Top Stories category, Page 431
Pennsylvania court will decide whether skill game terminals are gambling machines
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court will decide whether the cash-paying electronic game terminals that have become commonplace in convenience stores, bars and elsewhere are unlicensed gambling machines and, as a result, must be shut down. The state Supreme Court said this week that it will consider an appeal by the...
Jill Biden returning to Pittsburgh to campaign for abortion rights
First lady Jill Biden is returning to Pittsburgh on Sunday in an effort to remind voters that the Biden administration is seeking to protect their abortion rights. Biden will visit Pittsburgh on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down Roe v. Wade,...
Heinz History Center ‘dill-ighted’ giant ketchup bottle can stay put
Pittsburgh city officials have released a giant Heinz ketchup bottle from its grip. After the Heinz History Center placed the 35-foot bottle outside its building late last year, the city demanded the institution seek a zoning variance because it was a sign and too tall for existing regulations. The city’s...
Penn Township approves new turnpike maintenance facility; details of interchange still up in air
Penn Township commissioners approved the preliminary development plan for a new Pennsylvania Turnpike maintenance complex featuring nearly 8 acres of solar panels. The complex — which will contain an office space, truck and maintenance garages and a salt storage building — will be located on a nearly 42-acre property with...
Burrell School District budget raises taxes 5.8%
Burrell School District officials say the district is suffering from stagnant property value growth, and taxpayers will foot the bill for it. The district’s final 2024-25 budget of $36.6 million includes a 5.8% property tax hike. The 6.5-mill increase will bring the district’s millage rate to 117.5, the highest of...
Millions are sweating it out as a heat wave nears its peak from Midwest to Maine
SQUAM LAKE, N.H. — As New England baked in a heat wave Thursday, guests at one campground were keeping their food and beer cold with blocks of ice harvested months earlier from a frozen lake. And while some relief is expected in the eastern Great Lakes region and New England...
‘We’re on our knees’: Family continues to push government to help bring Marc Fogel home
The family now has three goals, and each one leads to the next. Force those in power to say Marc Fogel’s name. Have the U.S. State Department designate him as wrongfully detained. Bring the Oakmont teacher home from Russia, where he has been held for nearly three years. “We don’t...
2 grenades confiscated at Pittsburgh airport checkpoint
Bombs away, indeed. TSA has confirmed that its security officers stopped two passengers on Wednesday from smuggling grenades onto flights leaving Pittsburgh International Airport. TSA intercepted a “smoke grenade” from one traveler’s carry-on bag, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. A more iconic, circular grenade was discovered the same day at...
‘He was in amazing shape’: Central Catholic, cycling community remember Bob Anderson
Robert “Bob” Anderson gave 110% on everything he did. The North Hills man displayed the same passion for teaching physical education at Central Catholic High School as he did for biking in national competitions or just around the trails of Allegheny County’s nine parks. Fiercely dedicated to fitness and a...
Donald Sutherland, towering actor whose career spanned ‘M.A.S.H.’ to ‘Hunger Games,’ dies at 88
NEW YORK — Donald Sutherland, the prolific film and television actor whose long career stretched from “M.A.S.H.” to “The Hunger Games,” has died. He was 88. Kiefer Sutherland, the actor’s son, confirmed his father’s death Thursday. No further details were immediately available. “I personally think one of the most important...
Chalfant Run remediation set as transformation of former Churchill Country Club continues
Acid mine drainage has long saturated Chalfant Run with chemicals, harming wildlife and not being particularly good for humans either. Newly flush with funding, the Allegheny Land Trust aims to turn this frothy stream into clear waters by installing a high calcite limestone filter at the Churchill Valley Greenway. “The...
Progress on Pennsylvania bridges could falter without money, report says
The condition of Pennsylvania’s bridges has improved in recent years, according to a new report, but that progress could be reversed without additional funding. TRIP, a Washington, D.C.-based national transportation research nonprofit, on Thursday released a study that commended the progress the commonwealth has made in repairing and maintaining its...
North Huntingdon commissioners want more time to consider natural gas lease
A majority of North Huntingdon commissioners decided this week they need more time to study a proposed lease to tap into a pocket of natural gas trapped in a 4½-acre parcel of township land and possibly extract a better deal from the drilling company. Commissioners on Wednesday voted 5-2 to...
The fight for abortion rights gets an unlikely messenger in swing state Pennsylvania: Sen. Bob Casey
HARRISBURG — Abortion rights, suddenly a potent political force in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to leave such matters to the states, have found an unlikely champion in swing state Pennsylvania. Sen. Bob Casey, who will appear on the November ballot beneath President Joe Biden as the...
Remaining power outages drop as region’s heat wave continues
Power outages are gradually decreasing in the wake of this week’s powerful storms that toppled trees and downed electric lines. As of 11 a.m. Thursday, Duquesne Light had about 750 customers still waiting to have power restored. That compares to about 4,600 customers affected by outages Wednesday afternoon and 85,000...
Hippie Town dispensary battles with residents, Pittsburgh officials over product legality
Christopher Younger lacked a suit, a tie and a law degree as he strode into Pittsburgh Municipal Court, preparing to represent himself against charges that he illegally sold marijuana at his Pittsburgh vape shops. The 42-year-old Hippie Town store owner sported a white T-shirt and blue sweatpants, his white socks...
McCandless man charged with firing shots into neighbor’s house
A McCandless man is charged with shooting at least 10 rounds of bullets into a neighbor’s home Wednesday afternoon. McCandless police responded to the 8000 block of Ringeisen Road at about 3:30 p.m. for reports of shots heard and a woman reported a neighbor was firing bullets into her house....
1st recipient of UPMC breast cancer vaccine is hopeful it will help others
As a young girl, Maria Kitay visited the hospital when her cousin, Clara Carbone Caputo, had breast cancer. “She put her back up against the wall, and she said, ‘It’s so painful to have this,’ ” Kitay said, tearing up at the memory. Her cousin later died of her illness, and...
Former North Braddock cop indicted on drug trafficking charges
Editor’s note: This story was changed to remove references to the arrest happening in Plum. Incorrect information was provided by the state police. A former police officer was indicted on drug trafficking charges. Craig William Gibson, 47, of McKeesport, a former North Braddock police officer, is accused of trafficking drugs...
Shadyside Starbucks baristas vote to unionize
Nine baristas at the Starbucks in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood unanimously voted to unionize, the workers union said Wednesday. The store on Walnut Street in Shadyside becomes the 17th store to unionize in the Pittsburgh region. Over the past three years, a union wave has hit the coffee giant with over...
Natural gas well impact fee allocations drop, but ‘every little bit helps’
Communities accustomed to receiving large checks from Marcellus Shale wells through the state’s natural gas impact fee will get less money this year because gas prices have fallen and fewer wells are being drilled, according to the state. The state Public Utility Commission will hand out $100 million less next...
Tropical Storm Alberto weakens over northeast Mexico after heavy rains killed 3Video
MEXICO CITY — Tropical Storm Alberto, the season’s first named storm, weakened Thursday as it moved inland over northeast Mexico after bringing heavy rains to parts of the parched region and leaving at least three dead. The storm was weakening rapidly over land and was downgraded to a tropical depression...
Police: Blairsville man stole PennDOT truck fuel, crashed into police cruiser during chase
A Blairsville man is accused of leading Ligonier Valley police on a chase before crashing into one of their cruisers. Travis M. Repinski, 28, of Blairsville was charged with aggravated assault, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, fleeing police, resisting arrest, reckless endangering, weapons violations and related traffic violations....
Excessive heat warning extended in Pittsburgh region
Beating the heat just got harder for Western Pennsylvanians, as the heat dome hovering over the region is now expected to stick around through Saturday evening. The Pittsburgh office of the National Weather Service announced Wednesday that the excessive heat warning is being extended at least one more day and...
New law requires all Louisiana public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments
BATON ROUGE — Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom, the latest move from a GOP-dominated Legislature pushing a conservative agenda under a new governor. The legislation that Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law on Wednesday requires...
