Top Stories category, Page 192

NEW YORK — Key U.S. agencies, including the FBI, State Department and the Pentagon, have instructed their employees not to comply with cost-cutting chief Elon Musk’s demand that federal workers explain what they accomplished last week — or risk losing their jobs. That resistance has intensified a pervasive sense of...

A movie is in the works that will profile Kurt Angle’s life story. The film will chronicle the Mt. Lebanon native’s journey from his youth and his start in amateur wrestling, his accomplishments in the sport in high school and college at Clarion to international success, including his Olympic gold-medal...

An 18-year-old man was killed Sunday when the dirt bike he was driving went off a South Huntingdon road and crashed, according to Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson. Donald Leasure, of Perry Township, Fayette County, became separated from the dirt bike and landed in Jacobs Creek, which runs along the...

DENVER — A new administration swept into Washington and announced plans to shake it up, using corporate know-how and new technology to streamline the federal bureaucracy. It offered millions of government employees buyouts and slashed costs to balance the budget. It might sound like the controversial cost-cutting push led by...

VATICAN CITY — While the Vatican has detailed laws and rituals to ensure the transfer of power when a pope dies or resigns, they do not apply if he is sick or even unconscious. And there are no specific norms outlining what happens to the leadership of the Catholic Church...

ROME — Pope Francis remained in critical condition Sunday and blood tests showed early kidney failure but he remains alert, responsive and attended Mass, the Vatican said, as the 88-year-old pontiff battles pneumonia and a complex lung infection. In a late update, the Vatican said Francis hadn’t had any more...

Usually, when someone’s pet is in the veterinary hospital, it’s a stressful time — something is wrong, and it’s gone beyond the usual vet visit. But on Feb. 15 at BluePearl Pet Hospital in Ohio Township, Ashleah Stone wasn’t worried at all about her 7-year-old greyhound, J.B. That’s because J.B....

During two afternoon talks on Saturday, Alabama-based author Randi Pink spoke to large and inquisitive crowds at Northern Tier Library in Richland. Her visit was arranged after the Pine-Richland School Board last month voted not to include her novel, “Angel of Greenwood,” in its ninth grade language arts classes. The...

The 27th annual Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit held Saturday focused on mobilizing the community and urging attendees to “lean in” and do something. The theme of this year’s summit was “People, Power and Progress: Community Engagement for Justice and Accountability.” The daylong summit brought out organizers, community advocates and community...

A 6-year-old California boy was abducted in 1951 and found last year living on the East Coast — 73 years after his disappearance. The discovery was thanks to an AncestryDNA test, the sort sold at drugstores that have people submit saliva samples to create DNA matches that can track family...

Cherrie Mahan’s favorite color was purple. The 8-year-old loved Cabbage Patch dolls, the movie “E.T.” and tuna fish sandwiches. She sang at church on Sundays with her grandma. It’s the happy details that her mother, Janice McKinney, remembers most about Cherrie. The Winfield Elementary third grader went missing Feb. 22,...

An 11-year-old girl who was reported missing to Pittsburgh police has been found safe, according to authorities. The girl was reported missing Saturday after being last seen the day before at her home in the city’s East Allegheny neighborhood....

ROME — Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a long asthmatic respiratory crisis that required high flows of oxygen, the Vatican said. The 88-year-old Francis, who has been hospitalized for a week with pneumonia and a complex lung infection, also received blood transfusions after tests showed...

YORK — A man armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties entered a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit on Saturday and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police in a shootout that also left an officer dead, authorities said. Three staffers at UPMC Memorial Hospital, including...

Questions remained unanswered and issues unresolved after a public hearing before the Oakmont Zoning Hearing Board was postponed Thursday night and rescheduled for a second time. The hearing was initially scheduled Feb. 8, after an ongoing legal battle involving various Oakmont businesses and the borough was to be brought in...

Nancy Philpot lost two of her former Westinghouse co-workers in the 1994 USAir Flight 427 crash near Hopewell, Beaver County, which killed all 132 passengers on board. Though she was initially hesitant to board an airplane once again, she eventually got over her fear. But after the past few weeks,...

Get ready to dodge more potholes. As temperatures are expected to surge from the mid-20s to above 50 degrees by Monday, it could create more potholes on roads, sidewalks, parking lots and other paved areas, experts say. The freeze-thaw cycle isn’t a secret enemy of pavement, but this winter’s temperature...

WASHINGTON — The White House and Ukraine have made significant progress toward reaching an agreement that would provide the U.S. with access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals and tighten the long-term relationship between Kyiv and Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter. The progress in talks comes after...

Oakmont and Allegheny County Police are investigating a burglary at the Kwik Fill gas station along Allegheny River Boulevard. A cashier at the convenience store said someone broke through a door, stole a register and attempted to access the safe around 4 a.m. Friday. Both the door and the register...

NEW YORK — The defendant wore a bulletproof vest and shackles. A woman in the crowd wore a “Free Luigi” scarf. Outside, throngs of people cheered and chanted his name. So it went Friday at a pretrial hearing for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian...

A Vandergrift man is facing a slew of charges after being involved in a standoff with several police agencies Friday afternoon after he allegedly ran from police the day before. Westmoreland County Chief Deputy Sheriff Jen Shipley said 44-year-old Luis Brackman refused to surrender to deputies Friday when authorities attempted...

Westmoreland County prosecutors claim overwhelming circumstantial evidence led to the conviction of a Jeannette man who is serving three life sentences for the murders of his wife and two young children three decades ago. But a judge is now weighing whether to overturn James Young’s conviction. Following a jury trial...

New Kensington’s historic Bloser Mansion has a new name but will remain a restaurant and a bed-and-breakfast under new owners. Lost Dreams Awakening, founded in 2014 by the husband and wife team of VonZell Wade and Laurie Johnson-Wade, bought the mansion on Sixth Avenue in the Parnassus section of the...

The Associated Press sued three Trump administration officials Friday over access to presidential events, citing freedom of speech in asking a federal judge to stop the 10-day blocking of its journalists. The lawsuit was filed Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The AP says its case is...