Top Stories category, Page 420
First lady Jill Biden assures Pittsburgh Pride revelers that president stands with them
That few seconds of meeting first lady Jill Biden on Saturday, and taking a quick photograph, was the thrill and privilege of a lifetime for Carol Mullen of Regent Square. But what Biden had to say after about 20 minutes of meeting revelers at Pittsburgh Pride in Allegheny Commons Park...
Man fatally shot in Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood
A man died Friday night in a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood, police said. The ShotSpotter gunfire detection system registered 17 gunshots just after 10 p.m. on the 600 block of Sherwood Avenue. Police found Israel Young, 18, of Pittsburgh with gunshot wounds to his chest and leg. He was...
Law changes give options for schools, but don’t expect 4-day weeks
A change in Pennsylvania’s education laws allows school districts to move away from a requirement that students attend classes for 180 days each school year. But anyone dreaming of four-day school weeks shouldn’t get their hopes up. By changing just one word in the state’s school code late last year,...
Totteridge majority owners take full acquisition of course, continue to expand housing community
Zoltan and Patrick Cendes have helped to build 100 patio homes and 30 single-family homes in the Totteridge Golf Course housing community in Salem since becoming majority owners in 2015. This month, they acquired full ownership of the more than 500-acre property while finishing development of 30 new homes, said...
Ohio explosion caused by cut gas line thought to be turned off, investigators say
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A crew working in the basement area of an Ohio building intentionally cut a gas line not knowing it was pressurized before a deadly explosion this week, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday. NTSB board member Tom Chapman said preliminary investigation shows workers were in the...
Lack of funding might force closure of 88-year-old Eureka Community Ambulance Service
Eureka Community Ambulance Service in Tarentum is placing its own call to 911. Leaders said Thursday the 88-year-old emergency response service likely will close or significantly curtail operations by January, barring crucial and consistent funding from local, state and federal sources. “When we provide a $900 ambulance service and get...
Jennifer Lopez cancels summer tour, which included Pittsburgh show: ‘I am completely heartsick and devastated’
NEW YORK — Jennifer Lopez has canceled her 2024 North American tour, representatives for Live Nation confirmed to The Associated Press. “Jennifer is taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends,” they said in a statement. The tour was to be her first in five years,...
Couple brings former Latrobe bakery back to life as farm-to-table restaurant
Hungry visitors who arrive at 335 Main St. in Latrobe are greeted by a familiar name, Mailey’s, spelled out on the tile flooring and an overhead sign. Inside they’ll find something new: a casual dining experience where there had been a bakery for many years and, more recently, a cafe....
‘I can’t imagine why you would do this,’ judge tells man whose jailhouse threat cost him probation
Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani was moments away from granting leniency to a man who testified against three of his co-defendants in connection with a 2022 fatal shooting in New Kensington. But the judge abruptly halted a sentencing hearing after learning that the defendant — Raquan Carpenter, 20 — may...
Copperheads, timber rattlers and the rare Eastern massasauga among Pa.’s venomous snakes
Summer is rapidly approaching, and, for a lot of people, that means getting into the great outdoors — whether it’s spending a few days camping, hiking a favorite trail or just getting out and enjoying a wooded park. Pennsylvania’s snake population also is enjoying the nice weather, and that can...
Judge bans Derry woman from owning pets for 7 years after caged dog dies of dehydration
A Derry Borough woman is forbidden from having any pets during her seven-year probation term for allowing a dog to die of dehydration in her basement. Judge Christopher Feliciani said Destiny F. Witherspoon, 27, left the dog, named Dallas, alone locked in a cage while she dropped off two other...
Has Ligonier Country Market gotten too big?
The Ligonier Country Market has been a popular fixture in the Ligonier community for nearly 50 years, drawing visitors from throughout the area to shop for everything from fresh produce and baked goods to handwoven rugs and wood crafts. But Ligonier Township officials are wondering whether the seasonal Saturday morning...
Activist Richard Parsakian named Pittsburgh Pride Parade grand marshal
For Richard Parsakian, a queer activist and artist in Pittsburgh, Pride is a celebration. “I feel like it’s an expression for us to acknowledge that we are still here — we are part of everybody’s life,” he said. He’s been marching in the Pride parade for more than 25 years....
Pittsburgh police fire cadet charged with DUI in Franklin Park
A Pittsburgh police cadet was fired after authorities said he drove drunk — with a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit — after downing multiple beers over four hours at a North Hills bar. Robert Redman, 33, of Ohio Township, told Franklin Park police he had seven or...
Trump responds to his guilty verdict by falsely blasting a ‘rigged trial’ and attacking star witness
NEW YORK — Donald Trump launched into attacks on the judge in his criminal trial and continued to undermine New York’s criminal justice system Friday as he tried to repackage his conviction on 34 felony charges as fuel, not an impediment, to his latest White House bid. Trump spoke to...
No quick fix in sight for 114-year-old bridge in South Buffalo
Every other month for the past 10 years or so, Phillip Tompkins has complained to the South Buffalo supervisors about what he says is a rickety bridge on Clinton Road. He worries that emergency vehicles could miss the posted 10-ton weight limit and cause the span to buckle, or that...
Man hospitalized after explosion, fire at Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh
Randy Handel said a food-court blaze that hospitalized a man Friday at the Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District started with “a pop, just a large ‘pop.’” A festival vendor for more than 15 years, Handel heard the pop from a few dozen yards away, then said the...
Fayette man dies after touching live electrical circuit while fixing air conditioner, coroner says
A Fayette County man died Wednesday after touching a live 480-volt open circuit while operating on an air-conditioning unit, according to Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson. James A. McGalla Jr., 33, of Fairchance was working on an air-conditioning unit when he came into contact with the open circuit, Carson said....
Biden said to be finalizing plans for migrant limits as part of a U.S.-Mexico border clampdown
WASHINGTON — The White House is finalizing plans for a U.S.-Mexico border clampdown that would shut off asylum requests and automatically deny entrance to migrants once the number of people encountered by American border officials exceeded a new daily threshold, with President Joe Biden expected to sign an executive order...
Western Pa. voters react to Trump’s guilty verdict
Forest Hills’ Joel Johnson said Thursday evening that former President Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts will sway his vote in November. Johnson, 43, described the unprecedented trial as a “hot mess.” As a self-proclaimed independent, he said he usually votes for who he believes is the least dangerous...
Republican lawmakers react with fury to Trump verdict and rally to his defense
WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers reacted with immediate fury on Thursday as a New York jury convicted former President Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election, speaking out with near unanimity in questioning the legitimacy of the trial and how it was conducted. House...
Roberts rejects Senate Democrats’ request to discuss Supreme Court ethics, Alito flag controversy
WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday declined an invitation to meet with Democratic senators to talk about Supreme Court ethics and the controversy over flags that flew outside homes owned by Justice Samuel Alito. Roberts’ response came in a letter to the senators a day after Alito separately...
Impact of Trump conviction uncertain, but even a small shift in Pa. could have big implications
Former President Donald Trump made history Thursday as the first U.S. president to be convicted of a felony, but the impact that will have on the November election is very much up in the air, according to party leaders and political experts across Pennsylvania. Republican and Democratic leaders in Western...
What’s next for Trump’s conviction in his hush money trial
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts marks the end of the former president’s historic hush money trial, but the fight over the case is far from over. Now comes the sentencing and the potential for a prison sentence. A lengthy appellate process. And all the while,...
What verdict will voters render after jury finds Trump guilty in hush money case?Video
The sometimes-breathless gavel-to-gavel coverage of former President Trump’s trial was no surprise, as a singularly divisive figure sat for more than a month at the defense table, the first president to face criminal charges and the possibility of a trip to jail. But for all the trial’s spectacle, many political...
