Top Stories category, Page 1545
Pittsburgh’s bond rating bumps up from stable to positive
Pittsburgh is in line for a better interest rate on a $50 million capital improvement bond it intends to issue next month after Fitch Ratings upgraded the city’s bond rating Monday to positive, Mayor Bill Peduto said. It had been rated as stable. “We had gotten up to stable, and...
Wesley Family Services’ $18.2M complex in New Kensington on target to open Aug. 1
Herb Hughes of New Kensington sees the positives of working on the Pioneer Apartments project in New Kensington. It’s close to Hughes’ home, and the project by Wesley Family Services aims to inject life into the city’s business district. The $18.2 million apartment building is being built on the site...
Slippery Rock student recounts ‘horrifying’ 80-foot fall at McConnells Mill
Jocie Van Kirk, the 21-year-old Slippery Rock University psychology student who fell 80 feet on Sunday while hiking at McConnells Mill State Park with her friends, recounted the experience as “definitely one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever been through.” “I was absolutely terrified,” Van Kirk said. She said...
Pittsburgh ordinance would ban ownership of crocodiles, alligators and turtles
Pittsburgh, which has more than its share of pet alligators roaming loose, is moving to ban the sale and ownership of the reptiles in the city. City Councilman Bruce Kraus on Tuesday introduced a bill that would repeal an ordinance passed by council late last year that permitted but regulated...
Stocks sink, bonds soar on fears virus will stunt economyVideo
Stocks slumped again Tuesday on Wall Street, piling on losses a day after the market’s biggest drop in two years as fears spread that the growing virus outbreak will put the brakes on the global economy. Nervous investors snapped up low-risk U.S. government bonds, sending the yield on the 10-year...
Pittsburgh airport to phase out using boarding passes at security checkpoints
Travelers flying out of Pittsburgh International Airport will soon not have to display a boarding pass to get past security, airport officials said this week. Boarding passes will still be required at the gate to board the plane. Officials with the airport and Transportation Security Administration announced that Pittsburgh is...
Former Uniontown funeral director sentenced to prison for scamming elderly clients
A former Uniontown funeral director who pleaded guilty to stealing from more than 80 elderly clients on Tuesday was sentenced to four to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $555,000 in restitution. Authorities said Stephen E. Kezmarsky III, 52, the former owner and operator of the Kezmarsky Funeral...
West Deer man charged with homicide by vehicle in fatal Hampton wreck
A West Deer man involved in a crash along Route 8 in Hampton in early December has been charged with causing the death of his passenger, Allegheny County Police said Tuesday. Investigators said Carl John Keating, 32, was traveling north at a high rate of speed on Dec. 11 when...
New Kensington cop killer’s appeal contends his name, police presence at trial swayed jury
The man sentenced to death this month for murdering New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw on Tuesday contended Westmoreland County jurors reached a faulty verdict because of his “Muslim-sounding name” and because they were intimidated by a heavy law enforcement turnout during trial. Defense attorneys Tim Dawson and James Robinson...
Vincentian Academy closing at end of school year amid declining enrollment
Vincentian Academy in McCandless will close its doors after 88 years because of declining enrollment, school officials announced on Tuesday. Vincentian has suffered from financial hardships because of a dwindling number of students the past several years, said Sister Mary Elizabeth Miller, the provincial of the Western Province of the...
Jailed Westmoreland County man accused of raping Allegheny County child
A 41-year-old Sutersville man already accused of raping two Westmoreland County children was arrested last week on multiple charges of raping a 5-year-old in Allegheny County in 2011. Ronald E. Styche III was arraigned Wednesday before Coraopolis District Judge Michele Santicola on multiple charges of rape, aggravated indecent assault, endangering...
Cash 5 lottery ticket worth $250K sold at Hempfield Giant Eagle
Someone who bought a Cash 5 lottery ticket in Hempfield is a quarter million dollars richer, state lottery officials announced. On Monday, one of two winning tickets for the $500,000 prize was sold at the Hempfield Square Giant Eagle, 6204 U.S. Route 30, the lottery reported. The second winning ticket...
Jeannette landlord accused of endangering firefighters, neighbor with flame-shooting furnace
A landlord who believes he is making Jeannette a better place, but who city officials claim has been a thorn in their side for years, is accused of ignoring the dangers of a faulty furnace and endangering the lives of five firefighters and a neighbor, police Chief Shannon Binda said....
New Stanton teen pleads guilty but mentally ill in 2016 killing of mother, brotherVideo
Jacob Remaley on Tuesday simply said he was sorry. Sorry for forever changing his family on the morning of Nov. 30, 2016, when, at age 14, he shot and killed his mother and younger brother in their New Stanton home. “I know I am guilty,” Remaley, now 18, said as...
Jeannette man accused of pointing gun at woman who pulled over near his home
A Jeannette man is being held without bond after police said he pointed a gun at a woman who pulled over in front of his house to tend to her sick son in the backseat. Christopher Jamal Jackson, 23, is charged with weapons violations, intimidation of a witness, aggravated assault...
Trump defends Modi, refuses to weigh in on citizenship law
NEW DELHI — Defending the host who has showered him with pomp and pageantry, President Donald Trump refusedTuesday to speak out publicly against a controversial new Indian citizenship law pushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has sparked deadly protests over discrimination against Muslims. Asked about the law one day...
Trump says coronavirus ‘very well under control’ in U.S.
NEW DELHI — President Donald Trump sought Tuesday to minimize fears about coronavirus spreading rampantly throughout the U.S., saying the situation is “very well under control in our country.” At the same time, the Trump administration on Monday asked Congress for an additional $2.5 billion to prepare in case of...
Pittsburgh-area fish fries: Where to dig in every week during Lent 2020
It’s about to get fishy around here. It’s the scent and flavor that fuels many a volunteer fire department, church and social club budget for the year — fried fish. The 2020 fish fry season is finally here. Many organizations are gearing up for their annual fundraisers, most beginning on...
Ex-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak dies at 91
CAIRO — Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian leader who for nearly 30 years was a fixture in Mideast politics before being forced by the military to resign after nationwide protests that were part of the Arab world’s 2011 pro-democracy upheaval, died on Tuesday, the country’s state-run TV said. He was 91....
Allegheny County to test water at Human Services building for Legionella bacteria
The Allegheny County Health Department will test the water at the county’s Department of Human Services building for Legionella bacteria after an employee tested positive for Legionnaries’ disease. The Department of Human Services is on Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh. In a statement to the Trib’s news partner, WPXI-TV, Allegheny County...
Pittsburgh area filled with not-so-hard workers, study says
Pittsburgh, which has prided itself for generations as having hard-working people who toiled in steel mills, factories, coal mines and manual labor jobs, apparently has softened over the years, based on a study conducted by WalletHub, a personal finance website. The workers of the onetime Steel City were “outworked” by...
Times Square campaign features White Oak cancer survivor
A White Oak woman diagnosed as a teen with stage II rectal cancer will be among 14 people featured in a new awareness campaign in New York City’s Times Square on Feb. 26. Denelle Suranski, 37, is an awareness ambassador with the nonprofit Fight Colorectal Cancer. At 9 a.m. Wednesday,...
Post Malone rocks PPG Paints Arena
Pittsburgh welcomed Post Malone with open arms Monday night. Malone’s Runaway tour made a stop in PPG Paints Arena rocking the massive crowd with his signature hits — “Circles,” “Sunflowers” and “Better Now” — to name a few. There were 21 songs in all. The tour began Sept. 14 in...
Latrobe eyes netting to restore access to city garage, protection from falling concrete
Latrobe officials hope protective netting will allow the Weldon Street parking garage entrance to reopen after being closed for months because of crumbling concrete. That entrance and sidewalk were closed last fall after contractor Pullman Services ran into more concrete damage than expected while making major repairs. The garage is...
Skating coach sues Penguins, alleges she was fired for needing breaks to pump breast milk
The Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday denied claims in a federal lawsuit alleging that a former youth skating coach was fired because of her need to take breaks to pump breast milk for her newborn child. Angela Gubala, who coordinated introductory and children’s skating programs at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex...
