Top Stories category, Page 147
Medicare and Social Security go-broke dates pushed up due to rising health care costs, new SSA law
WASHINGTON — The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security ‘s trust funds have moved up as rising health care costs and new legislation affecting Social Security benefits have contributed to earlier projected depletion dates, according to an annual report released Wednesday. The go-broke date — or the date at...
Mark Madden: The culture of wrestling is magnetic … so I’m back
Vice TV produced a four-part documentary series: “Who Killed WCW?” I was never mentioned. But, judging by social media reaction to me doing color commentary on TNA Wrestling’s TV taping this Friday at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center, you’d think that I was most responsible for putting World Championship Wrestling...
U.S. Steel, Nippon finalize $14.9B merger, security agreement
Japan’s Nippon Steel has finalized its $14.9 billion takeover of U.S. Steel, the companies announced Wednesday, as they unveiled details about the deal, which amounts to a tightly monitored merger. To win government approval, the companies also have entered a national security agreement meant to mitigate worries about Nippon having...
Offers but no buyers on 3 Guardian Angels churches still on the market
Three former churches, once part of the Guardian Angels parish, remain for sale three years after the parish cut seven churches to two, keeping open Most Blessed Sacrament in Harrison and Our Lady of Victory in Springdale Township. “We have people looking all the time,” parish Business Manager Tom Babinsack...
Hunting licenses for 2025-26 season go on sale next week
It’s that time of year again — hunting licenses will go on sale starting next week, the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced. On Monday, hunting and furtaker licenses for the 2025-26 season will be available for purchase. Antlerless deer licenses can be purchased when general license sales open per usual, but...
Iran’s leader rejects call to surrender, saying U.S. intervention would cause ‘irreparable damage’
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday rejected U.S. calls for surrender in the face of more Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.” European diplomats prepared to hold talks with Iran on Friday. The second public...
Morning Roundup: Police sergeant suspended after shoving man, mounted patrols to return to Montour Trail
Here are some of the latest news items happening this morning, Wednesday, June 18: Ellwood City police sergeant suspended after shoving man at Sheetz The Ellwood City Borough Council voted unanimously to suspend and demote Sgt. Robert Magnifico after he shoved a man at Sheetz in June. The decision comes...
Interest in skilled trades surges nearly 14%
At 15, Ryley Potlas already knows what she wants to do with her life. The Kiski Area School District freshman dreams of a career in welding, and she’s getting a jump on it by enrolling at Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center in New Kensington. “There’s a big need for...
Observation of federal Juneteenth holiday varies throughout region
Many areas of Western Pennsylvania are inconsistent in their approach to observing Juneteenth. Federal and state offices are closed and employees will have a paid day off Thursday for the official holiday that was designated in 2021. Meanwhile, workers at courthouses in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties will be on the...
Burrell School District mulls 3.8% tax hike to offset shrinking tax base, decreasing assessments
Burrell School District officials say a shrinking tax base and appeals that could lower property assessments are reasons they’re considering a 3.8% property tax hike. The increased taxes would support a budget the school board will consider Tuesday. The proposed budget totals about $37.7 million, said district Business Manager Jennifer...
‘Abolishing FEMA’ memo outlines ways for Trump to scrap agency
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to prepare a memo on how to abolish itself and create a re-branded, radically smaller disaster response organization, according to a copy of the document reviewed by Bloomberg News. As recently as last week, President Donald Trump...
Greater Latrobe OKs 1-mill tax hike for 2025-2026
Greater Latrobe School Board on Tuesday approved a 1-mill property tax increase to help raise local revenue for a final 2025-26 district budget of $68 million. District business administrator Dan Watson had recommended a 2-mill hike to help Greater Latrobe prepare for future capital projects as it deals with school...
Police: Boy, 15, critically wounded after being struck by vehicle in McKeesport
A 15-year-old boy was critically wounded when he was hit by a vehicle Tuesday evening near the intersection of Lysle Boulevard and Coursin Street, police said. The boy was attempting to cross Lysle in front of a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus when a vehicle traveling in the left lane struck...
U.S. spies said Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon. Trump dismisses that assessment
WASHINGTON — Tulsi Gabbard left no doubt when she testified to Congress about Iran’s nuclear program earlier this year. The country was not building a nuclear weapon, the national intelligence director told lawmakers, and its supreme leader had not reauthorized the dormant program even though it had enriched uranium to...
Split forms in MAGA world as Trump weighs next steps on Iran, with some top ranks rebuking him
A schism has opened among President Donald Trump’s most devout MAGA supporters and national security conservatives over the Israel-Iran conflict, as some longtime defenders of the president’s America First mantra call him out for weighing a greater U.S. role in the region. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, commentator Tucker Carlson...
Pa. Dems warn GOP’s proposed Medicaid cuts will ‘cost lives’
Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid, the federal program that provides health coverage to poor Americans, could leave hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians without health insurance and force rural hospitals and medical centers that cater to vulnerable communities to shut their doors, Democratic officials warned Tuesday. They urged people to call...
Police charge Duquesne man in fatal Safari Club shooting
Police on Tuesday arrested a Duquesne man in the killing of Tywone McClain last weekend inside a city bar. Marvin Harpool, 51, shot McClain, 26, once in the head last Friday at the Safari Club bar, according to a criminal complaint. Harpool had stepped between McClain and an unnamed woman...
Group of Girl Scouts safe after flash flooding near North Park cabin
Emergency crews rescued a group of Girl Scouts and counselors Tuesday after flash flooding near their cabin in North Park, police said. Police and fire departments arrived at 1:20 p.m. to a cabin near Kummer Road after a nearby stream started overflowing, police said. “They were in no immediate danger,”...
Rev. Melissa L. Stoller elected 1st woman bishop of Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod
Rev. Melissa L. Stoller was elected the next bishop of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — the first woman to hold the position. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod spans the bottom left corner of the state, with West Virginia and Ohio as the south and...
Man dies after jumping from Tarentum Bridge
A man who jumped from the Tarentum Bridge into the Allegheny River on Tuesday morning died before he could be taken to a hospital, according to paramedics at the scene. River rescue units were launched after the man apparently jumped from the bridge shortly after 11:30 a.m. Motorists had reported...
New Pennsylvania license plates available to order
Pennsylvania’s new license plate design is now available for order, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday. Sports teams mascots across the state showed off their very own versions of the new plates in a promotional video released online. Shapiro initially unveiled the new “Let Freedom Ring” license plate and state welcome...
Judge grants Fayette County mom new trial in daughter’s death; DA unsure about retrying case
A Fayette County judge on Tuesday granted a new trial to a woman who was imprisoned for starving her young daughter to death. Andrea Dusha, who has been free on bail while an appeal of her conviction is pending, appeared in court in Uniontown expecting a hearing. Instead, Fayette County...
Knead Cafe outreach model catches on in other states; pay-as-you-can network being created
Michael Phillips came upon Knead Community Cafe in New Kensington by accident. An Arnold native, he was visiting his hometown in the fall of 2023 and stumbled across Knead. The pay-what-you-can restaurant was closed, but owner Kevin Bode saw Phillips scoping out the place via his security cameras. Bode came...
Senate passes crypto regulations, sends to House without addressing Trump’s investments
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would regulate a form of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins, the first of what the industry hopes will be a wave of bills to bolster its legitimacy and reassure consumers. The fast-moving legislation, which passed by a 68-30 vote and will be sent...
Police say pipe bomb found at home of Pa. man arrested for having loaded gun at No Kings rally
A man who brought a fully loaded gun, several magazines, knives and more to a No Kings rally in West Chester over the weekend also had a pipe bomb in his home, police said. Police said Kevin Krebs, 31, of Malvern was walking along the 100 block of North High...
