Top Stories category, Page 201
Robert Prevost, first American pope in history of the Catholic Church, will take the name Leo XIV
VATICAN CITY — Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first pope from the United States in the history of the Catholic Church on Thursday. Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious...
Pirates fire Derek Shelton, promote bench coach Don Kelly to manager for rest of 2025
Sitting in last place in the NL Central and with their season spiraling, the Pittsburgh Pirates fired manager Derek Shelton on Thursday and named bench coach Don Kelly his successor for the remainder of the 2025 season. Shelton was relieved of his duties following a 5-0 loss to the St....
White smoke pours out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling the election of a new popeVideo
VATICAN CITY — White smoke poured from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and the great bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled Thursday after cardinals elected the 267th pope to lead the Catholic Church on the second day of their conclave. The crowd in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers,...
Trump keeps 10% tariffs on UK but cuts taxes on British autos, steel and aluminum with trade deal
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump agreed Thursday to cut tariffs on U.K. autos, steel and aluminum in a planned trade deal but played down the possibility of other nations getting similarly favorable terms on his import taxes, which are roiling the global economy. Under the framework agreement, the United Kingdom...
Cancer before age 50 is increasing. A new study looks at which types
Cancer before age 50 is rare, but increasing, in the United States and researchers want to know why. A new government study provides the most complete picture yet of early-onset cancers, finding that the largest increases are in breast, colorectal, kidney and uterine cancers. Scientists from the National Cancer Institute...
Gainey orders hazard mitigation plan in response to damaging storms
Last week’s damaging storm has prompted Pittsburgh’s mayor to order officials to draft a plan so the city can better prepare for natural disasters. In ordering the creation of a hazard mitigation plan, Mayor Ed Gainey on Thursday noted that climate change brings additional risks of increasingly severe storms and...
‘My bad’: Pittsburgh top emergency official did not alert city leaders to absence during storms
Pittsburgh’s top emergency management official, who was away during last week’s severe storms, violated protocol by failing to notify city leaders of his absence and who would take over for him. Darryl Jones, the city’s emergency management coordinator and fire chief, acknowledged Thursday he did not alert Controller Rachael Heisler...
No new pope elected yet after black smoke pours out of Sistine Chapel’s chimney
VATICAN CITY — Cardinals failed again Thursday morning to find a successor to Pope Francis, sending black smoke billowing up through the Sistine Chapel chimney after two more inconclusive rounds of conclave voting. The black smoke poured out at 11:50 a.m., signalling that the second and third ballots of the...
Morning Roundup: 2 injured in Apollo fire; Pennsylvania Attorney General warns of scams after storms
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, May 8: 2 injured in Apollo fire Two people were taken to the hospital after a fire in Apollo early Thursday morning. The blaze started around 1:10 a.m. Thursday in the 400 block of Kiski Avenue, according to...
Western Pa. Catholics anticipate papal conclave to usher in new era
The late Pope Francis opened the way for women in the Roman Catholic Church to serve as readers and altar servers, and to assist priests during services or in administering Communion. But the church continues to bar women from the roles of deacon or priest, and debate over that issue...
Sen. John Fetterman raises alarms with outburst at meeting with union officials
HARRISBURG — Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved. Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why “everybody is mad at me,” “why does everyone hate me, what did I ever...
Prosecutors: Ex-bar association leader stole $315,000 for lavish vacations, plastic surgery
The former head of the Cambria County Bar Association is accused of stealing more than $300,000 from the organization to lavish herself with trips to Mexico, cosmetic procedures and a timeshare property. Robin Hagins, 56, of Upper Yoder was charged Wednesday with theft, receiving stolen property, forgery, criminal use of...
Site of former Springdale power plant to be sold to data center developer
After a yearslong saga that resulted in the implosion of two towering smokestacks and the two-part demolition of a massive boiler house at the former Cheswick Generating Station, the property owner says the site will likely become a data center. Scott Reschly, president of Charah Environmental Redevelopment Group, the Louisville-based...
Donald Trump taps wellness influencer close to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for surgeon generalVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is tapping Dr. Casey Means, a wellness influencer with close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as his nominee for surgeon general after withdrawing his initial pick for the influential health post. Trump said in a social media post Wednesday...
Democrats send ‘dead-on-arrival’ marijuana legalization bill to Pa. Senate
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House took a major step toward legalizing recreational cannabis Wednesday, passing a bill along party lines that would permit the sale...
Ex-Hillandale Farms executive sentenced for embezzling $6.8M
A Canonsburg man who embezzled nearly $7 million from Hempfield-based Hillandale Farms over more than 13 years is going to federal prison. Jonathan Weston, 60, was ordered to serve 27 months incarceration when he was sentenced Wednesday before U.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy. Weston was indicted May 26, 2021,...
Westmoreland sheriff’s deputies sue Pa. troopers, claim they were subject to frivolous investigations
Ten Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday claimed in a federal lawsuit a Pennsylvania State Police trooper used his position to initiate frivolous criminal investigations against them. The deputies, who are members of the agency’s fugitive apprehension unit, said the situation started in 2022 when they twice requested help from...
Now boarding: Flights to Myrtle Beach, Fort Lauderdale resume at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
Shawn and Mary McMullen didn’t expect hoopla Wednesday morning when they arrived at the ticket counter of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport to purchase airfare for an upcoming trip to Disney World. “It is so convenient. This is the easiest place for use to fly out of,” Shawn McMullen said. The...
Judge says U.S. must allow migrants a chance to challenge in court any deportations to Libya
WASHINGTON — Deporting migrants to Libya without a chance to challenge the removals would violate a court order, a federal judge said Wednesday, after immigration attorneys reported that authorities told people they would be sent to the country with a history of human rights violations. U.S. District Judge Brian E....
House GOP backing off some Medicaid cuts as report shows millions of people would lose health care
WASHINGTON — House Republicans appear to be backing off some, but not all, of the steep reductions to the Medicaid program as part of their big tax breaks bill, as they run into resistance from more centrist GOP lawmakers opposed to ending nearly-free health care coverage for their constituents back...
How Penn State trustees’ plan to vote on campus closures could run afoul of transparency law
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from north-central PA, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. The...
3 former Memphis officers acquitted in fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after he fled a traffic stop
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Three former Memphis officers were acquitted Wednesday of state charges, including second-degree murder, in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after he ran away from a traffic stop in 2023. A jury, which appeared to be all white, took about 8 1/2 hours over two days to...
About 40,000 Pennsylvanians to receive unclaimed property letters this week
More than 40,000 Pennsylvanians are set to receive letters this week indicating they’ll be receiving money because of unclaimed property, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced Wednesday. Unclaimed property can include dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, forgotten stocks, insurance policies, tangible property like the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes and...
Grandmother and boyfriend sentenced in Penn Hills infant’s fentanyl death
A grandmother and her boyfriend who both used fentanyl-laced heroin around her 7-month-old grandchild while they were babysitting — leading to the child’s death from fentanyl poisoning — were sentenced on Wednesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Barbara Ann Dunlap-Toombs, 68, of Larimer, will serve one to two years...
Their brother left New Kensington to serve in Korea and never returned. 75 years later, they have closure
Marjorie Ann “Marjie” Mahar called her brother, Paul Bowser, one afternoon in March and told him to sit down. “I just got a call from Fort Knox,” she told him. On March 24, three hours before she was set to deliver a speech before the Tennessee House of Representatives about...
