Top Stories category, Page 1545
Student killed in WVU apartment complex shooting; 2 charged
A West Virginia University student was killed in a shooting early Friday morning at a university-run apartment complex near the campus, officials said. Eric James Smith, a sophomore from Clementon, N.J., was identified as the victim in the shooting, which happened around 4 a.m. at the College Park Apartments. Officials...
UPMC took in $20B in revenue in 2019, claims dominance in Western Pa. insurance market
Nearly 1 in 3 Western Pennsylvanians now has a health insurance plan with UPMC — making the nonprofit behemoth not only the state’s largest private employer and hospital system but also the region’s largest insurer. That’s according to UPMC executives and their newly released 2019 year-end financial statements. They cited...
Man shot in McKeesport
A man was taken to a local trauma center after being shot in McKeesport. An Allegheny County 911 dispatcher said calls for the shooting came in at about 8:25 p.m. Thursday along the 1700 block of Soles Street. McKeesport police confirmed the incident occurred, but could not release any other...
One person hospitalized after crash in Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood
One person was sent to a local hospital with injuries suffered in a crash Thursday evening in Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood. Allegheny County 911 dispatchers said a call came in shortly before 6:30 p.m. for a vehicle that crashed into multiple parked cars near Forbes Avenue and Van Braam Street. No...
Murrysville police arrest 3 connected to thefts in Allegheny, Westmoreland counties
The arrests of three people in Murrysville this week may help solve multiple crimes in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties. Murrysville police searched a Wiestertown Road home, where they seized a quantity of crystal methamphetamine, smoking pipes, digital scales, a stolen handgun and multiple other stolen items, according to court papers....
Peduto seeks to enlarge PWSA board of directors
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is asking the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority to expand its board of directors by two members, and on Thursday he announced the creation of a committee to recruit and recommend people for the positions. PWSA directors could vote on the mayor’s request as early as...
Food Podcast: Preparing for Empty Bowls, an event to remind us of hunger issues in the Pittsburgh area
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and Just Harvest are teaming up again for Empty Bowls, an event consisting of some simple things. The event offers a meal of soup and bread, designed to remind people of the one in eight residents of Allegheny County who are facing hunger. The event...
Police chief: Officer gave East Deer man ride home, where man then killed dad
An East Deer man who hopped in a police car for a courtesy ride to his father’s home hours before he allegedly killed him was “polite and compliant,” a police chief said. Police Chief Mike Naviglia of the Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department said Shane Howard was walking along Freeport...
Mayor Peduto: Facebook symbolizes Pittsburgh’s changing economyVideo
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Thursday described Facebook’s new facility in the Strip District as a symbol of the city’s changing economy. Peduto said high-tech companies along with the city’s educational and medical institutions have replaced the former industrial base that drove Pittsburgh markets for more than a century. High-tech...
Pittsburgh infectious disease specialist: ‘It’s time to prepare for coronavirus surge’Video
With the continued spread of the coronavirus and misinformation about the disease, Pittsburgh-based infectious disease and critical care physician Dr. Amesh Adalja has become a highly sought after expert on the subject. A senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Adalja works on pandemic preparedness, emerging infectious...
Pittsburgh man pleads to voluntary manslaughter in 2018 slaying
A Pittsburgh man already serving time in federal prison for his part in a West End drug ring was sentenced Thursday to state prison time for the 2018 slaying of another man. Rashem Littleberry, 29, was sentenced to 4.5 to 9 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter...
Mickey from ‘Disney on Ice’ visits UPMC Children’s Hospital of PittsburghVideo
Ella Weisbord had a simple request as she waited to meet a Disney character Thursday in UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. “I want to dance with Mickey,” the 5-year-old from Cheswick said. Mickey Mouse was happy to comply. Ella’s mother wheeled the girl up to Mickey for a meet-and-greet …...
3 Pittsburgh chefs make James Beard Awards semifinals list
Christian Frangiadis was flying home from Denmark when a customer called to make a booking at his Spork restaurant. He also congratulated the chef on his being named a James Beard Award semifinalist. That’s how Frangiadis learned he was on the 2020 list of semifinalists, in his case for Best...
Robert Morris cancels all study abroad trips as coronavirus spreads
Robert Morris University has canceled all trips abroad out of growing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, a university spokesperson said Thursday. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have canceled all study abroad trips planned for the spring semester, including those scheduled to leave in May,” spokesman Jonathan...
Ex-Pennsylvania lawmaker pleads guilty in child porn case
LEBANON — A former Pennsylvania state lawmaker charged last fall with possession of child pornography pleaded guilty Thursday. Mike Folmer entered a guilty plea in Lebanon County Court to three counts of possessing child porn and one count of criminal use of a communications facility for having items on his...
Pittsburgh among cities where Trump campaign will open centers to woo black voters
Flush with cash, President Donald Trump’s campaign is stepping up its outreach to black Americans as it tries to claw away support from the traditionally Democratic voting bloc ahead of November’s general election. Trump’s campaign announced Wednesday that it is opening “Black Voices for Trump Community Centers” in the coming...
Allegheny Township man accused of using device to record woman’s conversations
An Allegheny Township man is accused by police of putting a tracking and recording device in a woman’s SUV to listen to her conversations and follow her movements, according to court papers. Kerry Richard Jackson, 35, is charged with intercepting communications, possession of a device for intercepting communications, criminal use...
Jeannette man seeks dismissal of attempted murder charges
A Jeannette man wants attempted murder charges against him dismissed because he was not present when a man and juvenile were wounded during a robbery at a Sutersville home. Police contend Aaron Brown, 27, provided the weapons used in the Nov. 16, 2018, incident and, as a result, was charged...
Good grief: Shaler funeral director moonlights as stand-up comic
Frank Perman is a mortician with a stand-up routine that always knocks ‘em dead. The supervisor of Perman Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Shaler takes his job very seriously. Comedy is an emotional outlet. On Feb. 21, before a sold-out crowd at Crafthouse Stage & Grill in Baldwin, he...
Crash near Freeport Area High School prompts districtwide delay
All schools in the Freeport Area School District operated on a two-hour delay Thursday following a crash that closed part of Route 356 for just more than an hour. A two-vehicle crash happened shortly before 6 a.m. on Route 356 at Cole Road in Buffalo Township, according to a Butler...
Take a tour of Facebook’s Pittsburgh lab, where it is developing VR avatars
Facebook is developing virtual reality systems in Pittsburgh that it hopes will someday permit people located in separate parts of the world to communicate virtually as if they are sitting together in the same room. Let’s say people in China, the United States, Europe, South America and Australia want to...
Man in critical condition after rescue from burning Mount Washington apartment
A man was rescued from a burning apartment in Mount Washington late Wednesday afternoon. Pittsburgh authorities said city firefighters responded to a structure fire along the 800 block of Boggs Avenue around 5 p.m. Responders encountered fire in one of the apartments and discovered a man inside. Officials said the...
Cyclist struck by car in Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood
A woman was struck by a car while riding a bicycle Wednesday night in Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood, officials said. Shortly after 8 p.m., emergency dispatchers received a report the incident at the intersection of Baum Boulevard and South Negley Avenue, near where Friendship meets the city’s Shadyside neighborhood. When officers...
Trump names Pence to lead U.S. response to coronavirus threatVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the United States is “very, very ready” for whatever the coronavirus threat brings, and he put his vice president in charge of overseeing the nation’s response. Trump sought to minimize fears of the virus spreading widely across the U.S., saying, “I don’t...
Last day at Tarentum library like losing ‘family’Video
For nearly the past 10 years, 92-year-old Norm Jacobs of Natrona Heights, Harrison, has had a daily routine. Jacobs, a retired attorney who still has a law license, stops for eggs at Massart’s restaurant on Sixth Avenue, checks in at his nearby office, and then walks down Lock Street to...
