Top Stories category, Page 1773
Supreme Court sends legal fight over UPMC-Highmark split back to lower court
The state Supreme Court on Tuesday sent Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s legal push against UPMC back to a lower court to determine whether the looming split of health care rivals UPMC and Highmark can be delayed in the name of public interest. In a split ruling, the state’s highest...
Workers, patients confront UPMC execs at board meeting
Demanding attention from UPMC executives and blasting CEO Jeffrey Romoff’s recent $2.4 million pay raise, several hundred union supporters and workers rallied outside UPMC Montefiore hospital in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood Tuesday afternoon. Joined by Democratic elected officials, patients and faith-based leaders, protesters chanted in the name of worker rights and...
1 dead, 130 injured as tornadoes rip through Ohio and IndianaVideo
BROOKVILLE, Ohio — A swarm of tornadoes so tightly packed that one may have crossed the path carved by another tore across Indiana and Ohio overnight, smashing homes, blowing out windows and ending the school year early for some students because of damage to buildings. One person was killed and...
Police rescue 4 baby turkeys from Squirrel Hill storm drain
First ducklings, now poults. Pittsburgh police in Squirrel Hill pulled four baby turkeys – called poults, as officers apparently discovered – from a storm drain near Parkview Boulevard at Summerset Drive. Officer Alex Herstine climbed into the storm drain and handed the tiny turkeys up to Officer Jason Washington, who...
Uniontown couple accused of robbing 80-year-old man after ATM stop
State police in Uniontown arrested a Uniontown couple in connection with a strong-arm robbery of an 80-year-old Dunbar Township man outside his home. David E. Millero, 29, and Tiffany L. Evans, 27, were arrested on multiple criminal charges in connection with the robbery and assault of John O. Welsh about...
Trib offers $5,000 reward in delivery driver’s shooting death
Trib Total Media is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any suspects in the shooting death of Gregory Lee Smith. Smith, 69, of New Kensington was shot and killed while he was out on his route delivering the Trib about 3 a.m. May...
Hulton Road reopened after truck crashes, dumps load on street
A dump truck lost its brakes and crashed Tuesday on Oakmont’s Hulton Road, closing the busy street to traffic into the evening. The wreck, reported about 1 p.m., closed Hulton between Fifth Street and Allegheny River Boulevard. Oakmont police Chief Mike Ford said no one was injured in the crash....
Artwork on Downtown parking garage is a who’s who of famous Pittsburghers
Pittsburgh has collaborated with the owners of a Stanwix Street building to transform nine stories of the facade into a virtual who’s who of famous Pittsburghers. The public art piece dubbed “We Are Pittsburgh” consists of 20 banners with the pixelated images of well known personalities such as Andrew Carnegie,...
Man traveling from Colombia ingests 246 bags of cocaine, dies midflight
A passenger of Japanese origin died midflight from Colombia to Japan after ingesting hundreds of bags of cocaine, authorities said. The man, identified only as Udo N., 42, began suffering seizures Friday on the flight, prompting an emergency landing in Hermosillo, a city in Sonora, Mexico, authorities said. Upon landing,...
Pennsylvania starting to make moves on plastic bag bans
Regional grocery chains Giant Eagle and Shop ’n Save are starting to get their feet wet in the anti-plastic bag movement — an initiative Kroger recently took by storm after vowing to eliminate the single-use plastic from their stores by 2025. Each year, more than 380 billion plastic bags and...
Petition launched to bring back Heinz ketchup to Kennywood
Sometimes, you just have to take a stand. In an effort to get Heinz ketchup back at Kennywood Park, Will Koz — at least that’s the username — is doing just that. Koz launched a Change.org petition to restore the park’s condiment situation. “In the past few months Kennywood Park...
Tornado watch issued for most of Western Pa.
A line of storms moved through Western Pennsylvania on Tuesday, dropping rain and hail in some places and spurring a lookout for tornadoes in all but three counties. The National Weather Service issued warnings for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes until 4:30 p.m. in Armstrong and Indiana counties as the system...
3 people die in Pennsylvania ATV wrecks over holiday weekend
ALLENTOWN — Three people died in accidents involving all-terrain vehicles over the Memorial Day weekend in Pennsylvania. A 45-year-old North Wales man died early Monday when his ATV overturned on a road in Foster Township, Luzerne County. On Sunday, a 54-year-old man and a 52-year-old man died in Triumph Township,...
Report: Pennsylvania must do more to help Chesapeake Bay
NORFOLK, Va. — A nonprofit that tracks pollution in the Chesapeake Bay is once again lambasting Pennsylvania for not doing enough to protect the nation’s largest estuary. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation released a report Tuesday that says Pennsylvania’s plan to reduce pollution is “woefully inadequate.” States are tasked with keeping...
Commentary: UFOs exist, and everyone needs to adjust to that fact
The term “UFO” automatically triggers derision in most quarters of polite society. One of Christopher Buckley’s better satires, “Little Green Men,” is premised on a George F. Will-type pundit thinking that he has been abducted by aliens, with amusing results. UFOs have historically been associated with crackpot ideas like Big...
Is climate change to blame for booming tick population? Will diseases increase?
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the number of tick-borne diseases is increasing at a record pace while the geographic range of ticks continues to expand. Lyme disease is the most commonly-known tick-borne disease, but other diseases, such as ehrlichiosis and STARI, have been discovered and the...
Thousands of kindergartners unvaccinated without waivers
COLUMBUS, Ohio — States are heatedly debating whether to make it more difficult for students to avoid vaccinations for religious or philosophical reasons amid the worst measles outbreak in decades, but schoolchildren using such waivers are outnumbered in many states by those who give no excuse at all for lacking...
Cops: Somerset County meth lab discovered after explosion
An explosion which sent a suspected drug manufacturer to the hospital, brought investigators to his meth lab in Somerset County, according to state police. Zachary Maust, 33, of Berlin Township, allegedly was in his father’s garage in Brothersvalley Township on May 18, making meth using the “one-pot method,” which involves...
Trump wishes ‘happy Memorial Day’ to U.S., Japanese troops
ABOARD THE USS WASP — President Donald Trump on Tuesday wished “Happy Memorial Day” to U.S. service members aboard an American assault ship docked in Japan. They shouted “U.S.A. U.S.A.” Trump called them a “tough bunch of people” and dubbed them “daring and mighty warriors in the Pacific.” The president...
Overnight Ohio tornadoes leave trail of destruction
BROOKVILLE, Ohio — A rapid-fire line of apparent tornadoes tore across Indiana and Ohio overnight, packed so closely together that one crossed the path carved by another. There were no immediate reports of any deaths or serious injuries in the twisters, among 52 tornadoes that may have touched down Monday...
Man dead, teen injured in Pittsburgh Hill District shooting
One man is dead and a 15-year-old girl is injured after a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, according to the Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety. Police were called to the Bedford Dwellings apartment complex on Chauncey Drive just before 11 p.m. Monday for a report of shots fired. They found...
Benefit headliner Sheila E. says Pittsburghers are ‘so cordial’
When drummer Sheila E. was 15 years old, her father’s band needed a percussionist. One of the members was ill and not able to perform at the show in San Francisco, Calif. Sheila E. told her dad she could step in. “He wasn’t for that, but when my mom told...
Artist has left her mark all over Pittsburgh for decades
The Sarris Candies store in Canonsburg is artist Maria DeSimone Prascak’s Sistine Chapel. Over the years, she’s transformed the shop and adjoining ice cream parlor into a colorful candyland using paint, clay, papier-mache and crystal embellishments. Prascak’s brush has touched 450 feet of murals, two columns, three ceiling domes, five...
Cora Lee Cupcakes welcomes customers with desserts everyone can enjoyVideo
Editor’s note: Building the Valley tells stories of businesses big and small and the employees who make them special. If you know of any standout employees, bosses or companies with a great story to tell, contact reporter Madasyn Czebiniak at mczebiniak@tribweb.com Not all sweets are, well, sweet. Some can be...
Knife-wielding man attacks schoolgirls in Japan, killing 2
KAWASAKI, Japan — A man carrying a knife in each hand and screaming “I will kill you!” attacked a group of schoolgirls and adults as he walked toward a school bus parked at a bus stop just outside Tokyo on Tuesday, killing two and injuring 16 before killing himself, officials...
