Top Stories category, Page 23
Reserve woman whose punch led to mom’s death pleads guilty, gets time served
A Reserve Township woman Wednesday pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for delivering the bone-breaking punch that caused her 73-year-old mother’s death — and a judge let her go home with a punishment of probation and time already served in jail. Krystal Slepski, 43, punched Patricia Kachinko in the chest during...
Trump’s handpicked board votes to rename Washington performing arts center the Trump Kennedy CenterVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s handpicked board voted Thursday to rename Washington’s leading performing arts center as the Trump Kennedy Center, the White House said, in a move that made Democrats fume, saying the board had overstepped its legal authority. Congress named the center after President John F. Kennedy in...
Hundreds of rapes in State College area weren’t reported in public police data over nearly a decade
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 our north-central Pa. newsletter, Talk of the Town, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. Over the span of nearly a decade, the State College Police Department...
Charges filed in connection with shooting that injured Irwin man
A man was injured in a shooting late Wednesday that Irwin police believe was an accident, according to court papers. He was shot in the face but is expected to survive, according to borough police and Melanie Jones, spokesperson for the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office. A Greensburg man was...
Trump administration moves to cut off transgender care for children
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday unveiled a series of regulatory actions designed to block access to gender-affirming care for minors, building on broader Trump administration restrictions targeting transgender Americans. The sweeping proposals — the most significant moves this administration has taken so far...
Pittsburgh Presbyterian churches collect donations to eliminate $14 million in medical debt
Amy Grella and her family know how stressful medical debt can become. Grella’s daughter underwent five stays in the hospital before her fifth birthday because of ongoing problems with persistent viral respiratory infections. The Mt. Lebanon family had health insurance, but their claims fell into loopholes and exclusions in their...
Cheswick man stabbed 37 times in Allegheny County jail awarded $85,000
Allegheny County is set to pay $85,000 to a man stabbed more than three dozen times last year while incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail, according to documents obtained Thursday by TribLive. Shawn Daniels, 43, of Cheswick last month sued the county and two corrections officers who he said let...
Point State Park upgrades finish early as Pittsburgh preps for 2026 NFL Draft
A $3.4 million upgrade to Downtown Pittsburgh’s Point State Park is done ahead of schedule, months in advance of the 2026 NFL Draft. The 36-acre park, which sits at the confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers, will be the site of some of the draft activities in April, as well as...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Dec. 19-21
The holidays are officially underway — Christmas is just days away, Hanukkah is lighting up the nights and the winter solstice is Sunday. Incorporate these events into your holidays for a little extra fun this weekend. Trans-Siberian Orchestra For almost three decades, progressive rock band Trans-Siberian Orchestra has been turning...
Multiple crews battle Fox Chapel house fire
Multiple rescue crews were called early Thursday to battle a fire at a $1.25 million Fox Chapel home that was recently sold to new owners. Emergency crews responded just before 5 a.m. to the 600 block of West Waldheim Road, which sits off Delafield Road above Aspinwall. No injuries were...
Pittsburgh Public Schools to ban cellphone use during school day
Cellphones will soon be banned during the school day at all Pittsburgh Public Schools. The Pittsburgh Board of Public Education voted Wednesday night to update the district’s Electronic Devices Policy — prohibiting the use and possession of electronic devices by students during the school day on district property. This includes...
Westmoreland jury donation program raises over $100K for local nonprofits
Westmoreland County jurors have donated more than $100,000 to local charities over the past decade. It’s a program first implemented in 2016 that allows jurors to forgo their daily pay, which in turn is donated to local charities. Jurors are paid $9 a day for their first three days of...
Powerball jackpot reaches estimated $1.5 billion; Pa. ticket wins $1 million
While there was no big winner in Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing, one ticket sold in Pennsylvania won $1 million. Without a main winner, the jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.5 billion for Saturday’s drawing. The $1 million-winning ticket sold in Pennsylvania was one of five nationwide to match the five...
Morning Roundup: Nativity theft in Jeannette
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Dec. 18: Trio steal Baby Jesus from Nativity in Jeannette Jeannette police are trying to identify three people who they said took a Baby Jesus figure from a Nativity display at the amphitheater on Clay Avenue. Investigators on...
Springdale data center gets initial OK, but several more public hearings to come
Though Springdale Council offered its approval for a conditional-use application from developers seeking to build a massive data center in the borough, the vote is only the beginning of the process. The project now enters the land development stage, which likely will last months and involve several more public meetings...
Residents near proposed Springdale data center left frustrated by council’s approval
Rex Cramer has lived on Porter Street in Springdale for more than 30 years. When he arrived in the borough, he moved in directly across the street from a towering coal-fired power plant — the former Cheswick Generating Station. The plant’s frequently fraught demolition concluded earlier this year. But on...
2 Westmoreland water authority workers awarded Carnegie Medal for lifesaving rescue
Pete Dunegan was repairing an underground water tank in Mt. Pleasant Borough last year when a pipe inside the tank broke loose. It dislodged from a support and pinned him, nearly severing his leg and at the same time releasing water into the enclosed vault. Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County...
Westmoreland County Prison prayer groups dispersed, raising religious freedom concerns
Tim Williamson was praying with a group of nine men at Westmoreland County Prison when a guard ordered them to stop — an encounter he says is part of a pattern of officials blocking religious expression at the Hempfield jail. Since his release this month, the Jeannette resident has been...
Trump demands Venezuela pay for seized U.S. oil assets after calling for ‘blockade’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump demanded Wednesday that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of a “blockade” against oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country that face American sanctions. Trump cited the lost U.S. investments in Venezuela...
Trump gives a partisan prime-time address insisting the economy is stronger than many voters feelVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump delivered a politically charged speech Wednesday carried live in prime time on network television, seeking to pin the blame for economic challenges on Democrats while announcing he is sending a $1,776 bonus check to U.S. troops for Christmas. The remarks came as the nation is...
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials approve 2026 budget with 2% tax hike
The Pittsburgh Public Schools board Wednesday evening passed a 2026 budget that includes a 2% tax hike. The $731.3 million budget passed unanimously. However, the board voted 6-3 on the tax rate, with School Directors Dwayne Barker, Tawana Cook Purnell and board Vice President Tracey Reed dissenting. The district’s tax...
FCC leader says agency is no longer independent as he’s grilled by Democrats over Kimmel controversyVideo
WASHINGTON — Democratic senators on Wednesday hammered the Federal Communications Commission’s leader for pressuring broadcasters to take ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air, suggesting that Brendan Carr was politicizing an independent agency and trampling the First Amendment. The FCC chairman refused to disown his comments about Kimmel and,...
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino says he plans to resign next month as bureau’s No. 2 official
WASHINGTON — FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Wednesday that he will resign from the bureau next month, ending a brief and tumultuous tenure in which he clashed with the Justice Department over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and was forced to reconcile the realities of his law...
North Braddock faces large property tax loss from U.S. Steel
North Braddock is set to lose a big chunk of its real estate tax revenue. That’s because Allegheny County ruled that the value of U.S. Steel’s land has dropped by 53%. On Tuesday, North Braddock officials were notified by the county that it will not be receiving anticipated real estate...
ICE involved as feds violently detain Latino man in Mt. Washington
Neighbors living on Norton Street in Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington neighborhood woke Wednesday morning to sounds of screaming. Witnesses told TribLive they watched federal agents hit, tackle, pepper spray and arrest a Latino man between 8 and 8:30 a.m. “This is a new level of violence than we’ve seen in the...
