Top Stories category, Page 244
Pa.’s 1st avian flu case reported at Lehigh County farm, agriculture department says
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture on Monday announced this year’s first positive case in the state of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in domestic poultry. The positive samples were detected in a 50,000-bird layer chicken flock on a commercial poultry farm in Lehigh County, the department said. The farm and commercial...
‘Take it out on Bella’: Prosecution rests case in Oakmont child’s starvation death
A video taken on April 22, 2020, showed one of Bella Seachrist’s stepbrothers smacking her. Another taken less than a month later, showed the girl, nearly 4, sitting facing a corner as two other children in the Oakmont house hit her. A photograph taken five days after that showed one...
Hundreds of U.S. visa appointments canceled in Colombia after spat with Trump over deportationsVideo
BOGOTA, Colombia — Visa appointments at the U.S. Embassy in Colombia were canceled Monday following a dispute between President Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro over deportation flights from the U.S. that nearly turned into a costly trade war between the two countries. Dozens of Colombians arrived at...
Trump Justice Department says it has fired employees involved in prosecutions of the president
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said that it had fired more than a dozen employees who worked on criminal prosecutions of President Donald Trump, moving rapidly to pursue retribution against lawyers involved in the investigations and signaling an early willingness to take action favorable to the president’s personal interests. The...
Seton Hill University shutters student newspaper indefinitely
Seth Stevens was disturbed after learning the student newspaper at Seton Hill University, The Setonian, would be put on an indefinite hiatus. “It was very sad,” said Stevens, 21, of Greensburg. “I was very much looking forward to writing.” This spring was to be his first official semester as a...
Gainey rejects Pittsburgh cooperation with ICE amid immigration crackdown
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Monday said his administration would not work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. His comments during an appearance in Harrisburg come amid heightened concerns from the local immigrant community about ICE raids. President Donald Trump has issued quotas for the immigration enforcement agency to ramp...
CDC ordered to stop working with WHO immediately, upending expectations of an extended withdrawal
NEW YORK — U.S. public health officials have been told to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, John Nkengasong, sent a memo to senior leaders at the agency on Sunday night telling them that all agency staff who...
Steelers owner Art Rooney II shares frustration with way season ended, maintains support of Mike Tomlin
Art Rooney II doesn’t need to listen to talk radio or read newspaper columns to understand the frustration surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers after their latest collapse. All the team’s owner has to do is turn on his computer and check his email. “My inbox has been pretty full lately,” Rooney...
Dr. Phil joins ICE deportation raid in Chicago
During a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation on Sunday in Chicago, TV host Dr. Phil embedded with the officers — supporting President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts. Phil McGraw, known as Dr. Phil on his TV show focused on mental health, followed ICE officers and other federal agents during the...
Donora, Murrysville, Greensburg dive teams help pull Fayette County crash victim, vehicle from West Virginia lake
With an 8-inch sheet of ice atop the frigid water beneath their feet, dive teams from Murrysville Medic One and the Donora and Greensburg volunteer fire departments helped pull a vehicle and remains of a Fayette County resident from West Virginia’s Cheat Lake Sunday. Kevin Laitalle, 59, of Smithfield, and...
‘No remorse’: 2 men get life in prison for murder at Larimer gas station
Two men will spend the rest of their lives in prison after being sentenced Monday for a murder four years ago outside a gas station in Larimer. Michael A. James, 30, of Beaver Falls, and Randall Jones, 32, of Chicago, were sentenced by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J....
Three Rivers Arts Festival finds temporary home in the Strip District
The abridged version of this year’s Three Rivers Arts Festival will take place in the Strip District, officials announced Monday. The festival will be take place at the riverfront lots at the 15th Street Plaza along Waterfront Place, said Derek Scalzott, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Festival dates...
2 adults, 5 children injured in crash on Route 711 in Ligonier Township
Two adults and five children were injured Monday morning after a two-vehicle crash between a Porsche and a Chevrolet Suburban on Route 711 in Ligonier Township, according to Ligonier Valley police Chief Mike Matrunics. The head-on collision occurred at about 8 a.m. when one of the vehicles apparently crossed the...
New player arrives in U.S. Steel-Nippon takeover saga with the goal of quashing it
An asset manager based in Cleveland is seeking to quash a Japanese takeover of U.S. Steel and oust its leadership after buying a minor stake in the company. The activist shareholder, Ancora, recently acquired less than a quarter-percent stake in the company. It said in an open letter Monday the...
Grants are an imperfect lifeline for volunteer fire departments
Until a few weeks ago, some Vandergrift No. 1 volunteer firefighters would answer rescue calls in one-piece cotton jumpsuits ripped from decades of crawling into mangled vehicles and performing hillside rope rescues. The rescue gear wasn’t specially rated for safety — or especially well-fitting, according to Chief Randy Dunmire. “Just...
Penn State faculty fear the school will close campuses across the stateVideo
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. Penn...
‘A freeing experience’: Guides help visually impaired skiers take to Seven Springs slopes
Editor’s note: The captions under the photographs associated with this story include a description of the image content so that information might be relayed to software assisting the visually impaired. Downhill skiing with a guide took away any fears for Amelie Colletti. Having the support close by to navigate the...
Battlegrounds Pennsylvania, Wisconsin back in the spotlight with high-stakes court elections
HARRISBURG — Republicans put Pennsylvania and Wisconsin back in the win column in the 2024 presidential race, and they’re hoping that momentum carries over to contests this year that will determine whether their state Supreme Courts retain left-leaning majorities or flip to conservative control. The outcome can be pivotal in...
Top Trump administration officials in Chicago for start of immigration enforcement crackdownVideo
CHICAGO — Top Trump administration officials, including “border czar” Tom Homan and the acting deputy attorney general, visited Chicago on Sunday to witness the start of ramped-up immigration enforcement in the nation’s third-largest city. Few details of the operation were immediately made public, including the number of arrests. But the...
Mark your calendars: Saturday opener for deer rifle hunting backed by Pa. game commissioners
It’s not official yet, but hunters can probably start planning for the sport’s biggest weekend in Pennsylvania — the opening day for the deer rifle season in late November. The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners on Saturday unanimously gave preliminary approval to hunting and trapping season schedules for 2025-26. The...
White House says Colombia agrees to take deported migrants after Trump tariff showdown
BOGOTA, Colombia — The White House claimed victory in a showdown with Colombia over accepting flights of deported migrants from the U.S. on Sunday, hours after President Donald Trump threatened steep tariffs on imports and other sanctions on the longtime U.S. partner. Long close partners in anti-narcotics efforts, the U.S....
Qatar says agreement reached to release Israeli hostage, allow Palestinians to return to north Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Mediator Qatar announced early Monday that an agreement has been reached to release an Israeli civilian hostage and allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, easing the first major crisis of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Qatar’s statement said Hamas will hand over...
4 people displaced after Arnold house fire
Emergency crews were called to an Arnold neighborhood Saturday night for a house fire that displaced four people. Westmoreland 911 said a call for a two-alarm fire on the 1800 block of Kimball Avenue came in just after 8 p.m. Dispatchers said everyone was out of the home by the...
Students, faculty nervous for future of Penn State branch campuses
Gabrielle Green is in it for the long haul at Penn State New Kensington. The 18-year-old from Altavista, Va., is a second-semester freshman at the Upper Burrell campus. She is studying biobehavioral health and plans to obtain a four-year bachelor’s degree at the school. So conversations among university leadership this...
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport bleeds cash as leaders pin hopes for brighter future on terminal project
Westmoreland County directs $2.6 million annually to support Arnold Palmer Regional Airport near Latrobe, but a drop in commercial flights over the past five years has left the facility “bleeding” money. Today, the once-thriving airport loses money every month it operates. As the new year gets underway, the county airport...
