Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 345
FBI says driver in New Orleans rampage acted alone, was ‘100%’ inspired by Islamic State groupVideo
NEW ORLEANS — The Army veteran who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans acted alone, the FBI said Thursday, reversing its position from a day earlier that he likely worked with others in the deadly attack that officials said was inspired by...
U mad, bro?: Readers welcome ’25 with familiar angst over Steelers, media coverage, College Football Playoff
The first “U mad, bro?” of 2025 appears to be very similar to what we saw a lot of in 2024: Pittsburgh Steelers fans complaining about the state of the team. Or, Steelers fans complaining about me complaining about the state of the team — with just a pinch of...
Presbyterian church leader reflects on navigating changes over a dozen years
After almost 12 years as the executive presbyter for the Redstone Presbytery, the Rev. Richard “Skip” Noftzger Jr. has retired. The executive presbyter oversaw 65 Presbyterian churches in four counties. Noftzger had been in ministry 28 years and in addition to administrative duties at two universities. “I feel good about...
Canonsburg man among those injured in New Orleans
A Canonsburg man was among those injured when a man drove a truck around a police blockade and into a crowd of revelers during New Year’s celebrations early Wednesday morning in New Orleans. A family member said Jeremi Sensky, 51, was hurt in what authorities termed a terrorist attack by...
Firework mortars, gas cannisters stuffed inside Tesla that exploded outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel
LAS VEGAS — Firework mortars and camp fuel canisters were found stuffed into the back of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel early Wednesday, killing a suspect inside the vehicle and sparking an intense investigation into possible terrorism. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and Clark...
Meet Allegheny and Westmoreland county’s firstborn of 2025: William, Genesis, Shiloh, Luka and Mila
William Sido Scott was born 10 seconds after midnight Wednesday to become the first birth of 2025 in the Pittsburgh area. William, the son of Frank and Evan (Telban) Scott of South Strabane, Washington County, was born at St. Clair Hospital in Mt. Lebanon, seconds after his New Year’s Eve...
New Orleans New Year’s Day ramming is latest attack to use vehicle as deadly weapon
NEW ORLEANS — Police say a person who drove a pickup truck at high speed into a crowd of people celebrating the new year in New Orleans early Wednesday was hell-bent on creating carnage. While a motive for the attack that killed at least 10 people has yet to be...
Greensburg’s Abie & Bimbo’s Pizza closes after 57 years
New Year’s came with a wave of sadness for Doug Mirolli, as he announced the closure of the pizza restaurant he has owned for nearly two decades. Mirolli, 47, of Greensburg has owned Abie & Bimbo’s Pizza along Greensburg’s Highland Avenue since 2007. Known for its Pizzaroni subs and giant...
‘This is evil’: Driver rams New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, killing 15
NEW ORLEANS — An Army veteran driving a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group wrought carnage on New Orleans’ raucous New Year’s celebration, killing 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into revelers before being shot dead by police. The FBI...
Top 25 concerts coming to Pittsburgh in 2025 (so far)
While there are hundreds of concerts yet to be announced for 2025, what’s already on tap for the coming year will provide plenty of options for Pittsburgh music fans. From R&B (Boyz II Men) and rap (Tyler, the Creator) to pop punk (Avril Lavigne) and theatric metal (Ghost), there’s something...
Forever Young: Families of teens killed in North Park crash fight to move on
Twice a week, Ellie Tourney eats lunch on a stone bench near her son’s grave. She doesn’t want her youngest boy to feel like he has been forgotten. Nearly a year has passed since Jonathan Tourney and Taylor Orlowski were killed on Christmas weekend when the speeding SUV they were...
A year later, families of teens killed in North Park crash remain overcome with grief while fighting to move onVideo
Twice a week, Ellie Tourney eats lunch on a stone bench near her son’s grave. She doesn’t want her youngest boy to feel like he has been forgotten. Nearly a year has passed since Jonathan Tourney and Taylor Orlowski were killed on Christmas weekend when the speeding SUV they were...
High anxiety: 2024 election takes heavy toll on stressed-out voters
World War III. A crippled economy. Unbridled immigration. Civil war, with American democracy in the crosshairs. These are the apocalyptic scenarios preoccupying supporters of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. As election season enters its final hours of the 2024 race for the American presidency, Pennsylvanians find themselves balanced on a...
How Namdar Realty profits from Pittsburgh Mills and other ‘dying’ malls
The owner of Pittsburgh Mills mall has built a real estate empire by buying dying malls and letting them deteriorate before selling off property and walking away, leaving helpless communities in its wake, according to officials where Namdar Realty Group owns assets. New York-based Namdar boasts a portfolio of nearly...
Urban oasis: Farms sprout in Pittsburgh’s food deserts
Ebony Lunsford-Evans would like nothing more than to spend all day tending her crops and chickens. “I spend a lot of my time out here,” the woman known to some as Farmer Girl Eb said on a recent August morning, gesturing at the farm she runs in Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood....
Young voters in Western Pa. talk issues, candidates ahead of presidential election
The economy. A woman’s right to choose. A divided America. These are issues weighing on the minds of young voters as they ready themselves for the November presidential election between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump. More than half of young voters between 18 and 29 plan...
Still no answers: 1 year later, Plum community still awaits a cause for fatal Rustic Ridge house explosion
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Plum community to observe Rustic Ridge anniversary 1 year later with no answers
As a Plum community pauses to remember those who died in a fatal house explosion a year ago, questions about the cause remain unresolved, and a mayor is demanding answers. Six residents of the Rustic Ridge neighborhood died as a result of the massive Aug. 12 explosion, which sent shock...
‘We’re not going down without a fight:’ 1 year into Pittsburgh police patrol, tide is turning on South SideVideo
While walking down East Carson Street at 12:52 a.m. June 8 in Pittsburgh’s South Side, city police Sgt. Andrew Robinson spotted a man standing outside a shuttered pizza shop, sifting marijuana into brown rolling papers. As Robinson approached, the man quickly ditched the drugs on a window ledge. The two...
Lawmakers, leaders call for release of Marc Fogel
Marc Fogel of Oakmont has been an international teacher since he was a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In August 2021, he was arrested at the airport in Moscow for possession of 17 grams of marijuana, legally prescribed in Pennsylvania for a well-documented history of back and knee pain...
Student art heats up at Hazelwood’s Industrial Arts Workshop youth welding program
In the cavernous, noisy workspace of the Industrial Arts Workshop, tucked away on Herbert Way in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood, sparks are flying. Almost every afternoon the room fills with high-school-age students, who pull on protective gear and hurry back to their personal projects. Metal sculptures — a phoenix, flowers, a...
On patrol: Mounted police officers create a presence
Their steps are choreographed, part of the job training the horses and their riders go through. The majestic animals are stationed in stables across the city, county and state. They perform details throughout the year, but spring is when you begin seeing them more often. Typically January through March there...
‘This is what money smells like:’ $2.2M fine is latest entry in Clairton’s air pollution history
Melanie Meade monitors plumes of pollution. Her hilltop home overlooks Clairton Coke Works, the largest coke-manufacturing facility in North America — and Allegheny County’s top source of air pollution. From that tree-dotted perch, Meade uses her iPhone almost daily to photograph emissions spewing from the 123-year-old plant’s coke ovens. Then...
‘Frightening rate’ of children dying due to parents’ drug abuse
Four days after Christmas 2020, Hannah Moore felt horror like no other when she awoke to find her 2-month-old daughter’s cold, lifeless body nestled next to her in bed, inches away from her other two children. Traces of blood trickled from Avery Davis’ mouth and nose as Moore frantically dialed...
Staffing shortages leave nursing homes overwhelmed, patients vulnerable, experts sayVideo
Mary Ellen Cross lived some of the best days of her life each December when she spent hour upon hour baking cookies and wrapping gifts, carefully crafting what she hoped would be the perfect, magical Christmas for her family. The baking began weeks in advance, sometimes with her eclectic playlist...
