Top Stories category, Page 306
The Home Stretch: Here’s the election news for Oct. 23
As Nov. 5 draws closer, political campaigns are making the most of every opportunity to sway the elusive undecided voter. Here’s how the sprint to Election Day is going. Where is everyone? Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris is in Pennsylvania today, where she will participate in a CNN...
Plans for improvements at Veterans Memorial Field, Springdale soccer field advance
Plans for renovations at two Springdale fields — one owned by the borough and the other by the Allegheny Valley School District — are moving forward. Springdale Council awarded a contract of about $580,000 to Harmar-based Panza Landscaping for installation of a retaining wall and sidewalks at Veterans Memorial Field,...
Steelers’ Friday Night Lights practice in Latrobe generated $121K
Dry skies, a higher admission price and a more efficient online ticketing system all contributed to $121,000 in revenue being collected from the Steelers’ Friday Night Lights practice held Aug. 2 in Greater Latrobe School District’s Memorial Stadium. That figure was a $40,000 increase from the previous year’s popular annual...
Morning fire destroys home in East Huntingdon; hydrant in Mt. Pleasant Village complex had no water pressure
Ben Ion, who lives on Holiday Court in East Huntingdon, was about to have breakfast Wednesday morning when he noticed a glow coming from a home across the street. He raced to the home, banged on a window and made sure the two people living there escaped the flames that...
In Pennsylvania, an influx of college graduates could push a key county toward Harris
BELLEFONTE, Pa. — It was love at first sight when Ellen Matis pulled up to this small Pennsylvania borough on a dreary winter day almost eight years ago. The road into town curved along the creek and then climbed uphill to a historic square where she chatted with regulars over...
Calls mount for district judge’s ouster over bail issues after Montour Trail fatal stabbing
Several local Republican politicians are demanding the removal of a controversial jurist after a criminal defendant freed last year by District Judge Xander Orenstein was arrested Monday in a fatal stabbing. Authorities say Anthony Quesen killed Benjamin Brallier, 44, a civilian employee of the Pennsylvania State Police who was jogging...
Conservative Norwin board members lament cancellation of Turning Point USA speech
The most vocal member of the conservative faction of Norwin’s school board this week condemned the way the district handled a request by Turning Point USA to speak to students after classes at the high school. School board member Alex Detschelt said Monday the administration’s decision to cancel an appearance...
Abatement, demolition planned for former Colfax Upper Elementary School in Springdale
Another Springdale landmark will soon be demolished — but it’s not a former power plant. Allegheny Valley School District officials set an April 10 demolition deadline for the former Colfax Upper Elementary School. The 64,000-square-foot building served students in the Allegheny Valley School District for more than 90 years before...
Dziados, Reschenthaler vie for District 14 seat in U.S. House
The two candidates seeking to represent Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District couldn’t be further apart on key issues. Three-term Republican incumbent Guy Reschenthaler has become a key member among the GOP’s power structure in the U.S. House, serving as deputy whip and an attack dog pushing his party’s agenda that he...
State legislators support in-depth study of PIAA policies, structure, finances
State legislators have voted to launch a comprehensive review of the PIAA. The “current status, management, structure, policies and finances” of the high school athletic association will be studied by the state Legislative Budget and Finance Committee under a House resolution passed Tuesday. The legislation instructed the committee to issue...
Quaker Valley High School project takes major step forward with Leet commissioners’ approval
After outlining more than a dozen conditions, including a new one publicly introduced just prior to the vote, the Leet commissioners approved land development plans for a proposed Quaker Valley High School. All five commissioners voted in favor of the proposed 167,000-square-foot school on Oct. 22. It is planned on...
Trump hurls a string of insults at Harris including ‘lazy,’ a racist trope against Black peopleVideo
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday hurled a series of personal attacks at Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her “lazy” — a word long used to demean Black people in racist terms — and repeatedly questioning her intelligence and stamina. At an event in Miami aimed...
Area’s unseasonably warm temperatures just shy of record
Temperatures reached an unofficial high of 82 degrees Tuesday at two area airports, about 20 degrees above the normal high but just shy of breaking the record. The 82-degree mark was recorded at both Pittsburgh International Airport and at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity, according to Jason Frazier, a...
Walking pneumonia cases up sharply among children
ATLANTA — Cases of “walking pneumonia” have been rising sharply in the United States since the spring, especially among young children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said it’s closely tracking the recent surge of these infections to better understand any changes in the illnesses...
‘We set the bar’: Allegheny County expects prompt vote count on Election Day
No county in Pennsylvania counts its votes as efficiently as Allegheny, and officials expect it to stay that way for the general election on Nov. 5. At Tuesday’s Board of Elections meeting, officials said they were on track to count mail-in ballots by 8 p.m. on Election Day, the time...
Deadly E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders sickens dozens in 10 states
E. coli food poisoning linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states, including one person who died and 10 who were hospitalized, federal health officials said Tuesday. The death was reported in an older person in Colorado, and one child has been hospitalized...
Raises doled out to Westmoreland retirees as pension fund nears record high
Westmoreland County government retirees will receive a 3.4% cost-of-living raise in 2025. The county’s retirement board on Tuesday approved the increased benefit for the 1,400 former employees who in 2024, for the first time in 13 years, were denied raises. “We’re not supposed to give raises out every year, but...
Rudy Giuliani ordered to turn over NYC apartment, 26 watches to Georgia election workersVideo
Rudy Giuliani must turn over a variety of his assets to two Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against him, including his New York City apartment, more than two dozen watches, sports memorabilia and a 1980 Mercedes, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. But U.S. District Judge...
DA won’t seek death penalty for man charged in Homewood triple homicide
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office on Monday said it would no longer seek the death penalty for a man charged in a Pittsburgh triple killing. Ronald Steave, 32, had been facing the possibility of capital punishment if found guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend Nandi Fitzgerald, 28; her son, Denzel...
Wanted: Buyer for Pittsburgh Municipal Courts Building with costly maintenance, jail views
Pittsburgh will try to sell the Downtown Municipal Courts Building, described by City Council as a money-sucking facility that will cost more than $1 million to maintain. But whether anyone wants to buy the building, and for how much, remain open questions. Council voted Tuesday to send legislation authorizing the...
McKees Rocks woman gets $1M from Elon Musk PAC
A McKees Rocks woman received $1 million from billionaire Elon Musk’s political action committee — all for signing a petition. Musk, the founder of Tesla and Space X who’s gone all-in on Republican Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy, has already committed at least $70 million to help the former president. Now,...
Motorists should be on the lookout for deer as rutting season peaks, Pa. Game Commission says
Steve Boeser has been a busy man since June. Boeser is contracted by the Municipality of Murrysville to collect and dispose of dead deer that have been struck by cars. His contract starts in June, and he’s usually well into January before he reaches 100 calls. As of Oct. 22,...
Pittsburgh to implement new garbage citation system
Pittsburgh officials will more easily be able to cite people who leave garbage on their property, improperly store trash cans or leave their cans at the curb too long before and after trash pickup. City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation that will allow inspectors to issue quality-of-life tickets to...
Police charge homeless man with breaking South Side woman’s back, pelvis in rape attempt
Pittsburgh police on Monday charged a homeless man they say broke a woman’s back and pelvis by shoving her to the ground while trying to rape her two months ago in the city’s South Side neighborhood. William Hercules, 27, pushed the woman, who uses a walker, to the ground around...
Pittsburgh councilman demands answers on police Chief Scirotto’s part-time refereeing gig
A Pittsburgh councilman called Tuesday for public answers about the police chief’s decision to referee NCAA college basketball games while running the 751-member force. Chief Larry Scirotto last week announced he would resume refereeing part time, something he had given up when he was named chief last year. “We need...
