Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1271
Pa. House passes bill to loosen rules on substitute teachers
Legislation to provide more flexibility when it comes to finding substitute teachers to staff classrooms won unanimous approval on Monday from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Barb Gleim, R-Cumberland County, now goes to the Senate for consideration. It aims to help ease the problem districts...
Arson suspected in Penn Hills fire that left one man burned
A husband and wife domestic dispute may have been the spark that caused a Penn Hills fire Sunday afternoon. “It’s a possibility,” police Chief Howard Burton said Monday night. “We don’t believe it was an accident. We believe it was definitely set. It was arson.” Firefighters were initially called to...
Highmark boasts $490M operating gain in 2020 — better than pre-pandemic
When covid-19 struck Western Pennsylvania last March, Highmark Health CEO and President David Holmberg said he and fellow executives braced for the worst. They weren’t sure just how overwhelmed their providers might get, or how much money and other resources it would take to keep operations going as outbreaks proliferated....
Ballot questions should be clear, but 2 written by Wolf administration don’t pass test, critics say
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. A version of this story originally appeared in our free weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — Amending the Pennsylvania Constitution is a lengthy process that ends at the ballot...
Police: 10 people killed at Colorado supermarketVideo
BOULDER, Colo. — A shooting at a Colorado supermarket killed 10 people Monday, including a police officer, and a suspect was in custody, authorities said. Boulder police Chief Maris Herold announced the death toll at a news conference Monday night, fighting back tears. The suspect was getting medical treatment and...
D.C.’s long-simmering statehood push begins in CongressVideo
WASHINGTON — Washington, D.C.’s bid for statehood finally got a congressional hearing Monday, but Mayor Muriel Bowser’s clashes with Republicans on the panel made clear that the issue is far from settled. Republicans accused Democrats of a cynical power play, claimed statehood was never the intention of the country’s Founding...
Pa. updates mask guidance for fully vaccinated residents
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has amended its mask mandate, updating guidance for fully vaccinated residents to fall in line with federal guidelines, officials said Monday. A previous state order went into effect that loosened mask restrictions in certain circumstances. “The vaccines that are currently available across the state and...
Photos of migrant detention highlight Biden’s border secrecyVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration has tried for weeks to keep the public from seeing images like those that emerged Monday showing immigrant children in U.S. custody at the border sleeping on mats under foil blankets, separated in groups by plastic partitions. Administration officials have steadfastly refused to call...
Mysterious new system at border keeps migrants guessingVideo
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — After hearing rumors that Central American families with younger children were being allowed into the U.S., Irma Paz left Honduras with her husband and two kids on a nearly two-month journey to the banks of the Rio Grande. They waded through the cold waters, turned themselves in...
Court records: Box cutter used in attack on child in Downtown Pittsburgh McDonald’s
Court documents paint a chaotic scene inside a Downtown Pittsburgh fast food restaurant over the weekend where a man is accused of stabbing a child in the neck seemingly at random. The incident happened Saturday afternoon at the McDonald’s on Liberty Avenue, where the 12-year-old boy and his family had...
New Greensburg shop promises decadent milkshakes, retro candy
The five Nickischer kids of Hempfield have been living out a dream, acting as taste-testers for the milkshakes their parents will serve in a new downtown Greensburg shop. Nicole and Greg Nickischer are looking for an early May opening for Main Street Sweets, in the lower level of the building...
Kenny Chesney postpones 2021 tour, including Pittsburgh stop
Country music star Kenny Chesney has postponed his entire 2021 tour — including a stop at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field — for the second time because of the coronavirus pandemic. Chesney announced Tuesday on social media that the tour would be pushed back to 2022. The Chillaxifacation tour was originally supposed...
Pennsylvania closing in on 1 million covid cases as numbers continue to creep upward
New cases of the coronavirus continue to see a week-over-week increase at state and county levels in Pennsylvania, according to numbers released Monday by the Department of Health. There were 3,920 new cases of covid-19 recorded in the state over the past two days, the Department of Health reported Monday....
Annual ‘Furry’ convention canceled in Pittsburgh for 2nd straight year
The covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of Anthrocon, the annual furry convention, for the second year, according to the group’s official Facebook page. “We had high hopes but, at this point, it looks like we will not be able to safely hold the convention,” Anthrocon staff wrote in a Facebook...
Pittsburgh-area officers’ posts to private Facebook group show hostility, hateVideo
In a private Facebook group called the Pittsburgh Area Police Breakroom, many current and retired officers spent the year criticizing chiefs that took a knee or officers who marched with Black Lives Matter protesters, who they called “terrorists” or “thugs.” They made transphobic posts and bullied members who supported anti-police...
AstraZeneca: U.S. data shows vaccine effective for all ages
LONDON — AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine provided strong protection against sickness and eliminated hospitalizations and deaths from the disease across all age groups in a late-stage study in the United States, the company announced Monday. AstraZeneca said its experts did not identify any safety concerns related to the vaccine, including finding...
A 1917 Sewickley Heights mansion is on the market for $4.9MVideo
At the top of the circular driveway, a mansion appears. The 1917 Colonial home on Pink House Lane sits atop Sewickley Heights on a 10-acre lot. The home is for sale at $4.9 million through Berkshire Hathaway HS. “This house has history,” said Beverly McQuone, who with Susie Reuter are...
Local AmeriCorps members help land conservation, educationVideo
On a brisk Saturday morning, an AmeriCorps member with the Westmoreland Land Trust was overseeing the installation of three interpretative tablets by land trust members in the 58-acre nature reserve in the western section of North Huntingdon, just south of Brush Creek. The tablets, attached to wooden posts buried 30...
Officials investigating after Penn Hills man is badly burned in fire
Police are investigating the cause of a fire after a Penn Hills man was taken to Mercy Hospital with severe burns. Penn Hills fire Chief Joe McMeekin told Trib news partner WPXI the fire does not appear to be an accident. WPXI reported McMeekan said it appeared the man had...
Speakers discuss discrimination, violence and stereotypes at vigil for Atlanta victims
A large crowd gathered Sunday night on the portico of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh for a candlelight vigil remembering the victims of recent shootings around Atlanta. Eight people were killed in the March 16 shooting spree, six of whom were Asian American women. Police say the gunman had...
New York Republican Rep. Tom Reed, accused of misconduct, will retire
U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, a Republican from western New York who was accused last week of rubbing a female lobbyist’s back and unhooking her bra without her consent in 2017, apologized to the woman on Sunday and announced that he will not run for reelection next year. Reed, 49, said...
Married 66 years, husband, wife die minutes apart from coronavirus
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Bill and Esther Ilnisky spent nearly seven decades together as Christian ministers and missionaries, working in the Caribbean and Middle East before preaching for 40 years in Florida. They complemented each other — he the bookworm, she outgoing and charismatic. One without the other seemed unthinkable....
Amid unruly spring break crowd, police chief says Miami partying ‘couldn’t go on any longer’Video
MIAMI — Pointing to over 1,000 arrests in one of the nation’s top party spots, Miami Beach officials warned Sunday that the unruly spring break crowd gathering by the thousands, fighting in the streets, destroying restaurant property and refusing to wear masks has become a serious threat to public safety....
Alle-Kiski CareerLink GED program flourishing
When things didn’t work out for Madison Gourley after she left Kiski Area High School in her senior year to move away with her new husband, she returned home and earned her GED diploma. She is on her way to nursing school at Westmoreland County Community College in the fall....
Apollo Cemetery cleanup set; Scout to finish cleaning almost 100 veteran tombstones
After a rallying cry two years ago, the efforts to restore the Apollo Cemetery in Kiski Township have been bolstered by volunteers, donations and the elbow grease of Boy Scouts. Volunteers and donations are needed for a spring cleanup from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 27. The Apollo...
