Top Stories category, Page 17
Residents get glimpse of proposed ambulance service authority in Harrison, Tarentum, Brackenridge
A consultant for the proposed Alle-Kiski Emergency Service Authority said the tentative cost for property owners would be comparable to a monthly Netflix subscription or two cups of Dunkin coffee. The plan to create a paid authority by merging Eureka Community Ambulance in Tarentum and Citizens Hose EMS in Harrison...
Seton Hill’s $30 million indoor athletic facility moves forward with bond approval
Seton Hill University on Thursday completed the first step in its plan for financing a new indoor athletic facility as the Latrobe Industrial Development Authority approved a bond issue of up to $37.5 million for the project. On Monday, the bond financing will come before Latrobe City Council for approval,...
Supreme Court allows Texas to use a congressional map favorable to Republicans in 2026
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court on Thursday came to the rescue of Texas Republicans, allowing next year’s elections to be held under the state’s congressional redistricting plan favorable to the GOP and pushed by President Donald Trump despite a lower-court ruling that the map likely discriminates on the basis...
Ex-NBA player shares story of drug addiction, recovery to Westmoreland County high school students
As a McDonald’s All-American basketball player, Chris Herren remembers blowing off assemblies in high school about drug and alcohol abuse, thinking that negative impact would never happen to him. But years down the line, Herren’s professional basketball career — which included stints with the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics —...
U.S. Steel fined for leaking oil into Monongahela River
U.S. Steel must pay $135,000 and establish stronger pollution controls after environmental regulators found the steelmaker’s West Mifflin facility was leaking oil into the Monongahela River. An agreement announced Tuesday between U.S. Steel and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection requires the company to monitor wastewater from the Irvin Works...
Grand jury rejects new mortgage fraud indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James
NORFOLK, Va. — The Justice Department failed Thursday to secure a new indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James after a judge dismissed the previous mortgage fraud prosecution encouraged by President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors went back to a grand jury in Virginia...
Acquisition, not merger: WVU Health System moves to take control of Independence Health’s workers, debt
WVU Health System will acquire the facilities, employees — and debt load — from Independence Health when the two entities are officially joined in the second half of next year, according to hospital officials. It also will gain access to what Independence Health has touted as more than 750,000 people...
Blairsville police seek public’s help in finding porch pirate
Blairsville police are searching for a “porch pirate” who stole a package of pet food and toys on Monday from a home in the Indiana County borough. The theft occurred at about 1:45 p.m. at South Brady and East Brown streets, according to police Chief Lou Sacco. Police have posted...
Woman who furnished gun in McKeesport slaying gets probation
A Homestead woman pleaded guilty on Thursday to voluntary manslaughter stemming from a fatal shooting outside a McKeesport bar five years ago. Heaven Franklin-Pitts, 28, was ordered to serve five years probation. When asked by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Thomas E. Flaherty why she was entering the plea, Franklin-Pitts...
Pittsburgh hosts rally for Riverhounds’ USL Championship title
Flurries, cold temperatures and 13 mph winds couldn’t keep Pittsburgh’s soccer lovers inside, as a boisterous crowd of roughly 100 Pittsburgh Riverhounds fans huddled together Thursday outside the City-County Building in Pittsburgh. The crowd chanted and cheered through clouded breaths to celebrate a USL Championship trophy — nearly 30 years...
White House expected to submit plans for new ballroom to planning commission this month
WASHINGTON — The White House is expected to submit plans for President Donald Trump’s new ballroom to a federal planning commission before the year ends, about three months after construction began. Will Scharf, who was named by Trump as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, said at the panel’s...
Will Western Pa. break coldest temperature record?
Western Pennsylvania temperatures on Friday morning could break the record for the coldest temperature ever recorded on Dec. 5 at the National Weather Service in Moon. David Shallenberger, meteorologist at the NWS, said the temperature to beat is 12 degrees, which was set on Dec. 5, 1976. The forecast right...
Trump to visit Pa. pushing efforts to curb inflation as high prices squeeze Americans
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to travel to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to highlight his efforts to reduce inflation even as fears mount about a worsening job market and amid signs that Americans are still feeling squeezed by high prices. A White House official said Trump would be making the...
Allegheny County homicide detectives probing West Mifflin man’s death
Allegheny County homicide detectives are investigating the death of a West Mifflin man in July that has been labeled a homicide. William Daley Jr., 58, died July 12 in a hospital, according to information released Thursday by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. The medical examiner ruled he died of...
Mark Madden: It’s time to admit the unpleasant truth about Mike Tomlin’s Steelers tenure
The Pittsburgh Steelers are bad. Prehistoric offense. Rotten defense that costs $163 million. Old and getting older. Stars fading fast. Awful decisions piling up. It’s time to form a narrative. That narrative is: It’s not Mike Tomlin’s fault. That’s the vibe, especially on the national front. There are several forks...
Study favors medication, stents over major surgery for clogged neck arteries
Pennsylvania heart specialists welcomed the results of a decade-long study reinforcing their belief in minimally invasive techniques to treat clogged neck arteries versus major surgery. Researchers examined nearly 2,500 patients across five countries and 155 medical centers, including several UPMC hospitals and the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System. The patients...
Man accused of planting pipe bombs before Jan. 6 Capitol attack is charged with explosives offenses
WASHINGTON — The FBI on Thursday arrested a man accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties in Washington on the eve of the U.S. Capitol attack, an abrupt breakthrough in an investigation that for years flummoxed law enforcement and spawned conspiracy...
Putin says there are points he can’t agree to in the U.S. proposal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin says some proposals in a U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine are unacceptable to the Kremlin, indicating in comments published Thursday that any deal is still some ways off. President Donald Trump has set in motion the most intense diplomatic push to stop the...
Admiral says there was no ‘kill them all’ order in boat attack, but video alarms lawmakersVideo
WASHINGTON — A Navy admiral commanding the U.S. military strikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean told lawmakers Thursday that there was no “kill them all” order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but a stark video of the attack left grave questions as Congress scrutinizes the campaign that...
Morning Roundup: Water main break impacts South Side Flats; work delays set for Parkway East and Route 28
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Dec. 4: Water main break impacts South Side Flats A water main break was reported around 3:45 a.m. Thursday in Pittsburgh’s South Side Flats neighborhood. Crews responded to the break near the intersection of Sarah and East Carson...
Grapeville Volunteer Fire Department to dissolve charter
Hempfield’s oldest fire department will formally dissolve its charter in about two weeks, handing over its finances to be managed by the township. Supervisors in March approved Grapeville Volunteer Fire Department’s declaration of intent to dissolve its charter. The 107-year-old station’s finances will be paid and managed by the township...
Pentagon knew boat attack left survivors but still launched a follow-on strike
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon knew there were survivors after a September attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea and the U.S. military still carried out a follow-up strike, according to two people familiar with the matter. The rationale for the second strike was that it was needed...
Gov. Josh Shapiro says Kamala Harris’ descriptions of him were false and intended to sell books
Gov. Josh Shapiro lashed out over former Vice President Kamala Harris’ portrayal of his interview to become her 2024 running mate, calling Harris’ retellings “complete and utter (expletive)” intended to sell books and “cover her (expletive),” according to The Atlantic. Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s first-term Democratic governor now seen as a likely...
Pittsburgh lawyer files human-rights complaint over boat strike that killed Colombian
A Pittsburgh lawyer who has spent his career working on international human rights cases now finds himself at the center of a first-of-its-kind challenge to the Trump administration’s continued campaign of bombing small boats it alleges are smuggling narcotics. Daniel Kovalik filed a petition Monday with the Inter-American Commission on...
Resurfaced Hegseth video intensifies clash over Democrats’ message on illegal military orders
U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio and other Democratic lawmakers under fire from the Trump administration for publishing a video saying service members are obligated to refuse illegal orders are further questioning the blowback in response to a 2016 video featuring current Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth. In the unearthed April 2016 video,...
