Top Stories category, Page 170
Average rate on a U.S. 30-year mortgage rises to 6.81%, its highest level since late April
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. edged above 6.8% this week, returning to where it was just three weeks ago. The rate increased to 6.81% from 6.76% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 7.02%. Borrowing costs on 15-year...
Union heads, elected officials demand $15-an-hour minimum wage in Pa.
When Aaron Allen took a minimum wage job in 2009, he found the $7.25-an-hour rate was barely enough to pay his rent. Allen worked more than 40 hours a week at a restaurant but put off medical treatments because he couldn’t afford to see a doctor. He recalled how he...
Wisconsin judge pleads not guilty to helping a man evade federal immigration agents
MILWAUKEE — A Wisconsin judge pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges accusing her of helping a man who is illegally in the country evade U.S. immigration authorities seeking to arrest him in her courthouse. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan entered the plea during a brief arraignment in federal court....
‘Person of interest’ in death of Jennah Seibert awaiting extradition from Florida
A “person of interest” in a Rostraver woman’s death is awaiting extradition from Florida on unrelated burglary and robbery charges stemming from an incident in Donora. Dorian C. Jeri-Greene, 39, of Monessen was booked into the Orient Road Jail on Tuesday after being arrested on a warrant by police in...
Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy Foot Locker for $2.4 billion
Dick’s Sporting Goods announced early Thursday that it will acquire Foot Locker in a $2.4 billion deal. The Findlay-based company said it plans to operate Foot Locker as a standalone business and maintain its brands. The acquisition will place Dick’s, already one of the largest domestic sporting goods company, into...
What to know about the upcoming Supreme Court arguments in the birthright citizenship case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is hearing arguments Thursday in its first case stemming from the blitz of actions that have marked the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. Before the court are the Trump administration’s emergency appeals of lower court orders putting nationwide holds on the Republican president’s...
Proposed Shady Side Academy entrance has some Fox Chapel residents concerned
Benjamin Rister is among a growing number of Fox Chapel residents concerned about a proposed entrance to Shady Side Academy’s Upper School campus along Riding Meadow Road. Something that sets him apart is that his home is downhill — and downstream — from the site between the private drives of...
Morning Roundup: Body found in Mon; car crashes into house in Derry
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, May 15: Body found in Monongahela River A barge operator found a man’s body in the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon, according to TribLive news partner WTAE. The unidentified man was found near the Brownsville...
Allegheny County fires chief public defender
Allegheny County’s chief public defender was fired Wednesday following a monthlong human resources investigation. Lena Bryan-Henderson was appointed by County Executive Sara Innamorato in January 2024, becoming the first Black woman to hold the position. Less than 18 months later, on April 7, she was placed on administrative leave. At...
Jury finds argument over dirty dishes led to roommate’s murder
A jury Wednesday found a Pittsburgh woman guilty of third-degree murder in her roommate’s death — even though, police said, her boyfriend fired the fatal shot. Prosecutors said Destiny Jenkins drew a gun and tried to fire it at her roommate, Eddie Kimber. But when the gun jammed, Jenkins told...
Terry Carcella departing as Latrobe’s city manager for similar post in Springdale
Latrobe officials will look to reassign administrative responsibilities temporarily as City Manager Terry Carcella departs this month to take on a similar post in Springdale Borough. Springdale Council voted Tuesday to hire Carcella, initially paying him a prorated salary of $85,000 through the end of the year. Carcella said his...
Raids lead to charges against businesses run by onetime video poker kingpin
A series of video gambling raids last year across Southwestern Pennsylvania has led to criminal charges against two companies linked to John “Duffy” Conley, Western Pennsylvania’s onetime video poker kingpin. Investigators seized more than 400 illegal video gaming machines from locations in a dozen counties, including Allegheny and Westmoreland. On...
Wisconsin judge argues prosecutors can’t charge her with helping a man evade immigration agents
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin judge charged with helping a man who is in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration agents who were trying to detain him at her courthouse filed a motion to dismiss the case Wednesday, arguing that there’s no legal basis for it. Attorneys for Milwaukee County...
‘Heartbroken,’ ‘gut-wrenching’: Penn State communities grapple with recommended campus closures
Penelope Morrison hoped to retire one day from her job as an associate professor at Penn State New Kensington. Now she has come to the realization that might not be possible after Penn State acknowledged this week that New Kensington is one of seven branch campuses recommended for closure. “None...
EPA announces rollback for some Biden-era limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking waterVideo
The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it plans to weaken limits on some “forever chemicals” in drinking water that were finalized last year, while maintaining standards for two common ones. The Biden administration set the first federal drinking water limits for PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, finding they...
Dozens of Pittsburgh-area federal workers at Bruceton Research Center to keep jobs
Dozens of the 200 federal employees whose jobs were set to be cut at the Bruceton Research Center south of Pittsburgh will keep their jobs,U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio said Wednesday. The employees are respirator certification workers at the center. In layman’s terms, they test the efficacy of things like the...
Penn State trustees’ private talks on campus closures should happen in public, expert says
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Transparency advocates are questioning the Penn State Board of Trustees’ use of private meetings to discuss potential campus closures — including one who said the...
Georgetown student released from immigration detention after federal judge’s ruling
ALVARADO, Texas — A Georgetown University scholar from India who was arrested in the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign college students was released from immigration detention Wednesday after a federal judge’s ruling. Badar Khan Suri said he was glad to be released as he left a federal detention facility in...
Person of interest identified in killing of Jennah Seibert, DA says
A person of interest in the slaying of a Rostraver woman last month has been arrested on unrelated charges, according to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office. Spokesperson Melanie Jones did not release his name Wednesday. No charges have been filed in connection with the April 11 death of Jennah...
North Carolina woman extradited to Westmoreland after arrest related to online extortion, theft case
North Huntingdon police made an arrest after sorting through a convoluted scheme that cost a township man nearly $24,000, according to court records. The man reported to police last year that he donated to what he believed was an online fundraiser for a person in need of a heart transplant....
Separating fact from fiction in Pittsburgh mayor’s race
As Pittsburgh’s Democratic rivals for mayor spew facts and figures on the campaign trail, they’re also sprinkling in misinformation. Whether by accident or design, Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor have at times distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented issues during debates, news conferences and other public appearances. “Misinformation...
Police charge West Virginia man with sexually assaulting teen girl in Moon motel
Police say a 22-year-old man traveled more than 200 miles by bus from Charleston, West Virginia to Moon and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl in a motel room. Dustin Lee Marshall is charged with various felony sex crimes, including statutory sexual assault, possession of child pornography and corruption of minors....
U.S. overdose deaths fell 27% last year, the largest 1-year decline ever seen
There were 30,000 fewer U.S. drug overdose deaths in 2024 than the year before — the largest one-year decline ever recorded. An estimated 80,000 people died from overdoses last year, according to provisional Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released Wednesday. That’s down 27% from the 110,000 in 2023....
Springdale hires new manager away from his same position in Latrobe
Terry Carcella worked for several municipalities, in different capacities, while constructing a 42-year municipal government career. Now, he can add the Springdale Borough manager position to that list, as borough council hired him with a unanimous vote Tuesday. On May 27, he’ll assume his new post, which has been vacant...
End of universe sooner than once thought, research says
This just in: The end is near(er) than we thought. Turn back the ultimate doomsday clock by more than a thousand megaannum — that’s the millennium equivalent of 1 million years — so 1,000 megaannum would be 1 billion years. If research by Dutch scientists published this week meets muster,...
