Top Stories category, Page 1627

The former president of two family-teacher organizations in the Gateway School District has been charged with stealing nearly $11,000 from fundraisers and debit card purchases made for her personal use. Jennifer Murawski, 38, of Monroeville was president of the FTO at Mosside Middle School from 2017 to 2019 and the...

UPMC facilities are preparing to meet the “pent-up demand” among Highmark-insured patients who now can choose to go to UPMC doctors and hospitals, particularly when it comes to specialty care, UPMC’s chief financial officer said Tuesday. “We’re seeing (patient) volume increases,” said Robert DeMichiei, CFO of UPMC, a nonprofit health...

Greensburg Craft Beer Week is a nine-day, multi-venue event showcasing breweries, restaurants, local businesses and more through craft beer-centric events and community involvement throughout the Greensburg area. This year, events run from Sept. 20 to 28. Each year, Greensburg Craft Beer Week grows larger and offers more exciting events than...

Penn Hills Council is expected to vote Thursday to remove a longstanding appointed official from the municipality’s planning commission for refusing to comply with a rule requiring him to undergo a criminal background check. The planning commissioner, Jerry Chiappinelli, said he didn’t submit to a background check because he did...

A Latrobe man and his fiancee said a Fayette County resort wasn’t as advertised and are seeking the return of their deposit after canceling their wedding reception set for next month. In a three-count lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas, Greg Cammarata and Christina Varrasso say Nemacolin...

Westmoreland County is one of about 2,000 municipalities across the country with pending lawsuits against various drug manufacturers accused of promoting the opioid addiction epidemic that has devastated communities in recent years. This week’s court ruling in Oklahoma, in which the state was awarded a $572 million judgment from drugmaker...

An overnight outbound closure of the Liberty Tunnel begins Tuesday night and continues through Thursday night, weather permitting, according to PennDOT. The outbound Liberty Tunnel will close to traffic from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night as crews perform ceiling repair work. The inbound tunnel will not be impacted....

A former Monessen School District bus driver was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of possessing child pornography, federal prosecutors said. Jack Brian Laforte, 54, of Monessen is accused of possessiong videos and images in computer graphic files that showed minors, some younger than 12, engaged...

Pittsburgh’s popular haunted attraction ScareHouse is transforming. The creators of ScareHouse, formerly housed on Locust Street in Etna, will present a new attraction called “The Scream District” in a new temporary home in the Strip District. An exact location has not been revealed. The new iteration of the ScareHouse will...

With more and more states legalizing medical and recreational marijuana, sooner or later some bright scientist had to invent a marijuana breathalyzer. Now it appears researchers at the University of Pittsburgh may have just walked to the head of the class. A Pitt spokesman said a team from the university’s...

A 38-year-old Latrobe man has been jailed for allegedly assaulting a woman and injuring her 2-year-old son, police said. Louis Anthony Campbell, of 905 Chestnut St., is accused of causing the boy to sustain a lump on his forehead during an incident at a home in the 1900 block of...

A “Polar Coaster” of temperature changes, from above-average highs to frigid lows, is coming this winter, according to the 2020 Farmers’ Almanac, with the eastern part of the country potentially facing the worst of it. “We expect yet another wild ride this winter,” almanac editor Pete Geiger said. That wild...

After eight months sharing KDKA-AM News Radio 1020’s on-air afternoon commute slot together, Wendy Bell and Marty Griffin are now each taking the driver’s seat for their own shows. Starting Sept. 3, Griffin will return to the 9 a.m. to noon slot, with Lynne Hayes-Freeland moving from 10 a.m. to...

The University of Pittsburgh has suspended a language program sponsored by the Chinese government in the wake of visa issues for 15 Chinese scholars previously scheduled to oversee the program. The school suspended its Confucius Institute language programs after the U.S. State Department issued “unwelcome and unexpected” guidance regarding the...

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders picked up the endorsement of a Pittsburgh-based union Monday after a Downtown stop. The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America endorsed Sanders, a Vermont senator who is among those leading a crowded field seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge President Donald Trump in...

Diners wanting to buy more beer and wine to-go from a restaurant could do so if a bill to revise the restaurant liquor license rules becomes law. Representatives from the state Liquor Control Board, the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, and Wendell Young, president of the United Food and Commercial...

As Monty Python says: “Always look on the bright side of life.” Turns out, those funny Brits hit upon a very healthy outlook. A new analysis of two previous studies shows that optimists have a better chance of reaching age 85 and older. “A lot of evidence suggests that exceptional...

The Allegheny County District Attorney has dropped charges against a North Hills School District elementary teacher accused of inappropriately touching a student. The DA’s office on Tuesday declined to comment on the specific reasons why the charges were dropped against Nathan Buttenfield, 42, of Gibsonia. “The only reason we gave...

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing Pittsburgh police Officer Calvin Hall. Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala announced Tuesday his office charged Christian Bey, 30, of Wilkinsburg with homicide and three firearms violations in connection with the July shooting. Bey has been in...

Jere Gallagher devoted her life to caring for others, whether it was her family, her friends or her many students. As an associate dean at University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education, she spearheaded multiple initiatives to improve the lives of children and future teachers while also making sure those closest...