Top Stories category, Page 181
Miki Sudo wins 11th women’s title in annual Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest
The Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest is back, and famed competitive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut is hoping for a comeback 17th win on Friday. The 41-year-old, from Westfield, Indiana, was not in last year’s event due to a contract dispute involving a deal he struck with...
Democrats see Trump’s big bill as key to their comeback. It may not be so easy
WINDSOR HEIGHTS, Iowa — It is big and it is beautiful, President Donald Trump says. But for many Democratic leaders, the tax break and spending cut package passed by Trump’s Republican allies in Congress on Thursday represents the key to the Democratic Party’s resurgence. Even before the final vote, Democratic...
Jury acquits man in North Side homicide as police charge witness in same slaying
Weeks before a Homestead man was acquitted Wednesday in a 2022 slaying on Pittsburgh’s North Side, prosecutors charged their main witness with the same homicide. After deliberating for three days, a jury Wednesday found Jason Woodall, 31, not guilty of killing Meiko Devaughn in the Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood. Now prosecutors will...
What’s in Trump’s big bill?
WASHINGTON — Republicans muscled President Donald Trump’s tax and spending cut bill through the House on Thursday, the final step necessary to get the bill to his desk by the GOP’s self-imposed deadline of July 4. At nearly 900 pages, the legislation is a sprawling collection of tax breaks, spending...
Protests, immigration raids, tariffs put crimp in some people’s July Fourth
LOS ANGELES — Recent polls will tell you there’s been a drop in national pride among Americans, particularly Democrats in the Trump era, with some questioning whether to celebrate July Fourth at all this year. But Scott Allen, a registered Democrat in southern California, isn’t one of them. He planned...
Pitt scraps Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion as Trump pushes against DEI
Pressured by the Trump administration, the University of Pittsburgh has eliminated its Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, joining the ranks of institutions across the country that are changing their ways as President Donald Trump rails against diversity programs. A message from University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel and Clyde...
Officials shut down South Side homeless camp
Officials this week shut down a homeless camp along the Southside Riverfront Trail in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood, making it the latest in a string of closures meant to relocate people from streets to shelters. Close to 50 people lived along the trail at its peak, Councilman Bob Charland, D-South...
Elderly woman freed from beneath car at Lower Burrell Manor
An elderly woman was flown to a trauma center Wednesday evening after she was pinned underneath a car in Lower Burrell. Lower Burrell Co. 3 Chief Brennan Sites said crews were dispatched at 6:28 p.m. for reports of a woman trapped under a car at Lower Burrell Manor, 200 Sylvan...
Police: 19-year-old arrested following wild police chase; stolen guns, drugs recovered
A 19-year-old Hollidaysburg man is behind bars after he led police on a high-speed chase from New Kensington into Murrysville early Thursday morning. Jerome Micha McClung faces 19 charges, among them aggravated assault, DUI, receiving stolen property, endangering the welfare of children, reckless endangerment, fleeing from an officer, causing an...
After Omar Khan’s 3-year extension by Steelers, examining his 1st 3 seasons
Omar Khan is often referenced as, “The Khan Artist” by Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Even the team’s head coach once relayed that it was “a cool nickname.” It is difficult to pinpoint with precision when the affectionate usage of that term for the team’s general manager hit the mainstream among Steelers...
Western Pa. Republicans see hope, Democrats doom in passage of Trump policy bill
Republicans in Western Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation celebrated the passage of President Trump’s domestic policy package Thursday afternoon, touting measures to extend and expand tax relief enacted in 2017, secure the nation’s southern border and expand domestic production of oil, coal and natural gas. Democratic leaders warned the package will be...
Fourth revelers reminded to be mindful of neighbors with PTSD
For some veterans, the Fourth of July can be more of a struggle than a celebration. “When I first got back it took me quite a few years to really feel at ease with the fireworks,” said Cliff Warner, an Iraq Army veteran deployed from 2005-2006. Loud noises emitted by...
Furries return to Pittsburgh for 19th Anthrocon
It’s that time of year — the furries are back in Pittsburgh for Anthrocon. And this July, there’s going to be more attendees than ever before, at over 19,000. Anthrocon is the annual furry convention at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center that attracts thousands of people who don animal...
Hakeem Jeffries took his ‘sweet time’ holding the floor to delay Trump’s tax bill
WASHINGTON — There’s no filibuster in the House, but Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries essentially conducted one anyway. Jeffries held the House floor for more than eight hours Thursday, taking his “sweet time” with a marathon floor speech that delayed passage of Republicans’ massive tax and spending cuts legislation and gave...
Corroded steel prompts closure of Jacks Run Road Bridge in Ross
Allegheny County officials on Thursday announced the closure of a bridge described as a “vital link” spanning Interstate 279 in Ross after inspectors discovered corroded steel. The Department of Public Works closed Jacks Run Road Bridge No. 3, which sits between Bellevue Road/Bellpark Drive and Kane Lane in Ross. There...
Arrest made in road rage incident on Route 66 in Salem
State police on Thursday arrested a man hours after they say he rammed another vehicle in Salem on Route 66, injuring four people, including one who was taken to a hospital. Cody A. Salensky, 26, did not have a valid drivers license because it had previously been suspended for an...
‘Come early’: Pittsburgh police gird for July 4 crowds, road closures
Independence Day revelry will be moved, yet again, out of Downtown Pittsburgh and into the city’s North Shore neighborhood — and city police Thursday said they’re ready for the crowds. Construction at Point State Park is forcing event organizers, as they did last year, to stage the Fourth of July...
Dormont rally aims to alert public to proposed Allegheny County transit cuts
A rally planned for next week will bring together South Hills residents and officials united in support of long-term, sustainable funding for Pittsburgh Regional Transit in the state’s 2026 budget. The Monday rally comes in response to proposed severe service cuts and a fare increase for mass transit users in...
In wake of homicide ruling, police release few details about Troy Hill grandmother’s death
Mystery continues to surround the investigation into the death last month of a Troy Hill woman, whose homicide was acknowledged only Thursday by Pittsburgh police. Patricia Kachinko, a lifelong homemaker and grandmother of three, died June 24 from respiratory complications caused by blunt force trauma to the chest, the Allegheny...
House passes Trump’s big tax bill and sends it to him to sign
WASHINGTON — House Republicans propelled President Donald Trump’s $4.5 trillion tax breaks and spending cuts bill to final congressional passage Thursday, overcoming multiple setbacks to approve his signature second-term policy package before a Fourth of July deadline. The tight roll call, 218-214, came at a potentially high political cost, with...
Roundup: Tractor-trailer crash snarls traffic on eastbound Parkway West; police say Braddock man struck Munhall officer with stolen car
Here are a few morning news items from across the region for Thursday, July 3: Tractor-trailer crash snarls traffic on eastbound Parkway West A ramp remained closed on the Parkway West (Interstate 376) Thursday afternoon in the area of the Pittsburgh International Airport and Route 576 interchange after a morning...
Upper Burrell goes back to the drawing board on rules for injection wells
Upper Burrell residents on Wednesday asked supervisors to consider more stringent rules for injection wells. Township supervisors were considering a proposal regulating and outlining rules for injection wells that would allow them as a conditional use in industrial-zoned areas of Upper Burrell only. During the hourlong hearing Wednesday, residents asked...
Skydiving plane goes off New Jersey runway and crashes into woods, sending 15 to hospital
Fifteen people were taken to a hospital when a skydiving aircraft went off a runway and crashed in the woods near an airport in southern New Jersey on Wednesday evening, according to authorities. The incident at the Cross Keys Airport, about 21 miles southeast of Philadelphia, involved a Cessna 208B...
FDA vaccine official restricted covid vaccine approvals against the advice of agency staff
WASHINGTON — The government’s top vaccine official working under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently restricted the approval of two covid-19 vaccines, disregarding recommendations from government scientists, according to federal documents released Wednesday. The new memos from the Food and Drug Administration show how the agency’s vaccine chief, Dr....
Fur-ever friends: Pittsburgh and Anthrocon’s special relationship
Pickles, pierogis and … Anthrocon. A Pittsburgh staple, the Furries are returning to Pittsburgh for a four-day event held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center from Thursday through Sunday. Organizers are projecting a record 19,000 attendees, the highest amount since the event debuted in 1997. Anthrocon originated in Albany,...
