Top Stories category, Page 1720
Editorial: Should schools turn down free lunch?
It’s fine for a government official to take a stand, as long as he remembers who is picking up the tab. Wyoming Valley West School District is in Luzerne County, and there’s little reason that it would usually attract national attention. According to measurements by Niche.com, the district’s report card...
Nabbed Mt. Pleasant fugitive tells sheriff’s deputies he was ‘tired of running’
A Mt. Pleasant fugitive on the run since May told Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies who caught up with him this week at a South Huntingdon truck stop that he was glad to finally get caught. Joseph R. Taylor, 36, was arrested about 10:15 a.m. Tuesday by members of the sheriff’s...
What to expect when ‘GMA’ broadcasts live from Pittsburgh
ABC’s “Good Morning America” will set up shop Thursday morning on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. The show, featuring Ginger Zee, T.J. Holmes and Tory Johnson, airs from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on WTAE. Here’s what you can expect form the show, part of GMA’s “Big Summer Road Trip” series. STEEL...
Pennsylvania high court declines to review Jerry Sandusky decision
HARRISBURG — Jerry Sandusky isn’t getting a fresh chance to argue in state court he should get a new trial, seven years after the former Penn State assistant football coach was convicted of molesting 10 boys. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down the 75-year-old’s request it review a Superior...
Actor Rutger Hauer, of ‘Blade Runner’ fame, has died at 75Video
Dutch film actor Rutger Hauer, who specialized in menacing roles, including a memorable turn as a murderous android in “Blade Runner” opposite Harrison Ford, has died. He was 75. Hauer’s agent, Steve Kenis, says the actor died July 19 at his home in the Netherlands. Hauer’s roles included a terrorist...
Man expected to plead guilty in 1999 abduction, rape of Somerset girl
A 50-year-old Maryland man is expected to plead guilty Thursday in federal court to abducting and raping a Somerset County girl in 1999. Timothy D. Nelson Jr. of Cumberland, Md., is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson in Johnstown, according to the court docket. Pennsylvania State Police...
Gateway school board condemns member for ‘interference,’ other alleged infractions
The Gateway School Board condemned a board member’s actions through two resolutions approved during a special meeting last week. One resolution condemned board member Valerie Warning’s “interference and intermeddling with the day-to-day operations” of the school district. The other condemned Warning for “disseminating and divulging executive session materials and subject...
Washington Township man behind new sensory-friendly space at Pittsburgh airport
A sensory-friendly space for children and adults with autism and other special needs was unveiled Wednesday at Pittsburgh International Airport. The idea for the room, called Presley’s Place, came from airport employee Jason Rudge, a heavy equipment operator from Washington Township, Westmoreland County. Rudge and his wife, Sharon, have a...
Cats, coffee ‘purrfect’ combination for planned Greensburg cafe
The owners of a new cafe in Greensburg hope that the lure of coffee, along with the cuteness factor of cats, will help more rescue animals find permanent homes. Katelynn and Rob Jones are looking to open Cattfeinated Cat Cafe around October in the former Shalimar Bazaar at 159 E....
Some of the grandest arrivals to training camp by Steelers
One of the first players to arrive at Pittsburgh Steelers training camp earlier this decade privately confided with gleeful excitement about a teammate’s grand entrance. “Wait til you see it,” the player said eagerly, “it’ll be the best one yet.” A couple of years later, another player, when told of...
Pitt-Greensburg’s summer housing has students living without A/C in extreme heat
Alyson Bender, who is going into her junior year at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, relied heavily on fans placed around her student housing to keep her cool during a recent heat wave that hit the area. Still, the temperature in her on campus apartment crept toward 91 degrees...
Pittsburgh Sports Authority official accused of embezzling $320K from former employer
An official with the Sports and Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County who previously worked as an accounting supervisor for a Forest Hills insurance company has been charged with stealing more than $300,000 from the firm, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office. Sharon J. Mink, 43, of...
With No. 1 ranking, 2019 Picklesburgh will be biggest yet
Picklesburgh is even more of a “big dill” this year. The No. 1 specialty food festival in America as voted by a USA Today readers’ poll will have more of just about everything, said Russell Howard, vice president of special events for Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, which produces the event. It...
‘Suspicious’ fire destroys historic Belvedere Hotel in Oklahoma Borough
Amid the rubble, the grandeur of the Swiss-chalet inspired Belvedere Hotel was still evident Wednesday morning after a fire ravaged most of the historic, five-story building late Tuesday night into early Wednesday. No one was injured. The cause of the blaze in the nearly 115-year-old abandoned building was under investigation...
Led Zeppelin’s ’73 Pittsburgh concert brought music and a melee
One of the more memorable rock concerts in Pittsburgh history happened on July 24, 1973, when Led Zeppelin drew 40,000 fans to Three Rivers Stadium. At the time, it was largest crowd ever to attend a musical event in the Steel City, and, for a while, things got out of...
2 teens injured during drive-by shooting in East Pittsburgh
State police are searching for a suspect who shot two teen boys during a drive-by shooting Tuesday night in East Pittsburgh. The two teens, ages 14 and 16, told police they saw a vehicle several times while they were standing in the 500 block of Franklin Street at about 8:45...
Gateway School Board appoints new member to fill vacancy created by resignation
The Gateway School Board accepted the resignation of a member then appointed a person to fill the vacancy during a special meeting held Tuesday. Jesse Kalkstein, 32, said in a letter he would resign, effective immediately, “to be able to spend more time with my family and focus on my...
Police say Beaver County man confessed to killing boy who smoked pot with his daughter
Family and friends plan to pay their respects Wednesday to a 17-year-old Ellwood City boy shot to death last week outside a New Castle pizza shop by his girlfriend’s father — a Beaver County man who police say confessed to killing the teen because he believed the boy had gotten...
Mueller takes the TV stage; Democrats hope America tunes inVideo
WASHINGTON — Democrats are pretty sure America didn’t read the Mueller report. On Wednesday, they’re hoping the nation will be glued to the TV version. Former Trump-Russia special counsel Robert Mueller’s appearance before two House committees promises to be the TV event of the year in the U.S. House, where...
ICE releases Francisco Erwin Galicia, 18, wrongfully detained near borderVideo
HOUSTON — A U.S.-born 18-year-old was released from immigration custody Tuesday after wrongfully being detained for more than three weeks. Francisco Erwin Galicia left a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Pearsall, Texas, on Tuesday. His lawyer, Claudia Galan, confirmed he had been released, less than a day...
Senate passes 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund on 97-2 voteVideo
Congress can never do anything about the growing numbers of people still dying from 9/11, but the Senate voted Tuesday to ensure the words “Never Forget” will never be just a slogan for the cops, firefighters and everyone else to ran toward the twin towers after the worst terrorist attack...
Penn Hills, Plum, O’Hara face costly repairs after floods
Penn Hills and Plum, two of the worst-hit communities from flooding Sunday and Monday, face steep costs to get things all back up to normal, according to officials. Penn Hills declared a state of emergency Monday afternoon in order to fast-track certain repair projects, said Scott Andrejchak, the municipality’s manager....
Pittsburgh man killed, state drug agent wounded in Ross shootout
An undercover officer with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office was wounded early Tuesday afternoon in a shooting at a Ross shopping plaza that left the suspect in a drug investigation dead, police said. The narcotics agent was conducting a drug sting in the parking lot in front of the Big...
Sheetz seeks liquor license for New Kensington store
Sheetz is planning to remodel its store on New Kensington’s Freeport Street in a project that will qualify it for a restaurant liquor license. The company wants to transfer a liquor license into the city from New Stanton and use it to sell beer, according to a letter to city...
CVS installs time-delay safes in stores across Pennsylvania
CVS Pharmacy officials are hoping to prevent pharmacy robberies and increase safety in stores across the state thanks to new time-delay safes. The safes, which were placed in all CVS locations in Pennsylvania — including pharmacies located in Target stores — electronically delay the time it takes for pharmacy employees...
