Top Stories category, Page 439
Student teaching stipend aims to fill void for aspiring educators, but some say program needs more support
Almost nothing could deter Brianna Savko from teaching. Generally modest pay, an all-time high annual attrition rate of 7.7% and a statewide shortage of more than 2,000 teachers were not enough to change her mind. “There’s a passion there, and I don’t care what the money is behind it when...
Trump to undergo probation interview Monday, a required step before his New York sentencing
Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to be interviewed by New York probation officials Monday, a required step before his July sentencing in his criminal hush money case, according to three people familiar with the plan. Trump will do the interview via a computer video conference from his residence at...
1 dead in Downtown shooting near UPMC Mercy
Pittsburgh police are investigating a fatal shooting that took place Sunday morning in Downtown. Police responded to a ShotSpotter alert for three shots fired at 11:15 a.m. in the area of Fifth Avenue and Vine Street near UPMC Mercy Hospital, where they found a man with a shotgun wound to...
Mt. Pleasant man killed in apartment fire
A Mt. Pleasant man died after a kitchen fire trapped him in his apartment, according the Westmoreland County coroner. Emergency crews were called to the 200 block of West Smithfield Street in Mt. Pleasant at 11:45 p.m. Saturday when a neighbor reported smoke from next door. Westmoreland County Coroner Tim...
From women pastors to sexual abuse to Trump, Southern Baptists have a busy few days ahead of them
Thousands will gather in Indianapolis June 11-12 for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. The meeting comes at a fraught time in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Messengers — as voting delegates are known — will vote on whether to establish a constitutional ban on churches with women...
Gaza’s Health Ministry says 274 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raid that rescued 4 hostages
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — At least 274 Palestinians were killed and hundreds more were wounded in the Israeli raid that rescued four hostages held by Hamas, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday. The military said its forces came under heavy fire during the complex daytime operation deep inside the territory....
Amazon advertises ‘fulfillment center’ jobs at New Stanton location
While Amazon officials have not officially announced what a $120 million facility in New Stanton will be used for, the company’s website is soliciting job applications for “fulfillment center warehouse associate” positions in New Stanton. Amazon has a fulfillment center and robotic sorting facility west of Pittsburgh in Findlay. When...
Western Pa. education leaders seek solutions to statewide teacher shortage crisis
Thousands of teaching positions in Pennsylvania were vacant or filled by someone on an emergency certificate in the past year, leaving education across the state in crisis mode, one industry onlooker said. More than 2,000 teaching positions were vacant in Pennsylvania as of October, according to data released by the...
Haiti’s new prime minister hospitalized days after being selected to lead country, official says
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s newly selected prime minister, Garry Conille, was hospitalized late Saturday in the capital of Port-au-Prince just days after arriving in the country, an official told The Associated Press. It wasn’t immediately known why Conille was hospitalized. Louis Gérald Gilles, a member of the transitional presidential council...
Woman who fell down steep hill below Bigelow Boulevard rescued by Pittsburgh first responders
Pittsburgh Public Safety personnel rescued a woman on the hillside below Frank Curto Park on Bigelow Boulevard on Saturday afternoon after employees at a car dealership below heard her screaming. The woman, who is in her 30s, likely fell from a concrete retaining wall she had been sitting on, a...
Cross-country Model T drivers deal with a breakdown
When you’re driving a century-old car, engine trouble is not what you want. Mike Vaughn of Lincoln, Neb., and two other volunteers from Nebraska’s Museum of American Speed pulled into their planned stop in Greensburg and noticed their 1924 Model T Ford was making an odd sound. That led to...
Bantam Jeep Festival rumbles into Butler County
A couple years ago, Theresa Putnam began to notice a new phenomenon at the annual Bantam Jeep Festival near Slippery Rock — someone was leaving little rubber ducks on Jeeps. “We started talking to people, and we found out it meant we’d been ‘ducked,’ ” said Putnam, a Dayton, Ohio,...
Nurse practitioners say they’d ease rural health care shortage with more authority; doctors say it won’t work
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. HARRISBURG — Joyce Knestrick can independently give physical exams, diagnose health conditions, prescribe select medications, and make referrals as a nurse practitioner at a clinic...
Secret opioid cash meetings criticized by Pa. lawmaker after Spotlight PA and WESA reporting
This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — A member of the board overseeing Pennsylvania’s opioid settlement money said he’s concerned the group’s actions don’t comply with the state’s Sunshine Act, echoing transparency...
Horror fans head to Monroeville Mall for Living Dead Weekend
Leonard Lies remembers exactly how he died. “I was zombie-ing through the mall, makeup on, and these people come in on a motorcycle,” he said. “One guy is in a sidecar, and so I zombie past, and I knock him out of the car. And he’s really upset, so he...
Tim Benz: Debating the idea that the Steelers get more media, fan protection than other Pittsburgh teams
CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala was on a recent edition of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show. She’s a veteran of covering the Steelers and the AFC North for the NFL Network. During the episode, one of the hosts advanced the opinion that the Cleveland Browns are criticized in that city less...
Social media companies need to do more to stop online harassment, experts say
Allene Ecker tenses up when the phone rings with an unexpected call. She’s wary of going out at night. And during the day, she worries someone will walk into the hair salon where she works and expect a sexual encounter. At a previous job, a man booked a haircut with...
Parents, students question Penn-Trafford principal shuffling
Carly Bouch wants answers from the Penn-Trafford School District administration. The Trafford resident is among several parents in the district who attended recent school board meetings to learn more about five longtime educators being shifted to different schools in the district next fall — including four elementary teachers who have...
Police: Woman, 10-year-old girl found dead in vehicle in South Park
Allegheny County Police are investigating the deaths of a woman and a 10-year-old girl found dead Friday evening in a vehicle in South Park. County police said released a statement saying Mt. Lebanon police were contacted by a male Friday afternoon requesting a welfare check on the 43-year-old woman and...
St. Wendelin Church meant so much to parishioners
Ludwig Henigin laid the cornerstone at St. Wendelin Church 128 years ago. His great-great-granddaughter, Pat Henigin, stopped by the church on a beautiful sunny Friday afternoon to check on the cornerstone as the church was being demolished. “I came here to see where the cornerstone is going to go,” said...
Greensburg park packed with fans for Elton John tribute concert
Elton Rohn’s tribute to an almost identically named British rock superstar packed thousands of music fans into Greensburg’s St. Clair Park Friday evening. Among that audience for the first SummerSounds concert of the year were a Greensburg man and woman with a tribute of their own. Friends Derek Rinchuse and...
Gainey declares disaster emergency after shelter fire displaces 175 people
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey signed a disaster emergency declaration Friday evening over Tuesday’s fire at the Second Avenue Commons homeless shelter. The declaration taps the heads of the city’sEmergency Management, Planning and Permits, Licenses and Inspections departments to coordinate an emergency response. According to a statement released by the City...
Jury finds New Kensington man not guilty of 1st-degree murder, deadlocks on remaining homicide counts
Following marathon deliberations that lasted more than 14 hours over two days, a New Kensington man was found not guilty of first-degree murder while the jury failed to reach a verdict on remaining counts that included allegations he shot and killed another man during a botched robbery four years ago....
Jury acquits Jeannette man in Rialto stabbing
Anthony J. Sharp pumped his fists and embraced dozens of cheering family members and friends moments after a Westmoreland County jury found him not guilty of attempted murder and other offenses in connection with the stabbing of a man outside of the former Rialto Bar and Bistro in Greensburg. Jurors...
Pa. lawmakers introduce bills to advance Shapiro’s higher education overhaul
Two Democratic lawmakers, one in the House and one in the Senate, are introducing legislation to advance Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposals to reimagine Pennsylvania’s higher education system. The system has long been criticized as underfunded by the state and too expensive for students. The governor on Friday announced the introduction...
