalized Thursday night as a result of shooting in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood, Pittsburgh police said. Michael Lyons, 30, of Pittsburgh was pronounced dead at the scene in the area of Frankstown and North Braddock avenues, according to the Allegheny County...
Biden to visit Pittsburgh on Wednesday
President Joe Biden plans to travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, where he is expected to unveil his vision for a massive infrastructure bill. The proposal is said to be larger than the $1.9 trillion covid relief package that the Congress passed earlier this month. Biden said in his first press...
Sweeping changes to Georgia elections signed into law by Gov. Kemp amid outcryVideo
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp quickly signed a vast rewrite of Georgia’s election rules into law Thursday, imposing voter ID requirements, limiting drop boxes and allowing state takeovers of local elections after last year’s close presidential race. Kemp finalized the bill just over an hour after it cleared the General...
GQT Movies set to open cinema at Mills mall
The movies are returning to the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer. The mall’s theater will reopen under new management Wednesday. GQT Movies is replacing Cinemark, which closed the theater nearly a year ago. Six of the theater’s 18 screens will be up and running on opening day, while another three...
Suicide at Westmoreland jail disclosed months later, results in homicide case being dropped
A woman’s death at Westmoreland County Prison in December was confirmed Thursday, more than three months later. According to Coroner Ken Bacha, Linda Kay Quidetto, 43, of Sharon, Mercer County, was pronounced dead at 3:06 a.m. on Dec. 11 in the emergency room at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg...
Biden leaves door open for Senate changes to advance agendaVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden at his first news conference Thursday left the door open to backing fundamental changes in Senate procedure to muscle key parts of his agenda like immigration and voting rights past Republican opposition “if there’s complete lockdown and chaos.” The 78-year-old president also for the first...
3 candidates receive nominations in special election race to replace state Rep. Jeff Pyle
Three nominees to replace former state Rep. Jeff Pyle have been chosen by their respective parties to run in a special election to represent parts of Armstrong, Indiana and Butler counties. A longtime Republican lawmaker from Ford City, Pyle retired suddenly because of health issues this month. He had just...
Mass shooters exploited gun laws, loopholes before carnage
The suspect in the shooting at a Boulder, Colo., supermarket was convicted of assaulting a high school classmate but still got a gun. The man accused of opening fire on three massage businesses in the Atlanta area bought his gun just hours before the attack — no waiting required. They...
Gov. Wolf hints that vaccination phases could fade in light of open eligibility goal
Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday indicated Pennsylvania’s phased approach to vaccinations could be fading as the administration sets its sights on President Biden’s goal of open eligibility by May 1. He said the vaccine landscape “changed a little bit” when the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine received emergency authorization. As...
Biden: ‘My plan is to run for reelection’ in 2024
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden on Thursday said he would likely seek reelection in 2024, but the 78-year-old Democrat left open the possibility of stepping aside after one term. “My plan is to run for reelection. That’s my expectation,” Biden told reporters in a wide-ranging news conference, the first...
Tornadoes pummel Alabama, killing at least 5Video
Deadly tornadoes roared through Alabama on Thursday, toppling trees, demolishing homes and knocking out power to thousands, part of a broad swath of violent weather sweeping across the Deep South. At least five fatalities and an unknown number of injuries were reported. All of the deaths happened in eastern Alabama’s...
Jeannette man charged with ethnic intimidation
Jeannette police charged a man with ethnic intimidation and related offenses this week after they said he called another man a racial epithet during a fight, according to court papers. Police were called to Jeannette Manor on South Fourth Street at 9:30 p.m. Sunday for a reported fight. Witnesses told...
Biden leaves door open for U.S. to stay longer in AfghanistanVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday left the door open for U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan through the end of the year, and one of his top generals told Congress that Afghanistan’s military forces need American assistance to successfully counter the Taliban. Biden, at his first news conference...
Vaccine eligibility expanded at Allegheny County sites
The Allegheny County Health Department once again is expanding vaccine eligibility at county-run sites, effective immediately, to everyone in Phase 1A. The department had been vaccinating people 65 and older until last Friday, when eligibility was expanded to include people 50-64 with certain medical conditions. This marks the second eligibility...
Alabama air filter maker says new plant in Arnold will create at least 120 full-time jobs
An Alabama-based air filter manufacturer has chosen Arnold as the location for its first facility in the northeastern United States, and the operation is expected to employ more than 100 people. Filterbuy will lease 137,000 square feet of production and distribution space in New Kensington Advanced Manufacturing Park from the...
Jailed Youngwood man accused in fatal overdose furloughed to attend drug rehab
A Youngwood man awaiting trial on charges he sold drugs used in the fatal overdose of a Greensburg woman in 2019 will be furloughed from Westmoreland County Prison to attend an inpatient drug rehabilitation treatment program. Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani on Wednesday granted the request from Matthew Thomas Caughey,...
2 people sue Nemacolin, claiming it abruptly ended lifetime memberships
Two people from West Virginia are suing Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, alleging that the Fayette County resort eliminated a lifetime membership program they purchased years ago. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Pittsburgh, seeks class-action status for all the members of the Nemacolin 400 Club, which began in 1988. The...
New Kensington police accuse Jeannette man of sexually assaulting girl, who became pregnant
New Kensington police have charged a Jeannette man with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, who became pregnant. Police said they began investigating last September after getting a report that a teen had given birth to a son in November 2019 at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh. The father was identified...
Pennsylvania passes 1 million covid cases
Pennsylvania passed 1 million covid cases on Thursday. The milestone comes as vaccinations continue amid rising cases statewide and stable cases closer to home in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,000,240 cases, a rise of 3,623 cases from Wednesday. The seven-day average of cases is...
Lawyer: Colorado shooting suspect needs mental health review
BOULDER, Colo. — The suspect in the Colorado supermarket shooting appeared in court for the first time Thursday, and a defense attorney immediately asked that he receive a mental health evaluation before the case against him proceeds. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21, did not speak during the brief hearing except...
Wolf administration refuses to release details of wasted covid vaccine doses
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 — The Wolf administration is refusing to disclose details of wasted coronavirus vaccine doses, including how many have been discarded...
AstraZeneca confirms strong vaccine protection after U.S. riftVideo
AstraZeneca insisted Wednesday that its covid-19 vaccine is strongly effective even after counting additional illnesses in its disputed U.S. study, the latest in an extraordinary public rift with American officials. In a late-night press release, AstraZeneca said it had recalculated data from that study and concluded the vaccine is 76%...
