Top Stories category, Page 493
Papua New Guinea leader takes offense after Biden implies his uncle was eaten by cannibals there
MELBOURNE, Australia — Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape accused Joe Biden of disparaging the South Pacific island nation by implying that an uncle of the U.S. president had been eaten by “cannibals” there during World War II. Biden’s comments offended a key strategic ally as China moves to...
Passover begins amid ongoing antisemitism and unrest in Israel
Shari Lowenstein Zatman of O’Hara is entering Passover with a mix of emotions this year. “I definitely feel like we’re observing Passover with a heavier heart this year. ’Let My People Go’ is something we say as part of the holiday and it’s taken on a relevant meaning with our...
Pro-Palestinian protests sweep U.S. college campuses following mass arrests at Columbia
NEW YORK — Columbia canceled in-person classes, dozens of protesters were arrested at Yale and the gates to Harvard Yard were closed to the public on Monday as some of the most prestigious U.S. universities sought to diffuse campus tensions over Israel’s war with Hamas. The various actions followed the...
Kenneth Mash re-elected leader of Pa. state university union
Kenneth Mash has been re-elected president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the 5,000-plus member union for professors and coaches across the State System of Higher Education. The union on Monday announced result of voting by delegates across the state. Mash, a political science professor at...
Pittsburgh City Council’s private meetings raise questions about Sunshine Law compliance
For years, Pittsburgh City Council members have gathered behind closed doors to talk in private about public policy. No one keeps a log of who attends. No minutes are maintained of what is said. And council members, desperate to ensure they don’t have too many people present, sometimes duck out...
Affordable housing in Pittsburgh clears hurdle with City Council vote
Pittsburgh City Council has just made it easier to build townhomes and row houses, a step that supporters say will boost the city’s affordable housing stock. The move came Monday in a unanimous vote approving a zoning change to expand where attached housing can be built in the city. Attached...
Steelers not ‘overly thirsty’ entering draft despite glaring hole at center
The work done in the offseason, via signings and trades, has saturated the Pittsburgh Steelers roster and kept coach Mike Tomlin hydrated as the NFL Draft approaches. “We’ve addressed a lot of needs, and you don’t feel overly thirsty in any particular area,” Tomlin said Monday at a pre-draft news...
We reviewed every song on Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
Taylor Swift’s 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” was released Friday. But, surprise, it wasn’t just one album. She released a double album. Swifties, who thought they were getting 17 new songs, actually received 31. No torture at all to Taylor Swift fans. But did we need 31 songs?...
Express files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, announces store closures
NEW YORK — Express Inc — once a trendsetter of casual office attire that has struggled to compete with the likes of Zara and H&M — has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The retailer based in Columbus, Ohio, and founded in 1980 also said Monday it is seeking to...
Judge orders mom of accused McKeesport cop killer to remove online video of shooting
A judge Monday ordered the mother of a man charged with killing a McKeesport police officer to remove video of the shooting and other material from an online fundraising page within 24 hours. The order, by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer, followed a hearing to address prosecution fears...
Dave & Andy’s Homemade Ice Cream in Oakland is closing
When Leigh-Anne Weiss saw a Facebook post announcing that Dave & Andy’s Homemade Ice Cream shop in Oakland is closing this week because owner Andy Hardie is retiring, she said she was left with a sense of sorrow. “This is sad when you hear about such a great place closing,”...
Joanne Kilgour and Alison L. Steele: This Earth Day, let’s work together to build a better future for Pa.
Each year, Earth Day marks a chance to imagine a better, brighter world. Picture a Pennsylvania with bountiful clean water, skies unclouded by pollution, a strong, diverse economy and an equal opportunity for all to be healthy and thrive. Today, that vision is closer than ever to reality. Billions of...
Mark Madden: Getting a 1st-round WR makes sense, but the Steelers cling to outdated philosophy
Conventional wisdom says the Pittsburgh Steelers will take an offensive lineman with their first pick of the NFL Draft, 20th overall. Either a tackle or center. Whichever of those two positions isn’t addressed with that choice, they will likely select in the second round. That’s smart. If it’s the ’70s....
Business representatives, graduates advise Northern Westmoreland CTC on needs
The job prospects for students graduating from the heating and air conditioning program at Northern Westmoreland Career & Technology Center are 100%, says Mark Williamson, owner and president of MW Mechanical Services in New Kensington. “Right now, there’s such a shortage of skilled labor, in our field and a lot...
With homelessness on the rise, the Supreme Court will weigh bans on sleeping outdoors
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court wrestled with major questions about the growing issue of homelessness on Monday as it considered whether cities can ban people from sleeping outside when shelter space is lacking. The case is considered the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the...
Trump tried to ‘corrupt’ the 2016 election, prosecutor alleges as hush money trial gets underwayVideo
NEW YORK — Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors Monday at the start of the former president’s historic hush money trial. “This was a planned, long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016...
Morning Roundup: Mon Wharf reopens; West Mifflin man arrested in connection to Larimer shooting
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, April 22: Mon Wharf reopens The Mon Wharf parking lot is reopening Monday after it closed due to flooding, according to the Pittsburgh Parking Authority. Parking will be available on the Wood Street and Stanwix Street sides of...
Police file charges against man who brought gun to Allegheny County Jail
Allegheny County Police have filed charges against a man they said brought a loaded handgun into the Allegheny County Jail on Saturday. According to county police, a Swissvale officer transported Dayvonne Jackson, 21, to the jail around 9:40 a.m. Jackson had been arrested for defiant trespass in Braddock Hills. While...
Breakfast With Benz NFL Draft preview: ‘Awesome’ receiver class awaits Steelers to address significant need
I was never the world’s biggest Diontae Johnson fan. But I still wasn’t wild about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ recent trade which shipped him off to Carolina for cornerback Donte Jackson. For all of Johnson’s inconsistencies, I still think he was a better receiver than Jackson is a corner. And, while...
‘It’s life-changing’: Collegiate, high school esports programs on the rise
Brayden Seech has been playing video games since he was in elementary school. He started with Nintendo’s Wii and DS devices, shifting into Xbox and PC games as he got older. Now, as a 17-year-old senior at Penn-Trafford High School, Seech has earned a college scholarship to continue his hobby...
Madden Monday: ‘Unprofessional, inexcusable’ moments that wrecked the Penguins’ season
When the Pittsburgh Penguins cleaned out their lockers Thursday after another failed attempt to make the NHL playoffs, forward Lars Eller was asked where this season went wrong. “I think we had some times during the season where we just got too low — emotionally and quality of play,” Eller...
Biden marks Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal solar power grants
TRIANGLE, Virginia — President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving 900,000-plus households in low- and middle-income communities — while criticizing Republicans who want to gut his policies to address climate change. The Democrat seeking reelection this year took aim...
‘It means everything to me’: Penn-Trafford track athlete raises money for elementary school playground
After breaking Penn-Trafford’s discus record and placing third in the state last year, Matthew Sarnowski returns to the throwing circle this track and field season with lofty goals. But that is not Sarnwoski’s only reason for throwing well this spring. The Penn-Trafford senior’s performance is driving a fundraiser for his...
Terry Anderson, AP reporter abducted in Lebanon and held captive for years, dies at 76
LOS ANGELES — Terry Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, has died at 76. Anderson, who chronicled his abduction and torturous imprisonment by Islamic militants...
Earth Day: How a grocery shopper takes steps to avoid ‘pointless plastic’
ALBANY, N.Y. — Nature wraps bananas and oranges in peels. But in some modern supermarkets, they’re bagged or wrapped in plastic too. For Judith Enck, that’s the epitome of pointless plastic. The baby food aisle is similarly distressing for her, with its rows and rows of blended fruits, vegetables and...
