Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 40
Pittsburgh Mills repair efforts lead to 2nd trial postponement
Owners of the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills have been making progress after years of inactivity on the campus. Monday morning, a status conference, or nonjury trial, to address the criminal charge against the owners of the Mills was continued for a second time. Last April, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s...
Shapiro parodies and chatbot phone banks — how AI is popping up in Pa. elections
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Candidates for office in Pennsylvania are using AI tools to generate parody images of their rivals, create...
Trump administration to pay French company $1B to walk away from U.S. offshore wind leases
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will pay $1 billion to a French company to walk away from two U.S. offshore wind leases as the administration ramps up its campaign against offshore wind and other renewable energy. TotalEnergies has agreed to what’s essentially a refund of its leases for projects off...
Pittsburgh council members seek to bar cooperation with ICE
Three Pittsburgh City Council members on Tuesday will introduce a bill to bar the city from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, following similar legislation enacted by the county earlier this month. “Many residents have seen the terror wrought by ICE agents in other places in the country and...
Pittsburgh-area colleges get funding for programs to combat sexual assault
Carrie Benson remembers a day, semesters ago, when a student stopped at the Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Office at the University of Pittsburgh to ask about certain signs in the bathrooms. The signs, posted on bathroom stalls, outlined resources available to sexual assault survivors. The student asked who put...
Bill Cosby loses sex assault lawsuit and faces $19 million judgment
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — A civil jury in California on Monday found that Bill Cosby had drugged and sexually assaulted Donna Motsinger, a former server at a Sausalito, California, restaurant, after escorting her to one of his comedy shows in 1972. The jury awarded Motsinger $19.25 million in damages, a...
Police seek timeline of fiery crash that killed 4 Yough High School studentsVideo
State police are trying to track where four Yough High School students were in the hours before they were killed in a fiery crash in Sewickley Township, said Trooper Steve Limani. The last communication with someone in the car was at 1:30 a.m. Saturday, two hours before the crash was...
Damar Hamlin starts scholarship initiative at alma mater Central Catholic
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Monday returned to his alma mater, Central Catholic High School in Oakland, to announce a scholarship initiative for students and those planning to go into building trades. Through Hamlin’s Chasing M’s Foundation, 10 scholarships — each worth $1,000 — will be given annually to...
March Madness ups threat of problem gambling, especially for younger men
March Madness tipped off this week, a collection of 67 single-elimination basketball games that not only will crown a champion in 2½ weeks but also draw billions of dollars in sports bets. Young men are particularly at risk of developing gambling problems, experts say. According to a 2024 survey conducted...
Springdale residents not able to return home after partial roof collapseVideo
Springdale resident Amy Ross sat inside the borough recreation center Monday, frustrated and wondering how long it would take to return to her apartment on Butler Street after its roof partially collapsed Monday. “I was gonna move before winter,” Ross said, as she made arrangements for a friend to temporarily...
A plea deal and acquittal leave no one left to take blame for Stowe slaying
A man who testified against his co-defendant in a Stowe homicide pleaded guilty Monday to reduced charges as part of a plea deal. Arrmon Hagans’ testimony failed to secure a guilty verdict against Cy-Miar Woods, 18. A jury acquitted him of homicide last week. Hagans, who was initially charged with...
ICE agents deployed at Pittsburgh International Airport
Pittsburgh International Airport officials confirmed Monday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were at the airport to receive training to aid Transportation Security Administration workers. Allegheny County Airport Authority spokesman Bob Kerlik said in a statement Monday that airport officials were not briefed on exact plans for how ICE...
Trump says Iran is eager for a deal to end the war as he extends deadline to allow for diplomacy
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday the U.S. was talking with an Iranian leader and claimed the Islamic Republic was eager for a deal to end the war. He also extended a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on...
2 pilots killed when jet collides with fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia AirportVideo
NEW YORK — An Air Canada jet carrying more than 70 passengers collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday, killing the pilot and copilot and injuring several others, officials said. The impact severed the cockpit, and hurled a flight attendant — still secured...
Pittsburgh slated for cool down after record high temperature Sunday
After the Western Pennsylvania region felt a record high temperature Sunday, the area will get cooler conditions this week, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Chris Leonardi. Sunday’s high of 84 degrees made it the hottest March 22 ever — and it tied for the region’s record high for any day...
Legal pressures mount on Namdar for Pittsburgh Mills mall maintenance
With spring weather could come accountability for Pittsburgh Mills mall owner Namdar Realty Group. At least that’s what Frazer Zoning Officer Bill Payne is hoping for. “Since all the roads and all the other code enforcement stuff were on the exterior of the property, and with all the weather and...
Westmoreland transit to reshuffle Pittsburgh service for NFL Draft
The Westmoreland County Transit Authority will operate bus service into Pittsburgh during next month’s NFL Draft. Executive Director Alan Blahovec said plans are being formulated to restructure the timing of commuter routes into Pittsburgh for the first two days of the draft. “We’re hoping to finalize plans within the next...
Hempfield’s ‘Tornado Kid’ Tyler Tubbs reflects on viral video 15 years later
Tyler Tubbs was 15 years old, a freshman baseball player at Hempfield Area High School, when a video he recorded of an EF2 tornado touching down March 23, 2011, in his Fort Allen neighborhood went viral. Now, the 30-year-old project manager lives in Hagerstown, Md., with his wife and two...
Rising job opportunities in sports management attract students
Kaleb Tkacs became involved in sports management from the moment he stepped foot on Duquesne University’s campus in August 2023. Tkacs, of Scottdale, joined as a volunteer film crew member with the Duquesne football team that fall. In 2024, he was elevated as a student assistant, overseeing the film crew,...
O’Connor proposes multipronged strategy to close Pittsburgh budget gap
Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor’s team is preparing a series of budget amendments to close what he says is a yawning budget deficit, fund critical expenses and allow the city to scrape through a challenging year. Among the ways O’Connor hopes to balance an out-of-whack budget: using about $6.5 million from...
3 juveniles arrested, 20 treated for pepper spray exposure after fight in Market Square
Three juveniles were arrested Sunday in Downtown Pittsburgh after police say a fight broke out among about 40 people during which pepper spray was used, according to Pittsburgh police. Officers responded to reports of a large gathering of juveniles at Forbes Avenue and Market Square around 5:30 p.m. A fight...
Iran threatens to ‘completely’ close Strait of Hormuz and hit power plants after Trump ultimatum
ARAD, Israel — The United States and Iran threatened to target critical infrastructure Sunday as the war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week, puts lives and livelihoods at risk throughout the region. Iran said the Strait of Hormuz, crucial to oil and other exports, would be “completely...
John Fetterman doubles down on ‘TDS’ claim in face of historically bad pollingVideo
Sen. John Fetterman did not back down in the face of historically bad polling numbers in his appearance this weekend on Fox News’ “My View” with Lara Trump. Fetterman entered the day fresh off a new Quinnipiac poll that showed him at -40 in favorability rating with Pennsylvania Democrats. That...
Trump’s changing course on Strait of Hormuz strategy raises questions about U.S. war preparationVideo
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — At war with Iran, President Donald Trump is cycling through an increasingly desperate list of options as he searches for a solution to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. He is jumping from calls to secure the waterway through diplomatic means to lifting sanctions...
ICE to aid airport security amid partial shutdown, border czar saysVideo
Tom Homan, the White House border czar, confirmed Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be deployed to U.S. airports Monday, casting the operation largely as an effort to ease long lines that have caused frustration among travelers during one of the busiest travel seasons. President Donald Trump announced...
