Top Stories category, Page 552
Lawyer buys former Steelers player’s estate where retreat center had been planned
A 133-acre Ligonier Township estate owned by a former Pittsburgh Steelers player who wanted to operate a retreat center for clergy and pastors was sold to a former Pittsburgh attorney who said this week he plans to use it as a personal home. Antonio “Tony” and Amy Dias of Miami...
State Sen. Jim Brewster retiring at end of 2024
A Mon Valley political fixture is stepping down from his state Senate seat, but he insists it won’t lead to a sea change in his district. State Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, said Wednesday that he is retiring at the end of this year. He will not seek reelection. Brewster serves...
Pittsburgh Planning Commission OKs 6-story apartment building in Bluff with murals on facade
Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved plans for a new apartment building that will prominently display 10 large panels of artwork on its facade. Pittsburgh-based GSX Ventures intends to construct a six-story, 211-unit apartment building, dubbed Phoenix on Forbes, on a 1.4-acre site in the city’s Bluff neighborhood. The...
Trial begins for New Stanton man charged with bathroom rape at 2020 Halloween party
A Mt. Pleasant woman testified Monday that she intentionally kept quiet during an alleged rape in a bathroom because her daughter was sleeping in the next room. “I just left the bathroom and didn’t call out for help because my daughter was in the next room sleeping,” she said in...
Firefighters called to rescue motorist from Ligonier Township flooding; several roads closed
Flooding and downed utility lines caused the closure of several roads around Westmoreland County from Tuesday to Wednesday as a storm pounded the region with rain and high winds. Firefighters from Ligonier and Waterford were dispatched around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to assist a motorist from a vehicle in a flooded...
Defense Secretary Austin treated for prostate cancer, urinary tract infection, doctors sayVideo
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has prostate cancer, and his recent secretive hospitalization was for surgery and later to treat a urinary tract infection related to that operation, his doctors said Tuesday. The cancer revelation answers the main question about Austin’s hospitalization, which has now lasted eight days. But...
Sprawling storm wallops U.S. with tornado reports, damage and heavy snow, closing roads and schoolsVideo
DES MOINES, Iowa — A sprawling storm hit the South with tornado warnings and strong wind that blew roofs off homes, flipped over campers and tossed about furniture in Florida on Tuesday. Another storm brought cities across the Midwest to a standstill with more than half a foot of snow,...
TV Talk: What you need to know with the Chiefs-Dolphins game only available via Peacock
Saturday’s 8 p.m. AFC Wild Card game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs will only be available via streaming on Peacock in Western Pennsylvania. Here’s what viewers need to know about how to watch that game: What is Peacock? Peacock is NBCUniversal’s attempt to create a Netflix streaming...
Girl Scout cookies cost more dough this year
Girl Scout cookies are back, but they’ll take a bigger bite out of your pocketbook this year. Boxes cost $6, up from $5 last year. The cookies will be available until March 24. Emily Ruffing, public relations and marketing coordinator for Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania, said the price increase will...
Must-win games over past 3 weeks have Steelers ready for playoffs, Mike Tomlin says
Mike Tomlin would like to offer a correction to the postseason schedule the NFL released once the field was solidified Sunday night. It has the Pittsburgh Steelers playing their playoff opener at 1 p.m. Sunday against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y. The date, time and opponent all are...
Plum honors Rustic Ridge resident for heroism, elevates interim manager
Plum has honored a man for his heroism in the aftermath of the Rustic Ridge explosion, while also taking a step to help the borough’s government move forward from the August catastrophe that left six dead. Greg Renko, president of the Rustic Ridge homeowners association, received a proclamation honoring him...
Faulty valve, ruptured tank thwart ‘soft landing’ on moon for Astrobotic’s PeregrineVideo
Pittsburgh-based space company Astrobotic theorized Tuesday that its lunar mission was undone by a malfunction in the lander’s propulsion equipment. Astrobotic sought to make history with the first commercial lunar landing, but a fuel leak on the spacecraft after launch scuttled any possibility of that. The lander, dubbed Peregrine, has...
Brighton Heights woman charged with killing man over drugs, sex, money
A Brighton Heights woman was jailed Tuesday on charges that she fatally shot an Arlington man last month in a confrontation that police said revolved around illicit drugs, sex and a $700 CashApp payment. Jaelyn Nowlin, 20, is charged with killing Grant Gibeault, 25, in his apartment in the 2200...
Tech company Excelitas commits to moving global HQ to Pittsburgh’s Strip District
A tech company is poised to move its global headquarters to Pittsburgh’s Strip District, showcasing the region’s continuing success at attracting high-tech businesses. Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday that Excelitas Technologies has committed to occupying roughly 50,000 square feet of space at 2545 Railroad St. in the Strip. Excelitas, a...
2 tractor-trailers go over an embankment along Pa. Turnpike near Donegal
Two westbound tractor-trailers crashed on the Pennsylvania Turnpike between the Somerset and Donegal exits Tuesday morning, with the vehicles rolling over a snow-covered embankment. The crash happened about 9:15 a.m. near milepost 95, state police said. The turnpike passes over Route 130 in the area. Police said one of the...
Pa. bear harvest lowest in 16 years for hunters, but wildlife experts know the likely causes
After white-tailed deer hunting, no big-game species draws the interest of Pennsylvania sportsmen like black bears. The Keystone State is renowned for its bruin-hunting opportunities, as well as the extremely large bears it gives up annually. Over the years, the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) has expanded its bear hunting opportunities...
With Trump present in court, judges express skepticism of claims that he’s immune from prosecution
WASHINGTON — With Donald Trump listening intently in the courtroom, federal appeals court judges in Washington expressed deep skepticism Tuesday that the former president was immune from prosecution on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The panel of three judges, two of whom were...
Morning Roundup: Detectives investigate East Carson vape shop robbery; Pittsburgh officer assaulted serving warrant
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Jan. 9: Detectives seek vape shop robbery suspects Pittsburgh’s Violent Crime Unit detectives are investigating a robbery that occurred in mid-December at a vape shop along East Carson Street in the city’s South Side. Two individuals were captured...
After morning snow, above average temperatures, rain forecast for Western Pa. region
After accumulations of snow this weekend and again Tuesday morning, the Western Pennsylvania region can expect rain and higher temperatures this week. Despite a morning that featured slick road conditions amid a mix of snow and rain, Tuesday’s forecast will see a high of 51 degrees, said John Darnley, observation...
Failing to reach the moon isn’t a total failure for Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic
They call it a moonshot for a reason. It’s exceedingly difficult. Only about half of all lunar missions have been successful, according to NASA’s database on moon missions. Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic was attempting to beat the odds Monday by sending its Peregrine lander to the moon to transport cargo for...
White House, Pentagon will review Defense Secretary Austin’s lack of disclosure on his hospital stay
WASHINGTON — Both the White House and Pentagon said Monday they would look into why President Joe Biden and other top officials weren’t informed for days that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized. A Pentagon spokesman pointed to one reason: A key staffer was out sick with the flu....
2 dead in South Fayette fire where ‘there was a hoarding situation’
Two people were found dead on the second floor of a home that burned Monday afternoon in South Fayette, Allegheny County police said. Residents Benito Bonilla, 81, and Barbara Bonilla, 75, were pronounced dead at the scene — Benito just before 7 p.m. and Barbara around 5:30 p.m. The fire...
Park Service retracts decision to take down William Penn statue at Philadelphia historical site
HARRISBURG — The National Park Service withdrew a proposal Monday to take down a statue of William Penn at a Philadelphia historical site as part of a renovation that touched off a torrent of criticism over the legacy of the man who founded the province of Pennsylvania. In a brief...
Explosion at historic Texas hotel injures 21 and scatters debris in downtown Fort WorthVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — An explosion at a historic Texas hotel in Fort Worth on Monday blew out windows, littered downtown streets with large sections of debris from the building and injured 21 people, including one who was in critical condition, authorities said. The blast flung doors and entire sections...
Government lawyer accuses Comprehensive Healthcare of shorting workers $20M
It wasn’t an isolated issue or the result of a good-faith mistake that employees at Comprehensive Healthcare’s 15 Western Pennsylvania facilities weren’t being paid for all the hours they worked. Instead, a lawyer with the U.S. Department of Labor told a federal judge Monday, it was part of the company’s...
