Top Stories category, Page 551
Allegheny County Executive-elect Sara Innamorato focusing transition on community input
With less than a month until she takes office, Allegheny County Executive-elect Sara Innamorato is undertaking a large transition effort with a focus on gathering community input from across the county. “I want the county’s priorities to be the community’s priorities,” Innamorato told a crowd of about 200 people at...
$10M to go toward affordable housing programs in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh City Council has approved a $10 million budget for a trust fund supporting affordable housing programs in the city. The amount of money provided to the Housing Opportunity Fund in 2024 could be adjusted in the coming weeks as City Council finalizes the city’s budget, Councilman Bruce Kraus, D-South...
GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California is resigning 2 months after his ouster as House speaker
LOS ANGELES — Two months after his historic ouster as House speaker, Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California announced on Wednesday that he is resigning from his congressional seat and will leave by the end of the year. His announcement marked the stunning coming end of the House career of...
Pitt grad identified as fatal shark attack victim in Bahamas
A University of Pittsburgh alumna was attacked and killed by a shark while vacationing with her husband in the Bahamas. Lauren Erickson Van Wart, a 44-year-old Boston resident, was paddleboarding with her husband on Monday when she was bitten by a shark, according to Royal Bahamas Police Sgt. Desiree Ferguson....
Rankin police chief dies
Rankin police Chief Jeremi Gregory died Tuesday, the borough announced on its Facebook page. “Chief you will be greatly missed and remembered by all,” the borough posted. Officials didn’t indicate the cause of Gregory’s death or his age. Gregory served with the borough department since July 2018, according to his...
Man shot by Pa. Attorney General’s agents at Pittsburgh’s Greyhound station
A man was in critical condition Wednesday after two state Attorney General’s Office agents shot him at the Greyhound bus station in Downtown Pittsburgh, police said. Two men began fighting on a bus around 6:40 a.m. and their altercation continued outside on the station’s concourse, police spokeswoman Cara Cruz said....
Court filing gives rare look inside FBI seizure of Pa. Rep. Scott Perry’s phone in 2020 election probe
HARRISBURG — Just how hard did some Republican members of Congress work to keep Donald Trump in office after his 2020 election loss? A court case is providing a few tantalizing clues. Snippets and short summaries of texts and emails sent by Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, a top Trump...
Sheriff: Gunman’s parents among 6 dead in Texas attacks; he was earlier arrested for family assault
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas man suspected of killing his parents in San Antonio and four others in Austin in a violent trail of separate attacks had cut off his ankle monitor from a previous misdemeanor domestic violence arrest, authorities said Wednesday. The suspect, Shane James, 34, also had been...
TV Q&A: Did Chris Hoffman leave KDKA-TV? Where’s WPXI’s Alby Oxenreiter?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Just wondering why we haven’t seen Chris Hoffman on KDKA-TV for quite a while. — Linda, via Facebook Rob: Hoffman posted to social media that...
Mariah Carey rocks Pittsburgh with soulful performance of holiday hits
Santa hats and sparkly outfits adorned the crowd Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena in Uptown Pittsburgh, and with so much holiday bling, there’s only one show it could have been for — singer Mariah Carey’s “Merry Christmas One And All!” tour. Opening the concert with an overture to “Sugar...
Morning Roundup: Crews battle blaze at Collier Township restaurant
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, Dec. 6: Crews battle blaze at Collier Township restaurant Firefighters responded shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday to battle a fire at Rooster’s Roadhouse along Thoms Run Road in Collier Township, Allegheny County. Crews continued to douse the flames...
Survivors of Hamas attack to speak in Squirrel Hill as Hanukkah begins
Hila Fakliro was a bartender during an all-night music festival in Israel on Oct. 7. At daybreak, she looked up at explosions in the sky. She thought they were fireworks. Hamas fired rockets from Gaza during a terrorist attack that killed hundreds of festival attendees. Fakliro ran. She hid in...
A year later, still no resolution in online theft of nearly $140,000 from Tarentum
Few answers have turned up in the year since Tarentum was robbed of nearly $140,000 in an online phishing scam. The investigation by the borough’s insurance carrier is ongoing. Officers determined the person or group responsible for the crime netted a total of between $800,000 and $900,000 from many victims,...
Allegheny County Council passes amended budget with increase in community college funding
Allegheny County is a step closer to finalizing its 2024 budget after the council passed an amended budget that includes large increases for the Community College of Allegheny County. Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald proposed a budget of just over $3 billion in October, and council proposed an amended version...
Lawsuit alleges Clean Water Act violations from Beaver County plastics manufacturer
Two nonprofit environmental organizations filed a federal Clean Water Act lawsuit on Tuesday against a Beaver County manufacturer that they said is illegally discharging millions of tiny plastic pellets into the water and riverbanks around Raccoon Creek and the Ohio River. The lawsuit, filed by PennEnvironment and Three Rivers Waterkeeper,...
Former Pittsburgh VA worker pleads guilty to embezzling $17,000 from veteran accounts
A former Veterans Affairs Medical Center worker from Pittsburgh pleaded guilty to embezzlement and mail fraud on Tuesday, after federal prosecutors said he stole money from disabled veterans and receive undue pandemic benefits. Corey Mizell, 51, of Pittsburgh pleaded guilty to four counts of embezzlement and one count of mail...
Vote to name PennWest interim president to lead West Chester University could happen this month
PennWest University interim President Lorraine “Laurie” Bernotsky is one vote away from being named the next president of West Chester University in suburban Philadelphia, effective in July. The State System of Higher Education board of governors is expected to call a special meeting this month to select the 16th president...
Jury views surveillance video that shows New Kensington slayingVideo
A group of armed men and teens gathered in the lobby of a New Kensington apartment building and tussled just minutes before 39-year-old Jason Raiford staggered outside and was gunned down, according to video shown to jurors Tuesday. During the first day of the murder trial of three men charged...
Greensburg Salem superintendent addresses incident involving elementary school child
Police are investigating an incident in a Greensburg Salem elementary classroom that was reported in October, Superintendent Ken Bissell told school board members Monday. Few details about what’s being investigated have been released. A letter Bissell sent to parents last week notified them of an incident that came to the...
Voting experts warn of ‘serious threats’ for 2024 from election equipment software breachesVideo
ATLANTA — An effort to access voting system software in several states and provide it to allies of former President Donald Trump as they sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election has raised “serious threats” ahead of next year’s presidential contest, according to a group of experts who...
Man believed to have fired shots at officers before a Virginia house exploded is dead, police sayVideo
ARLINGTON, Va. — The suspect who fired at officers from a duplex in an Arlington, Virginia, neighborhood before the home exploded on Monday night is presumed dead, according to authorities. Fifty-six-year-old James Yoo was identified by Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn at a press conference Tuesday as the the...
New Pa. House rules sought to strengthen bipartisanship, but insiders say they didn’t work
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 — During the chaotic start to this year’s legislative session, Pennsylvania House Democrats used their new majority to pass a high-profile set of changes...
Monroeville parents whose 5-year-old killed younger sibling get probation, house arrest
The parents of a 5-year-old Monroeville boy who shot and killed his 3-year-old sister in 2021 were sentenced to probation on Tuesday. Martaz Colvin, 31, who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person, and Brea Sanders, 29, who pleaded guilty to recklessly endangering another person were sentenced...
Senate approves hundreds of military promotions after Sen. Tuberville ends blockade of nominees
WASHINGTON — The Senate in a single stroke Tuesday approved about 425 military promotions after Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama ended a monthslong blockade of nominations over his opposition to a Pentagon abortion policy. Tuberville had been under pressure from members of both sides of the political aisle to end...
Man accused of fleeing from traffic stop, assaulting and trying to disarm Arnold police officer faces charges
A Pittsburgh man accused of assaulting and trying to disarm an Arnold police officer told investigators that he fled from a traffic stop because he was wanted on a drug warrant and had a large amount of crack and heroin in the SUV he was driving, according to authorities. Tyrone...
