Top Stories category, Page 201
Man charged in connection to firework explosion at Rivers Casino
A 47-year-old man faces criminal charges after, state police say, he set off a firework in a bathroom inside Rivers Casino on Pittsburgh’s North Shore early Sunday morning. State police say they took Jeremy Allen Hartman, of Martinsburg, Blair County, into custody at 5:41 a.m. for allegedly trespassing in a...
Former Greensburg Diocese Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt dies
Bishop Emeritus Lawrence Eugene Brandt, bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg from 2004 to 2015, died Sunday morning. He was 86. Church officials credit Brandt, the Greensburg Diocese’s fourth bishop, for leading the diocese through a series of changes, including improving finances and addressing the declining number of Catholics. “It...
Protests intensify in Los Angeles after Trump deploys hundreds of National Guard troopsVideo
LOS ANGELES — Tensions in Los Angeles escalated Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to President Donald Trump’s extraordinary deployment of the National Guard, blocking off a major freeway and setting self-driving cars on fire as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash...
Flood watch includes Allegheny and Westmoreland counties
The potential for flooding exists through Monday, according to local meteorologists. Total rainfall Sunday in the Pittsburgh area is expected to be anywhere between a half-inch and just more than an inch, said Alicia Miller, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office in Moon. Rainfall began just after 8...
Man arrested following SWAT situation in Crafton
It wasn’t the suspect authorities were initially looking for, but the Allegheny County and Crafton police departments arrested a wanted man Saturday afternoon in Crafton. County police said in a statement that its SWAT team was dispatched just after 4 p.m. to Parkview Street in Crafton to assist borough police...
Editorial: Database would help protect property values and empower municipalities
Blight isn’t interesting. No one wants to talk about abandoned buildings. No one wants to think about old structures left to rot. Those properties already haunt their neighborhoods. Can’t we just ignore them? Yeah, we don’t like to talk about blight, either. So let’s talk about the state taking action...
Demand for Mohs surgery skyrockets; treatment up to 99% effective for skin cancer
Erin Wheeler has always known she was at high risk for skin cancer. A kidney transplant, combined with fair skin from her Irish heritage, put skin cancer on her radar at age 10. Some three decades later, Wheeler, a senior career consultant at the University of Pittsburgh, is a quasi-regular...
Greensburg seeks bubble gum lovers for shot at world record
Hundreds of bubble gum blowers are needed in Greensburg in an effort to break a world record. The Greensburg Business & Professional Association is hoping to get at least 1,200 people to converge Saturday on downtown in an attempt to top the record for the most people blowing a chewing...
Veteran fan, former Oakmont caddie offers suggestions for fans attending U.S. Open
Derek Gionta has seen the U.S. Open both inside and out. That’s because, in addition to attending multiple opens over the years, the 44-year-old Monroeville resident also was a caddie at the Oakmont Country Club during his high school and college days. “My brother was already doing it when I...
Allegheny County politician’s social media post on war in Gaza stokes divisions
The war in Gaza has triggered a war of words over antisemitism in Allegheny County. Western Pennsylvania’s largest Jewish group recently rebuked a County Council member for endorsing a pro-Palestinian activist’s comments on social media. “Another week of watching people burned alive in Gaza and we’re still required to be...
Classic characters, bubbly beverages and pampered pups: 3 new businesses come to Greensburg area
Jess Kunkle is on a twofold mission: to pursue her lifelong career aspiration and help revitalize the business scene in Greensburg, the town she has called home for nearly a decade. “I wanted to help put a business back into downtown Greensburg,” Kunkle said, “because downtown Greensburg has been kind...
U.S. Open offers chance to market Pittsburgh, but economic impact is modest, experts say
Economic development leaders hope to show the Pittsburgh region is a diamond beyond the rough at Oakmont Country Club as the U.S. Open unfolds this week before a national audience. Tens of thousands of fans are expected to flock to the world-renowned golf course and millions more will tune in...
Newborns, high school grads, elderly rescued from floods by Westmoreland County swift-water teams
The emergency response to flooding in the Murrysville area Friday night threw everything and the kitchen sink to swift-water rescue teams. The 95 evacuations in the roughly 300-yard space between Ginny’s Neighborhood Pizza Joint and Penn Vista Apartment complex included: a weeks-old baby, half a dozen Franklin Regional High School...
Trump deploying California National Guard over governor’s objections to L.A. to quell protests
PARAMOUNT, Calif. — President Donald Trump is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops over the governor’s objections to Los Angeles, where protests Saturday led to clashes between immigration authorities and demonstrators. The White House said in a statement Saturday that Trump is deploying the Guardsmen to “address the lawlessness that...
Scottdale man celebrates 200,000 miles of bicycle riding
Lorne Peachey of Scottdale has ridden across the United States and on almost every rail-to-trail path imaginable on his way to 200,000 miles on a bicycle. Peachey, 86, celebrated his achievement with about 150 family, friends and bicycling acquaintances Saturday afternoon at the West Overton Village events barn near Scottdale....
Analyzing the good and bad about an aging Aaron Rodgers taking over as Steelers QB
In the waning days of Ben Roethlisberger’s career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, coach Mike Tomlin was looking at traits he desired in his next quarterback. It was during the 2021 bye week that Tomlin studied quarterback mobility and its impact on the NFL product. He analyzed trends and ways mobility...
‘It provides clarity’: Mason Rudolph reacts to Steelers signing 4-time MVP QB Aaron Rodgers
While Aaron Rodgers signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers was dominating the news cycle, Mason Rudolph was talking baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday afternoon at PNC Park. The Steelers quarterback, along with tight end Connor Heyward, chatted with Pirates relievers David Bednar and Chase Shugart about everything from favorite...
Trump says Elon Musk could face ‘serious consequences’ if he backs Democratic candidates
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — President Donald Trump is not backing off his battle with Elon Musk, saying Saturday that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warning that his former ally and campaign benefactor could face “serious consequences” if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections. Trump told...
Residents, businesses in Murrysville-Export area clean up from Friday’s deluge
Kim Zannikos has seen flooding before at her Murrysville town house, but nothing like what she saw Friday. It was so bad that her SUV, parked at the far end of the property, away from Old William Penn Highway, and with Turtle Creek on the other side, was not spared....
Players to watch, odds of winning at Oakmont for the U.S. Open
Players to watch at the 125th U.S. Open on June 12-15 at Oakmont Country Club: Scottie Scheffler Age: 29 Country: United States World ranking: 1 Worldwide wins: 19 Majors: Masters (2022, 2024), PGA Championship (2025) U.S. Open appearances: 7 Best finish: Runner-up in 2022 at The Country Club Backspin: The...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: By signing Aaron Rodgers, the Steelers are selling hope, however misguided
The prevailing wisdom is that Aaron Rodgers gives the Pittsburgh Steelers a better chance to win. Win what, exactly? It would be tangibly better for the Steelers to go 4-13 than to go 9-8. (See Commanders, Washington.) This is 41-year-old Rodgers, not MVP Rodgers. The Steelers roster is dotted with...
U.S. Open offers fans full plate of culinary options at Oakmont Country Club
As soon as the U.S. Open’s final putt is sunk, Susan Lacz starts thinking about the next year’s tournament. Lacz is CEO of Ridgewells Catering in Maryland, the United States Golf Association’s longtime catering partner for the event. She’s one of the people in charge of making sure hungry U.S....
Report: Medicaid cuts will hurt Pa. hospitals, patients
Some Western Pennsylvania hospitals could see an increase in uninsured patients and corresponding drop in reimbursements from Medicaid if the U.S. House-approved $723 billion in funding cuts to states is enacted, health advocates and state officials say. Ultimately, that could cause a reduction in services, officials said. “They’re (hospitals) going...
Harvard gets backing of other universities, including Pitt, in Trump funding fight
A group of 18 leading U.S. research universities, including Princeton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins, asked a federal judge for permission to file legal arguments in support of Harvard University in its high-stakes showdown with the Trump administration over more than $2 billion in...
Federal judge approves $2.8B settlement, paving way for colleges to pay athletes millions
A federal judge signed off on arguably the biggest change in the history of college sports on Friday, clearing the way for schools to begin paying their athletes millions of dollars as soon as next month as the multibillion-dollar industry shreds the last vestiges of the amateur model that defined...
