Top Stories category, Page 173
India, Pakistan accuse each other of violating ceasefire hours after reaching deal
ISLAMABAD — India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire Saturday after U.S.-led talks to end the most serious military confrontation between the nuclear-armed rivals in decades but accused each other of violating the deal just hours later. The ceasefire had been expected to bring a swift end to weeks of...
U.S.- China tariff talks to continue Sunday, an official tells The Associated Press
GENEVA — Sensitive talks between U.S. and Chinese delegations over tariffs that threaten to upend the global economy ended after a day of prolonged negotiations and will resume Sunday, an official told The Associated Press. There was no immediate indication whether progress was made Saturday during the meeting over 10...
Experts call Kennedy’s plan to find autism’s cause unrealistic
WASHINGTON — For many experts, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s promise for “pulling back the curtain” to find autism’s causes in a few months is jarring — and unrealistic. That’s because it appears to ignore decades of science linking about 200 genes that play a role — and...
Lead 400 times beyond safe drinking level found in Laurel Ridge creek
A high amount of lead contamination has been found in a Laurel Ridge stream known for its pristine conditions. The finding in Blue Hole Creek, at the border of Fayette and Somerset counties, poses a danger to wildlife and humans, as it is a popular spot for fishing and to...
Retail revival: What it takes to bring shopping plazas back to life
Hyde Park Plaza in Allegheny Township was on the ropes a few years ago. A shuttered Kmart was eating up 85,000 square feet of retail space. Only six of 16 storefronts were filled. Label Shopper, a discount clothing retailer in the vein of Marshalls and TJ Maxx, was the closest...
Penn-Trafford School Board tasked with closing $400K budget deficit
Property tax bills could increase by about $80 per year in Penn-Trafford School District following preliminary budget approval by a divided school board this week. But the tax hike would still not be enough to cover the more than $400,000 deficit in the district’s 2025-26 budget, business manager Brett Lago...
Judge pauses much of Trump administration’s massive downsizing of federal agencies
SAN FRANCISCO — The Republican administration must halt much of its dramatic downsizing of the federal workforce, a California judge ordered Friday. Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency order in a lawsuit filed by labor unions and cities last week, one of multiple legal challenges to Republican...
Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan — and the organization is embracing the occasion
CHICAGO — It’s the biggest victory for the struggling Chicago White Sox in a long time. Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan — and the organization is embracing the news. Elected on Thursday, Robert Prevost is the first pope from the United States in the history of the...
‘Yes, it was a dream’: Don Kelly embraces challenge of managing his hometown Pirates
Don Kelly lived out his childhood fantasy by playing in the major leagues, so he couldn’t help but dare to dream about managing his hometown team while serving as Pittsburgh Pirates bench coach. Kelly’s mind couldn’t help but drift to the times he walked onto the field as he left...
Police charge 6 in Pens, Pirates ticket scam conspiracy targeting charity for kids
The tickets to Pittsburgh Penguins and Pirates games and other events were supposed to go to disadvantaged or at-risk kids as an act of charity. Instead, according to a grand jury investigation, they were intercepted by unscrupulous people who exploited a nonprofit trying to help underprivileged children. Pennsylvania State Police...
‘Unfortunately, I wasn’t shocked’: Pirates react to the firing of Derek Shelton as manager
Pittsburgh Pirates players reacted Friday to the firing of Derek Shelton with more of a sympathetic shrug than surprise, knowing that their poor start to the season had a lot to do with the managerial move. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t shocked,” said Pirates right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes, the 2024 National League...
Oakmont, Verona to host events in advance of U.S. Open
Residents of Oakmont, Verona and Plum are bracing for the onslaught of out-of-towners the U.S. Open will bring. However, before the prolonged rush-hour traffic and battles for parking begin, residents are invited to party. The Oakmont and Verona Chambers of Commerce have teamed up to plan an Open-themed block party...
Fetterman again in the news for the wrong reasons
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, has again found himself in the news for the wrong reasons, with recent stories calling his mental health into question. Fetterman, the former Braddock mayor and Pennsylvania lieutenant governor who was once considered a rising progressive star, has faced his share of bad press over...
UPS closing North Apollo facility amid network reconfiguration
UPS is shipping out of North Apollo. The borough’s package distribution center is among the three UPS facilities in Pennsylvania and 73 nationwide closing as the company leans into automation and cuts back on Amazon shipments. The facilities are used to receive, store and send packages with delivery drivers. Saturday...
Steelers’ Omar Khan: George Pickens trade ‘happened quickly,’ search for new WR2 ‘not even close’ to ’24Video
As the NFL Draft progressed two weeks ago, Omar Khan took calls from teams asking about George Pickens. It wasn’t until 11 days after the draft ended, though, that Khan heard an offer appealing enough to accept. “It sort of happened quickly,” the Pittsburgh Steelers general manager said Friday in...
‘Betrayal of veterans’: Deluzio rips proposed Trump cuts to VA clinical trials
Pittsburgh-area veterans are being treated like pawns in a game played by the Trump administration as cuts and a hiring freeze threaten medical treatment, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio said Friday. Providing this treatment is the cost of waging war, said Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, as he blasted the administration for keeping...
Vandal strikes vehicle parked at Vereb Funeral Home in Harrison
Contractor Brad Rowan parked his work van overnight at Vereb Funeral Home in Harrison this week in advance of a job at the building. He never dreamed, however, that it would be vandalized in the building’s parking lot along Freeport Road. “I understand everyone is upset about the situation,” said...
Pa. AG sues Pittsburgh interior designer for bilking customers out of nearly $200K
The Pennsylvania attorney general is suing a Pittsburgh interior designer for nearly $200,000, alleging that she and her company failed to follow through on jobs they promised and were paid for up front. Lauren Piasecki, 44, of Morningside, has already been charged with multiple counts of theft, home improvement fraud,...
Allegheny County Police investigate Pittsburgh police in-custody death
Allegheny County Police homicide detectives Friday were investigating the death of a man overnight while in Pittsburgh police custody. The man, identified as 29-year-old James Richard Brown Jr. by the Medical Examiner’s Office, was behaving erratically and trying to get into a city police vehicle and was “taken to the...
Mark Madden: The Pirates can change the manager, but the direction stays the same
The Pittsburgh Pirates fired Derek Shelton. It changes nothing. Relieving Shelton of his managerial duties is just appeasing the mob. A head on a pike. A perceived fresh start. All PR, nothing practical. Not that Shelton didn’t deserve the ax. His .410 winning percentage is third worst among managers with at...
Team Rubicon volunteers lend helping hand in Allegheny County after storm damage
When severe storms rolled through the region last week, Bill Robinson watched the downpours and battering winds wreak havoc on his yard in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood The winds were so strong that he struggled to open his door to let his dog, Lola, in the house. By the time the...
Tarentum staple, Asay’s News Stand, closes just shy of 100 years in borough
A small Tarentum mini-mart which drew generations of residents for cigarettes, milk and lottery tickets, has closed its doors. Asay’s News Stand, at 328 E. Sixth Ave., was sold May 1 — just four years shy of marking 100 years in the borough. “I will miss a lot of the...
Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, a Republican who became a liberal darling, dies at 85
WASHINGTON — Retired Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, the ascetic bachelor and New Hampshire Republican who became a darling of liberals during his nearly 20 years on the bench, has died. He was 85. Souter died Thursday at his home in New Hampshire, the court said in a statement...
U.S. Steel seeks presidential pass to disregard Biden-era emissions standards
U.S. Steel is among the industrial polluters seeking exemptions to Biden-era requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals. The Pittsburgh-based company, with its Mon Valley Works, is taking up the Trump administration on its offer to request a two-year presidential pass on recently updated provisions of the Clean Air Act....
Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass as pope, says his election is a cross and a blessing
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV, history’s first North American pope, said Friday that his election was both a cross and a blessing as he celebrated his first Mass in Sistine Chapel. Leo spoke off-the-cuff in English to the cardinals who elected him to lead the Catholic Church and follow...
