Top Stories category, Page 144

In less than a week now, the federal Real ID requirement goes into effect and will be enforced by TSA agents at airports across the country. Starting May 7, anyone 18 years of age or older will need a Real ID or another acceptable form of identification like a passport...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday he’s nominating his national security adviser Mike Waltz to serve as United Nations ambassador in a major shake-up of his national security team. The president said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve simultaneously as acting national security adviser while maintaining his position...

As hundreds of thousands go without electricity after severe storms battered the region, officials and experts have begun weighing in with guidance about how to proceed. Though some customers have had their power restored since the storm, Duquesne Light said it could take five to seven days to fully restore...

The Penn State faculty senate passed a positional report this week opposing the closure of commonwealth campuses and asked the university administration to pause the decision until an impact assessment can be conducted. Faculty senators have not shied away from expressing their concerns about closing campuses and how even before...

Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday advanced a bill to shrink the minimum size of lots for residential development, casting further doubt on the future of a broader housing reform package that has been stalled for months. The measure, sponsored by Councilman Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, would allow developers to build...

The Pittsburgh Public Schools board on Wednesday approved a tax diversion for the sprawling Esplanade development, which plans to bring a Ferris wheel, housing and other amenities to the city’s Chateau neighborhood. The developer, Cecil-based Piatt Companies, has now secured approval from the city and school district for the tax...

Another round of storms is expected to hit Western Pennsylvania on Thursday, even as communities are still reeling from severe weather that knocked down trees, ripped roofs from buildings and left thousands without power on Tuesday. A threat of thunderstorms — some severe — will return Thursday afternoon and evening,...

A fan fell over the Clemente Wall, a 21-foot drop onto the right-field warning track at PNC Park, halting play Wednesday night in the seventh inning of the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs. Andrew McCutchen had just reached second base following an RBI double that ricocheted off...

Schools throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley and well beyond were shuttered Wednesday, and maybe longer, after Tuesday’s fast-moving thunderstorms. Several trees, two power poles and a transformer were brought down by strong winds at New Kensington-Arnold’s Valley High School and a portable toilet was flipped upside down. The district canceled school...

A man who caused a drunk-driving crash last year in Pittsburgh that killed his cousin is being sued for negligence in her death along with the Mt. Washington bar where they were said to be drinking that night. Eonna Page, 25, was killed on March 2, 2024, in a crash...

Joe Warren has been in the drive-in movie scene for about six decades. But he has rarely seen devastation to an outdoor theater like he did Wednesday morning at Evergreen Drive-In. Warren, owner of the East Huntingdon theater, surveyed the splintered wooden trusses and bent metal scraps piled in the...

After powerful storms swept through Western Pennsylvania this week, meteorologists hesitated to apply labels — though terms like derecho began to circulate. A derecho is a fast-moving, long-lived windstorm that the National Weather Service says can produce tornado-like damage — but in a single, straight path. To qualify, it must...

YORK — An officer killed while responding to a Pennsylvania hospital siege was struck by a shotgun blast fired by police that also hit an armed man holding hostages, a prosecutor disclosed at a news conference Wednesday. The attacker and West York Patrolman Andrew W. Duarte were killed in the...

School leaders spent most of Wednesday reviewing their options as many districts were forced to cancel classes after a destructive storm cut through the region Tuesday evening, knocking out electricity and leaving some roads impassable. And just like a snow day in winter, those same leaders were looking at their...

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — A surge of taxpayer money approved last year to help students in Pennsylvania’s poorest schools is being used by dozens of districts to...

The listing agent facilitating the sale of Vereb Funeral Home in Harrison said he was unaware the owner was entangled in alleged criminal activity. Patrick Vereb, 70, of Hazelwood was charged Monday by the state Attorney General’s Office with theft of almost $660,000 after taking money for pet cremations but...

Municipalities and local organizations around the region have stepped up as shelters, offering residents a place to charge their devices and get assistance in the wake of Tuesday’s severe storms, which left thousands without power. People can find electricity at: Plum Borough Municipal Building is operating on a generator and...

Evergreen Drive-In in East Huntingdon Township was damaged Tuesday during the severe storms that hit the region. Related • `Short, sharp storm`: Fast-moving squall line leaves death, widespread destruction in Western Pa. • Power companies expect restoration time to be 5-7 days in wake of storms • Photo gallery: Storm...

Crews and residents in Southwestern Pennsylvania on Wednesday began the long process of cleaning up after a severe storm described by officials as an “unprecedented event” left at least three people dead and hundreds of thousands without power. Duquesne Light Co. estimated it could take five to seven days to...

About 130,000 Duquesne Light customers in the region — still without power Wednesday because of the severe storms Tuesday evening — may have to wait for five days before they have electricity restored, a company official said. The storm that caused an “unprecedented event in the history of Duquesne Light”...

KYIV, Ukraine — The U.S. and Ukraine announced on Wednesday an economic agreement after a weekslong press by President Donald Trump on Ukraine to compensate Washington for billions in military and economic assistance to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a video posted to...

May the fourth be with you on Sunday (May 4), when Pittsburgh will have three major events happening. The Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon is expecting the biggest participation in its history with more than 46,000 participants; the University of Pittsburgh is hosting its largest-ever graduation class and the Pirates...

Westmoreland County prosecutors dismissed a charge of drug delivery resulting in death in connection with the fatal overdose of a Greensburg man who died in 2023. Hugh Hawkey, 49, of Greensburg, pleaded guilty Tuesday to lesser drug-related counts after a Westmoreland County judge ruled in favor of the defense’s challenge...

Residents woke up Wednesday morning and started to assess the damage from the storm that ripped through the Pittsburgh region Tuesday night. See photos from around the region. Related: • 2 dead after storms with 70 mph wind slam region...

Pennsylvania Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, is pitching the idea of a regional, multi-county public transit authority as Pittsburgh Regional Transit braces for a fare increase and drastic service cuts. In a memo, Costa said he plans to introduce legislation “in the near future” to create such a transit agency....