Top Stories category, Page 129

WASHINGTON — With warmer than normal ocean waters, forecasters are expecting yet another unusually busy hurricane season for the Atlantic. But they don’t think it will be as chaotic as 2024, the third-costliest season on record as it spawned killer storms Beryl, Helene and Milton. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Mint has made its final order of penny blanks and plans to stop producing the coin when those run out, a Treasury Department official confirmed Thursday. An immediate annual savings of $56 million in reduced material costs is expected by stopping penny production, according to the...

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to shut down the Education Department and ordered the agency to reinstate employees who were fired in mass layoffs. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administration from carrying out...

A Marine and Purple Heart recipient who lost both legs to a bomb in Afghanistan in 2010 remained jailed Thursday on charges that he raped a 13-year-old girl multiple times last month. Allegheny County Police this week arrested Brandon Rumbaugh, 36, of Pleasant Hills on 12 criminal charges, seven of...

In 1985, classic rock radio station 102.5 WDVE started a tradition of playing a countdown of the top 500 best rock songs over Memorial Day weekend. For the most part, their way of formulating that list has been a bit mysterious. This year, for the 40th anniversary of the Memorial...

National Weather Service investigators are trying to determine the strength of two tornadoes that touched down in Butler County during Wednesday’s storms and are looking into the possibility that two more twisters touched down in the region. NWS meteorologist Liana Lupo talked about one discovered near Center Township’s Unionville neighborhood....

WASHINGTON — House Republicans stayed up all night to pass their multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package, with Speaker Mike Johnson defying the skeptics and unifying his ranks to muscle President Donald Trump’s priority bill to approval Thursday. With last-minute concessions and stark warnings from Trump, the Republican holdouts largely dropped their...

WASHINGTON — Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed Wednesday evening while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, and the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested, police said. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and...

The federal Local Food Purchase Assistance program has provided more than $28 million to Pennsylvania farmers since 2022 and delivered nearly 26 million pounds of local produce to food banks and organizations. The program has helped feed more than 5 million state residents over the past three years, but it...

An Allegheny County resident has contracted salmonella linked to a multi-state outbreak of the illness, according to the county’s health department. The health department said in a statement that the most people associated with this current outbreak have reported contact with backyard poultry. Public health officials are working to get...

Officials from Duquesne Light and West Penn Power said their crews, as well as those called in from other states, did the best they could to restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers impacted by catastrophic storms late last month. Those same officials at a House Majority Policy Committee...

Less than 24 hours after Pittsburgh Republicans chose former police officer Tony Moreno to be their party’s mayoral candidate in the general election, some suggested the GOP pulling off a David vs. Goliath in November is possible — even in a city where their registered voters are outnumbered 5-1. Turnout...

One witness testified the SUV passing him on the ramp to the Mansfield Bridge was moving so fast, it fishtailed and almost struck him. Another told the judge it looked like the driver of the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk was in a road rage incident and chasing a white Volkswagen...

Corey O’Connor first toyed with the idea of trying to unseat Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey about a year ago. In his role as Allegheny County controller, he often talked to residents throughout the city — and what he heard was frustration. People complained about safety, development and basic services, O’Connor...

The National Weather Service has issued tornado and flood watches in multiple counties across Western Pennsylvania for Wednesday into Thursday morning. The tornado watch is in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday evening for Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland counties. “A line of showers are moving through...

A policy adopted last summer by Westmoreland County commissioners to implement GPS tracking on all county vehicles is executive overreach and a safety risk to law enforcement personnel, lawyers argued in court on Wednesday. Implementation of the policy was put on hold last fall after Sheriff James Albert filed a...

With about a month left until the world’s top golfers hit the greens for the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, USGA officials said construction work across the club’s grounds is right on track. On-site work for the four-day tournament began in February. Despite a “difficult spring” filled with turbulent...

The man suspected in a Rostraver woman’s shooting death is back in Pennsylvania after being extradited from Florida. Dorian C. Jeri-Greene, 39, was denied bail Wednesday. He is charged with homicide, robbery, burglary and three counts of theft in the April 11 death of Jennah M. Seibert, 24. A preliminary...

A drastic shift in national policy recommends that only people 65 and older and others with certain health risks should get annual covid-19 vaccines, but at least one vaccine expert says the guidance raises as many questions as it answers. The Food and Drug Administration published its new policy Tuesday...

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted a gifted Boeing 747 aircraft from Qatar for President Donald Trump to use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The Defense Department will “work to ensure proper security measures” on the aircraft to make it safe for use by the...

A man who police say was shot outside a McKeesport hospital by the driver of a car he was trying to get into remained hospitalized Wednesday in critical condition. Allegheny County Police continue to investigate why the victim was trying to get into a stranger’s car early Tuesday morning. Jim...

Standing in a light rain in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood Wednesday morning, Corey O’Connor recalled how his father had shown gratitude to the voters who elected him to City Council and then mayor’s office. His father, the late Bob O’Connor, had gone into the basement the morning after he was first...

Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, May 21: Flood watch for Southwestern Pa. The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh has issued a flood watch for Allegheny, Westmoreland, Washington, Greene and Fayette counties as more strong storms begin to move through the area Wednesday. TribLive...

Nippon Steel is putting more money on the table. But will it matter? The nearly $15 billion elephant in the room is the Japanese company’s offer to acquire Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. It’s a deal that has been dragging on since December 2023. It slow-walked through the Committee for Foreign Investment...

Fair warning: Come June 5, it will not be legal to hold a cellphone — even during calls — while driving in Pennsylvania. The new law expands the state’s restrictions on cellphone use while driving. Those who are caught violating the law will receive written warnings until June, 5, 2026....