Top Stories category, Page 257
Norwin awards $6.39M auditorium renovation project
Extensive renovations to Norwin High School’s 60-year-old auditorium will move forward now that school board members have awarded $6.39 million worth of contracts for the project. The school board awarded the $4.48 million general construction contract to R.A. Glancy & Sons Inc. of Richland; the $393,700 heating, ventilating and air...
Probability of asteroid striking Earth highest ever recorded
The probability of an asteroid striking Earth on Dec. 22, 2032, has risen to the highest level ever recorded — 3.1%, the New York Times reported. Known as 2024 YR4, the space rock was first detected in December, and it’s between 130 to 300 feet long, according to the Times....
Trump officials want to ban junk food from SNAP. Past efforts show it’s not easy
A push to ban sugary drinks, candy and more from the U.S. program that helps low-income families pay for nutritious food has been tried before — but it may soon get a boost from new Trump administration officials. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the newly confirmed health and human services secretary,...
Penn Township store sells $500K winning Cash 5 lottery ticket
A Penn Township convenience store customer is a half million dollars richer today after purchasing a winning Cash 5 lottery ticket on Tuesday. Pennsylvania Lottery officials said a Cash 5 with Quick Cash ticket purchased at the PT Pit Stop on Route 130 matched all of the five balls drawn...
Pittsburgh’s newest skyscraper opens
FNB Financial Center opened its doors this week in Pittsburgh as the city’s newest mixed-use skyscraper. Construction at the 26-story FNB Financial Center began in September 2021 in the city’s Lower Hill District neighborhood. The $220 million tower, at the corner of Washington Place and Bedford Avenue, will serve as...
Americans’ confidence in air travel safety dips slightly after Washington plane crash: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — Americans’ confidence in air travel and the federal agencies tasked with maintaining air safety has slipped a little from last year, following a recent crash in Washington, according to a new poll, but most still believe air transportation is generally safe. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center...
Trump, Zelenskyy trade barbs as U.S.-Ukraine relations sour over war with Russia
KYIV, Ukraine — Relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump deteriorated rapidly Wednesday as Zelenskyy said Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space” and Trump called Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections” in comments that were sure to complicate efforts to end the war. Zelenskyy also...
Trump suggests Ukraine is to blame for war, saying they ‘could have made a deal’
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Top U.S. and Russian officials had their most extensive high-level engagement since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine almost three years ago, meeting for four hours Tuesday before President Donald Trump suggested that Kyiv was to blame for the conflict. Trump showed little patience for Ukraine’s objections...
Burrell school task forces work out schedule proposals for reconfiguration
Schedules at Burrell’s Bon Air Elementary and Charles A. Huston Middle schools are close to being finalized. This week, the Bon Air and Huston task forces — groups of about 20 parents and staff providing feedback on schedules and plans for reconfigurations at the schools next year — continued to...
Reversing enrollment decline among priorities for incoming Westmoreland Co. Community College president
As Westmoreland County Community College grapples with a decline in enrollment and recent turnover in its top leader, incoming president Kristin Mallory aims to stabilize the institution. The vice president of academic affairs at Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury, Md., Mallory was hired as the college’s president last week after...
Proposed state tax would prop up fire, ambulance and other emergency services
Lower Burrell No. 3 fire Chief Brennan Sites is appreciative of what his city officials do when it comes to supporting his volunteer fire company. But competing with rising costs for equipment and declines in volunteerism, the city is nearly tapped out when it comes to giving its two volunteer...
Trump’s firing of 1,000 national park workers raises concerns about maintenance and operating hours
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has fired about 1,000 newly hired National Park Service employees who maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and perform other functions as part of its broad-based effort to downsize government. The firings, which weren’t publicly announced but were confirmed by Democratic senators and House members,...
Newly elected Democratic chairman begins national tour in Western Pa.
In his first road trip as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin made Western Pennsylvania his first stop, meeting Tuesday morning with steelworkers in Pittsburgh and campaigning in the afternoon with a state House candidate in McKeesport. Martin said the two stops signify what’s most important to him...
‘He’s back’: Marc Fogel lands at Pittsburgh airport in quiet homecoming
Marc Fogel is home. Fogel, 63, landed shortly after 5 p.m. Monday at Pittsburgh International Airport. “He’s back,” said Allegheny County police spokesman Jim Madalinsky. “We helped escort him through the airport.” Fogel was released Feb. 11 after three-and-a-half years in captivity. After a visit to the White House last...
New details emerge about arrest of man shot by Munhall police in holding cell
The man Munhall police shot last week in a borough holding cell because, they said, he was strangling an officer, had been taken into custody about an hour earlier for strangling a woman in her home and resisting arrest, according to court papers. Christopher Allie, 38, of Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood,...
Bethel Park man shot brother before trying to kill himself, police say
Allegheny County Police said they have charged a 47-year-old Bethel Park man for shooting his brother before trying to kill himself in January. Despite being shot in the chest and face, Seth Michael Zimmerman’s brother was able to call 911 for help and say who had shot him, police said...
Trump signs order to study how to expand IVF and calls for ‘radical transparency’ from government
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to study how to expand access to in vitro fertilization and make it more affordable. The order calls for policy recommendations to “protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments,”...
‘They can sense the tension in our society’: Rep. Summer Lee speaks to Gateway 5th graders, tours renovated facility
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee didn’t mince words Tuesday afternoon when a Gateway Middle School student asked the Swissvale Democrat what Congress’ biggest challenge is right now. “Can I be honest?” Lee said. “The president.” Lee, D-Swissvale, spoke with Gateway’s fifth grade class about her career path, achieving goals and the...
Hempfield man seeks to withdraw guilty plea in murder-for hire case
A Hempfield man who is accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill his estranged sister wants to rescind his guilty plea, his attorney said Tuesday. Peter Cute, 64, in October pleaded guilty to one felony count of criminal solicitation to commit homicide. “He said he didn’t understand...
Coghill laments not using more federal funds to upgrade Pittsburgh’s battered snowplows
Pittsburgh Councilman Anthony Coghill desperately wants to upgrade the city’s aging and unreliable vehicle fleet. But he worries the best chance to do so — at no cost to Pittsburgh — has slipped by. After a snowy holiday weekend that saw numerous city plows out of service, Coghill told TribLive...
Co-conspirator in New Kensington gun shop smash-and-grab sentenced to 20 months
The first of two men to be sentenced for their roles in a January 2024 smash-and-grab at a New Kensington gun store was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer handed down the sentence Tuesday, calling on repeat felon Michael Guin, 27, of Lower...
Judge declines to immediately block Elon Musk or DOGE from federal data or layoffs
WASHINGTON — A federal judge refused Tuesday to immediately block billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing government data systems or participating in worker layoffs. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan found that there are legitimate questions about Musk’s authority but said there isn’t enough evidence of...
Still no charges 6 months after 11-year-old killed by vehicle in Natrona
Amber Bonnoni is still unable to think straight six months after her daughter, 11-year-old Roxanne, was hit and killed by a vehicle near their Natrona home. “I am lost in my head,” she said. “The (person) who stole her life away will go on to have another day and is...
Texas measles cases are up, and New Mexico now has an outbreak. Here’s what you need to know
The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 58 cases as of Tuesday, and eight people in neighboring eastern New Mexico also have been diagnosed with measles. New Mexico health department spokesman Robert Nott said Tuesday that the agency hadn’t “identified any direct contact” between cases in its...
U.S. Postal Service head Louis DeJoy to step down after 5 years marked by pandemic, losses and cost cuts
WASHINGTON — Louis DeJoy, the head of the U.S. Postal Service, intends to step down, the federal agency said Tuesday, after a nearly five-year tenure marked by the coronavirus pandemic, surges in mail-in election ballots and efforts to stem losses through cost and service cuts. In a letter on Monday,...
