Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1270
Wilkinsburg man pleads to manslaughter after friend is killed in drug deal gone bad
A Wilkinsburg man with ties to two high-profile cases pleaded guilty Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter in an unrelated shooting. Demetres Beck, 26, admitted to Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski that he and a friend, Kierre Simmons, participated in a robbery on Dec. 29, 2014. According to Deputy...
U.S. outlook improving as covid vaccinations rise, deaths fall
More than three months into the U.S. vaccination drive, many of the numbers paint an increasingly encouraging picture, with 70% of Americans 65 and older receiving at least one dose of the vaccine and covid-19 deaths dipping below 1,000 a day on average for the first time since November. Also,...
Faculty union blasts leader of Pa. state universities: ‘His job was to improve the system, not tear it down’
Instructors and coaches are blasting the leader of the state-owned universities for saying that the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education should be reorganized or dissolved. At a Senate budget hearing last week, Chancellor Dan Greenstein warned that if a proposal to consolidate some universities doesn’t happen, he will come...
Editorial: On ballot questions, clear language should be the only option
When you cast a vote, it’s important to know exactly what’s going on. You need to know what the race is. You also need to know exactly who the people are. No one needs a situation like the confusing butterfly ballots in Florida in 2000 that some say had third-party...
Allegheny County adds 498 covid cases, highest total since mid-January
Allegheny County on Wednesday added its most coronavirus cases since mid-January. The Allegheny County Health Department reported 498 additional cases, the highest since 516 were reported Jan. 17. It was also only the third time since the beginning of February that the county has surpassed 400 cases. Allegheny County had...
Former Pitt employee charged with stealing over 13,000 masks at start of pandemic
The former director of emergency management at the University of Pittsburgh was indicted Tuesday in federal court on charges that he stole thousands of masks from campus at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic and sold them on his eBay page. Christopher Casamento, 42, of Ross had access to N95...
Covid variant identified on Pitt’s Oakland campus as cases spike
University of Pittsburgh officials confirmed at least one case of the U.K. covid-19 variant has cropped up on campus, something they believe will lead to an uptick in cases that have already spiked in recent days. “We confirmed that the U.K. variant … is present on the Pittsburgh campus,” the...
A late slide, led by Big Tech, leaves stock indexes lowerVideo
A late-afternoon burst of selling on Wall Street erased an early gain for stocks Wednesday, pulling the market further below the all-time high it reached just a week ago. The S&P 500 dropped 0.5% after having been up 0.8% in the early going. Technology and communication services companies accounted for...
Lost and found: $1M lottery ticket recovered in parking lot
SPARTA, Tenn. — A Tennessee man was able to turn his luck around after finding his missing $1 million winning lottery ticket in a parking lot — remaining where he dropped it even on a blustery afternoon. Sparta resident Nick Slatten learned on March 11 that he won a drawing...
Official: Colorado supermarket shooting suspect prone to rage, delusions
BOULDER, Colo. — Law enforcement officials and former associates of a 21-year-old accused of killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket described the suspect as someone prone to sudden rage who was suspended from high school for a sudden attack on a classmate that left the student bloodied. Ahmad Al...
Man arrested, accused of leading police on a chase in Franklin Park, Ross
A North Versailles man was arrested after fleeing from police after a stop early Tuesday morning, according Ross police. A Franklin Park Police officer stopped Kasey Gusty, 36, on Route 79 southbound around 12:30 a.m. due to suspicion that Gusty was driving while on a DUI-related suspension. As the officer...
Allegheny County Council postpones meeting amid reported covid-19 outbreak
A covid-19 outbreak prompted Allegheny County Council to cancel its scheduled meeting Tuesday night and postpone meeting again until next week. Councilwoman Bethany Hallam took to Twitter earlier in the day to alert the public that the regularly scheduled council meeting had been rescheduled “due to a covid outbreak amongst...
Fundraising effort underway for Springdale father and son left homeless after house fire
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help a Springdale family recover from a house fire. Firefighters from multiple departments responded to the two-alarm blaze around 2:30 p.m. Friday in the 300 block of Orchard Street. Robert Collier and his son, Kendall, lost a lot to the flames including...
Armstrong County commissioner throws hat in the ring for former state Rep. Pyle’s seat
Armstrong County Commissioners Chairman Don Myers is the second candidate to seek the Republican Party nomination to fill the seat of state Rep. Jeff Pyle. Pyle cited health reasons in announcing his retirement last week. Pyle was in his ninth term representing the 60th District, which includes parts of Armstrong,...
White House: North Korea conducted short-range missile testVideo
WASHINGTON — North Korea fired short-range missiles this past weekend, just days after the sister of Kim Jong Un threatened the United States and South Korea for holding joint military exercises. The missile tests were confirmed by two senior Biden administration officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. They...
Wendy Bell promoted to full-time status at WJAS
Wendy Bell, a conservative talk show host, has been promoted to full-time status at WJAS Pittsburgh, according to the station’s website. Bell joined the station part time in January. Her show aired Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. till noon and Friday from 9 a.m. till noon on WJAS 1320AM...
Newly confirmed surgeon general to focus on covid, opioidsVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed a soft-spoken physician as President Joe Biden’s surgeon general Tuesday. While Dr. Vivek Murthy says ending the coronavirus pandemic is his top priority, he’s also raised concerns over a relapsing opioid overdose crisis. The vote on Murthy was 57-43, giving him bipartisan support. Biden’s coronavirus...
Westmoreland commissioner says county voters want end to no-excuse mail-in ballots, another disputes that
Drawing criticism from county Democrats, Republican Westmoreland Commissioner Doug Chew on Tuesday told a Pennsylvania Senate committee that his constituents want to eliminate no-excuse mail-in voting. Chew testified before the Senate committee on election integrity and reform that more than 20,000 county residents were potentially disenfranchised during the 2020 presidential...
Slower mail, fewer office hours part of Postal Service plans
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday announced plans to slow mail delivery standards and cut hours at some post offices as part of a 10-year strategy to stabilize the struggling agency. Details of the long-awaited plan come at a time of intense scrutiny on the U.S. Postal Service over persistent...
Biden urges gun control laws as another mass shooting alters his pandemic-relief tour
WASHINGTON — For the second time in a week, President Joe Biden’s campaign to broaden public awareness and support for his pandemic relief benefits has been overshadowed by a mass shooting, thrusting the fraught issue of gun control to the fore. On Tuesday, he was set to travel to Ohio,...
Officials: Gun in Colorado supermarket shooting bought 6 days earlierVideo
BOULDER, Colo. — Police on Tuesday identified a 21-year-old man as the suspect who opened fire inside a crowded Colorado supermarket, and court documents showed that he purchased an assault weapon less than a week before the attack that killed 10 people, including a police officer. Supermarket employees told investigators...
Schumer vows vote on background checks after latest shooting
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats say they are pushing toward a vote on expanded gun control measures as the nation reels from its second mass shooting in a week. But prospects for any major reform are dim, for now, in the closely divided Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed Tuesday...
Pittsburgh council passes ban on gators, crocodiles and certain turtles
Most people who acquire an alligator, crocodile or similar reptile don’t realize the care and caution that must be used to keep them as a pet, Pittsburgh police Officer Christine Luffey told City Council members Tuesday. Luffey was one of the authorities who responded to a spate of reptile complaints...
More than 100,000 educators in Pa. vaccinated through state initiative
More than 100,000 educators have been vaccinated through a Pennsylvania initiative using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, state officials announced Tuesday. A total of 102,161 school teachers and staff have gotten the vaccine since the initiative got started across Pennsylvania. “Vaccinating more than 100,000 teachers and staff in less than...
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania see covid hospitalizations go up again
While progress had been made for covid hospitalizations in the past month, numbers appear to be going up again. Hospitalizations in the state and Allegheny County have been generally increasing over the past week, while Westmoreland County’s numbers tell a different story, according to state Department of Health data. Hospitalizations...
