Top Stories category, Page 331
Democrats in Pa. approach 2024 election with slimmest voter registration advantage in decades
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. HARRISBURG — Despite a bump following Joe Biden’s exit from the presidential race, Democrats in Pennsylvania are entering the home stretch of the 2024 election with their weakest voter...
Jeannette youth football coach suspended, league rules out opposing players using racial slurs
A Jeannette youth football coach was suspended Friday afternoon after the local league ruled out allegations of the team’s players being called racial slurs by some opposing players from Penn-Trafford during a game Sunday. The Big East Youth Football League issued a statement to parents Friday, detailing the results of...
Police charge Pittsburgh city worker in bug-spray attack on motoristVideo
Donald Jones of Wilkinsburg was driving his two daughters to school last week when their morning commute turned traumatic. Watching through their car window, the girls wailed in horror as a Pittsburgh Public Works employee squirted what police said was wasp spray in their father’s eyes during a dispute on...
Convicted rapist, formerly of Greensburg, now accused of raping 3-year-old
A former Greensburg man who is serving a state prison sentence in a violent rape was arraigned Friday on new sexual assault accusations police said involved a 3-year-old child. Justin Owens Hall, 30, who is being held at SCI Smithfield, is accused of sexually assaulting the child at a Penn...
Leechburg Area students caught with BB gun, no threat to school
Leechburg Area School District administrators called in local police after students were reported playing with a BB gun outside of school grounds, but close to David Leech Elementary School. “We had some older students who were clowning around with a BB gun,” said district Superintendent David Keibler. “They were outside....
Battle to save Charleroi glass plant entangled in political campaign for Senate
The battle to save a Charleroi glassmaking plant whose owner wants to close it by year’s end and move operations to Ohio became entangled Friday in the politics of the U.S. Senate campaign in Pennsylvania. Republican Senatorial candidate David McCormick blamed the pending closure of the LCN Corelle Brands plant...
Georgia State Election Board approves rule requiring hand count of ballots
ATLANTA — Georgia’s State Election Board on Friday voted to approve a new rule that requires poll workers to count the number of paper ballots by hand. The board voted 3-2 to approve the rule, going against the advice of the state attorney general’s office, the secretary of state’s office...
AI may breathe new life into Three Mile Island to supply power to Microsoft’s data centers
HARRISBURG — The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant said Friday that it plans to restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement that calls for tech giant Microsoft to buy the power to supply its data centers with carbon-free energy. The announcement by Constellation Energy comes...
Secret Service report details communication failures preceding July assassination attempt on Trump
WASHINGTON — Communication breakdowns with local law enforcement hampered the Secret Service’s performance ahead of a July assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, according to a new report that lays out a litany of missed opportunities to stop a gunman who opened fire from an unsecured roof. A five-page...
In-person voting begins for U.S. presidential contest, kicking off the sprint to Election Day
MINNEAPOLIS — In-person voting for this year’s presidential election began Friday, a milestone that kicked off a six-week sprint to Election Day after a summer of political turmoil. Voters lined up to cast their ballots in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, the states with the first early in-person voting opportunities....
Murdoch Farms ‘Blinker House’ on the market in Squirrel Hill
A stately stone home is on the market in the Murdoch Farms neighborhood of Squirrel Hill. Known as the “Blinker House,” the limestone residence is listed for $2.6 million by Realtor David Onufer of Hanna Luxury Real Estate, Onufer Team of Squirrel Hill. “Homes like this come along once in...
Penn State removes student newspapers, sparking free speech debate
Penn State University removed dozens of newsstands from campus buildings that contained its student newspaper because nine of them displayed political ads above the newspaper rack itself: three for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and six promoting voter registration. Penn State administrators say the posters violated rules about advertising and...
Bomb, shooting threats to Pine-Richland School District deemed false
Bomb and school shooting threats made Friday against Pine-Richland School District were not credible and originated in Australia, law enforcement officials said. Northern Regional Police Chief Bryan S. DeWick said his department and the FBI classified the threats as “swatting calls. As a precaution, district officials said, after-school and evening...
U.S. will let more people take methadone at home
The first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month, but experts say the addiction treatment changes could fall flat if state governments and methadone clinics fail to act. For decades, strict rules required most methadone patients...
Frazer sues Pittsburgh Mills mall owner over potholes, lack of maintenance
Pothole-riddled roads near the Pittsburgh Mills mall are the result of negligence by the mall’s owner and would cost Frazer $4.5 million to fix if the mall owner doesn’t. That’s according to a lawsuit filed by the township against the Mills’ property owner — identified in court records as Pitt...
Salim’s Middle Eastern Foods to close after 45 years in North Oakland
A staple of the Middle Eastern food community is closing in North Oakland. Co-owners Rosemarie and Salim El-Tahch opened Salim’s Middle Eastern Foods a year after they married in 1978. Forty-five years later, they’re still operating from their original location at 4705 Centre Ave. But the end looms as the...
Patrick Cassidy talks about mom Shirley Jones in advance of gala honoring her
On Saturday, Pittsburgh CLO will honor Shirley Jones, Western Pennsylvania native and legend of stage and screen, with a Broadway star-studded gala celebration at the Byham Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh. Jones was born in Charleroi and grew up in Smithton — her family owned Jones Brewing Co., which made Stoney’s...
Pennsylvania state senator sues critics of his book about WWI hero Sgt. York
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state senator and former GOP gubernatorial candidate whose support for Donald Trump drew him to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has sued a Canadian university and nearly two dozen academics over criticism of him and his research into World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York....
Are spotted lanternflies on the decline in Western Pennsylvania?
Spotted lanternflies are still a pest in Western Pennsylvania, but populations are trending lower in certain regions. Sandy Feather works as a Penn State Extension educator in Pittsburgh. She has noticed a large decrease in spotted lanternflies. “I bet we don’t have a 10th of the population that we had...
Morning Roundup: 2 vehicles hit Beechview building; zoo regains ‘gold standard’ certification
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Sept. 20: Crash causes chain reaction in Beechview Two vehicles hit a building in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood Thursday evening. University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball great Carl Krauser had finished a training session with a client and was on...
1 man dead after shooting at Ellwood City business
A man is dead and a suspect in custody after a shooting Thursday night in Ellwood City. The incident took place at Ellwood City Forge, though Timothy Woods, 31, who lives in the borough, was arrested on Belton Road in North Sewickley, according to police. He’s facing a homicide charge...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Sept. 20-22
Well, that’s an official wrap on summer, folks! It’s time to think about chilly nights, mugs of hot apple cider and the scent of falling leaves. Here are a few things to do while ushering in autumn during a still-warm weekend. Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival This weekend, musicians will fill...
Greater Latrobe using workout classes to ease athletes’ after-school schedules
Alex Tatsch appreciates the fact he now can get home from his practices with Greater Latrobe’s Wildcats football team in time to eat dinner before 7 p.m. “Getting done earlier just makes your life so much easier,” the Penn State-bound senior linebacker and running back said of his after-school commitment...
Bowhunting season begins Saturday for all of Allegheny County, small slices of western Westmoreland, opens Oct. 5 statewide
Justin Relihan has been bowhunting since he was 16 years old. The Butler resident began hunting at age 12 with a rifle, but quickly found he had more of a passion for using a compound bow. “I like the quietness of bowhunting,” said Relihan, 48. “There’s a lot less people....
Officials say plans to demolish former state prison in Hempfield are moving forward
Bids for the demolition of the former SCI Greensburg state prison could be sought by the end of the year. Hempfield officials may have to complete the project in phases, depending on how much funding is awarded, but Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. Executive Director Jason Rigone said he is...
