Top Stories category, Page 492
Private lander touches down on the moon but sending weak signalVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A private lander on Thursday made the first U.S. touchdown on the moon in more than 50 years, but managed just a weak signal back until flight controllers scrambled to gain better contact. Despite the spotty communication, Intuitive Machines, the company that built and managed the...
Pittsburgh’s top engineer pledges better bridge maintenance to avert another disaster
Pittsburgh is already making improvements to the way it handles bridge upkeep, the city’s chief engineer said a day after the National Transportation Safety Board pinpointed the city’s lack of maintenance as a key reason the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed. The NTSB on Wednesday condemned the city for years of...
A deficit of experienced voting officials could mean trouble for Pa.’s 2024 election
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. As the presidential election approaches, Pennsylvania is facing a deficit of experienced election directors, increasing the risk of errors that could cause difficulties for voters, disenfranchise their votes, and...
Ex-FBI source accused of lying about Bidens and having Russian contacts is returned to U.S. custody
LAS VEGAS — A former FBI informant accused of lying about multimillion-dollar bribery allegations against President Joe Biden and his son Hunter and purportedly having links to Russian intelligence was again taken into custody Thursday, two days after a judge said he could be freed ahead of trial, his attorneys...
Voters push to toss Summer Lee challenger Laurie MacDonald from primary ballot
The region’s most contentious primary election race just got spicier. Laurie MacDonald, one of two Democratic challengers trying to unseat a surging U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, is now facing a threat to her place on the ballot. This week four Democratic voters in the 12th Congressional District went to...
Dick’s signs lease for former Westmoreland Mall Sears
Dick’s Sporting Goods plans to move into the former Sears at Westmoreland Mall, according to the company that controls the property. The Findlay-based sporting goods chain already has a store behind the mall in Hempfield. Dick’s hasn’t responded to requests seeking comment about the move. Transformco Properties, a Chicago-area company...
Texas school legally punished Black student over hairstyle, judge saysVideo
ANAHUAC, Texas — A Black high school student’s monthslong punishment by his Texas school district for refusing to change his hairstyle does not violate a new state law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination, a judge ruled on Thursday. Darryl George, 18, has not been in his regular Houston-area high school...
Lawrenceville restaurant closes after health inspection
The Industry Public House Restaurant in Lawrenceville voluntarily closed Wednesday after an Allegheny County Health Department inspection found food being stored and prepared in the same area where plumbers were currently working on an exposed sewer line. The restaurant is currently having a sewer line repaired, health department officials said...
Allegheny County to add 5 ballot drop-off locations for primary election
Voters in Allegheny County will have more options to drop off mail-in ballots in time for April’s primary. The drop-off service is expanding from one location in Downtown Pittsburgh to up to a half-dozen across the county. Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato announced Thursday the election office will be adding...
AT&T cellular service returns to customers across the nation
Wireless service has been restored for all AT&T customers affected by the nationwide cellular outages on Thursday, according to NBC News. The cause of the outage is still unknown, NBC News said. Federal Communications Commission is investigating, with help from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, NBC News reported....
La Roche University names new president
La Roche University has named as its eighth president Christina Clark, former provost at Marywood University in Scranton, who has spent two decades as an academic at comprehensive Catholic universities. Officials announced the hiring Thursday. She takes office in July as the school’s second lay president in its 61-year history....
Riverview students to have virtual learning after 2nd reported gas leak this week
An odor of gas, the second in four days, was reported late Thursday morning at Riverview Junior-Senior High School in Oakmont, forcing the evacuation of students and staff. A smell of natural gas was reported about 10:45 a.m. in one of the school’s science rooms. Superintendent Neil English said students...
Tim Benz: Yes, Kyle Dubas has many options. No, none of them are any good
If you tried to follow the flowchart of messaging from Pittsburgh Penguins’ general manager Kyle Dubas, it got pretty confusing. • At one point during his media availability in advance of the March 8 trade deadline, Dubas made it sound like the Penguins may have to trade All-Star winger Jake...
Police file new charge against Coraopolis man accused in death of Murrysville businessman
A new charge was filed Wednesday against an Allegheny County man accused in the fatal shooting of a Murrysville businessman. Allegheny County Police said they believe Jeremy T. Fisher, 41, of Coraopolis, asked a former business associate to kill George Dayieb, 57, about a month before Dayieb’s Dec. 27 death,...
Cellular outages strike the nation
A number of Americans are dealing with cellular outages on AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Verizon, T-Mobile and other service providers, according to data from Downdetector. AT&T had more than 73,000 outages around 9:30 a.m. ET, in locations including Houston, Atlanta and Chicago. The outages began at approximately 3:30 a.m. ET. The...
Biden calls Putin a ‘crazy SOB’ and takes aim at Trump during fundraiser for 2024 election
SAN FRANCISCO — During a fundraiser for his reelection campaign Wednesday night, President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “crazy SOB” and took aim at former President Donald Trump’s comments comparing himself to the Russian opposition leader who died last week in an Arctic prison. Biden was talking...
10 miles of new trail from Gilpin brings regional network 1 step closer
The newest 10 miles of the Armstrong Trail aren’t officially open yet, but dozens of people got to walk along the stretch Wednesday and see its local centerpiece: the revamped railroad bridge spanning the Kiski River near Freeport. Armstrong Trails Executive Director Chris Ziegler announced Tuesday the completion of the...
Andy Warhol honored by Slovakia on anniversary of his death
On this date 37 years ago, the world lost its king of pop art. Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol died suddenly of complications after a routine gallbladder surgery Feb. 22, 1987, in New York. He was 58. The world knew him as pop artist Andy Warhol. But to his nephew Donald...
Westmoreland DA will review Penn Township police video before public release
The Penn Township commissioners voted Wednesday to allow the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office to review police body camera video before it is released to the public. Four months after police released body camera video showing an officer shooting a Ligonier Township man, District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli’s office requested in...
Fort Allen Volunteer Fire Department plans to join Hempfield Fire Department
Fort Allen Volunteer Fire Department is the third of the township’s stations to take steps toward becoming a nonchartered service under the umbrella of the Hempfield Fire Department. The township received a letter Tuesday indicating the station’s intent to “go all in,” according to fire Chief Anthony Kovacic and Township...
Butler County officials announce breach of county computer network involving much of the public’s personal data
A breach of the Butler County computer network that allowed hackers to access the public’s personal information has officials in other counties reinforcing their systems to ward off a similar hack. “Armstrong County’s IT director is aware and on top of the attacks,” Commissioner Pat Fabian said. “Our IT director...
White House weighing executive actions on the border — with immigration powers used by Trump
WASHINGTON — The White House is considering using provisions of federal immigration law repeatedly tapped by former President Donald Trump to unilaterally enact a sweeping crackdown at the southern border, according to three people familiar with the deliberations. The administration, stymied by Republican lawmakers who rejected a negotiated border bill...
Allegheny County Police charge Monroeville man with criminal homicide in shooting mother of their child
Allegheny County Police have arrested a Monroeville man on charges that he fatally shot the mother of their child in a Baldwin Borough apartment earlier this month. Adelin Itongwa, 22, is being charged with criminal homicide and endangering the welfare of a child in the death of Ramiah Griffin, county...
Lawyers for Fern Hollow victims tee off on Pittsburgh officials, bridge inspectors
Lawyers for the victims of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse didn’t hold back Wednesday after listening to federal investigators fault inspectors, officials and regulators for the disaster. “I think it’s outrageous,” Peter Giglione, the attorney who represents the Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus driver injured that day, said of the inaction...
‘Something’s not right to me,’ UPS worker says of cuts at New Stanton hub
A United Parcel Service employee said she felt betrayed this week after receiving news the company plans to shed about 200 jobs from its New Stanton delivery hub. “In the end, we got screwed. It’s rough. Something’s not right to me,” said Lindsey Kramer, 37, of Mt. Pleasant. She was...
