Top Stories category, Page 1567
Judge rejects Sandusky’s latest request for shorter sentence
BELLEFONTE — A judge flatly rejected Jerry Sandusky’s latest request to have his 30- to 60-year child molestation sentence reduced during a brief hearing Tuesday. Judge Maureen Skerda said she purposely fashioned the prison term to have an impact on the former Penn State assistant football coach and noted Sandusky...
Tim Benz: Different melody, same lyrics from Pirates after Starling Marte trade
Ask someone more social media savvy than me. You know, one of “these kids today.” But I think now that Ben Cherington has made his first significant trade as Pirates general manager, this would be an appropriate time to go with the Spider-Man meme that I see on Twitter all...
North Huntingdon apartment building sold for $1.05 million
A Greensburg area property management firm paid just more than $1 million for a North Huntingdon apartment complex off Route 30, according to Westmoreland County real estate records. MAC Realty Management, based in Mt. Lebanon, sold the 22-unity apartment complex at 409 Bethel Road, to Scalzitti Properties of Van Avenue,...
GOP defends Trump as John Bolton’s book adds pressure for witnessesVideo
WASHINGTON — Senators faced mounting pressure Monday to summon John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial even as Trump’s lawyers mostly brushed past extraordinary new allegations from the former national security adviser and focused instead on corruption in Ukraine and historical arguments for acquittal. Outside the Senate...
Man in critical condition after Pittsburgh shooting
A man was hospitalized in critical condition after being shot in Pittsburgh’s North Side. City police said they responded to a ShotSpotter notification of gunfire near the intersection of Brighton Road and Woods Run Avenue around 7:30 p.m. Monday. The responding officer did not find a victim nor a suspect,...
Plum Borough School District classes to resume after threat to high school
Plum Borough School District classes are expected to resume Tuesday as borough police continue to investigate a threat against the high school. Schools were closed Monday after someone threatened to shoot up the high school. District officials announced that evening they would be returning to a normal schedule following a...
Arnold Palmer airport security guard fails alcohol test
A security guard was sent home Friday night after failing an alcohol test at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Westmoreland County Airport Authority Executive Director Gabe Monzo said the guard failed an alcohol breath test he was administered after one of two other guards who were on duty noticed indications of...
Westmoreland Manor water system being tested after complaint filed with state
Residents and staff at Westmoreland Manor have relied on bottled and boiled water since Friday as officials conduct tests to determine if the county nursing home’s water system was compromised. A complaint forwarded by the state’s Department of Health resulted in required testing of the Hempfield facility’s water distribution network,...
Leechburg Area Pool in Gilpin needs help from public to stay afloat
The future of the Leechburg Area Pool could be in jeopardy if it can’t recruit new board members, officials said Monday. The six-decade-old pool in Gilpin could potentially dissolve, which is akin to a form of bankruptcy, the pool’s board told members in a letter posted to Facebook. “We need...
Bar Louie gastrobar chain files for bankruptcy
Bar Louie, a national gastrobar chain with two locations in the Pittsburgh area, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company announced Monday. The two local Bar Louie locations are at The Waterfront in Homestead and on the North Shore between PNC Park and Heinz Field. Both of those locations,...
Carnegie Mellon tuition among the highest in nation, inching higher
No one said it would be cheap or easy to get through college, but annual costs at Carnegie Mellon University are edging toward a six-figure sticker price. Officials at the Pittsburgh research university recently approved a 3.2% tuition increase for the 2020-21 school year. Parents of incoming freshmen may be...
Westmoreland lockup cashing in with online books, movies
Westmoreland County collected more than $161,000 last year from jail inmates who rented movies and books and made phone calls on tablet computers. Warden John Walton said the money from the first year of the program, which allows inmates recreational use of the tablets from the privacy of their cells,...
Longtime Lower Burrell bartender mixes up a variety of drinks, flavors
Editor’s note: Building the Valley tells stories of businesses big and small and the employees who make them special. If you know of any standout employees, bosses or companies with a great story to tell, contact Senior News Editor Tom Fontaine at tfontaine@tribweb.com. Amber Adda can’t remember how she landed...
Peduto pitches gondola connecting the Strip, Hill District, Oakland
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he plans to transform the city’s Parking Authority into a “mobility authority” that would promote and invest in all modes of transportation, including gondolas, marinas and autonomous vehicles within the city’s borders. Peduto, who appeared Monday on a panel of experts discussing Pittsburgh’s potential for...
Pirates trade Starling Marte to Diamondbacks for pair of prospects
Starling Marte’s days with the Pittsburgh Pirates were numbered from the time Ben Cherington became general manager Nov. 18. Cherington saw the center fielder as his best trade option in his attempt to restructure — the Pirates still won’t use the term “rebuild” — the roster. The 31-year-old Marte is...
Supreme Court allows enforcement of new green card rule
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to put in place a policy connecting the use of public benefits with whether immigrants could become permanent residents. The new policy can be used to deny green cards to immigrants over their use of public benefits including...
Community mourns Penn-Trafford grad’s death in auto accident
Maclean “Mac” Maund was a typical teenager who liked to have fun. But he knew when he stepped up to the pitching mound, it was time to get serious. Maund was an elite talent in his senior year in 2019 at Penn-Trafford High School, where he was a pitcher and...
Police: East Huntingdon woman abandoned kids, locked them out in cold, rain
An East Huntingdon woman remained in the county jail Monday after state police accused her of abandoning her children for hours Friday before returning home “intoxicated” and then locking them outside in the cold and rain. Donna Louise DeAugustine, 37, is charged with multiple child endangerment and corruption charges. Murrysville...
$2.39 million Match 6 ticket sold in Butler County
A Match 6 ticket worth $2.39 million was sold in Middlesex, Butler County. The ticket correctly matched all six winning numbers, 01-06-19-25-34-42. It was sold in Saturday’s drawing at the CoGo’s at 1370 Pittsburgh Road. The store will earn a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. The Lottery said...
State police looking for Hempfield hit-and-run driver
State police are looking for the driver of a blue Honda car that was involved in a hit-and-run this month in Hempfield. The Honda rear-ended another vehicle at 4 p.m. Jan. 16 in the westbound lanes of Route 30 at Millersdale Road, according to troopers. The drivers discussed pulling into...
New clouded leopard cubs at Pittsburgh Zoo get names
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium has given names to its new clouded leopard cubs. Zoo officials announced Monday that the cubs were named Gale and Lynn. The names were chosen by the daughter of a longtime zoo docent, Gail Noden. “In honor of my mother, who loved the zoo...
Police: Mt. Pleasant Township man out on bail in domestic case tries to kill accuser
A Mt. Pleasant Township man who was freed Saturday on domestic violence charges is accused of going to the woman’s home that day and trying to kill her, according to state police. Troopers said John Michael Pisula Jr., 30, held a rifle to the woman’s head and apparently pulled the...
Pittsburgh man wanted in Homewood double homicide arrested in Philadelphia
A 22-year-old Pittsburgh man wanted for a November double homicide in the city’s Homewood neighborhood was arrested Monday in Philadelphia, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Darryl Barnett was taken into custody at 7:30 a.m. by the marshals of the Philadelphia Violent Offender Task Force after an extensive investigation involving...
Pittsburgh ranks as top city for football fans
It’s at least one thing Pittsburghers can hold over New England: Our football fans are the best. In WalletHub’s 2020 edition of its annual survey of Best & Worst Cities for Football Fans, the home of the Black and Gold is unmatched. Out of 245 U.S. cities, Pittsburgh — with...
Taliban say mystery crash in Afghanistan was U.S. aircraftVideo
KABUL, Afghanistan — An American military aircraft crashed in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. military said, adding that there were no indications so far it’d been brought down by enemy fire. The spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Col. Sonny Leggett, said that the military plane, a Bombardier E-11A,...
