Top Stories category, Page 158
Educators debate Pa. House proposal to set flat cyber charter tuition rate
New Kensington-Arnold Superintendent Chris Sefcheck is encouraged to see the state House education committee move on legislation to set a flat tuition rate for cyber charter schools. The district spent $3.3 million this past school year on tuition for 167 students who live in the area to attend one of...
Westmoreland’s municipal primary tiebreakers set for Friday
Four ties that occurred in the May 20 municipal primary will be broken at noon Friday in the Westmoreland County Courthouse. There will be marbles drawn to break the ties, said Scott Ross, election bureau director. Deborah Vernon and Cynthia Adams tied for the Democratic nomination for Arnold council with...
Former Jehovah’s Witness sentenced for child sexual assault
A Butler County man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for sexually assaulting a pre-teen child, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said. Shaun Sheffer, 47, of Harmony was found guilty in January of three counts each of rape and indecent assault, including assault of a person less than...
Trump promises to hike steel and aluminum tariffs to 50% starting Wednesday. Here’s what we know
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump has promised to hike nearly all of his tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum to a punishing 50% on Wednesday, a move that would hammer businesses from automakers to home builders, and likely push up prices for consumers. Foreign-made steel and aluminum is used...
Pittsburgh councilman flags land bank funding as ‘immediate concern’
A Pittsburgh councilman is warning that the city’s land bank will be broke by the end of next year unless a future funding source is found. “It’s an immediate concern,” Councilman Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, told TribLive Tuesday. Wilson, a member of the Pittsburgh Land Bank’s board, is looking to...
John Fetterman loses another top staffer in Senate office
Another top aide is leaving U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s staff. The departure of chief of staff Krysta Sinclair Juris, first reported by Axios, is the latest in a string of departures from the Braddock Democrat’s office staff. “I’m grateful for Krysta’s work. She’s been an invaluable member of the team...
Man fatally shot during gunfight in Lawrenceville
The man who was shot dead in an alleged gunfight outside a Lawrenceville gas station early Tuesday evening in Pittsburgh has been identified. The Allegheny County Medical Examiners Office identified the victim as Michael Ehlinger, 56, of Pittsburgh’s Stanton Heights neighborhood. TribLive news partner WTAE reported that two men were...
Canadian wildfire smoke causes ‘very unhealthy’ conditions in Midwest and reaches Europe
MINNEAPOLIS — Smoke from Canadian wildfires carried another day of poor air quality south of the border to the Midwest, where conditions in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan were rated “very unhealthy” Tuesday. The fires have forced more than 27,000 Canadians in three provinces to flee their homes, and...
‘I’m thinking I’m going crazy’: Woman finds stranger in mom’s room at UPMC Mercy hospital
Rae Corrado walked into a room at UPMC Mercy hospital expecting to find her mother. But instead of her mother, Gloria, she came face to face on Friday with a stranger lying in the hospital bed. A nurse insisted the unknown woman was her mother, Corrado of Oakmont told TribLive....
Elon Musk slams Trump’s big tax bill as ‘abomination’
WASHINGTON — Elon Musk blasted President Donald Trump’s“big, beautiful bill” of tax breaks and spending cuts as a “disgusting abomination” on Tuesday, testing the limits of his political influence as he targeted the centerpiece of Republicans’ legislative agenda. The broadside, which Musk issued on his social media platform X, came...
USGA to open U.S. Open merchandise tent early for fans without tickets
Golf fans without tickets to attend the U.S. Open next week still will have the opportunity to purchase tournament merchandise, according to the USGA. The merchandise pavilion at Oakmont Country Club will be open to the public from Thursday to Sunday, prior to the tournament, the organization said. Featuring a...
Immigration authorities detain the family of the man charged in the Colorado attackVideo
BOULDER, Colo. — The wife and five children of the man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators in Boulder who were calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, injuring 12 of them, were being taken into custody Tuesday by federal immigration authorities, officials said. Mohamed Sabry Soliman,...
Federal uncertainty complicates Pa. budget haggling over transit, education
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 — Competing priorities and possible federal cuts to Medicaid are complicating negotiations as top Pennsylvania lawmakers attempt to hammer out a budget deal by...
Judge denies privacy in divorce case of former UPMC doctor charged with attempting to kill his wife
WAILUKU, Hawaii — A judge denied a request to keep proceedings private in a divorce case for a Hawaii doctor accused of attempting to kill his wife on a hiking trail. Gerhardt Konig’s wife filed for divorce last month after he was indicted on an attempted murder charge. Konig, a...
Steelers QB Mason Rudolph responds to ‘backlash’ from some fans over Trump rally
Four days after the President of the United States called him “tall” and “handsome” and predicted he would win the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback job, Mason Rudolph had some good things to say about Donald Trump announcing a partnership between Nippon Steel and Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. “It’s going to help...
Judge rules federal prisons must maintain hormone therapy for transgender inmates
WASHINGTON — The federal Bureau of Prisons must continue providing hormone therapy and social accommodations to hundreds of transgender inmates following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that led to a disruption in medical treatment, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said in his...
Kamins donate $11.5 million to Heinz History Center
The Senator John Heinz History Center will soon be even more accessible to children and students. On Tuesday, the History Center announced a gift of $11.5 million from philanthropists Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin. The longtime supporters of the History Center and other Pittsburgh institutions have offered the monetary...
Hosting the U.S. Open is worth the disruption to Oakmont Country Club members
With the U.S. Open coming to Oakmont Country Club next week, members can still schedule tee times for themselves — at other area courses. “The reciprocal courtesies kindly extended to Oakmont members during the U.S. Open allow for plenty of options,” said club member David Hickton, a former U.S. attorney...
Ligonier streets take on period look, with movie cameras set to roll for ‘Hershey’
Portions of Ligonier’s central Diamond and adjacent West Main Street will take on a new old look in the days ahead as the crew of “Hershey” arrives to shoot footage for the independent film about the founder of the Pennsylvania chocolate company. During the location shoot, which begins Wednesday and...
Pittsburgh Mills mall owners waive preliminary hearing for criminal charge
Owners of the Pittsburgh Mills mall are waiting to hear a trial date after waiving their preliminary hearing Monday. Pitt Galleria LLC, a limited liability corporation that New York-based Namdar Realty Group operates through, was charged with creating a public nuisance by the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office in April....
Trump appears to undercut U.S. proposal to Iran, declaring he won’t allow any uranium enrichment
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday appeared to undercut a proposal that was offered by his special envoy to Iran, saying he will insist that Tehran fully dismantle its nuclear enrichment program as part of any deal to ease crushing sanctions. Trump and Steve Witkoff, who is leading the...
Fetterman, McCormick find common ground on many issues, split on budget plan
U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick have found common ground on a number of key issues during their first five months working together in Washington, but they acknowledge it’s unlikely they’ll agree on President Trump’s budget plan. Fetterman, D-Braddock, and McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, appeared together Monday at a forum in...
Canadian wildfire smoke to linger over Western Pa.
Canadian wildfire smoke is here to stay in Western Pennsylvania — at least for this week. “Right now, it looks like it could be a decent portion of the week,” said Andrew Kienzle, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Moon. By Thursday during the day, though, some rain...
Pittsburgh man charged with fatally shooting another man in city’s Northview Heights
One Pittsburgh man is charged with fatally shooting another early Saturday in the city’s Northview Heights neighborhood. Pittsburgh police have arrested Cory Lavelle Carter, 41, a resident of Bedford Dwellings, on a charge of criminal homicide in the death of Laron Harrison, 38. Harrison was shot multiple times while visiting...
Feds remove online list accusing Pittsburgh, others of defying immigration law
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security list that classified Pittsburgh and Allegheny County as “sanctuary jurisdictions defying federal immigration law” has been removed from the department’s website. DHS last week said each jurisdiction would receive formal notification of “its non-compliance with federal statutes,” but city and county officials on Monday...
