Top Stories category, Page 1665
Standoff ends in Jeannette, man in custody
One person was taken into custody Thursday after a brief standoff when Jeannette police and agents from the state Attorney General’s Office attempted to serve an arrest warrant, police said. Investigators shut down a block of Gaskill Avenue after the suspect hid in an apartment of a quadplex in the...
U.S. deploys air defense systems, troops to Saudi Arabia
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is sending one Patriot missile battery and four ground-based radar systems to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said Thursday, in what officials describe as the first steps to help the kingdom protect itself against Iranian attacks. Two more Patriot batteries and a THAAD missile defense system will...
California man pleads not guilty to South Side overdoses
A California man pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court to charges he distributed a deadly fentanyl mixture that killed three men in Pittsburgh’s South Side over the weekend. Peter Rene Sanchez Montalvo, 25, of Coachella appeared in court briefly, where he entered his plea of not guilty and waived...
Report: Pa. natural gas royalty payments on the rise
Natural gas royalties paid to Pennsylvania landowners rose significantly in tax year 2017 due to increased production and higher prices, the state Independent Fiscal Office said in a recent report. The report said $1.06 billion in royalty payments were made in 2017 — a 64% increase from tax year 2016....
Race not a factor in Pittsburgh gas station dispute, lawyer for 2 charged saysVideo
The race and gender of the people involved in a Sept. 20 fight at an Exxon station in Marshall-Shadeland is not a factor in the case, the attorney for two of the three men charged in it said Thursday. “My clients are not racists,” attorney David A. Shrager said. “They...
Police: Vandergrift man admits stealing $4K in guns, jewelry, cash from Frazer home
Police say a Vandergrift man told them he broke into a Frazer home on Wednesday and stole $4,000 worth of cash, jewelry and guns to “help a friend get money.” When officers found Kevin Paul Pierce, 29, he was in his truck looking through the jewelry he had taken, Frazer...
Video shows historic mansion being moved by bargeVideo
An old home needed a new place to stay, so a family decided to moved it by land and sea. On Wednesday, a historic mansion that’s spent 250 years on the same plot in Easton, Md., was loaded onto a barge and motored up Chesapeake Bay about 50 miles to...
‘Gross’ lanternflies causing big bug problem for someVideo
KUTZTOWN, Pa. — In the Great Spotted Lanternfly War, Pennsylvania’s citizen-soldiers are fighting back with fly swatters and vacuums, dish soap and sticky tape. They’re stomping and spraying and zapping and bragging about their kills on social media. “DESTROY THEM,” a propaganda poster urges. “Die, die, die, spotted lanternfly,” a...
‘OK’ hand gesture, ‘Bowlcut’ added to hate symbols databaseVideo
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The “OK” hand gesture, a mass killer’s bowl-style haircut and an anthropomorphic moon wearing sunglasses are among 36 new entries in a Jewish civil rights group’s online database of hate symbols used by white supremacists and other far-right extremists. The Anti-Defamation League has added the symbols...
Whistleblower: White House tried to ‘lock down’ details of Ukraine call
WASHINGTON — A secret whistleblower complaint at the center of an impeachment inquiry alleges that President Donald Trump abused the power of his office to “solicit interference from a foreign country” in next year’s U.S. election. The White House then tried to “lock down” the information to cover it up,...
Street closures, bus detours planned during Pittsburgh’s Great Race
Streets in Pittsburgh’s Downtown, Uptown, Oakland and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods will close Saturday and Sunday and Port Authority of Allegheny County bus routes will be detoured during the 42nd running of the annual Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race, officials said. Street closures on Saturday during the Dollar...
Desserts sold by Allderdice student being tested for pot
An Allderdice High School student is suspected of selling Rice Krispies Treats laced with marijuana, a district spokeswoman confirmed Thursday. Pittsburgh Public Schools spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said two students were involved in the alleged incident, but only one is suspected of selling the potentially tainted treats. The desserts were were...
Pittsburgh mother sentenced to 5-10 years in daughter’s OD death
A Pittsburgh woman was sentenced Wednesday to five to 10 years in a state prison for her toddler’s 2018 death from a fentanyl overdose. Jhenea Pratt, 24, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment during a June trial. Pratt has been jailed since her August 2018 arrest. Prosecutors said...
Overturned vehicle on Route 28 snarls morning commute
A vehicle overturned on southbound Route 28 in Tarentum early Thursday, hampering the morning commute. The crash was reported about 5:20 a.m. at the Exit 14 on-ramp from Route 366 to southbound Route 28, PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said. The vehicle ended up on its side. There were no immediate...
Cosby ‘doing very well’ on 1-year prison anniversary, determined to continue appeal, spokesman says
Disgraced comedian Bill Cosby, once known as “America’s Dad,” marked his one-year prison anniversary touting his new paternalistic role behind bars, his spokesman said Wednesday. “He’s doing very well regarding this unwanted anniversary,” spokesman Andrew Wyatt told the New York Daily News. “I just ended a visit with him. He...
Gabby Barrett returns to Pittsburgh with Toby Keith tourVideo
Gabby Barrett has Pittsburgh in her heart. The “American Idol” finalist and Munhall native is busy making a name for herself in Nashville and traveling all over the country for concert dates – and she’s still thinking about her hometown. Even in the lyrics of her latest song, “The Good...
New security protocol at Penn Hills School District prohibits visiting except for school business
People without a purpose – such as picking up or dropping off students, or have a scheduled visit – should stay off of Penn Hills School District property during school hours, according to a recent security change. Superintendent Nancy Hines said similar security measures were implemented at the Bill Fralic...
Allegheny County Board of Elections chooses voting system vendor
The Allegheny County Board of Elections voted Wednesday to move forward with contract negotiations with the vendor Elections Systems & Software (ES&S) to purchase new voting equipment for the county. The system will cost about $10.5 million — the cheapest of the four options offered by ES&S. The county is...
2 Indiana area volunteer firefighters charged in arson at Amish furniture store
Two Indiana County volunteer firefighters have been jailed for allegedly setting fire to an Amish furniture store about 15 miles north of Indiana — one of a string of 11 suspicious fires in that region since August 2018, state police said Wednesday. Nicholas Leone, 22, of Creekside, and Dylan Dalessio,...
Sen. Bob Casey labels Trump call ‘a textbook abuse of power’
Calling President Trump’s request that the Ukrainian president investigate former Vice President Joe Biden “a textbook case of abuse of power,” Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, on Wednesday called on his colleagues to hold the president accountable and came out firmly in support of a formal House impeachment inquiry. Speaking to...
Mailman injured when postal truck rolls on its side in Harrison wreckVideo
A mail carrier was inside a Postal Service truck that was shoved onto its side in a crash Wednesday afternoon in Harrison. The mailman, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital for treatment of a head injury. Police said the mailman had just climbed back inside of the...
In first-of-its-kind move, counselors assist patients while Fayette County doctor is arrestedVideo
Alongside local police and federal agents raiding Dr. Emilio Ramon Navarro’s Fayette County office on Monday were drug and alcohol counselors helping patients find alternatives as their doctor was arrested on federal charges. It’s the first time such a rapid-response team has been deployed during the arrest of a medical...
Beto O’Rourke pushes gun control, health care, immigration reform in PittsburghVideo
It’s been more than 20 years since Beto O’Rourke last visited Pittsburgh. But the former Texas congressman seemed right at home Wednesday on the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland as he stopped to snap selfies with students who greeted him by name and to answer their questions about his...
Jeannette man charged in deadly stadium shooting ‘acted in self-defense,’ attorney saysVideo
The lawyer for a Jeannette man charged with the shooting death of another man this month outside McKee Stadium in the city said his client acted in self-defense. At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Jeannette District Judge Joseph DeMarchis ordered Greg Harper, 40, held for court on charges of criminal homicide...
Feds indict alleged supplier in South Side overdose deaths
A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted a California man accused of distributing the fentanyl mixture police say killed three men found in a South Side apartment Sunday. The seven-count indictment against 25-year-old Peter Rene Sanchez Montalvo includes one charge of possession with intent to distribute narcotics and six counts...
