Top Stories category, Page 1818
Double the dill: Picklesburgh food festival to expand
Fresh off national accolades, organizers of Pittsburgh’s award-winning Picklesburgh announced Tuesday the festival will double in size this summer. The festival used to pack the the Roberto Clemente Bridge. Now, there’s more: In addition to the bridge, the pickle celebration festival will extend to the riverside lanes of Fort Duquesne...
‘Sesame Street’ to film in Pittsburgh in June
“Sesame Street” will celebrate the iconic program’s 50th anniversary with a visit to Pittsburgh in June. As part of a nationwide road trip, “Sesame Street” will host a free family festival and stage show on Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park on June 15. The show’s production crew will also film...
Leechburg couple recounts horror of Monday shooting
Janelle Stankiewicz and Dennis Gronski II don’t know why an armed man shot his way into their Leechburg home early Monday or what might have happened if the man hadn’t died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in their kitchen. Stankiewicz said she does know the incident will be hard to...
Police: $200K in pot was headed for Southwestern Pennsylvania
State police in Greensburg arrested two New York men Tuesday for allegedly attempting to deliver more than $200,000 worth of marijuana to Southwestern Pennsylvania. Trooper Stephen Limani said 75 one-pound, vacuum-sealed plastic bags of marijuana were seized just after 8:30 a.m. during a traffic stop at the New Stanton interchange...
Pittsburgh to pay $77,500 to settle police brutality lawsuit
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to pay a South Park man $77,500 to settle a federal lawsuit alleging a former city police officer assaulted him and violated his civil rights during high school football championships at Heinz Field in 2015. Gabriel Despres, 23, sued the city and Landmark...
Elizabeth cops trying to ID teens in ‘riot-like’ Snapchat brawl
Police in Elizabeth Borough are trying to identify more than two dozen teens and young adults involved in an April 11 brawl that investigators said was organized on social media. Charges will be filed once investigators identify the people involved or who attended the fight, police Chief William Sombo said....
Highlands School District puts third employee on unpaid leave
For the third time since January, a Highlands School District employee has been suspended without pay. The school board on Monday approved a statement of charges against the employee, who was placed on unpaid leave. The board did not identify the employee at its meeting Monday. The person was identified...
Donations flow in as crews assess damage to Notre Dame Cathedral
PARIS – France on Tuesday was confronting the scorched remains of Notre Dame Cathedral as officials announced they had extinguished the inferno that partly damaged a symbol of the nation. Authorities said their first investigations suggested that the fire started by accident, perhaps in connection with much-needed renovations that left...
Rivers Casino’s $12M leads sharp uptick in Pa. sports betting in March
HARRISBURG — Sports betting leaped by almost one-third in Pennsylvania’s fourth full month, as more venues opened amid March Madness. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said Tuesday that gamblers bet a record $44.5 million in March at six casinos and two off-track betting parlors where sports betting is approved. That...
French president wants Notre Dame Cathedral rebuilt within 5 years
PARIS — The Latest on the fire that swept through Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral (all times local): 8:20 p.m. French President Emmanuel Macron says he wants to see the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral to be rebuilt within five years. Macron said Tuesday in a televised address to the nation that...
Repairs to Mon Incline nearly done, could reopen in May
Work to repair damage to the Monongahela Incline caused by a series of water main breaks in January is expected to be completed this week. But the 149-year-old cable rail car will likely not reopen to the public until May, according to the Allegheny County Port Authority, which owns the...
Trump keeps attacking as redacted Russia report due Thursday
WASHINGTON — The president isn’t waiting. As Washington counts down the final hours until publication of the redacted special counsel report — now expected Thursday — Donald Trump stepped up his attacks in an effort to undermine potential disclosures on Russia, his 2016 campaign and the aftermath. He unleashed a...
Columbine survivors raise children in world shaped by attack
DENVER — Dropping her kids off at school used to be the hardest part of Kacey Ruegsegger Johnson’s day. She would cry most mornings as they left the car, and relied on texted photos from their teachers to make it through the day. Now, the mother of four — and...
Tim Benz: How Penguins could climb out of 3-0 hole vs. Islanders
So how do they do it? The truth is, it almost assuredly won’t happen. But … If the Penguins are to come back from a 3-0 hole against the New York Islanders in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, how will it happen? The usual empty explanations were thrown around the...
Police: Man shot twice in Pittsburgh’s Perry South neighborhood
Pittsburgh police responding to a ShotSpotter notification in Perry South late Monday night found a man suffering from two gunshot wounds, according to authorities. Officers from the Zone 1 station in the North Side used the gunshot detection technology and calls placed to 911 to direct them to the 2200...
UPMC says Highmark is to blame for spurring confusion, prompting prepay rule
Highmark, not UPMC, is to blame for hindering access to health care, spurring confusion among seniors and forcing tens of thousands of Western Pennsylvania patients to choose sides or pay a hefty cost to keep their doctors and hospitals, UPMC’s attorneys argued Monday in court. Highmark has engaged in “aggressive...
Westmoreland warden wants public apology from Commissioner Gina CerilliVideo
The warden of Westmoreland County Prison on Monday filed a written complaint against Commissioner Gina Cerilli and demanded an apology for comments she made last year in yet another attempt to have him fired, this time following a suspended guard’s suicide. John Walton accused Cerilli of misrepresenting facts associated with...
CDC reports 90 new measles cases as outbreak approaches recordVideo
WASHINGTON — For the third week in a row, U.S. health officials have added dozens of new reports to the year’s list of confirmed measles cases, bringing the total to 555 - already the highest number in the past five years. If the outbreaks aren’t brought under control, public health...
Investigation continues in police shooting of former Canon-McMillan wrestling champ
Washington County District Attorney Eugene Vittone said no charges had been filed as of Monday in the police shooting of 19-year-old Logan B. Macri of Canonsburg, but a state police investigation is ongoing. Macri, a 2018 Pennsylvania state high school wrestling champion for Canon-McMillan High School, was shot multiple times...
Judge: No basis to dismiss charges against Sheriff Jonathan Held
The presiding judge in the criminal case against Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held in court documents filed Monday said he found no basis to dismiss public corruption charges in the aftermath of a December mistrial. Senior Common Pleas Judge Timothy Creany in an 11-page opinion said prosecutors presented enough evidence...
Pitt football and South Side shop spar over ‘412’ trademark
The University of Pittsburgh football team may yet wear 412 on their helmets this season. A Pittsburgh trademark attorney said Monday that South Side apparel shop merchandise company Shop412 is “splitting hairs” in its alleged trademark dispute with the university over the 412 area code. “The picture of the Pitt...
Trump suggests he’s moving forward with sanctuary city plan
WASHINGTON — President Trump suggested Monday that his threat to ship migrants to so-called sanctuary cities is taking effect, even though it remains unclear whether such a plan is feasible. “Those Illegal Immigrants who can no longer be legally held (Congress must fix the laws and loopholes) will be, subject...
Pirates donate $20,000 to improve youth baseball fields in Pittsburgh
A $20,000 donation from the Pirates’ charitable foundation is helping Pittsburgh improve two city baseball fields. Pirates Charities is providing $10,000 for each field through its Fields for Kids program. The donation will pay for infield resurfacing and new dugouts at Dinan Field in Stanton Heights and Devlin Field in...
Pittsburgh shootout leads to 1 injured in car crash over Stowe hillside
A shootout between vehicles that began Monday afternoon in McKees Rocks and continued into Pittsburgh’s West End culminated with one car plummeting over a hillside in Stowe, police said. One person who was injured in the wreck remains in “critical but stable condition” Monday night, Allegheny County Police Sgt. Venerando...
With Penguins’ season on the line, Mike Sullivan cancels practice
What possibly was the Pittsburgh Penguins’ final practice of the season became not a practice at all Monday. Though the team gathered Monday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, players did not take the ice on the eve of Game 4 of their first-round playoff series they trail...
