Top Stories category, Page 295
Pittsburgh, police review board probe 2 use-of-force incidents
Pittsburgh’s Office of Municipal Investigations and the independent Citizen Police Review Board are scrutinizing two unrelated incidents last month in which city police used force to make arrests. The arrests have elicited concerns among the NAACP’s Pittsburgh branch and other leaders in the city’s Black community, who have a meeting...
Spirit plans for return of daily flights to Myrtle Beach from Arnold Palmer Regional
Spirit Airlines plans to resume daily flights from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity to Myrtle Beach, S.C., in May, an airport official said Tuesday. The daily flights from the county airport to Myrtle Beach International Airport will resume May 7, said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County...
Pittsburgh council mulls referendum to bar sale of water, sewer systems to private entities
Pittsburgh voters may be asked to vote in May on whether the city should be restricted from leasing or selling its water and sewer systems to private entities. Legislation introduced Tuesday to City Council would pose the question to voters as a ballot referendum, which a majority would need to...
$4,000 murder-for-hire scheme sends Mt. Lebanon killer to prison for up to 36 years
A Mt. Lebanon man who was paid $4,000 in drugs and cash to kill a McKees Rocks woman in 2022 will serve at least 18 years in prison. Alec Stefanovits, 30, told the judge on Tuesday that he was in a drug-fueled craze when he killed Ashley Roberts on Jan....
Super Bowl Sunday FanFest at Acrisure Stadium reaches maximum capacity
The first Super Bowl FanFest in Pittsburgh, a free event, is at capacity. Verizon is bringing a Super Bowl LIX experience to 30 NFL cities across the country, including 20 NFL stadiums. Acrisure Stadium is one of them. Fans will have access to the UPMC Club Level and FedEx Great...
Google to change map names for Gulf of Mexico and Denali when U.S. updates them based on Trump order
Google says it will take its cue from the U.S. government if it has to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali on its maps. The company said Monday that it will only make changes when the government updates its official listings for the body of water...
Egg prices are soaring. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon
OMAHA, Neb. — Bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S. egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023. And it appears there may be no relief in sight, given the surge in demand as Easter approaches. The average...
Norfolk Southern and East Palestine announce $22 million settlement after 2023 derailment
East Palestine and Norfolk Southern have announced a $22 million settlement resolving all of the village’s claims arising from the disastrous 2023 train derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border that prompted a national reckoning on railroad safety. The settlement is to be used for priorities the village identifies in connection with...
Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration freeze on federal grants, loansVideo
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a push from President Donald Trump to pause federal funding while his administration conducts an across-the-board ideological review to uproot progressive initiatives. The Trump administration plan plunged the U.S. government into panic and confusion and set the stage for a constitutional...
Tim Benz: Forget Mike Tomlin ‘living in his fears,’ it’s Art Rooney II we should be talking about
One of Mike Tomlin’s favorite catchphrases is, “We don’t live in our fears.” The Pittsburgh Steelers coach says it all the time when he feels like using some old-fashioned football coach machismo to justify a roll of the dice on a fourth down play call, a long field goal attempt,...
Allegheny River ice raises concerns over safety and flooding
No matter how tempting, people should not walk or play on the area’s frozen-over rivers. Especially because things will be warming up soon. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service expect temperatures to be above freezing Thursday through Sunday, said Alicia Miller, a hydrologist with the weather service. “That, in addition...
Coffee lovers likely to pay more in wake of jump in bean prices
The cost of a cup of joe is on the rise at coffee shops. If the price of her $3.25 cup of Americano coffee goes up too much, Piper Anke of Derry is among those who say they would consider drinking less. Anke, 18, is a student at Seton Hill...
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...
