Top Stories category, Page 256
Pittsburgh’s high-end steakhouses lowering prices during Restaurant Week
If you’ve been wanting to try one of the high-end steakhouses in the area, the upcoming week is the time to do it. A number of establishments for the winter edition of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week are serving up filet, sirloin and New York strip meals with lower prices than usual....
Relative of New Kensington cop killer’s helper threatens to shoot woman ‘like we shot up Brian Shaw,’ police say
Editor’s note: All charges against Mayona Harrington were withdrawn by the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office on Jan. 23 after, police say, prosecution witnesses fail to appear to testify at a hearing on the charges. A relative of a woman convicted of helping a New Kensington police officer’s killer escape...
Mt. Pleasant woman guilty for drunken crash that injured pedestrians
A Mt. Pleasant woman was convicted Friday for her role in a drunken-driving crash more than four years ago that injured two pedestrians. Elizabeth M. Sirianni could serve at least one year in prison as a result of the verdicts rendered by a Westmoreland County jury following a three-day trial....
‘Culmination of my life’s work’: Pitt names Jerry Dickinson as new law school dean
When Jerry Dickinson’s mother died in the fall of 2023, he was approached at the service by an older man who introduced himself as George Pettrone, Pitt Law, 1976. “Vice Dean Dickinson, it’s a pleasure to meet you again,” the man said. “I haven’t seen you for 33 years.” Dickinson,...
Meta becomes latest company to eliminate DEI programs
DEI programs are ending at major companies — with the latest changes happening at Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Meta announced the rollback of its major diversity-oriented programs in a memo Friday, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision outlawing affirmative action in college admissions, Axios reported....
Mt. Pleasant woman gets up to nearly 2 years in jail for theft of $50K from band boosters
A Mt. Pleasant woman has been sentenced to serve time in the Indiana County Jail for stealing more than $50,000 from a high school band boosters group. Lara Lee Brown, 57, pleaded guilty to the thefts, which state police said occurred from 2019 through 2022 while she was treasurer of...
6 Highlands students charged in connection with hazing allegations
Six student-athletes from Highlands School District have been charged in connection with an alleged hazing incident. Harrison police Chief Brian Turack said the students, all members of the boys basketball team, were charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and hazing stemming from an incident Nov. 26 on a bus carrying the...
Mark Madden: The recalibration of Mike Tomlin’s legend continues
Denial. It’s tough. With the Pittsburgh Steelers set to finish their traditional late-season skid with a fifth straight loss by losing their wild-card playoff game at Baltimore on Saturday, here’s a bit of hope: Betting the Steelers on the money line is great value. The Steelers are plus-400. A worthwhile...
Former Leechburg police chief faces new charge of failing to report internet use
Former Leechburg police chief Michael Diebold is facing a new felony charge after state police say he didn’t report all of the internet sites and apps he’d been using. Diebold, 47, is a convicted sex offender and was ordered to be listed on the state’s Megan’s Law site for 25...
About $500K of work to fill Unity sinkhole nearly complete
Crews have pumped more than 3,300 cubic yards of grout into an abandoned mine void to stabilize a section of a Unity property where a local woman fell into a sinkhole and died. With recent snow blanketing the ground at Monday’s Union restaurant, work to restore a cordoned-off area behind...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Jan. 10-12
It’s understandable if you feel the post-holiday lull hit extra hard this week, especially after frigid temperatures and pesky snow. But this is the best time to get out and see what the city has to offer. Here are a few events to check out this weekend in Pittsburgh. Phipps...
Trump gets no-penalty sentence in his hush money case, while calling it ‘despicable’
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday to no punishment at all in his hush money case, an outcome that cements his historic conviction while letting him return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine. With Trump appearing by video...
Frigid temperatures continue, snow forecast for evening
Western Pennsylvanians woke to frigid temperatures Friday morning, and could see some snow showers this evening. In a month that has not risen above freezing since New Year’s Day, the Pittsburgh region saw a new monthly low temperature — 6 degrees — according to the National Weather Service. Some school...
Springdale resident rallies community to fight Pittsburgh Mills’ potholes
Lisa Alexander refuses to go to the Pittsburgh Mills mall. “I used to walk at the mall or eat at the restaurants or swing by Starbucks a few times a week,” she said. Alexander, of West Deer, vowed to avoid the shopping complex in Frazer after a November trip to...
LA area’s 2 biggest blazes burn at least 10,000 structures, while new fire leads to more evacuations
LOS ANGELES — The two biggest wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area have killed at least 10 people and burned more than 10,000 homes and other structures, officials said as they urged more people to heed evacuation orders after a new blaze ignited and quickly grew. The Kenneth Fire started...
Pete Buttigieg to return to Pittsburgh as Transportation secretary role nears end
Pete Buttigieg will visit the Pittsburgh area on Friday in one of his final trips as U.S. Transportation secretary. Buttigieg is slated to make several stops to highlight transportation resources that have received federal support under the Biden administration. Buttigieg is expected to tour Pittsburgh’s three rivers, including the Emsworth...
Appeals court denies bid to block public release of special counsel’s report on Trump Jan. 6 probe
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Thursday denied a bid to block the public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down a emergency challenge from Trump and his co-defendants...
Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board confirms new warden
The Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board voted overwhelmingly Thursday to approve a career state corrections officer as its new warden. Trevor Wingard, 55, who retired from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections in 2022, will start on Monday. The vote, after board members spent more than an hour peppering Wingard with...
American orange juice, steel will be on Canada’s list for retaliation if Trump imposes tariffs
TORONTO — Canada is looking at putting retaliatory tariffs on American orange juice, toilets and some steel products if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his threat to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian products, a senior official familiar with the matter said Thursday. The official said the wide-ranging...
Jeannette man not guilty of ordering teen brother to shoot adversary
A Westmoreland County jury on Thursday cleared a Jeannette man of allegations that he ordered his teenage brother to shoot his opponent after losing a street fight nearly four years ago. Following just one of hour deliberations, jurors returned not guilty verdicts for all five counts against Brandon Ingram. Ingram,...
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago
WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman will become the chamber’s first Democrat to meet with President-elect Donald Trump since the election and plans to travel to Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The trip marks Fetterman’s continuing evolution from a leading surrogate for President Joe Biden into a Trump-friendly lawmaker...
Kiski Area school bus, car collide in Washington Township
No children were hurt when a Kiski Area school bus was involved in a crash on Thursday afternoon in Washington Township, Superintendent Jason Lohr said. The collision between the full-size bus and a car at Route 66 and Mamont Drive was reported shortly before 4 p.m. Eight elementary school-age students...
‘Unbelievable’: Pittsburghers with Los Angeles ties shocked by wildfire devastation
Natalie Kurlander can’t turn away from TV updates of the wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area. “It’s just so devastating,” said Kurlander, 57, who lived in the city for more than 25 years. She now lives in Pittsburgh’s Murdoch Farms with her husband, Carl, who is director of the...
Mother, daughter accused of stealing $4.4M from Greensburg Beverage CEO’s estate
A mother and daughter were arrested Thursday on police accusations they stole a relative’s $4.4 million inheritance from the estate of the CEO of Greensburg Beverage, according to court papers. Angela Lynne Valesky, 26, of Murrysville, and her mother, Lisa Anne Skatell-Valesky, 51, of Jeannette, are charged with theft and...
1 arrested, 1 at large in beating of Aliquippa man at VFW lodge
One man turned himself in Thursday while a second suspect remained at large in connection with the beating of a 52-year-old Aliquippa man inside a Veterans of Foreign Wars lodge. The family of Preston Coleman III said he was beaten, unprovoked and mercilessly, for nearly 30 minutes late Sunday inside...
