Top Stories category, Page 291
Amachi Pittsburgh celebrates 20 years of breaking cycle of incarceration
Amachi Pittsburgh is breaking the cycle of incarceration by helping youth thrive and achieve their goals. The organization provides support to youth who have parents who may be incarcerated or are at high risk of incarceration. Through mentorship and care, their work has changed the trajectory of children’s lives. On...
Trump expected to choose vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretaryVideo
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting him in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net...
Pennsylvania courts get lawsuits over ballot-counting in Senate contest headed toward a recount
HARRISBURG — Republicans went to court in Pennsylvania on Thursday amid vote counting in the U.S. Senate election between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick, as the campaigns prepare for a recount and press counties for favorable ballot-counting decisions. The lawsuits ask courts not to allow counties to...
Westmoreland County reopens rental assistance program
Westmoreland County will reopen its program to assist low-income renters with monthly bills and housing costs. Finance director Meghan McCandless said the county has allocated the final $80,000 left over from the program along with another $727,000 earned through bank interest over the last three years again offer rental assistance...
Fire tears through Riley’s Pour House in Carnegie
A fire destroyed Riley’s Pour House in Carnegie on Thursday afternoon. The popular Irish pub at 215 E. Main St. caught fire at around 1:15 p.m., according to Allegheny County 911. No injuries were reported, and all employees and restaurant patrons evacuated the restaurant safely. Abbey Fickley of West Mifflin...
Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills
Americans are fed up with the price of food, and many are looking to President-elect Donald Trump to lower their grocery bills. Trump often railed on the campaign trail against hefty price increases for bacon, cereal, crackers and other items. “We’ll get them down,” he told shoppers during a September...
Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars at auction with Sandy Hook families’ backing
The satirical news publication The Onion was named the winning bidder for Alex Jones’ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims whom Jones owes more than $1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the massacre a hoax. The purchase would turn over...
Matt Gaetz once faced a sex trafficking investigation by the Justice Department he could now lead
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, was once embroiled in a sex trafficking investigation by the Justice Department he’s been tapped to lead, and has been under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee over allegations including sexual misconduct. That probe effectively ended...
Gaetz pick shows value Trump places on loyalty — and retribution — as he returns to Washington
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump has had few defenders in Congress as reliable as Matt Gaetz, who has thundered at one prosecutor after another for perceived bias against the president-elect and emphatically amplified the Republican’s rallying cry that the criminal investigations into him are “witch hunts.” That kinship was rewarded Wednesday...
Sheriffs arrest fugitive with warrants in multiple Pa. counties
A woman with multiple warrants in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties was taken into custody Wednesday by Allegheny County Sheriff’s deputies. Carley L. Johnson, 27, who lists addresses in Irwin and Pittsburgh, has been a fugitive since April 2023, when she failed to appear in Westmoreland County district court on robbery...
Doubling real estate transfer tax could generate $150K in Latrobe in proposed 2025 budget
Latrobe may double its real estate transfer tax as part of a tentative $7.4 million 2025 budget. But it will leave the property tax rate unchanged. City officials also are debating a possible increase next year in fees that apply to mechanical devices, including games of chance, while Latrobe’s police...
Morning Roundup: Police rein in runaway horse; postal worker pleads guilty to stealing $6M in checks
Here are news items for Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024: Police return runaway horse Pittsburgh police in Zone 1 were chasing an unexpected suspect Wednesday — a runaway horse. Around 1:30 p.m., officers responded to a report of an escaped horse near Brighton Road and Harbison Avenue near the city’s Riverview...
Schools battle national shortages, pay disparity to keep nurses on the job
Aliza Zelina arrives for her school nursing job at Highlands Middle School in Harrison just after 7 a.m. each day knowing she won’t have much prep time before her patients begin to roll in. “We see kids bright and early,” she said. “It’s steady, seeing about 50 to 60 visits...
Republicans win 218 U.S. House seats, giving Donald Trump and the party control of government
WASHINGTON — Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump. A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the 218 House victories...
FBI: Investigation into Chinese hacking reveals ‘broad and significant’ spying effort
WASHINGTON — A federal investigation into Chinese government efforts to hack into U.S. telecommunications networks has revealed a “broad and significant” cyberespionage campaign aimed at stealing information from Americans who work in government and politics, the FBI said Wednesday. Hackers affiliated with Beijing have compromised the networks of “multiple” telecommunications...
2 hospitalized after vehicle overturns into Rostraver creek
Two people were hospitalized Wednesday afternoon after their vehicle overturned into a creek in Rostraver, according to the Rostraver Central Fire Department. The vehicle veered from Ridge Road and overturned into Cedar Creek, located near Route 51, according to a social media post from the fire department. The crash occurred...
Gainey’s 2025 austerity plan plays well with Pittsburgh council budget director
Pittsburgh City Council’s budget director indicated Wednesday that Mayor Ed Gainey’s austerity plan for 2025 makes sense given the fiscal pressure facing the city. Presenting an overview of Gainey’s budget and financial forecast to City Council, Peter McDevitt acknowledged that several city departments will likely ask for additional resources during...
Casey-McCormick race heads to automatic recount
Pennsylvania’s hard-fought U.S. Senate race is being extended potentially another two weeks. With the contest between Democratic incumbent Bob Casey and Republican businessman Dave McCormick within 0.5 percentage point, the race is legally required to go to automatic recount under Pennsylvania law, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced Wednesday....
Judge shutters Oakland’s troubled Panther Pit bar for 1 year
An Allegheny County judge on Wednesday ordered that the Panther Pit Bar and Grill in Oakland be closed for at least one year. Common Pleas Judge Dan Regan ordered that the establishment on Meyran Avenue be padlocked last week after the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office filed a civil complaint...
TV Talk: WTAE announces new weekend morning anchor
WTAE general assignment reporter Lily Coleman will become the station’s new weekend morning news anchor effective Nov. 23. Coleman, who reported weekday mornings before most recently filling in as morning traffic/noon anchor while Elena LaQuatra has been on maternity leave (LaQuatra will be back to work next week), has also...
Judge exits Latrobe lawyer’s theft case
Westmoreland County President Judge Christopher Feliciani recused himself Wednesday from presiding over a bail hearing for a Latrobe lawyer jailed on charges that he stole money from a client. The judge cited a conflict of interest related to pending legal matters that involved an alleged personal relationship between attorney J....
Trump says he will nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to be attorney general
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as U.S. attorney general, a surprising and highly controversial pick that could set up a confirmation battle in the Senate as the congressman continues to battle accusations of illicit drug use and sex trafficking. At a...
Bluesky has added 1 million users since U.S. election as people seek alternatives to X
LOS ANGELES — Social media site Bluesky has gained 1 million new users in the week since the U.S. election, as some X users look for an alternative platform to post their thoughts and engage with others online. Bluesky said Wednesday that its total users surged to 15 million, up...
Man, 70, shot outside Larimer nursing home
A 70-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday after being shot outside a Pittsburgh nursing home. The man was shot in the stomach about 12:35 p.m. outside Corner View Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in the 6600 block of Frankstown Avenue in the city’s Larimer neighborhood, police said. The victim,...
Innamorato defends proposed budget and Allegheny County tax increase
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato defended her budget and proposed tax increase Wednesday, arguing that boosting the county’s tepid economic growth is more important than making large budget cuts. Innamorato in October proposed a 46.5% property tax hike to help balance her $3.1 billion budget, which will have a shortfall...
