Top Stories category, Page 237
Search on for missing New Derry man; car found unlocked, police say
State police are searching for a missing New Derry man whose parked car was found Wednesday in Derry Township, three days after he was last seen. State troopers said they don’t suspect foul play in their search for 63-year-old John J. Dofollo. He was reported missing by family members when...
Trump signs order imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court over investigations of Israel
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court over investigations of Israel, a close U.S. ally. Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of or recognizes the court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin...
Authorities seize items in drug task force raid at North Huntingdon vape shop
Authorities raided a North Huntingdon vape shop Thursday morning after undercover officers made purchases there of suspected illegal products. Westmoreland County Detective Tony Marcocci said authorities seized large quantities of items containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, in a raid at Star Smoke and Vape on Route 30. The...
PIAA to follow Trump’s order barring transgender athletes from girls sports
The PIAA, which has allowed transgender high school athletes to compete in its state championships, will heed a presidential executive order barring them from women’s and girls sports. “We are tracking and assessing the law as it evolves and encourage all member schools to do the same,” PIAA executive director...
Judge temporarily blocks Trump plan offering incentives for federal workers to resign
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to push out federal workers by offering them financial incentives, the latest tumult for government employees already wrestling with upheaval from the new administration. The ruling came hours before the midnight deadline to apply for the deferred...
Gaza joins list of Trump proposals backed by Fetterman
After President Donald Trump suggested a plan to “take over” and “own” the Gaza Strip, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman said he was open to the idea. Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, called the plan “provocative,” but it’s “part of the conversation,” The Hill reported. “The Palestinians have refused, or they’ve been...
Jury views chilling video showing slain Uber driver’s final fare
The two large monitors in the courtroom showed the split-screen view from Christina Spicuzza’s dashboard camera. On the left, Spicuzza, wearing glasses and a surgical mask, can be seen driving her car the evening of Feb. 10, 2022, talking to her Uber passengers with kindness. “It was nice meeting you,”...
Fiery resignation by Pa.’s consumer advocate breeds fear office will lose independence
HARRISBURG — In a letter announcing he would resign as Pennsylvania’s consumer advocate, Patrick Cicero claimed he was the victim what he called a public campaign led by various investor-owned utilities to seek his removal. David W. Sunday, the incoming Republican attorney general, Cicero said, had asked him to reapply...
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust unveils Arts Landing, a $31M outdoor civic space DowntownVideo
A $31 million outdoor civic space is set to debut next year in Downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, part of an ongoing effort to enhance the Golden Triangle. The 4-acre site, to be known as Arts Landing, will bring 100 new trees, a band shell for outdoor performances, sprawling green space...
South Carolina man accused of killing girlfriend in Rostraver
A mother of three was fatally shot late Wednesday in Rostraver by her live-in boyfriend, according to police. One of three children living at the Route 136 home called 911 around 11 p.m. to report the shooting. Estela Rivera Vasquez, 35, was found in the basement with a gunshot wound...
Judge temporarily blocks Trump plan offering incentives for federal workers to resign
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to push out federal workers by offering them financial incentives, the latest twist in a chaotic and distressing saga playing out for millions of government employees. The ruling came hours before the midnight deadline for them to...
Icy conditions — and fog — expected to linger through morning commute
Cold air and icy conditions lingered early Thursday in the Greater Pittsburgh area, triggering meteorologists to extend a winter weather advisory three additional hours — through 10 a.m. Temperatures could reach the upper 40s Thursday but hovered early in the morning around freezing through much of the region. That means...
Keeping the electric grid humming is costing consumers more
Pennsylvanians, along with a lot of other people, will see higher electric bills this summer. But don’t blame your local power company just yet. Soaring “capacity costs” are the culprit, and they’re largely out of the control of entities like West Penn Power and Duquesne Light. Not even the state’s...
Community meeting set on Springdale boiler house demolition
Demolition of the former power plant in Springdale is nearing its end — and residents will have a chance to learn more about those plans during a public meeting Monday. Springdale Police, property owner Charah Solutions and demolition contractor B&B Wrecking will host a community meeting at 5 p.m. Monday...
Jewish Community Center sets out on multimillion-dollar Monroeville expansion
David May-Stein has been coming to the Jewish Community Center’s Monroeville campus since he was 7 years old. “I came here every day in the summers,” said May-Stein, who grew up in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. “My friends and I swam and hiked in the woods. On weekends, we came...
Breeze Airways adds summer South Carolina flights from Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh air travelers have a new direct destination available to them. Breeze Airways will start offering flights to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in South Carolina on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the summer, according to a Pittsburgh International Airport release. This is the 13th destination Breeze Airways offers at the Pittsburgh airport...
The heist of 100,000 eggs in Franklin County becomes a whodunit that police have yet to crack
ANTRIM TOWNSHIP — The heist of 100,000 eggs from the back of a trailer in Pennsylvania has become a whodunit that police have yet to crack. Four days after the theft that law enforcement say could be tied to the sky-high cost of eggs, no leads have come in, Trooper...
Officials: Gunman shot by police in Pittsburgh’s Hill District identified
The armed man who Pittsburgh police fatally shot after they were threatened in the city’s Hill District on Wednesday evening has been identified. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man Thursday as Maurice Jones, 33, of the Terrace Village section of Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Officers were dispatched shortly...
Fire crews knock down flames sparked by bathroom remodel in Derry Township
Fire crews knocked down Wednesday afternoon an attic fire at a Derry Township home that was sparked during a bathroom remodeling. Crews were called to a home in the 4000 block of Route 982 around 1:20 p.m., Bradenville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mark Piantine said. A relative of the homeowners...
‘Height of the season’: Flu cases surge in Western Pa.
Flu cases are spiking in Western Pennsylvania as the region’s doctors treat high numbers of patients stricken with the seasonal respiratory illness. Dr. Amy Crawford-Faucher, a family physician and chair of the Allegheny Health Network Primary Care Institute, said Wednesday she’s seen a “significant increase” in the number of people...
Police cast doubt on accused killer’s alibi in Uber driver slaying trial
Allegheny County and Port Authority police detectives scrutinized bus surveillance videos, municipal cameras and businesses as they checked out Calvin Crew’s alibi for the night Christina Spicuzza was killed while driving for Uber. Crew told investigators during an initial interview that he’d gotten an Uber from his home in Pitcairn...
Jury convicts New Alexandria man of resisting arrest
A Westmoreland County jury on Wednesday sided with police officers who used force to subdue a New Alexandria man who was found wandering through a Unity neighborhood two years ago. After nearly three hours of deliberations, the jury convicted Denton Krapf of one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest in connection...
15 years ago, Snowmageddon crushed Western Pa.
Two days before what came to be known as Snowmageddon, the National Weather Service forecast the Western Pennsylvania region could expect about “6 to 8 inches of snow.” The following day, the forecast was revised: Winter storm warnings were calling for a heavy snowfall beginning Friday afternoon — Feb. 5,...
SUV strikes elderly woman near UPMC St. Margaret hospital
An elderly woman was rushed to the hospital in critical condition after an SUV struck her Wednesday morning in Aspinwall. Allegheny County Police said the woman was crossing Delafield Road near UPMC St. Margaret hospital about 7 a.m. when a motorist making a left turn from Freeport Road hit her....
Parts of Western Pa. on alert for freezing rain
Freezing rain is expected make its way across the region Wednesday evening, with Westmoreland and Fayette counties getting the brunt of bad weather. The chance of precipitation in the area is near 100%, with freezing rain falling mostly after midnight, according to a forecast from the National Weather Service in...
