Top Stories category, Page 555
As 2024 election approaches, voting officials worry Pa. isn’t prepared for misinformation
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 — As the 2024 presidential election approaches, the people who run voting in Pennsylvania say the commonwealth must prepare to be at the center...
Rostraver father will stand trial after July accidental shooting of 4-year-old son
A 4-year-old Rostraver boy continues to recover from a head wound after accidentally shooting himself in July with his father’s gun. Meanwhile, his father was ordered Friday to stand trial on charges of child endangerment and reckless endangerment. The gun was left loaded and unsecured under a bed next to...
NRA chief Wayne LaPierre says he’s resigning days before trial scrutinizing his leadership, spending
NEW YORK — The longtime head of the National Rifle Association said Friday he is resigning, just days before the start of a New York civil trial that’s poised to scrutinize his leadership of the powerful gun rights organization. Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president and chief executive officer, said...
Hundreds of convictions, but a major mystery is still unsolved 3 years after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — Members of far-right extremist groups. Former police officers. An Olympic gold medalist swimmer. And active duty U.S. Marines. They are among the hundreds of people who have been convicted in the massive prosecution of the Jan 6, 2021, riot in the three years since the stunned nation watched...
Pittsburgh Technical College leaders mull possible sale, merger as enrollment falls
Leaders of a nearly 80-year-old technical college in Oakdale are weighing options that include selling or merging the institution amid falling enrollment and financial strains. The issues facing Pittsburgh Technical College resemble those confronting higher education generally. But they have been complicated by recent infighting over leadership, accusations of misconduct...
As more Pa. residents rack up medical debt, hope hinges on a state solution
An innovative plan to help Pennsylvanians with crippling medical debt is delayed but not dead, supporters say. The plan calls for using state funds to buy unpaid medical bills from hospitals and health care providers, which are commonly sold at a steep discount. A $10 to $15 million investment by...
Meteorologists say weekend’s expected snow to be a ‘non-event’
Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh are debunking social media posts that have predicted a foot of snow to be dumped across Pittsburgh early Saturday. “It’ll be a non-event,” said Lee Hendricks, from the weather service in Moon Township. “We will see little to no accumulation Saturday or...
Morning Roundup: Crews battle fires in Manchester and Elizabeth Borough; break-in reported at Monroeville pizza shop
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Jan. 5: Two-alarm fire in Elizabeth Borough Crews battled a two-alarm structure fire early Friday in Elizabeth Borough. The fire was reported at about 5:10 a.m. along South Third Avenue, according to TribLive news partner WTAE. No injuries...
TV Talk: WQED-produced PBS documentary explores ‘The Cost of Inheritance’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Former WQED-TV vice president of content Darryl Ford Williams executive produced the revealing new one-hour PBS documentary, “The Cost of Inheritance: An America ReFramed Special” (10 p.m. Jan. 8, WQED), which explores the complex issue...
Lack of snow, where rainfall ends up factors in declining Beaver Run reservoir levels
There’s been little change to an extended dry spell that has dropped water levels to rarely seen lows in the region’s reservoirs. But water customers who’ve been asked to cut back on their use are doing their job, according to municipal authority officials. Customers have been conserving, said Michael Kukura,...
With more records, world sees how Jeffrey Epstein leveraged powerful to abuse vulnerable girls
NEW YORK — A new batch of unsealed documents pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of teenage girls was released Thursday, adding several hundred pages to a trove of information detailing how the financier leveraged connections to the rich, powerful and famous to recruit his victims and cover up his...
House Democrats say Trump hotels got foreign money during presidency
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump-owned hotels received at least $7.8 million in payments from foreign governments and their representatives during his presidency, according to a report from House Democrats. The 155-page report shows this money came from China, Saudi Arabia and more than 20 other countries — and that the amount...
Hospitals seeing ‘exponential’ rise in flu cases in Western Pa.
After a holiday season filled with travel, family gatherings and relatives breathing on each other, respiratory illnesses are on the rise in Western Pennsylvania — with flu cases spiking the fastest. Area hospitals are seeing an “exponential increase” in flu diagnoses, said Dr. Graham Snyder, medical director of infection prevention...
Pitcairn man sentenced to at least 8 years in prison for attacking elderly neighbor with hammer
A Pitcairn man faces eight to 16 years in prison for beating his 71-year-old neighbor with a hammer last summer. Commons Pleas Judge Beth A. Lazzara imposed the sentence on William Alan Jackson, 43, on Thursday for the Aug. 10 attack, court records show. Jackson had negotiated a guilty plea...
McKeesport man going to prison for driving drunk, hitting PennDOT worker in construction zone
A McKeesport man is headed to prison for up to seven years for drinking an alcoholic slushee and smoking marijuana in his car shortly before he struck a PennDOT worker in a construction zone and dragged her 30 feet on the city’s Jerome Street Bridge. Common Pleas Judge Kelly Bigley...
Death penalty prosecution can continue against New Kensington man accused of child’s murder
A Westmoreland County judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors have enough evidence to bring a New Kensington man to trial and seek the death penalty for the alleged first-degree murder of a 2-year-old boy in 2020. Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears rejected defense claims that medical evidence was insufficient to prove...
North Hills horse-riding community mourns decorated teen killed in Christmas weekend crash
At 18, Taylor Orlowski stood just 5 feet tall and weighed no more than 98 pounds, her sandy blonde hair falling on petite shoulders. Those who survive her in the tight-knit horse-riding community of Pittsburgh’s North Hills, however, remember the Beaver County teen as a giant in their extended family....
Pittsburgh’s Astrobotic Technology is attempting the first U.S. moon landing since the Apollo missions a half-century ago
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — China and India scored moon landings, while Russia, Japan and Israel ended up in the lunar trash heap. Now two private companies are hustling to get the U.S. back in the game, more than five decades after the Apollo program ended. It’s part of a NASA-supported...
Suspect named in shooting of Monroeville police sergeant
The armed robbery suspect who sprayed a Monroeville police sergeant with gunfire Wednesday night has been identified as 32-year-old Jamal Brooks. Brooks has been charged with striking the officer three times as he sat inside his marked car, according to a criminal complaint. The sergeant — who was not identified...
Snowy weather could impact Pittsburgh region, Steelers game in Baltimore this weekend
If predictions hold, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens could kick off Saturday’s game in a snowstorm at M&T Bank Stadium. Western Pennsylvania may see some snow — or a nasty wintry mix with rain in some areas — as well. The 4:30 p.m. Steelers game Saturday coincides with a...
Standout basketball player, coach sentenced to jail for indecent assault, must register as sex offender
A former standout high school and college basketball player who was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage student at a skills school he operated in Ford City was sentenced to 23 months in jail and must register as a sex offender. In October 2022, South Buffalo police charged Mark Anthony...
Police say 17-year-old killed a 6th grader and wounded 5 in Iowa school shootingVideo
PERRY, Iowa — A 17-year-old opened fire at a small-town Iowa high school on the first day of school after the winter break, killing a sixth-grader and wounding five others as students barricaded in offices and fled in panic. The suspect, a student at the school in Perry, died of...
Passersby spot fire, rescue residents from Crabtree home
Two passersby on their way to work and a neighbor rescued a man and his daughter from their burning home early Thursday in Crabtree. Luxor residents Kandace Gettins and Marissa Perillo, who work at SCI Pine Grove in Indiana County, noticed black smoke billowing out of a home about 6...
Morning Roundup: Police say gunfire ends in vehicle crash in Penn Hills; ambulance crashes in Lawrenceville
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Jan. 4: Police say gunfire ends in vehicle crash in Penn Hills Penn Hills police said gunfire resulted in a vehicle crashing into a home Wednesday on Crab Hollow Road, according to TribLive news partner WTAE. The incident...
After being closed 8 years, Cherry Creek Golf Course will become Hempfield’s latest housing development
When Stephanie Patterson moved to the Cherry Creek neighborhood in Hempfield with her husband, Gary, in 2001, the two avid golfers were drawn to the idea of walking out of their back door and onto a golf course. They purchased a golf cart, took nightly walks on the course and...
