Top Stories category, Page 528
Register of Wills says work continues to ease backlog as office restructuring OK’d by commissioners
A restructuring and boost in staff pay approved by Westmoreland County commissioners is expected to improve operations in the Register of Wills office. Filing delays and other deficiencies prompted Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton to be admonished last week by a county judge, who issued a court order that...
Longtime Allegheny County chief medical examiner Karl Williams to retire after 17 years
Karl Williams, Allegheny County’s longtime chief medical examiner, who toiled largely in obscurity while overseeing some of the region’s most grisly death investigations, is stepping down. A doctor by training, Williams, 75, is retiring Friday after 17 years as the county’s top forensic pathologist. He leaves behind a $238,000 salary,...
‘There’s consequences,’ judge tells Pittsburgh man before sending him to prison for killing toddler with stray bullet
Zaphora Bernard held up the baby book, “The Life of Zykier Young. I love you.” Zykier was just 5 pounds, 9 ounces when he was born. But 22 inches long, his mom said. She flipped through the pages, displaying them for the judge to see, thrusting the book toward the...
6 members of Philadelphia area family feared dead in house fire and shooting, prosecutor says
EAST LANSDOWNE — Six members of a family — including three children — are feared dead, an official said Thursday, from a fire at a house in suburban Philadelphia that went up in flames as two police officers who responded to the scene were shot and injured. Delaware County District...
New York City man sentenced for drug distribution in Pittsburgh area
A New York City man arrested twice in less than three years for bringing large amounts of drugs into the Pittsburgh area was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in a federal prison. Christopher Delacruz, 35, was first arrested during a traffic stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Westmoreland County in...
Hill District residents ‘overwhelmed with joy’ that Salem’s Market is open
The Hill District has a grocery store again. Salem’s Market & Grill opened its third location at Centre Heldman Plaza on Thursday morning, ending a nearly five-year span in which the Hill District was left without a local grocer following the closing of Shop ‘n Save in March 2019. Guests...
Shapiro’s college plan could be ‘transformational,’ Pa. higher education board chair says
Minutes into Thursday’s State System of Higher Education board meeting, chair Cynthia Shapira summed up in her own view the enormous stakes for public higher education in Pennsylvania: “If we do this right, the new system represents an opportunity to be transformational.” She was referring to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal...
Special counsel alleged Biden couldn’t recall personal milestones. His response: ‘My memory is fine’Video
WASHINGTON — The longstanding concerns about President Joe Biden’s age and memory intensified on Thursday after the release of a special counsel’s report investigating his possession of classified documents. The report described the 81-year-old Democrat’s memory as “hazy,” “fuzzy,” “faulty,” “poor” and having “significant limitations.” It noted that Biden could...
Donations to Plum school lunch debt take small bites out of a big problem
An anonymous member of the Plum School District community recently gave the district $500 to cover student lunch debt at Holiday Park Intermediate School. While generous and appreciated, the donation took only a small bite out of what is routinely a big problem. The district is carrying more than $45,000...
PennWest University embarks on search for new president
Efforts to identify PennWest University’s next president are advancing this week after the school finished assembling a 25-member search committee. Members are a mix of State System of Higher Education leaders and representatives from the California, Clarion and Edinboro campuses, which were merged in 2022 to create Western Pennsylvania’s largest...
5 Marines aboard helicopter that went down outside San Diego are confirmed dead, military says
SAN DIEGO — Five U.S. Marines aboard a helicopter that went down during stormy weather in the mountains outside of San Diego are confirmed dead, the military said Thursday. Authorities say the CH-53E Super Stallion vanished late Tuesday night while returning to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego...
Supreme Court seems poised to reject efforts to kick Trump off ballot over Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seems poised to reject attempts to kick former President Donald Trump off the 2024 ballot. A definitive ruling for Trump, the leading Republican candidate for president, would largely end efforts in Colorado, Maine and elsewhere to prevent his name from appearing on the ballot. Conservative...
I-70 westbound reopens in Washington County after crash
A portion of I-70 westbound in Washington County has reopened after it was closed early Thursday morning because of a crash involving a tractor-trailer and a vehicle. The wreck happened just after 2 a.m. near the 13.1 mile marker near the Taylorstown ramp, according to TribLive news partner WTAE. One...
Morning Roundup: Man injured in Homewood shooting; home invasion in Knoxville
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Feb. 8: Man injured in Homewood shooting A man was injured Wednesday night in a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood. Pittsburgh police and EMS were dispatched to the 7200 block of Frankstown Avenue for an eight-round ShotSpotter alert...
Co-teaching program at Acmetonia boosts learning, test scores
The lesson in Scott Andrews’ fifth grade English Language Arts class Wednesday was about sentence structure. But as students worked through their assignments, it wasn’t just Andrews teaching. Chelsea Brody, a special education teacher, was working in tandem with Andrews and the students as part of a co-teaching program at...
Woman’s hit-and-run death raises questions about Pittsburgh police policy
Twelve minutes before a car struck and killed Faye McCoy on the West End Bridge last month, she was talking to Pittsburgh police officers nearby. It was almost 3 a.m. on Jan. 27, and police had just arrested McCoy’s friend for drunken driving after the car they were in struck...
Legalizing marijuana could generate $255M in revenue for Pa., Gov. Shapiro says
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is hoping to capitalize on what he predicts would generate more than a quarter-billion dollars in revenue if the state legalizes adult-use marijuana. During his budget address Tuesday, he pointed to neighboring states Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland that have legalized recreational use...
Proposed power line route triggers concerns for residents in Derry, Ligonier townships
Gene Giernacky fears he may lose use of part of his rural 15-acre retirement property in Derry Township, while Mike Adams could face the prospect of seeing the timber he intends to use as a heat source for his neighboring home toppled by a utility company. They were among more...
Marianne Williamson suspends her presidential campaign, ending long-shot primary challenge to Biden
WASHINGTON — Self-help author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson on Wednesday announced the end of her long-shot Democratic challenge to President Joe Biden. The 71-year-old onetime spiritual adviser to Oprah Winfrey contemplated suspending her campaign last month after winning just 5,000 votes in New Hampshire’s primary, writing that she “had...
Mom sues Pittsburgh Public Schools, Starbucks over daughter’s alleged rape during school hours
The mother of a Pittsburgh teen who claims her daughter was raped during the school day by three fellow Allderdice High School students at a nearby Starbucks has filed a lawsuit over the incident. The lawsuit, which includes claims for negligence, was filed Tuesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court....
Animal welfare groups warn pausing city spay/neuter program will lead to more homeless cats
Jackie Cafaro works day and night to rescue cats left abandoned on Pittsburgh streets. She’s developed Catcalls Rescue, the nonprofit she co-founded in 2021, into an operation that saves, spays or neuters and puts up for adoption 40 to 60 cats a month — with the help of about 30...
South Fayette man heads to trial on charges he filmed sex with girl
A South Fayette man is headed to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on charges that he had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl and used “multiple iPhones” to film the pair having sex, court records show. Matthew Alexander Trax, 24, allegedly had sex several times with the girl, including...
Coming soon: Salina Bridge to be replaced, part of historic span to be kept for posterity
Replacement of the historic Salina Bridge that connects Bell and Kiski townships will cost $33 million. The apparent low bidder for the project was Mekis Construction Corp. based in Fenelton, according to PennDOT. Project manager Troy Pritts said he expects construction to start by spring. The price tag includes additional...
Derry to consider 2-year pause before revisiting future of disbanded K-9 program
Derry council is expected to consider a two-year moratorium on any revival of the borough’s police dog program, which was disbanded in October following the August euthanization of its police dog, Smoke. In addition to the moratorium, council Tuesday will consider allowing a privately funded memorial stone for Smoke at...
Ex-Pittsburgh building inspector pleads guilty to accepting stove, fridge as bribes
A former City of Pittsburgh building inspector pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal bribery charge for soliciting over $5,400 in items from a developer. Walter Eiseman entered the plea in U.S. District Court before Judge Mark Hornak. Prosecutors said during the hearing that Eiseman, a city building inspector at the...
