Top Stories category, Page 1407
Mt. Lebanon, Greater Latrobe ranked top school districts in Pittsburgh area, Westmoreland
Greater Latrobe is tops in Westmoreland County and among the best school districts across the state, according to the latest rankings in several categories on Niche.com. The Pittsburgh-based site calculates its rankings based on reviews by students and parents and data from the U.S. Department of Education, along with factors...
Lebanon County sues Gov. Wolf for withholding $13M in virus funding
A Pennsylvania county sued Wednesday to compel Gov. Tom Wolf to release $12.8 million in federal coronavirus relief funding that he withheld after county leaders defied his shutdown orders and sought to reopen on their own. Wolf yanked the funding from Lebanon County, where local Republican leaders voted in mid-May...
Pennsylvania health department looking to hire more contact tracers, nurses
State health officials are looking to hire more contact tracers and nurses to better control the spread of coronavirus and prepare for any potential surges in covid-19 cases. Contact tracing is the process of identifying, notifying and monitoring anyone who came in close contact with an individual who tested positive...
Ross police searching for suspects who stole ATM from gas station
Ross Township police are searching for suspects wanted for breaking into a gas station and stealing an ATM. Police say the BP station in the 500 block of Lowries Run Road was broken into around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday and the ATM was taken. The suspects were driving a car that...
Former Jeannette man killed during S.C. robbery attempt
A Jeannette native was killed during an attempted robbery this month in Charleston, S.C. Thomas DiLorenzo, 63, was fatally shot Friday by two teenagers, ages 15 and 16, who demanded money as he and his wife walked downtown, the Post and Courier reported. Police called the shooting an “anomaly” that...
Pitt, Penn State officials support mask wearing efforts, coronavirus mitigation plans
Officials with the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State and Temple University said they are supportive of mask wearing and other mitigation efforts put into place by state officials to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. All three universities plan to offer in-person classes this fall. “Penn State is finalizing...
Allegheny County reports 96 new coronavirus cases, 8 deaths
Allegheny County dropped below 100 new covid-19 cases for the first time in nine days but saw a rise in both deaths and hospitalizations. The county reported 96 new cases, eight deaths and 16 hospitalizations on Wednesday, with the eight deaths the highest recorded since mid-May. The new cases bring...
Grab the mustard and onions — it’s National Hot Dog Day
Although the hot dog doesn’t always get a lot of respect, Americans eat an estimated 20 billion of them every year. That’s roughly 70 per person. That’s enough to get the lowly tube steak some formal recognition — July 22 is National Hot Dog Day. If you find yourself passing...
‘Very frightening’: Opposition grows to U.S. agents in cities
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Trump administration is facing growing pushback — in the courts and on the streets — to sending federal agents to Portland, Oregon, where protests have spiraled into violence, and vowing to do the same in other Democratic-led cities. Far from tamping down the unrest that followed...
Reports: MLB has informed Toronto Blue Jays they will call PNC Park home this season
MLB has informed the Toronto Blue Jays that they will share PNC Park with the Pittsburgh Pirates as their home field this season, according to reports out of Canada. Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae first reported the news late Tuesday night, and the Toronto Sun confirmed that the majority of the Blue...
1 dead after shooting in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood
A man was killed Wednesday in a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood, according to the city Department of Public Safety. The unidentified man was taken to a hospital in critical condition early Wednesday. His death was reported just before 9 a.m. The city’s Shotspotter detection system registered multiple shots fired...
2nd heat wave in Western Pa. strains power grid but utilities handle extra demand
This summer’s heat has pushed the mercury to 90 degrees and higher for 11 days, prompting people to keep the air conditioners humming day and night. It has also strained the electricity lines carrying power to homes and businesses, area utility companies said. But while the system may be stressed...
Leechburg man dies after Gilpin crash
A 26-year-old Leechburg man died Tuesday night after crashing the vehicle he was driving into a tree in Gilpin, according to the Armstrong County Coroner’s Office. Christian Joshua Cuffia lost control of his car on Ice Pond Road, near Shearer Road, around 7:20 p.m. The car traveled about 80 feet...
Police seek help to ID men they say threw objects at officers in Downtown protest
Pittsburgh police are seeking help to identify five people they said threw objects at officers during a Downtown protest on May 30. Some also are suspected of burglarizing and damaging businesses during the event at Fifth Avenue and Smithfield Street. Police provided the following descriptions of the individuals and their...
Man rescued from Mt. Washington hillside
Pittsburgh first responders were able to rescue an elderly man who fell down a Mt. Washington hillside Tuesday. Authorities said police, fire and EMS were dispatched to the 600 block of Olympia Road around 5:45 p.m. for a man who had fallen about 20 feet down the hillside. They found...
Duquesne University ‘agreeable’ to requests of mother of student who fell to his death
A mother’s determination can go a long way. Dannielle Brown has been searching for answers since her son, Marquis Jaylen Brown, fell to his death from the 16th floor of Duquesne University’s Brottier Hall on Oct. 4, 2018. She began a hunger strike on Freedom Corner in Pittsburgh’s Hill District...
Trump’s show of federal force sparking alarm in citiesVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is using the Department of Homeland Security in unprecedented ways as he tries to bolster his law and order credentials by making a heavy-handed show of force in cities around the nation in the lead-up to the November elections. His plan to deploy federal agents...
Rest of preseason wiped out for Steelers, NFL
It’s official: No Tom Brady in Pittsburgh in 2020. No Drew Brees, either. No Pittsburgh Steelers late-summer trip to the shadow of the Big Apple. And no installment in the annual preseason “rivalry” with the Carolina Panthers. In fact, no August football at all this year. The 2020 NFL preseason...
Trump says virus in U.S. will get worse before it gets betterVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that the “nasty horrible’” coronavirus will get worse in the U.S. before it gets better, but he also tried to paint a rosy picture of efforts with governors to conquer the disease that has claimed more than 140,000 American lives in just...
Ex-DHS Secretary Tom Ridge: ‘It would be a cold day in hell’ before ‘personal militia’ would be welcomed uninvited in Pa.
Former Department of Homeland Security Tom Ridge ripped his former agency’s current actions in Portland, saying it is not the office’s mission to act as domestic law enforcement. Ridge, a two-term Republican governor from Pennsylvania and President George W. Bush’s first head of DHS, said Tuesday the Trump administration’s decision...
Pa. attorney general vows to back schools threatened with loss of funding over distance learning
As schools across the region continue to finalize arrangements for a return to class next month, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has added his voice to the debate. In a letter this week to district superintendents, Shapiro threatened to intervene on behalf of schools should the federal government withhold money...
Coronavirus infections far exceed reported cases, CDC estimatesVideo
Far more people were infected with the novel coronavirus than previously reported in several corners of the United States, according to data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency conducted a survey looking at antibodies to the virus in 10 U.S. regions. It found prevalence...
Westmoreland County jail reports 2nd covid-19 case, tests 17 more inmates
A second inmate at Westmoreland County Prison has tested positive for coronavirus. Warden John Walton said Tuesday that routine testing of newly booked quarantined inmates confirmed the positive result on July 17, a week after that person entered the Hempfield facility. “This person was asymptomatic,” Walton said. Prison officials confirmed...
Death of woman found in McKees Rocks refrigerator ruled a homicide
A woman whose body was found May 4 in a refrigerator stowed in the hallway of a McKees Rocks apartment building was slain, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office said Tuesday. The woman, Kristy Jefferson, 38, of McKees Rocks was inside a refrigerator that was sitting in a second floor...
WVU mandates covid-19 testing and education; Pitt to require students to quarantine
West Virginia University will require students to get a covid-19 test and complete an education module on the virus prior to returning to campus next month. Those who fail to meet those requirements could be fined $250, school officials warned Tuesday. Like colleges across the region, WVU has published a...
