Top Stories category, Page 1723
Tarentum skateboard shop that likens itself to community center celebrates 1st yearVideo
Skateboarding is for everyone. That’s the message Dry Bones skateboard shop in Tarentum, which celebrated its one-year anniversary with a block party Saturday, is trying to convey. “There’s no gender. There’s no age limit,” said Brian Snyder, who owns the shop with his wife, Wendy Thimons. “Grab a skateboard and...
Alle-Kiski Valley folks finds ways to beat the heat, humidity
Sylvan Park Pool in Harrison seemed the perfect spot for folks looking to beat the scorching summer heat that overtook the Alle-Kiski Valley this weekend. About 200 people attended Friday’s night family swim — which normally sees an average of 75 to 150 people — due to the soaring temperatures,...
Sweltering heat drives cool escapes across Westmoreland
When a heat wave began to settle over the region like a damp wool blanket Saturday morning, Westmoreland County residents turned to time-honored escape routes to beat the heat. Pools, lakes and ice cream stands all benefited as the National Weather Service charted the heat index — a combination of...
Apollo celebrates moon landing 50 years ago with town party
Apollo was moonstruck Saturday — in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing. Braving brutally hot temperatures under clear skies Saturday, hundreds gathered at Owens Grove and the surrounding grounds to eat, play, learn and reminisce about the day two American astronauts stepped onto the...
Bear bites staffer during safari tour at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort
A guided safari tour through Nemacolin Woodlands Resort took a dangerous turn Saturday morning when a Himalayan bear reached through a wire fence and bit a Nemacolin employee’s arm. A spokesman for Nemacolin said resort associates had to engage the bear to get it to release the employee’s arm. The...
Editorial: Black arrests up, police recruits down
The numbers show two perspectives of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police’s relationship with black people. But are they telling the same story? On Monday, the Black Political Empowerment Project pointed to the data from the latest class of police recruits as a “serious disappointment.” The numbers show just four black...
Steelers training camp preview: 5 positional battles to watch
As the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare to report to training camp Thursday at Saint Vincent, they do so knowing that much of the roster is set. Such is the case for a veteran team that carries Super Bowl aspirations a year after missing the playoffs for the first time in five...
Cat filter accidentally added to double murder news conference
Sometimes funny accidents show up at the most inopportune times. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia were live streaming on Facebook with an update and public appeal for help about a double homicide from earlier in the week, Vancouver’s online newspaper The Daily Hive reports. The only problem?...
4 teens shot at Clairton graduation party, all listed in stable condition
A graduation party in Clairton turned tragedy early Saturday morning when four teenagers were shot. Allegheny County Police are investigating the events leading up to the shootings at the party in the 600 block of Waddell Avenue. The four victims — between the ages of 14 and 18 — were...
The unlikely pairing of the professor and the lifer yields results for Pittsburgh Police
No question, they made for an odd couple. The college professor and the inmate serving life in prison for second-degree murder were indeed an unlikely pairing. It began in 2011 when Duquesne University professor Norman Conti met inmate Robert Wideman when he took a group of students into the now-shuttered...
Elections experts say cybersecurity threats demand federal funding
Unfunded cybersecurity needs are leaving state and local election officials to stand on the front lines of threats from sophisticated international interests, a new report asserts. “Defending Elections,” a report from the Brennan Center for Justice, highlights growing concerns that myriad unmet security needs pose a threat to fair elections....
50 years after moon landing, Western Pennsylvania sets sight on return to space
Like many American baby boomers, Randa Relich Milliron has vivid memories of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. The Belle Vernon native was in her early teens as she sat glued to a television set throughout the day and well into the night that culminated in the...
DNA from dreadlocks at 2015 Pittsburgh murder scene leads to Va. man’s arrest
A Virginia man whose two dreadlocks containing body tissue were found at a 2015 murder scene in Pittsburgh was arrested this week after DNA tests matched him with the hair samples, Pittsburgh police said. The suspect, Aaron Cross, who is incarcerated in Riverside Regional Jail in North Prince George County,...
Penn Township man pleads to damaging Siemens Corp. computer programs
A 62-year-old Harrison City man pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh on Friday to intentionally damaging his employer’s computer programs for a two-year period, the U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania said. David Tinley, 62, admitted to inserting “logic bombs” into computer programs he designed for Siemens Corp. in Monroeville,...
Pittsburgh Police: Sheraden woman assaulted by pair who tried to steal her dog
A Sheraden woman was assaulted Friday afternoon by people who came to her door and attempted to steal her dog, initial reports indicate. Pittsburgh Police arrested two suspects involved in the incident, Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said. A third adult accompanying the accused pair was not charged. The woman...
Greater Latrobe School District finds next superintendent within its ranks: Georgia Teppert
Greater Latrobe School Board found the district’s new superintendent close to home, promoting Assistant Superintendent Georgia Teppert on Friday to take on the top administrative post beginning Aug. 1. Teppert has filled several administrative roles since joining the district 20 years ago as assistant senior high principal. “I’ve had the...
Lifeguard rescues man from bottom of Highland Park pool
A lifeguard pulled a man in his 60s from the bottom of the Highland Park swimming pool Friday afternoon, police said. The man, whose name was not released, was in critical condition Friday night at UPMC Presbyterian hospital in the city’s Oakland neighborhood, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz...
Vanessa German, Joe Negri, Roger Humphries to receive Governor’s Awards
Prolific Pittsburgh visual and performance artist Vanessa German has been named the 2019 Governor’s Awards for the Arts, Artist of the Year. German is founder of Love Front Porch and the ARThouse, community arts initiatives for the children of Homewood. German’s visual art work is in private and public collections...
Alle-Kiski Valley businesses ready for onslaught of folks trying to beat the heat
Stanford Home Center in Allegheny Township ran out of air conditioners early Friday, but only momentarily, as other stores stocked up on water and beverages and braced for the rush as residents cope with uncharacteristic searing temperatures. “We’ve been selling air conditioners like crazy,” said Stewart Claypool, one of the...
Pa. parents told they could lose kids over unpaid school lunches
KINGSTON — A Pennsylvania school district is warning that children could end up in foster care if their parents do not pay overdue school lunch bills. The letters sent recently to about 1,000 parents in Wyoming Valley West School District have led to complaints from parents and a stern rebuke...
Funeral set for slain Pittsburgh officer Calvin Hall
The funeral for slain Pittsburgh police Officer Calvin Hall is scheduled for Tuesday at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland. Hall, 36, was shot several times while he was off-duty and visiting friends in Homewood early Sunday, police said. He died shortly after noon Wednesday at UPMC Presbyterian. An...
Lawsuit: Sheetz charged sales tax for bottled water
A Natrona Heights woman is accusing Sheetz of enriching itself by improperly charging a sales tax on bottled water. Jennifer Montgomery filed a class-action complaint against Sheetz in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, alleging she was illegally charged a sales tax on nonflavored mineral water that she bought from two...
Authorities to discuss whether charges will be filed in toddlers’ drowning deaths, funds being raised
A Uniontown police investigator plans to meet with the Fayette County District Attorney next week to review the results of his investigation to determine whether any charges will be filed in connection with the death of two young boys who drowned in their family’s swimming pool this week. Lt. Thomas...
Businesses, residents brace for weekend heat wave
A heat wave that could bring dangerous temperatures and a heat index exceeding 100 degrees has area residents and stores stocking up on fans and air conditioners, and is keeping HVAC companies on their toes. “It’s a nonstop kind of thing right at this moment,” said Chuck Cianciotti, owner of...
Trump campaign selling plastic straws as alternative to ‘liberal paper straws’
You can now show your support for the president and how you feel about environmental policy while also slurping a cold beverage. Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is offering plastic Trump-branded drinking straws as an alternative to “liberal paper straws” that “don’t work.” They are described as BPA-free, reusable, recyclable and...
