Top Stories category, Page 1431
Universities to advocate for international students amid visa restrictions
Leaders in higher education, including at local instititutions, are concerned over President Trump’s executive order Monday that suspends new visas for many international workers. The order, passed Monday and put into effect immediately, denies entry into the U.S. to four visa categories: H-1B, L, J and H-2B. These visas apply...
Westmoreland County wants to shutter 2 district court offices
The Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas plans to close district courts in Mt. Pleasant and Penn townships by next year. This decision was made due to dwindling population and caseloads, according to the county’s new Magisterial District Court Redistricting Plan, released Friday. The move would save the county an...
DA seeks stiffer sentence for Pittsburgh rare book thieves
The Allegheny County District Attorney is asking a judge to reconsider sentencing for two men who stole rare books from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, arguing they should go to jail instead of serving home confinement. District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.’s office on Friday filed a motion with Allegheny...
Police charge McKees Rocks man with homicide in Robinson motel shooting
Allegheny County Police have arrested a McKees Rocks man in the fatal shooting of a Beaver County man Friday morning at the Pittsburgh Motel on Steubenville Pike in Robinson. Jaquay Murray, 25, is charged with criminal homicide in the death of Christopher Langham, 48, of Hookstown. Police and medics were...
Wildlife Works fundraiser benefits fawns in needVideo
The eight whitetail fawns Morgan Barron and Ella Lawrence have been taking care of know when it’s time to eat. They’ll run to the door of their Mt. Pleasant Township enclosure or make noises. But that’s the only time the small herd wants to be around people. “Which is good...
Pittsburgh convention center food service provider laying off 203 employees
The food and beverage provider for the David L. Lawrence Convention Center is laying off 203 employees effective Aug. 1 because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a notice provided to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Labor and Industry reported it received notification from Chicago-based Levy Premium Foodservice...
North Park Lounge in McCandless closes after employee tests positive for coronavirus
A restaurant employee in McCandless has tested positive for covid-19, prompting the business to temporarily close. North Park Lounge owner Mark Baranowski posted a letter to the restaurant’s Facebook page Friday, stating an employee tested positive Thursday. He said the last day the employee worked was Saturday, June 20. In...
Westmoreland County reports 9 new coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County has nine new covid-19 cases and no additional deaths, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported Friday. The countywide case total is now 587, with 38 deaths, according to the department. There have been no reported coronavirus deaths in Westmoreland County since May 18. More than 16,000 county residents...
Man accused of firing 9 shots inside Jeannette apartment
A Jeannette man is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison after, police say, he fired nine shots inside his apartment, according to court papers. Jason Matthew Thomas, 31, is charged with discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure, reckless endangerment and drug and drug paraphernalia possession. City police...
Firework sales, complaints surge as 4th of July events are canceled across regionVideo
Fireworks wrapped in red, white and blue packaging piled up in Jeremiah Deshetler’s cart this week as he shopped at Phantom Fireworks in Hempfield with the help of his 11-year-old daughter, Caitlin. “Brentwood canceled their fireworks show very early during corona, so we’re trying to make up for that with...
Allegheny Health Network announces mobile covid-19 testing sites for next week
Allegheny Health Network’s mobile covid-19 testing unit will be in Pittsburgh’s Hill District and Hazelwood neighborhoods, Clairton and Duquesne next week. AHN personnel will operate the testing vehicle from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the following dates: • June 29: Pittsburgh Housing Authority, 2435 Chauncey Drive in the Hill...
61 new coronavirus cases reported in Allegheny County, highest in 2 months
Allegheny County health officials reported 61 new cases of covid-19 Friday, a record high for daily cases in nearly two months. One new hospitalization and two deaths were also reported. The new cases reported Friday in Allegheny County represent the highest daily number since April 23. The new cases ranged...
Pittsburgh forms task force to handle explosion of fireworks complaints
Fireworks complaints in Pittsburgh have increased by nearly 400% so far this month over the same period in 2019 and the city plans to address it through increased enforcement. The city on Friday announced the creation of a task force, which includes police and Fire Bureau investigators, to actively enforce...
Confirmed new virus cases hit new high in U.S.
The number of confirmed new coronavirus cases per day in the U.S. hit an all-time high of 40,000 Friday — eclipsing the mark set during one of the deadliest stretches in late April — in a resurgence that has led some governors to backtrack or at least pause the reopening...
New Kensington native’s First Sip Brew Box wins national marketing awardVideo
Time was running out. Dennis Guy’s mother, Denise Peace, was extremely ill. He needed a business loan to boost his company. But this was about more than the money. He wanted his mother to know her son was following his dream. She always told him the sky was the limit....
Amber Alert issued for 1-year-old girl taken from Youngstown
Police are seeking help in locating a 1-year-old girl taken from her home Thursday in Youngstown, Ohio. An Amber Alert was issued for Nova Sheridan, who was taken just about 11:30 p.m. after her father broke into her mother’s home, according to missingkids.org. The baby is about 2 feet tall...
Swissvale shooting victim identified
The victim of a shooting Thursday in Swissvale has been identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. Kellyn Toliver, 31, of Pittsburgh, was shot just before 6:30 p.m. along the 2000 block of Noble Street, county police said. First responders and police searched the area and found that Toliver ran...
U.S. Catholic bishops: Clergy sex abuse claims tripled in 2019
NEW YORK — U.S. Roman Catholic bishops said Thursday that the church tallied 4,434 sex abuse allegations against clergy in the 2018-19 audit year, triple the number seen the previous year, with much of the increase stemming from a wave of lawsuits and claims by survivors of decades-old molestation. In...
Police: Butler man arrested, two others sought in vandalism during May 30 Pittsburgh protest
A Butler man was arrested Thursday and accused of aggravated assault and other crimes in connection with the May 30 protests in Downtown Pittsburgh. Jordan Erdos, 20, was apprehended and taken to the Allegheny County Jail, police said. Erdos is charged with riot, recklessly engendering another person, aggravated assault and...
Details from Oakmont girl’s death resemble physical, psychological torture
Nothing happens along 10th Street in Oakmont. “That’s why I live here. I have two children,” said resident Melissa Kwiatkowski. “This just makes you want to hold them a little closer.” Kwiatkowski, 52, was expressing shock Thursday over the death of 3-year-old Bella Seachrist, who lived in the same block...
3 police officers, Mad Mex employee test positive for covid-19 in Monroeville
Three police officers and a Mad Mex employee have tested positive for covid-19 in Monroeville. This was confirmed Thursday by municipal officials and the restaurant’s Facebook page Thursday. Monroeville Manager Tim Little said via email that the municipality “is following all Center for Disease Control guidelines with respect to positive...
15th Port Authority employee tests positive for coronavirus
Port Authority of Allegheny County on Thursday reported that another of its employees has tested positive for covid-19. Fifteen employees have tested positive for the coronavirus since the first case was reported on March 26, spokesman Adam Brandolph said. This is the first case involving a Port Authority employee since...
Lawyer for suspended Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez says evidence of child sex assault should be thrown out
The lawyer for suspended Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez said evidence collected by police during an investigation into sexual assault allegations were the product of an illegal search and should be barred from use by prosecutors in an upcoming trial. Vazquez, 28, has been in jail since September, when he...
Comcast offering free Wi-Fi for rest of year as nation works to reopen amid coronavirus
Comcast will keep its public Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots open to everyone, including non-Xfinity customers, for the remainder of the year, the company said Thursday. The provider in March announced it would open access to its 1.5 million hotspots to anyone amid the coronavirus pandemic. “We saw a huge jump in...
Groups plan $1.1M historical restoration of path in Pittsburgh North Side park
Pittsburgh’s landmark Allegheny Commons Park in the North Side is about to receive a $1.1 million historical facelift. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy on Thursday announced plans for restoration of the North Promenade, a path paralleling North Avenue and running almost the length of the park. Plans call for a paved,...
