Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 55
Pennsylvania deer season opener: Bill introduced for return to Monday tradition
Two state senators said Monday they introduced legislation to restore Pennsylvania’s deer firearms season opener to the first Monday after Thanksgiving. It’s a tradition they say the state wrongfully disrupted in shifting opening day to the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2019. Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming County, and Sen. Lisa Boscola,...
Allegheny County Council trio pushes for regular property reassessments
A bill introduced Tuesday to Allegheny County Council would mandate regular countywide property reassessments. Under the proposed legislation, the county would reassess property values every three years, with the first reassessment mandated in 2028. The measure would ensure everyone pays a fair amount in property taxes and provide predictability for...
GOP state House candidate in North Hills ruled ineligible to appear on primary ballot
A McCandless Republican has been ruled ineligible to appear on the May 19 primary ballot as a candidate for state House because he doesn’t meet Pennsylvania’s residency requirement. Ehab Akkary was the lone Republican to file paperwork to seek the GOP nomination in the 30th state House District, which includes...
Saudi prince is said to push Trump to continue Iran war in recent calls
WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been pushing President Donald Trump to continue the war against Iran, arguing that the U.S.-Israeli military campaign presents a “historic opportunity” to remake the Middle East, according to people briefed by U.S. officials on the conversations. In...
Highmark lost $175M in 2025, battered by high insurance claims
Highmark took a $175 million net loss last year as rising health insurance usage battered the Pittsburgh-based company. Financial results released Tuesday also showed a $674 million operating loss for Highmark, even as revenue rose year-over-year to $32 billion from $29 billion. Highmark Health Plans, the organization’s insurance division, was...
Airport disruptions abound as senators chase deal to end Homeland Security budget standoff
WASHINGTON — Travel disruptions deepened Tuesday as senators raced to clinch an emerging proposal to end the Homeland Security shutdown by funding much of the department, including airport workers going without pay, but excluding immigration enforcement and deportation operations that have been core to the dispute. The sudden sense of...
Strikes hit Iran and Tehran targets Israel and Gulf states amid mixed signals over talks to end war
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Airstrikes battered Iran and Iranian missiles and drones targeted Israel’s Tel Aviv and sites across the Mideast on Tuesday, even as President Donald Trump said the United States was in talks with the Islamic Republic to end the war. With thousands more U.S. Marines on...
ESPN’s Adam Schefter: If Aaron Rodgers doesn’t return to Steelers, Kirk Cousins would be ‘logical pivot’Video
Instead of just getting a straight answer from the Pittsburgh Steelers — or from Aaron Rodgers himself — about their 42-year-old quarterback’s plans to play or retire in 2026, we are forced to follow a trail of bread crumbs for information. Again. Just like last year. Even though free agency...
Hempfield high school renovation bids come in about $30 million lower than projectedVideo
Hempfield school board members were pleased to find out Monday night that base bids for a renovation project at the high school came in tens of millions of dollars lower than a projected price tag of nearly $150 million. At its meeting next week, the board potentially will vote to...
Senate confirms Markwayne Mullin to lead Homeland Security as TSA standoff deepens
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Markwayne Mullin as homeland security secretary late Monday, approving President Donald Trump’s nominee to take over the embattled department after the firing of Kristi Noem during a public backlash over the administration’s immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations. Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma known...
‘Lion King,’ ‘Phantom,’ ‘Beetlejuice’ among Cultural Trust’s 2026-27 musical season
From awe-inspiring production design to emotional award-winning musicals to old favorites, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh 2026-27 season will be one for the ages. The Trust revealed the new season in a video announcement Monday night, as well as a full slate of more than 50 other...
Federal judge to decide if Collier must amend zoning to allow church project
Township officials in Collier say they rejected a proposed shrine for the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church because the project lacked the necessary details to justify amending zoning rules for it. But church officials say the township’s board of commissioners engaged in religious discrimination by rejecting the project. A federal...
‘Don’t make any deal’: Trump tells Republicans to hold firm on shutdown talks
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — President Donald Trump said Monday that Republicans should stop negotiating with Democrats to end the partial government shutdown and instead focus on passing voting legislation, even as Transportation Security Administration agents work without paychecks and lines at some airports stretch for hours. “I’m suggesting strongly to the...
Supreme Court appears skeptical of late-arriving ballots, a Trump target
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ‘s conservative majority on Monday sounded skeptical of state laws that allow the counting of late-arriving mail ballots, a persistent target of President Donald Trump. A ruling, likely to come by late June, that bars counting ballots arriving after Election Day would send officials scrambling...
Pittsburgh Mills repair efforts lead to 2nd trial postponement
Owners of the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills have been making progress after years of inactivity on the campus. Monday morning, a status conference, or nonjury trial, to address the criminal charge against the owners of the Mills was continued for a second time. Last April, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s...
Shapiro parodies and chatbot phone banks — how AI is popping up in Pa. elections
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. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Candidates for office in Pennsylvania are using AI tools to generate parody images of their rivals, create...
Trump administration to pay French company $1B to walk away from U.S. offshore wind leases
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will pay $1 billion to a French company to walk away from two U.S. offshore wind leases as the administration ramps up its campaign against offshore wind and other renewable energy. TotalEnergies has agreed to what’s essentially a refund of its leases for projects off...
Pittsburgh council members seek to bar cooperation with ICE
Three Pittsburgh City Council members on Tuesday will introduce a bill to bar the city from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, following similar legislation enacted by the county earlier this month. “Many residents have seen the terror wrought by ICE agents in other places in the country and...
Pittsburgh-area colleges get funding for programs to combat sexual assault
Carrie Benson remembers a day, semesters ago, when a student stopped at the Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Office at the University of Pittsburgh to ask about certain signs in the bathrooms. The signs, posted on bathroom stalls, outlined resources available to sexual assault survivors. The student asked who put...
Bill Cosby loses sex assault lawsuit and faces $19 million judgment
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — A civil jury in California on Monday found that Bill Cosby had drugged and sexually assaulted Donna Motsinger, a former server at a Sausalito, California, restaurant, after escorting her to one of his comedy shows in 1972. The jury awarded Motsinger $19.25 million in damages, a...
Police seek timeline of fiery crash that killed 4 Yough High School studentsVideo
State police are trying to track where four Yough High School students were in the hours before they were killed in a fiery crash in Sewickley Township, said Trooper Steve Limani. The last communication with someone in the car was at 1:30 a.m. Saturday, two hours before the crash was...
Damar Hamlin starts scholarship initiative at alma mater Central Catholic
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Monday returned to his alma mater, Central Catholic High School in Oakland, to announce a scholarship initiative for students and those planning to go into building trades. Through Hamlin’s Chasing M’s Foundation, 10 scholarships — each worth $1,000 — will be given annually to...
March Madness ups threat of problem gambling, especially for younger men
March Madness tipped off this week, a collection of 67 single-elimination basketball games that not only will crown a champion in 2½ weeks but also draw billions of dollars in sports bets. Young men are particularly at risk of developing gambling problems, experts say. According to a 2024 survey conducted...
Springdale residents not able to return home after partial roof collapseVideo
Springdale resident Amy Ross sat inside the borough recreation center Monday, frustrated and wondering how long it would take to return to her apartment on Butler Street after its roof partially collapsed Monday. “I was gonna move before winter,” Ross said, as she made arrangements for a friend to temporarily...
A plea deal and acquittal leave no one left to take blame for Stowe slaying
A man who testified against his co-defendant in a Stowe homicide pleaded guilty Monday to reduced charges as part of a plea deal. Arrmon Hagans’ testimony failed to secure a guilty verdict against Cy-Miar Woods, 18. A jury acquitted him of homicide last week. Hagans, who was initially charged with...
