Top Stories category, Page 231
U.S. Steel board hopefuls urged to sell non-union assets for Mon Valley upgrades
The United Steelworkers claims an activist investor wants to sell U.S. Steel’s state-of-the-art facilities in Arkansas and funnel the proceeds toward its aging blast furnaces, including the Mon Valley Works in Southwestern Pennsylvania. These legacy operations are union-run, making Ancora Holdings Group’s apparent plan to flip the nonunion Big River...
Gainey clamps down on housing discrimination as Trump rolls back federal protections
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey is vowing to fight housing discrimination in the city, even as President Donald Trump rolls back such protections. Gainey on Friday signed two executive orders meant to ensure everyone has equal access to housing, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or whether the government helps...
Man dead after moped crash on Pittsburgh bridge
A 60-year-old man is dead after crashing his moped Thursday morning on a Pittsburgh bridge. Emergency crews reported to the Bloomfield Bridge at around 6:30 a.m., police said. Police said the man was driving outbound, toward Bigelow Boulevard, when he lost control of his moped. He hit the center jersey...
Teen dead after Mount Oliver shooting
A 17-year-old boy is dead after a shooting Thursday afternoon at a home in Pittsburgh’s Mount Oliver neighborhood. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as Tyrome Gatewood Jr. of Carrick. Police reported to a home on the 100 block of Rochelle Street just after 1 p.m. following...
Minivan goes off road in Buffalo Township, over steep embankment into creek; driver airlifted
A woman was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital on Thursday evening after she reportedly drove her minivan over a steep hillside in Buffalo Township and it landed in a creek. Buffalo Township police Chief Tim Derringer said emergency crews were called to the intersection of South Pike Road and Sarver...
Defensive lapses cost Pirates, who blow Paul Skenes’ strong start as Marlins rally to win opener
Paul Skenes made history by becoming the fastest No. 1 overall draft pick to make an Opening Day start. Then the 22-year-old right-hander made a case for why he’s the NL Cy Young favorite. Then the Pittsburgh Pirates blew it. The 2023 No. 1 overall pick of the MLB Draft,...
Harrison car accident sends 2 to hospital
Two people were taken to an area hospital following a two-car crash in Harrison on Thursday afternoon, an emergency dispatcher said. An Allegheny County 911 dispatcher said the crash was reported around 5:30 p.m. at the intersection of Freeport Road and Oak Manor Drive. One of the two cars was...
Stowe driver charged with killing man who argued with passenger in McKees Rocks
Thomas Laron Smith drove his black SUV past a McKees Rocks market three times one night last December before stopping to talk to Floyd Wilson, a 51-year-old man sitting in his wheelchair nearby. Wilson started quarrelling with someone in Smith’s vehicle, but about what was unclear, according to a criminal...
Pittsburgh college students fear ICE could hit campuses after string of national arrests
After several high-profile arrests of foreign nationals attending college in New York, Alabama and, now, Massachusetts, students at Pittsburgh universities wonder if it’s only a matter of time before federal immigration agents target their campuses. Spokespeople for the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University said Thursday they weren’t aware...
Judge says he will order government to preserve Signal messages about Houthi military strike
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday said he will order the Trump administration to preserve records of a text message chat in which senior national security officials discussed sensitive details of plans for a U.S. military strike against Yemen’s Houthis. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said during a hearing...
Cardiologist loses federal suit alleging discrimination by Pitt, UPMC
A University of Pittsburgh cardiologist who sued his employers for discrimination and retaliation after he published a journal article on affirmative action has lost his case. The lawsuit, filed by Dr. Norman Wang against the University of Pittsburgh, UPMC, three physicians and a physicians’ group, was closed Wednesday by U.S....
5 Westmoreland teams leave Western Pa. Youth Football League to form their own
Pennsylvania’s largest youth football league got a little smaller this week, as five Westmoreland County teams opted to leave and form a league of their own in the wake of a police investigation. The Western Pennsylvania Youth Football League, in which the Westmoreland teams had been playing, is under scrutiny...
Greensburg teen escapes after alleged assault by man she met on social media
Investigators believe a Philadelphia man was intending to traffic a 13-year-old Greensburg girl when he paid for an Uber to drive her 280 miles across the state, where, police said, he sexually assaulted her. The girl managed to escape, and police on Thursday arrested Angel Lopez, 19, on 14 felonies...
O’Connor raps rival Gainey’s budget for Pittsburgh as too ‘rosy’
Corey O’Connor offered a sobering assessment Thursday about the finances of the city he wants to run. “Despite the current administration’s rosy projections, our budget is barely held together by strings and Band-Aids,” O’Connor, who wants to be mayor of Pittsburgh, told reporters during an appearance in the city’s Knoxville...
Pennsylvania Lottery awards $1 million winner in Belle Vernon
Pennsylvania Lottery officials presented a commemorative $1 million check on Thursday to a Fayette County woman at the Belle Vernon sports bar where she purchased the ticket. Brittnee Boot purchased the winning “$1,000,000 Winnings” ticket at Foster House II in Belle Vernon. Boot was joined by Foster House II co-owner...
Eat ‘n Park diner’s GoFundMe retirement fund for 81-year-old waitress tops $250K — and growingVideo
A $40 tip from a concerned Eat’n Park diner has started a quickly growing retirement fund for an 81-year-old waitress. In a TikTok video, Tamie Konzier, 41, of Millvale, who works as an esthetician at Bloom Beauty Parlor in East Liberty, was with her son, Leo, 10, at an Eat’n...
Health and Human Services to lay off 10,000 workers, close agencies in a major restructuring
WASHINGTON — In a major overhaul, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will lay off 10,000 workers and shut down entire agencies, including ones that oversee billions of dollars in funds for addiction services and community health centers across the country. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized...
Oakmont passes new parking ordinance, faces litigation threat
Oakmont Council passed a revised parking ordinance despite a looming threat of litigation from a resident who owns multiple businesses in the borough. During council’s meeting on March 18, the board passed a long-discussed ordinance that updates parking requirements in the borough’s commercial district. The vote was 6-1. Similar to...
Carnegie Mellon president addresses China-based ties
The federal government has requested information about Carnegie Mellon University’s international students and possible collaborations it has with China-based universities and research institutions. CMU President Farnam Jahanian said it was one of six American universities to receive a letter from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party regarding...
Pittsburgh Zoo’s oldest male gorilla dies suddenly
Harry — Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium’s oldest male gorilla — died Tuesday of a “sudden cardiac event.” At 33 years old, the Western lowland silver-back gorilla was a longtime zoo favorite as the eldest male in a troop of six. Male western lowland gorillas have a median life expectancy of...
The White House says nothing classified was shared on Signal. Democrats say that strains credulity
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration struggled Wednesday to stem the fallout from revelations that top national security officials discussed sensitive attack plans over a messaging app and mistakenly added a journalist to the chain. The White House said the information shared through the publicly available Signal app with Jeffrey Goldberg,...
$24M in projects being worked into Burrell school budget
The public can get its first look at how Burrell School District’s multimillion-dollar school realignment could affect their taxes next school year at a meeting Tuesday. “If you want to know where your tax money is going, and what they pay for, show up to the meeting,” board President Rick...
Man accused of killing Mogie’s owner remains in state hospital with no date to resume trial
The man accused of killing the owner of Mogie’s Irish Pub in Lower Burrell remains confined to Torrance State Hospital in Derry and, in the view of a Westmoreland County judge, unable to stand trial. Nathan Salem, 46, of Lower Burrell has been in custody without bond since Dec. 21,...
Mystery deepens over ex-UPMC doc accused in Hawaii attack on wife
Gerhardt Konig smiled in the Oct. 5, 2018, Facebook photo as his new bride leaned into his side, holding a bouquet against her white dress. The photogenic couple stood under a garden arbor adorned with white flowers. “Best. Day. Ever.” Konig wrote. On Wednesday, some 6½ years later, authorities in Hawaii...
Penn Hills teachers reach contract agreement, avoid strike
Penn Hills teachers were able to avoid a strike after a contract agreement was reached with district administration. According to a news release from the Penn Hills Education Association, an unspecified majority of the membership voted to ratify their collective bargaining agreement with the district Wednesday night. The school board...
