Top Stories category, Page 474
‘I felt like a kid myself’: Duquesne president Gormley revels in Dukes’ tournament appearance
There are moments in an institution’s life so epic that even a university president becomes just another face in the crowd. Not that Ken Gormley of Duquesne University is complaining. In the 36 hours since its men’s basketball team achieved something it hadn’t in 46 previous years, the Catholic university...
Judge won’t toss Allegheny County Council lawsuit over Shuman
A judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit by Allegheny County Council over the new Shuman Juvenile Detention Center. The complaint, filed against the county over the contract it entered into with Adelphoi last year to reopen the facility, alleges that council was required to approve it. Since it...
Mt. Pleasant Township man allowed to embrace his mother before being returned to jail on charges he tried to stab her to death
The criminal case against a Mt. Pleasant Township man charged with the attempted homicide of his mother will continue even though she no longer wants to see her son jailed for the alleged attack, a Westmoreland County prosecutor said. Judge Scott Mears allowed Kort Noel Eckman, 46, and his mother,...
Trump seeks to appeal decision not to disqualify district attorney from Georgia election case
ATLANTA — Former President Donald Trump and other defendants in Georgia’s election interference case filed court papers Monday seeking to appeal a judge’s ruling not to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from their prosecution or dismiss the charges. The resignation of the special prosecutor with whom Willis had...
Pennsylvania House speaker pushes for same-day registration and widely available early voting
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House speaker said Monday that qualified residents should be able to register to vote at polling places on the day of elections, and that early voting centers should be open for two weeks beforehand. Speaker Joanna McClinton had proposed these measures as part of a wider...
EPA bans asbestos, a deadly carcinogen still in use decades after a partial ban was enacted
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a carcinogen that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year but is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products. The final rule marks a major expansion of EPA regulation under a...
Highmark posts $533M profit in 2023, reversing dismal performance in 2022
Call it a reversal of fortune. After losing money in 2022, Pittsburgh’s Highmark Health rebounded last year. The health insurance giant posted net income of $533 million even as it grappled with operating losses at its Pittsburgh-area hospitals. That compares with a $346 million loss in 2022, due largely to...
Duquesne finally reaches NCAA Tournament, but there’s plenty of work to do at home, too
For years, Duquesne athletic director Dave Harper expressed to anyone willing to listen how desperately he wanted to see his men’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament. “I said, ‘I’m not going to rest until our name is on a (bracket) line on Sunday on that selection show,’ ” he...
State trooper charged in connection with domestic violence allegation
Criminal charges were filed Monday against a suspended state trooper in connection with a domestic violence allegation. Troopers from the state police internal affairs division filed a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and a summary count of harassment against Nicholas E. Hood, 31, of Derry Township. Hood had been based...
Judge sends Munhall man to life in prison for murder, then tacks on 43 more years
The judge minced no words as he sentenced the Munhall man before him to life in prison with no chance for parole for first-degree murder. “This case is an outrageous disregard for anyone but yourself,” Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Anthony M. Mariani told the defendant on Monday. “You represent...
Kenny Pickett talks about exit from Steelers, getting fresh start with Eagles
After signing veteran quarterback Russell Wilson to a one-year contract last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t waste time trading two-year starter Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles. It turns out Pickett was just as anxious to move across the commonwealth as the Steelers were sending him there, cementing the deal...
Vouchers for missing Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads for sale on eBayVideo
The mystery of the stolen Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads remains, but fans have already taken to eBay to try and sell vouchers for the figurines — and they’re pricey. Last week, 18,500 tiny likenesses of No. 68, complete with hand raised in a salute, had disappeared after being shipped by boat...
Settlement reached in dispute over Allegheny County ballot drop boxes
Four days after suing Allegheny County’s chief executive for overreaching her authority by announcing mail-in ballot drop-off locations without approval from the county elections board, the plaintiffs on Monday agreed to withdraw their complaint. County Councilman at-large Sam DeMarco, R-North Fayette, the lead plaintiff, said the decision was made because...
Trump’s lawyers say it is impossible for him to post bond covering $454 million civil fraud judgment
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s lawyers told a New York appellate court Monday that it’s impossible for him to post a bond covering the full amount of a $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals, suggesting the former president’s legal losses have put him in a serious cash crunch....
UPMC pledges seamless transition as dental center closes
State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, says UPMC has assured him that dental patients transferred from its soon-to-close Montefiore center “will be easily absorbed” into the University of Pittsburgh Dental School clinic without undue treatment delays. He said the hospital system said most employees from the Montefiore operation have been...
Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot to retire after 7 seasons of sharing AD Dave Harper’s vision for programVideo
In March 2017, Dave Harper set out on a solo journey, seeking to hire a coach for the struggling men’s basketball program at Duquesne. “A man on an island,” he said. “I was trying to sell a job where the perception was coaches go to die.” Yet, after 17 months...
Pittsburgh police make arrest in Allentown triple shooting that killed 1 man
Pittsburgh police have made an arrest in a triple shooting earlier this month that left one man dead in the city’s Allentown neighborhood. Quincey Gurske, 20, of Mt. Washington was taken into custody Monday morning for the fatal shooting March 3 of Marquese Freeman, also 20 and from Pittsburgh, authorities...
Mark Madden: Steelers have had a perfect offseason, choosing progress over saving face
This much should be made clear about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ reconstructed quarterback room: There’s a pecking order. Russell Wilson is the starter. He’s not on a short leash or any leash. Justin Fields didn’t come to Pittsburgh to compete with Wilson. He’s clearly the backup and in a position to...
Hempfield family fighting son’s leukemia encourages people to join transplant registry
When Lucas James’ mom came to pick him up from school two years ago, Lucas knew something was terribly wrong. “I had on-and-off fevers, and we ended up having to do a blood test,” said Lucas, 14. “I was at school when my mom had gotten notified. “She was so...
Trump ramps up dark rhetoric in Ohio stump speech for Senate candidate Bernie MorenoVideo
VANDALIA, Ohio — Former President Donald Trump claimed that he — not President Joe Biden — will protect Social Security and warned of a “bloodbath” if he loses in November as he campaigned for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Ohio. Trump, speaking Saturday on a wind-whipped airfield outside of Dayton,...
Putin is poised to extend his rule in highly orchestrated vote even as Russians quietly protestVideo
Russians crowded outside polling stations at noon Sunday on the last day of a presidential election, apparently heeding an opposition call to protest against President Vladimir Putin in a vote that offered them no real alternatives after he ruthlessly cracked down on dissent. Shortly after the last polls closed in...
LeBron James congratulates Duquesne, Dambrot on historic victory
The king paid respect to the Dukes on Sunday. NBA All Star LeBron James congratulated the Duquesne University men’s basketball team Sunday on their entrance into the NCAA tournament, the first time the Dukes have made the dance in 47 years. James, a four-time NBA MVP and Akron, Ohio native,...
Pennsylvania is flush with surplus cash, but it still faces a looming budget problem
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 — Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to spend $3.5 billion of Pennsylvania’s surplus to stabilize transit systems, fund a court-mandated K-12 education overhaul, and expand...
After 47 years, Duquesne is headed back to the NCAA Tournament
Mossie Murphy, this one’s for you. After a 47-year wait, the Dukes can go dancing again. “I’m sure he would be up in the aisle dancing,” former Duquesne great Baron “B.B.” Flenory said of Murphy, the late political consultant from Pittsburgh and Duquesne’s most visible basketball booster back when the...
Remember When: St. Patrick’s Day Flood wreaked havoc on the A-K Valley in 1936
In the winter of 1936, the Alle-Kiski Valley saw 63 inches of snowfall through February. Then March came in like a lion. During the first weeks of March, warm weather coupled with melting snow and two days of torrential rain resulted in one of the region’s worst natural disasters: the...
