Top Stories category, Page 358
Appeals court rules Washington County must notify mail-in voters of ballot errors
The Washington County Board of Elections must notify voters of mail-in ballot errors so they can vote provisionally, a Pennsylvania appellate court panel ruled Tuesday. The decision upheld a lower court ruling that a policy barring election workers from notifying voters about mail-in ballot errors was unconstitutional. “We do not...
Police: 2 former Westmoreland Hospital nurses took, shared inappropriate patient images
Two former Westmoreland Hospital nurses are accused of taking and sharing photos and making recordings of patients without their permission, including one instance where police say a suspect superimposed co-workers’ faces on a photo of a naked patient, court papers show. Greensburg police charged Peter Castellano, 36, of Pittsburgh and...
Jewish Association on Aging announces plans for former Squirrel Hill nursing home
The former Charles Morris Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Squirrel Hill will once again be a home for seniors — but with a fresh look and vision. The long-time facility is part of a development planned to expand living options in the city of Pittsburgh while meeting the ever-changing needs...
Pittsburgh city hall press room renamed after the late Tim McNulty, reporter and Peduto spokesman
The press room in Downtown Pittsburgh’s City-County Building will be renamed in honor of Tim McNulty, a former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter who later served as a spokesperson for former Mayor Bill Peduto and the Pittsburgh Penguins. McNulty, of Pittsburgh’s North Side, died in July after battling cancer. He was 54....
Pittsburgh approves $500K payment to end Fern Hollow Bridge collapse lawsuit
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday voted to approve a $500,000 payment to the victims of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse. Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration this month announced intentions to resolve the lawsuit that has been unfolding in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court for more than two years. Eight people were...
TikTok removes Russian state media accounts for ‘covert influence operations’ ahead of U.S. election
TikTok has removed accounts associated with Russian state media for engaging in “covert influence operations” ahead of the U.S. presidential election. The short-form video sharing company said Monday the changes affect accounts associated with TV-Novosti — the parent organization of the Russian state media RT — and Rossiya Segodnya, the...
Lower Burrell, Highlands, Fox Chapel deal with threats at schools
Lower Burrell police are serving search warrants following threats made Monday against Burrell High School on social media platforms, Chief John Marhefka said. “We are conducting a thorough investigation, which takes time,” he said. Superintendent Shannon Wagner said students received and reported the social media posts Monday, and all district...
Pittsburgh bans employers from testing most medical marijuana card holders
If you smoke pot, have a medical marijuana card and work in Pittsburgh, your boss can no longer test you for cannabis in most cases. City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to ban employers from testing most workers or prospective employees with state-issued medical marijuana cards. The rule includes several...
Doors Open Pittsburgh offers unique river tour of the city’s iconic landmarks
On a hot Saturday afternoon in July, more than 100 guests boarded the Gateway Clipper Fleet’s Duchess. They traveled along the three rivers for 90 minutes and learned about the buildings and bridges that make Pittsburgh, well, Pittsburgh. “It’s a different viewpoint from the river,” said Paul Tellers of Mt....
Dog named Lucky missing after carjacking at East Huntingdon Tractor Supply store
As they often did, Willard Martz and his 10-year-old Airedale terrier, Lucky, went for a ride Monday morning. When Martz parked outside the East Huntingdon Tractor Supply about 8:45 a.m., leaving a window open for his companion, and headed into the store, someone came up behind him, said his daughter,...
Pittsburgh man charged in death of father at their home in city’s Overbrook neighborhood
A Pittsburgh man has been arrested and charged in the death of his father Monday at their home in the city’s Overbrook neighborhood. City police charged Christopher Hudak, 28, with criminal homicide in the death of 63-year-old James Hudak, who was pronounced dead at the scene with multiple stab wounds...
Hempfield Area votes to spend $100K to double its weapons detector devices
After purchasing six weapons detectors for its schools in advance of the academic year, the Hempfield Area School District will double up on its security measures. The district purchased six OpenGate weapons detectors for more than $111,000 in July. The devices — two parallel poles that create a gate for...
Harris set to return to Pittsburgh on Wednesday
Vice President Kamala Harris is slated to visit Pittsburgh once again on Wednesday afternoon as part of her White House bid, according to a campaign representative. Details about the visit weren’t immediately available. It will be Harris’ fourth stop in the Pittsburgh area since launching her presidential campaign. Pennsylvania has...
Trump pledges to create protectionist policies and deport immigrants before cheering crowd at IUP rally
Former President Donald Trump spoke to a capacity crowd at Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Monday night, detailing his protectionist policies of tariffs, criticizing immigrants’ impact on Pennsylvania towns, and keeping steel production in America. “We are going to keep U.S. Steel right here in America,” Trump said. “We have...
Trump courts farmers’ support in visit near Smithton
Rachelle Davanzo’s life growing up on her family’s South Huntingdon farm wasn’t a typical childhood. “When normal kids went home to watch TV, I went home to milk cows,” she said. Now a beef farm still run by her family, the bucolic rural site was the backdrop for a visit...
Nebraska senator blocks GOP effort to deliver all electoral votes to Trump
A Republican effort to lock down all of Nebraska’s electoral votes for former President Donald Trump appeared doomed Monday when a state lawmaker denied backers his crucial support for the move. GOP Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha said in a statement that he opposes awarding Nebraska’s five electoral votes on...
UPMC Western Psych nurses warn staffing shortages degrading patient care
Nurses and local officials warned Monday of the dangers of low staffing, high turnover and closed beds at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital in Pittsburgh amid what they described as a dire mental health crisis afflicting the nation. Several dozen Western Psych workers represented by the SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania union raised...
Kmart’s blue light fades to black with the shuttering of its last full-scale U.S. store
NEW YORK — Attention, Kmart shoppers, the end is near! The erstwhile retail giant renowned for its Blue Light Specials — featuring a flashing blue orb affixed to a pole enticing shoppers to a flash sale — is shuttering its last full-scale store in mainland United States. The store, located...
FBI finds violent crime declined in 2023. Here’s what to know about the reportVideo
WASHINGTON — Violent crime in the U.S. dropped in 2023, according to FBI statistics that show a continued trend downward after a coronavirus pandemic-era crime spike. Overall violent crime declined an estimated 3% in 2023 from the year before, according to the FBI report Monday. Murders and non-negligent manslaughter dropped...
Texas jury clears most ‘Trump Train’ drivers in civil trial over 2020 Biden-Harris bus encounter
AUSTIN, Texas — A federal jury in Texas on Monday rejected voter intimidation allegations against all but one of a group of former President Donald Trump’s supporters who surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus on an interstate days before the 2020 election. Only one of the six Trump supporters who were...
Hempfield man denied bond reduction in alleged murder-for-hire case
A Hempfield man accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill his sister in April in a dispute over money and property he expected to inherit will not see his $250,000 bail reduced. Westmoreland County Judge Scott Mears said during a hearing Monday that the charge against Peter...
Stock market today: Wall Street adds slightly to record highs
NEW YORK — U.S. stock indexes reached new heights Monday after drifting higher in a quiet day of trading. The S&P 500 rose 16.02 points, or 0.3%, to 5,718.57 and edged past its record set Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 61.29 points, or 0.1%, to its own all-time...
Schizophrenic man who killed 10 at a Colo. supermarket found guilty of murder
BOULDER, Colo. — A mentally ill man who killed 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in 2021 has been found guilty of murder and faces life in prison. Jurors reached their verdict Monday in the trial of Ahmad Alissa. His attorneys did not dispute that Alissa, who has schizophrenia, fatally...
Trio pleads guilty to attempted metal theft from Hamill Manufacturing
Two men were sentenced to almost a year in prison Monday after pleading guilty to the attempted theft of U.S. submarine metal from a Penn Township manufacturer. Bobby Lucci, 27, and Marcello Miguel, 22, both of Mt. Ephraim, N.J., will serve from 364 days to two years, less one day,...
Burrell and Fox Chapel Area schools implement 2-hour delay, virtual learning after social media threats
Safety concerns have prompted a “flexible instruction day” Tuesday for students in the Fox Chapel Area and Burrell school districts. A delayed start for students will be in effect at both districts. A “concerning social media post” reported Monday by students prompted the virtual instruction and a 2-hour delay at...
