Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 26
Spirit Airlines expects to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy by summer
Spirit Airlines’ parent company says it expects to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the late spring or early summer, after striking a preliminary deal with its lenders and secured creditors that provides the support needed to finish its restructuring. The early-stage agreement would help Spirit finalize changes to its fleet,...
Bill Mazeroski’s run for office: A Pirates legend at the center of a political turning point
More than two decades after Bill Mazeroski’s famous home run in the 1960 World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates legend was at the center of what many believe was the beginning of the end of Democratic control of Westmoreland County politics. In the spring of 1987, Mazeroski, then a Hempfield resident,...
Takeaways from Trump’s address: Sales mode on economy, heavy on patriotism, dark turn on DemocratsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump started in sales mode, using his State of the Union address to deliver an upbeat vision of the U.S. economy. But that portrayal collides with the sentiment of Americans who remain anxious about their finances and feel they haven’t benefited from Trump’s policies. He took...
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee delivers Working Families Party’s response to State of the Union address
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, said the nation is in crisis and the American dream further and further out of reach as a result President Donald Trump. That message was part of her response to Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening. The congresswoman from Western Pennsylvania spoke...
Town hall about proposed Pennsylvania cellphone ban in schools draws crowd
Momentum is growing for a push to ban cellphones in the state’s public schools. State Reps. Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel, and Jill Cooper, R-Murrysville, are among those spearheading House Bill 1814 to restrict cellphones in classrooms. It’s a proposed bell-to-bell ban, meaning students would secure their cellphones in a lockbox...
Democrat a landslide winner in special election for South Hills seat in state House
A Dormont Democrat was the landslide winner in a special election Tuesday to fill a state House seat in the South Hills that was vacated after the former incumbent was elected to be an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge. According to unofficial results from the Allegheny County Election Bureau, Jen...
Trump uses longest-ever State of the Union to try to convince voters that U.S. is ‘winning so much’Video
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared during Tuesday’s marathon State of the Union that “we’re winning so much,” saying he’d sparked a jobs and manufacturing boom at home while imposing a new world order abroad — hoping that offering a long list of his accomplishments can counter approval ratings that...
Pentagon appeals order blocking Sen. Mark Kelly’s punishment for call to resist unlawful orders
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is appealing a judge’s order that blocks him from punishing Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy pilot, for participating in a video that called on troops to resist unlawful orders, according to a court filing on Tuesday. Justice Department officials filed a notice...
Iranians worry over American military buildup as last-chance round of talks nears
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — As the United States assembles its greatest military firepower in decades in the Middle East, Iranians are warily awaiting the next round of talks with the U.S. in Geneva this week — negotiations that many see as a last chance for their ruling theocracy to...
Aspinwall pharmacy owner pushes for fair shake for independent drugstores
Hours before the president’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, Aspinwall pharmacy owner Jonathan Akanowicz sat alongside U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio to advocate for reforms they say would rein in national monopolies and protect independent pharmacists from being squeezed out of the market. “We’re looking for a level playing...
Democrat says DOJ withheld Epstein files on Trump abuse claim
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice appears to have withheld from disclosure files on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein related to a claim that President Donald Trump sexually abused a minor, a top Democratic lawmaker said Tuesday. “Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DOJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews...
Officials warn ICE detention centers in Pa. could overwhelm sewer, other critical services
This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks. UPPER BERN — Not enough clean water. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage dumped into systems designed to...
House rejects bill requiring aircraft locator systems to prevent midair collisions like last year’s
The House failed to approve a bill Tuesday that was crafted after last year’s tragic midair collision near Washington, D.C., to require all aircraft flying around busy airports to have key locator systems to prevent such crashes. The collision of an airliner and an Army helicopter killed 67 people in...
Pete Hegseth warns Anthropic to let the military use the company’s AI tech as it sees fit
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic’s CEO a deadline for Friday to open the company’s artificial intelligence technology for unrestricted military use or risk losing its government contract, according to a person familiar with their meeting Tuesday. Anthropic makes the chatbot Claude and remains the last of its...
Pittsburgh tourists find safety in Puerto Vallarta resorts amid unrest and violence
Barbara Melone saw “huge, black, billowing” clouds of smoke from her eighth-floor balcony at the Sunset Plaza Beach Resort & Spa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, at the start of the week. “It was a normal day, and we started realizing there were all these fires,” said Melone, 77, who grew...
Breeze Airways to begin nonstop Myrtle Beach flightsVideo
Pittsburgh International Airport continues to expand its roster of destinations. The latest addition comes from budget carrier Breeze Airways, which will launch seasonal nonstop service to Myrtle Beach beginning July 3. “We are excited to now offer Myrtle Beach as a destination for our Pittsburgh guests,” Breeze Airways founder and...
Supreme Court rules Postal Service can’t be sued, even when mail is intentionally not delivered
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Americans can’t sue the U.S. Postal Service, even when employees deliberately refuse to deliver mail. By a 5-4 vote, the justices ruled against a Texas landlord, Lebene Konan, who alleges her mail was intentionally withheld for two years. Konan, who...
CMU scores 1st tenant for $100M Hazelwood Green robotics center
Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Innovation Center has secured its first tenant ahead of the $100 million facility’s opening celebration Friday. California-based FieldAI will establish a small lab and office suite in the 150,000-square-foot building, the university announced Monday. The Robotics Innovation Center is located at Hazelwood Green, site of a...
Resolution to not aid ICE, CBP noncriminal activity passes in McCandless
A 5-2 vote at McCandless Council’s meeting on Feb. 23 approved a resolution that neither the town nor its police will aid federal agencies in enforcing noncriminal federal immigration laws. Resolution No. 2026-03 was first presented at the Feb. 9 meeting, where residents voiced opinions on whether or not McCandless,...
Hempfield seeks more information on easements for Northmont flood control project
Hempfield supervisors on Monday tabled a request from Greensburg officials to use eminent domain to get easements on two township properties for a planned flood control project. Supervisor Doug Weimer said the board wanted more information from Greensburg about how the project would benefit Hempfield. Greensburg officials have been working...
Woman charged after threatening Pittsburgh Public Schools secretaries
Police have charged a woman they say threatened secretaries in the Pittsburgh Public Schools with physical harm. Kemauri Vasciannie, 23, of the South Side Slopes was one of two women who police say entered John Morrow Elementary School at 1611 Davis Ave. in Brighton Heights under the guise of “wanting...
Multi-vehicle crash delays morning commute on Route 28 at Etna
A multi-vehicle crash Tuesday morning shut down a northbound lane of Route 28 near the Etna interchange. The crash has since been cleared, and both lanes of the roadway have reopened. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation initially said in a press release that the roadway had been closed at Exit...
Trump’s State of the Union will seek to calm voters’ economic concerns ahead of midterm electionsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will use Tuesday’s State of the Union to champion his immigration crackdowns, his slashing of the federal government, his push to preserve widespread tariffs that the Supreme Court just struck down and his ability to direct quick-hit military actions around the world, including in Iran...
Hempfield Area will replace 4 grass fields with synthetic turf following split vote by school board
Hempfield Area School District will spend nearly $5.4 million to replace four of its grass fields with synthetic turf following a divided vote by the school board Monday night. The district will place turf on its high school baseball, softball and multipurpose grass fields this summer. District officials cited rainy...
ICE arrests Sewickley father whose daughter, 6, is battling cancer
Federal immigration agents conducting a traffic stop Sunday arrested a Sewickley resident and Brazil native whose young daughter is undergoing cancer treatment at a Pittsburgh hospital. A spokeswoman for the family said four Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled over a car carrying Bruno Guedes da Silva, 38, and his...
