Top Stories category, Page 441
Patty Griffin, Micky Dolenz, Paula Cole highlight Allegheny County Summer Concert Series
A two-time Grammy winner, the last surviving member of The Monkees and a singer whose song became ubiquitous with a 1990s TV show are some of the biggest names in this year’s Allegheny County Summer Concert Series, announced Wednesday. The concert series, with shows at South Park Amphitheater and Hartwood...
Pittsburgh Controller Heisler warns in annual report of trouble on horizon for city finances
Pittsburgh Controller Rachael Heisler on Wednesday reiterated concerns about what she views as the city’s fragile financial position as she unveiled her office’s annual report on Pittsburgh’s revenues and expenses. The controller has raised alarms that the city is spending more than it brings in, a problem that is coming...
What to know about the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon
Preparing for a marathon is a challenge even if you aren’t the person running 26.2 miles. Someone has to make sure every step of the course is clear: the twists, the turns, the bridges and the hills. That person is Brian Schmidt, director of operations for P3R, the organization hosting...
Retired Greensburg police officer Regina McAtee pleads guilty to methamphetamine distribution
A retired Greensburg police officer on Wednesday became a lawbreaker in the eyes of the criminal justice system she once upheld. Regina McAtee, 51, of New Kensington, who had been with the city force for more than 19 years, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to distribute and possess...
Top Pa. Game Commission official resigns amid questions over side business
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has a new executive director this week after the agency’s former head resigned abruptly on Monday after issues were raised by commissioner members and lawmakers about his business dealings with employees. Bryan Burhans, who served as its executive director since 2017, was replaced by deputy executive...
United Methodists repeal longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — United Methodist delegates repealed their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate Wednesday, removing a rule forbidding “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers. Delegates voted 692-51 at their General Conference — the first such legislative gathering in five years. That overwhelming...
Explainer: What marijuana reclassification means for the U.S.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The Justice Department proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis, but wouldn’t legalize it for recreational use. The proposal would move marijuana from the “Schedule I” group to the less tightly regulated...
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to force a vote next week on ousting House Speaker Mike JohnsonVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Wednesday she would call a vote next week on ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson, forcing her colleagues to choose sides in a difficult showdown after Democratic leaders announced they would provide the votes to save the Republican speaker’s job. Speaking outside the...
Workers, activists around the world hold May Day rallies urging greater rights, more pay
ISTANBUL — Workers, activists and others around the world took to the streets on Wednesday to mark May Day with protests over the pressure of rising prices and calls for greater labor rights. Pro-Palestinian sentiments were also on display. Police in Istanbul used tear gas and fired rubber bullets to...
Blinken urges Israel and Hamas to move ahead with a cease-fire deal and says ‘the time is now’
JERUSALEM — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders Wednesday in his push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, saying “the time is now” for an agreement that would free hostages and bring a pause in the nearly seven months of war in Gaza. Blinken...
Morning Roundup: 1 injured after shooting in Penn Hills
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, May 1. 1 injured in shooting in Penn Hills One person was injured in a shooting Wednesday morning in Penn Hills, according to police. Penn Hills officers were dispatched at about 1:30 p.m. to the 400 block of...
Arizona’s Democratic leaders get enough votes to repeal 19th century abortion ban
PHOENIX — Democrats in the Arizona Legislature made a final push Wednesday to repeal the state’s long-dormant ban on nearly all abortions, which a court said can be enforced. Voting wasn’t complete but the Senate had the 16 votes it needed to advance the bill. Fourteen Democrats in the Senate...
Former students of the for-profit Art Institutes are approved for $6 billion in loan cancellation
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday said it will cancel $6 billion in student loans for people who attended the Art Institutes, a system of for-profit colleges that closed the last of its campuses in 2023 amid accusations of fraud. Saying the chain lured students with “pervasive” lies, the...
Kiski Township residents balk at merging police force with Southern Armstrong
Some Kiski Township residents are questioning the potential benefits of the township’s police force becoming part of the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department. At a community meeting this week, Southern Armstrong police Chief Chris Fabec told a crowd of about 50 people that Kiski Township would cut its police costs...
Pennsylvania moves to join states that punish stalkers who use Bluetooth tracking devices
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania took a step Tuesday toward becoming the latest state to punish someone for using a Bluetooth-connected device to track someone without their permission. The state House of Representatives voted 199-1 to approve legislation that would make using a tracking device to secretly track another person part of...
North Huntington police say Duquesne man tried to sell 970 stamp bags of heroin/fentanyl
A 30-year-old Duquesne man is accused of having 970 stamp bags of suspected heroin and fentanyl that he allegedly intended to sell in North Huntingdon, township police said. However, the buyer was an undercover police officer, authorities said. The suspect, Larnell D. “Rock” Jones III, of Seward Street, was arrested...
Plum volunteer firefighters begin training sessions at former borough building
Plum’s volunteer firefighters began using the borough’s former municipal building for training Tuesday night. Firefighters from the Holiday Park, Logans Ferry, Renton and Unity departments were expected to start by practicing forceful entry, wall breaching, large room searches and long hallway searches in the building. The building is slated for...
House Republicans launch investigation into federal funding for universities amid campus protests
WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Tuesday announced an investigation into the federal funding for universities where students have protested the Israel-Hamas war, broadening a campaign that has placed heavy scrutiny on how presidents at the nation’s most prestigious colleges have dealt with reports of antisemitism on campus. Several House committees...
4 officers killed in North Carolina were at disadvantage as shots rained from above, police say
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Law enforcement officers with an arrest warrant demanded that a man come out of a house in North Carolina before four were killed by gunfire, the victims unable to survive shots coming from inside the dwelling, a witness and officials said Tuesday. Still reeling from Monday’s attack...
Weak evidence dooms case against Hazelwood driver who killed 6-year-old
Charges against a Hazelwood woman whose vehicle struck and killed a 6-year-old boy riding his bicycle in Glen Hazel nearly two years ago were dismissed on Tuesday after the prosecution conceded it could not prove her guilt at trial. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Alexander P. Bicket granted a defense...
Assault, harassment charges against suspended Pa. trooper held for court
Simple assault and harassment charges against a suspended state trooper were held for court Tuesday. Senior District Judge Charles R. Conway made the decision at the end of a preliminary hearing during which the accuser testified Nicholas E. Hood, 31, of Derry Township assaulted her during an argument Aug. 26...
U.S. poised to ease restrictions on marijuana in historic shift, but it’ll remain controlled substance
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country. The proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White...
Bill co-sponsored by Rep. Summer Lee to improve plugging abandoned gas wells passes U.S. House
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee’s first major bill, which could accelerate efforts to plug up to 3 million abandoned gas and oil wells across the country, cleared the House Tuesday with strong bipartisan support. Abandoned wells leak copious amounts of methane and are a persistent problem in Western Pennsylvania. Speaking Monday...
Pa. auditor general visits Westmoreland County Community College to tout new hiring practicesVideo
Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy DeFoor knows the value of a community college education. It’s where he got his start on the road to becoming a state official. “We’re here to support you,” DeFoor told a group of Westmoreland County Community College students and staff Tuesday morning at the college’s Youngwood...
Encampment is gone from Schenley Plaza in Oakland
Protest signs and tents that had punctuated Schenley Plaza were gone by Tuesday, as pro-Palestinian demonstrators ended a weeklong encampment there and briefly on the University of Pittsburgh campus. Since last Tuesday, Pitt students and others had occupied the city-owned Plaza located in the shadow of the Cathedral of Learning,...
