Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 348
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...
New Kensington’s Willie Thrower cast the mold for the modern NFL quarterback 70 years ago
Willie Thrower didn’t talk much about his place in NFL history. Not even with his family. His son, Melvin, was in junior high before he learned about his father’s watershed moment. On Super Bowl Sunday in 1988, Melvin Thrower sat with his father in their New Kensington home and watched...
Black lung: Advocates eye new federal silica-dust standard to stem resurgence among coal minersVideo
Mark Rankin left the coal mines, but the coal mines haven’t left Mark Rankin. Stocky and broad shouldered, the retired Uniontown-area coal miner trekked to a Washington County health clinic to see if recent coughing and tightness in his chest could be black lung. Rankin worked for years stripping coal...
‘Oppenheimer’ hype brings lesser-known aspects of atomic age in Pittsburgh to fore
J. Robert Oppenheimer’s brilliant mind belonged to the atom, his loyalty to the United States, his passion to the New Mexico desert. But the beating heart of the American Prometheus belonged to a woman who grew up in Aspinwall. Yes, Aspinwall, childhood home of the great physicist’s wife, Katherine “Kitty”...
Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children provides residential care for studentsVideo
Editor’s note: Students’ last names have been omitted at the request of the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children. Chloe makes her way down the long hallway. She holds onto her white probing cane, moving it from side to side. As she takes a few steps up a slight grade,...
Left behind: Families that suffer a police death walk a unique path
Left behind: Families that suffer a police death walk a unique path, one marked by an overwhelming loss that often is abrupt, violent and public Each year, roughly 150 law enforcement officers across the country die in the line of duty. They lose their lives in any number of ways....
FOREVER CHANGED
Tyrone Perry eased his pickup through the empty streets of Pittsburgh’s East End, headlights cutting through the predawn darkness. Flecks of light snow speckled the air as music from an R&B CD drifted through the Ford F-150’s speakers. Tyrone was partial to the smooth vibes of musicians like Isaac Hayes...
