Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 171
Authorities are looking for a motive for the shooter who killed 2 kids at a Minneapolis church
RICHFIELD, Minn. — Investigators were examining the videos, writings and movements of the shooter who fired through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding 17 people, for connections to the church and its school to understand the motivation for the attack. Armed with a...
Pittsburgh Mills owners fixing some potholes
Owners of the Pittsburgh Mills are fixing potholes along the mall’s Butler-Logan Road entrance. Workers filled potholes Wednesday night and were scheduled to return Thursday night, said Bill Payne, Frazer’s building inspector. During an Aug. 21 district court hearing to address hundreds of building code citations filed against the mall’s...
Shaler Area High School student in custody after mother found gun in his bedroom
A 16-year-old Shaler Area High School student who led police on a search for nine hours Thursday after his mother found a gun on his bed was taken into custody late in the afternoon. Multiple law enforcement agencies searched Shaler and surrounding neighborhoods with a drone and dogs for the...
Minneapolis Catholic schoolchildren listened to a prayer, then ducked for cover from gunfire
MINNEAPOLIS — In the vaulted church of a Catholic school in Minneapolis, the pews were packed with teachers, parents and schoolchildren listening to a psalm on the third day of the new school year. “For you darkness itself is not dark, and night shines as the day,” a church member...
Morning Roundup: Sheetz set to replace Rite Aid in Pittsburgh’s Banksville neighborhood
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Aug. 28: Sheetz planned in Pittsburgh’s Banksville neighborhood A Sheetz convenience store is slated to replace a closed Rite Aid pharmacy in Pittsburgh’s Banksville neighborhood. Sheetz is in the early stages of planning a new store at Banksville...
Westmoreland Cultural Trust keeps eye on donor recognition as it renovates for 100th anniversary
Sandra Finley drove to the Greensburg Garden & Civic Center recently to play bridge, and when she arrived, she noticed that the plaque recognizing the building’s founders was missing. “I didn’t know what happened,” Finley said. She was initially concerned that the Westmoreland Cultural Trust was no longer interested in...
Police: Shot fired from outside an East Pittsburgh house goes through window, hits boy
A boy was hospitalized in stable condition after being shot in the leg in East Pittsburgh on Wednesday evening. Allegheny County Police said officers were alerted to the shooting along the 500 block of Main Street shortly after 7 p.m. Police said they found a boy shot once in the...
What is known about the shooter who killed 2 and wounded 17 in Minneapolis
Authorities are working to learn the motive of the shooter who fired into a Minneapolis Catholic school’s church during Mass, killing two children and injuring 17 worshippers. Officials identified the shooter as Robin Westman, 23, and said Westman was found dead in the parking lot from what they believe was...
At least 2 hurt in house fire in Arnold, 1 victim jumped from third floor to escape flames
Grant Maroni of New Kensington and Corbyn Bobinski of Arnold were listening to first responders put out a garage fire over a scanner just after 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when a call came in for a house fire with entrapment just a couple blocks away. Arnold fire Chief Eric Gartley said...
CDC director Susan Monarez is out after less than a month on the job; other agency leaders resign
NEW YORK — The director of the nation’s top public health agency is out after less than one month in the job, and several top agency leaders have resigned. “Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service...
Legal expert: Misconduct allegations lodged against DA’s office, police may be difficult to prove
Allegations of misconduct aired this week against a former Westmoreland County prosecutor and the New Kensington Police Department could be difficult to prove, according to a legal expert. Saint Vincent College law professor Bruce Antkowiak said Thursday that defense attorneys for a former Pittsburgh man not only have a high...
Pa. Dems celebrate Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement — then ask for donations
What do Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have in common? Not much. But that isn’t stopping the Pennsylvania Democratic Party from trying to capitalize on the celebrity engagement of Swift and Kelce, announced Tuesday, to solicit campaign donations. “We’re sure you’ve already heard the news, but...
Feds involved in investigation of Freeport Area teacher accused of sexually assaulting minor
Pennsylvania State Police say they’re sharing information with investigators at the Department of Homeland Security, which may result in federal charges against Jared Lampus, the Freeport Area teacher and former volleyball coach accused of sexually abusing a minor. Lampus, 50, of Buffalo Township is already facing a dozen state charges,...
Editorial: Back to school means back to violence
Across Western Pennsylvania, kids are going back to school. College dorms are overflowing. High school football games are lighting up Friday nights. School buses are back on the roads taking little ones with backpacks and new shoes to class. The lazy days of summer are over, and the jam-packed schedules...
Union rights removed for hundreds at Western Pa. safety research center
Hundreds of workers at the Bruceton Research Center in the South Hillswere stripped of their union contracts this week. The center, located on the border of Pleasant Hills and South Park, employs about 200 workers with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health who study miner safety and personal...
Trump extends control over Washington by taking management of Union Station away from Amtrak
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration is taking management of Union Station away from Amtrak in the latest example of the federal government exerting its power over the nation’s capital. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the takeover Wednesday alongside Amtrak President Roger Harris at Washington’s main transportation hub during the...
Kilmar Abrego Garcia requests asylum in the U.S., hoping to prevent deportation to Uganda
WASHINGTON — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has come to encapsulate much of President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda, wants to seek asylum in the United States, his lawyers told a federal judge Wednesday. Abrego Garcia, 30, was detained Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore after leaving...
Juneteenth event organizer sues Mayor Ed Gainey, Pittsburgh; the mayor responds
Longtime Juneteenth event organizer William “B” Marshall on Wednesday sued Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and the city, alleging the mayor withheld funding and services and delayed permits for Marshall’s events. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, raises complaints with the city’s handling of Juneteenth events hosted by Marshall, as well...
What to know about the shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school
A shooter opened fire Wednesday morning during Mass at a Minneapolis Catholic school, killing two children and injuring 17 other people before killing himself, officials said. The shooting happened during Mass at Annunciation Catholic School. Monday had been the first day of classes. Of the 17 injured, police said 14...
Pittsburgh’s Catholic leaders on alert after school shooting in Minneapolis
A Pittsburgh-area native leads the Minneapolis-St. Paul archdiocese, where gunfire during a back-to-school Mass Wednesday killed two students and injured more than a dozen others. Archbishop Bernard Hebda grew up in Brookline. His counterpart in Pittsburgh, Bishop Mark Eckman, offered prayers for Hebda and everyone else reeling from the latest...
‘There was humanity’: Crash that killed 4 links Buffalo family with Western Pa. firefighters
It was after dark when off-duty Western Pennsylvania firefighters Kelly and Troy McClelland decided to slide their way down a 140-foot cliff without a rope or harness. On Aug. 2, off a sharp turn on Big Wheeling Creek Road in West Virginia, the father and son slowly scooted — clinging...
FDA approves updated Pfizer covid shots but limits access for some kids and adults
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators approved updated covid-19 shots Wednesday but limited their use for many Americans — and removed one of the two vaccines available for young children. The new shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are approved for all seniors. But the Food and Drug Administration narrowed their use...
Sweet revival: Iconic Clark Candies gets a refresh in Tarentum
Brett Luedde says he’s in the business of happiness. The Highland Park native and his wife, Tera, have taken the reins at Clark Candies, a Tarentum institution churning out chocolates since 1937. The East First Avenue factory was founded by Tera’s grandfather and great- uncles, and run for many years by...
Lawsuit: Officers accused of assaulting same man twice in Allegheny Co. Jail
A man who said he was assaulted and shocked with a taser by two guards at the Allegheny County Jail without provocation is suing. Daronte Brown, 21, of Monroeville filed the civil rights suit in U.S. District Court alleging excessive use of force, failure to intervene and other counts against...
Pittsburgh moves ahead with tiny houses as alternative spaces for homeless
Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday in a preliminary vote unanimously supported a measure that would allow for tiny houses and other temporary communities for homeless. The proposal, first pitched in November 2023, aims to provide safe, dignified spaces for homeless people who may be wary of living on the streets...
