Top Stories category, Page 1313

Pittsburgh hip-hop artist Mars Jackson has a knack for surprising people. He performed in art galleries, like Penn Avenue’s Most Wanted Fine Art, when clubs weren’t his style. Threads of soul, jazz and gospel are prominently displayed in his melodic brand of hip-hop music. He openly discusses the benefits of...

HARRISBURG — Democrats are launching a digital ad targeting Pennsylvanians voting by mail to explain how to correctly fill out and return the ballots, hoping to avert worried predictions that 100,000 votes or more could be invalidated because the ballots aren’t put in the proper envelope. The so-called naked ballots...

Nearly a month into the official 2020 general election campaign, with their camps moving full steam ahead and frequent rallies in Pennsylvania, President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have done little to move the needle among Keystone State voters, a new poll shows. A Franklin & Marshall College...

A new national survey of fall college enrollment trends by the National Student Clearinghouse found the impact of covid-19 and a shrinking pool of new high school graduates has left its mark on Pennsylvania colleges. The survey based on preliminary numbers from about 22% of the nation’s colleges and universities,...

Leechburg Area School District students will return to face-to-face instruction Oct. 5. “I’m thrilled that the students are coming back,” Superintendent Tiffany Nix said. Students have been learning online exclusively since school started Sept 2. The original back-to-school plan approved in June offered students a choice of returning to school...

A Baldwin couple has been charged with homicide and other crimes in connection with the death of their 1-year-old son. Thomas Snelsire and Tracy Humphreys, both 45, were charged Wednesday by Allegheny County Police with homicide, two counts of endangering the welfare of children, four counts of possession of controlled...

A Brentwood restaurant ordered to close for failing to follow the governor’s orders to stop the spread of covid-19 sued Allegheny County and the health department on Wednesday, alleging civil rights violations. The owners of the Crack’d Egg, which opened in 2015 on Brownsville Road, were the subject of an...

Westmoreland County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a New Kensington man charged with the fatal beating of his paramour’s 2-year-old son earlier this year. In court documents filed Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Judy Petrush cited three aggravated circumstances that, if proved, warrant a sentence of death by lethal...

A man already serving five to 10 years in prison for stealing more than $1 million from an Upper St. Clair church was indicted by the federal government this week on tax fraud charges. David Reiter, 51, formerly of South Park, faces 16 counts of failing to pay taxes and...

Pittsburgh City Council is poised to approve a $40,000 settlement for a Trafford woman who claims she was assaulted by officers in her own home five years ago. Deborah Trzeciak, 60, filed a civil lawsuit against the city and five individual police officers in December, alleging excessive force and failure...

Pennsylvania’s new covid-19 contact tracing app has been downloaded by 50,000 people, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office said Wednesday. The mobile app, COVID Alert PA, was announced in August and officially launched Tuesday. The app notifies users if they have been exposed to covid-19 using Bluetooth technology. Without tracking identity or...

The Pittsburgh Art Commission unanimously recommended removal of the statue of Christopher Columbus that has been in Schenley Park for over 60 years. The recommendation, made during a Wednesday meeting of the commission, puts the issue before Mayor Bill Peduto, who will consider the issue and make a decision. The...

One month after a caseworker with Children, Youth and Families gave the all-clear on a Baldwin couple’s home, their 1-year-old infant was found dead from what police said Wednesday was a drug overdose. Thomas Humphreys was found dead in his parents’ Oakleaf Road home in Baldwin on Sept. 13. Investigators...

To the dismay of many high school sports fans, Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto of House Bill 2787 will stand. The state House on Wednesday fell short of the two-thirds majority vote needed to override Wolf’s veto with only 130 in favor of the override and 71 opposed. The House had...

Top Republicans in Harrisburg have asked the state Supreme Court to stay part of its order allowing the use of ballot drop boxes and granting a three-day extension to count mail-in ballots while they appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. In an application filed Tuesday, the Republican lawmakers...

Initial coronavirus testing has been completed at Westmoreland Manor and officials said Wednesday that one additional resident and three more staffers have been infected with covid-19. Those latest results indicate that since the weekend a total of 33 residents and six employees have been diagnosed with the virus at the...

Westmoreland County posted its second highest single-day total of reported coronavirus cases Wednesday. According to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Westmoreland added 39 positive covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The county’s highest one-day mark was set April 25 when 43 cases were reported. The county now...

A Pittsburgh woman and two Maryland brothers were charged Tuesday in connection with an armed robbery in Rostraver. A female clerk at the Marathon gas station on Route 51 reported to township police at 9:15 p.m. on Aug. 3 that a man pointed a sawed-off shotgun at her and demanded...