Top Stories category, Page 559
New Year’s Eve sweeps across Mideast and Europe, but wars cast a shadow on 2024
Revelers counted down to midnight on New Year’s Eve across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, where fireworks and festive lights offered a hopeful start to 2024 for some, even as the globe’s ongoing conflicts have subdued celebrations and raised security concerns. In Australia, more than 1 million people watched...
Man found fatally shot in Pittsburgh’s Arlington neighborhood
Pittsburgh police found a fatally shot man inside a home in the 2200 block of Arlington Avenue Saturday night. Officers responded shortly before 8:30 p.m. to a 911 call for shots fired inside the residence in the city’s Arlington neighborhood. The man was identified as Grant Maynard Gibeault, 25, of...
Police: 3 men arrested after killing Murrysville man over $400K debt
Authorities have arrested three men in the death of a Murrysville businessman whose body was discovered Friday in Clarion County. George Dayieb, 57, of Murrysville, had been reported missing and endangered to Murrysville police. He was found by investigators inside a trailer with a single gunshot wound to the back...
‘New year, new me’: People from Western Pennsylvania make resolutions for 2024
As we say goodbye to 2023, the time has come to set New Year’s resolutions for 2024. But not everyone chooses to set them — and more importantly, not everyone sticks to them. Improved fitness came out as the top 2024 resolution at 48%, according to a Forbes Health/OnePoll survey...
Brackenridge remains resilient 1 year after death of Chief Justin McIntire
Brackenridge isn’t the same. It’s still a sleepy, little river town. But there’s no longer a sense of “it can’t happen here.” Residents know it can — because it did a year ago. On Jan. 2, police Chief Justin McIntire, 46, was gunned down in the streets he swore to...
From Amazon to Independence, these were Westmoreland County’s stories of 2023
The year 2023 marked Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday — its semiquincentennial for those who want to twist their tongues. It was a year filled with celebrations of the county’s heritage and the evolution of some of the county’s institutions and traditions. Amazon confirmed it was the tenant of a massive...
‘A true mitzvah:’ Westmoreland doctor volunteers in Israel to help civilians
Dr. Sharon Goldstein has spent the last few weeks of 2023 in Israel, riding long distances in an ambulance, treating patients impacted by war. “The other day, I started in Jerusalem and ended up in Tel Aviv,” she said. “They cover a large area. It’s hard work. Mostly, we’re on...
U.S. shoots down 2 anti-ship missiles launched by Houthi targeting Maersk vessel
The U.S. shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles launched by Houthi rebels, responding to a call by a merchant vessel in the Southern Red Sea. The Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned container ship, Maersk Hangzhou, had reported being struck by a missile at 8:30 p.m. Sanaa time, the U.S. Central Command said in...
North Korea’s Kim says he’ll launch 3 more spy satellites, build more nuclear weapons in 2024
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will launch three additional military spy satellites, build more nuclear weapons and introduce modern unmanned combat equipment in 2024, as he called for “overwhelming” war readiness to cope with U.S.-led confrontational moves, state media reported Sunday. Kim’s...
Dick’s Diner in Murrysville evacuated after chemical spilled in basement
At least 20 customers and employees were evacuated from Dick’s Diner in Murrysville on Saturday afternoon after customers complained of a burning sensation affecting their eyes. The incident happened at the restaurant along Route 22 shortly before 1 p.m. General manager Erik Retzer said 911 was called when the ill...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Pittsburgh sports had no ‘best of 2023’
This is the time for cliched, year-in-review “best of 2023” lists. But Pittsburgh sports had no “best of 2023.” All the major sports teams were rotten. All seem pointed in the wrong direction. The Steelers, Penguins, Pirates and Pitt football were a combined 20 games under .500 in 2023. The...
Steelers often left sleepless after playing Seahawks in Seattle
The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers won a game in Seattle, they did so with a quarterback who was making his ninth career start in his seventh year in the organization. So maybe history will be on the Steelers’ side Sunday when they turn to Mason Rudolph to keep their...
3 injured in Uniontown stabbing
Three people were injured in a stabbing incident reported Saturday morning in Uniontown. One person was taken to a hospital while two others were treated in the 60 block of Butler Street, according to a Fayette County 911 supervisor. The injury to the person who was hospitalized was not life-threatening...
Peoples Gas seeks state approval of rate hikes in 2024
Peoples Gas is proposing base rate increases for customers that could take effect in September if approved by Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission. If the entire increase is approved, residential customers who annually use 80,000 cubic feet of gas and are served by the company’s Peoples Natural Gas division will see...
Popular inhaler Flovent to be discontinued, replaced with generic; doctors expect confusion
The new year is a time for fresh starts — and it certainly will be one for people who rely on the asthma inhaler Flovent. The widely used maintenance prescription inhaler is being discontinued in January, and it will be replaced with an authorized generic — a medicine that is...
Outgoing Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald reflects on 12 years
Many things make Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald swell with pride when discussing his 12 years as the county’s top elected official, but one accomplishment appears to connect them: no increase in property taxes. “We’ve been able to hold the line on the cost for the homeowner,” he said. “At...
Pittsburgh set to record 2nd least snowy year since 1880
On Friday, the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh issued an advisory for 2 to 4 inches of snow Saturday in eastern Preston and Tucker counties in West Virginia. It’s something meteorologists there haven’t had to do often. This year is on track to be the second-least snowy year on record...
Family ties apparent at Westmoreland County district judge swearing-in ceremonies
When it comes to electing district judges in Westmoreland County, the position sometimes remains all in the family — a fact never so obvious as at the swearing-in ceremonies Friday for judges who won their seats in the November election. Of the nine district judges who were sworn into office...
Judge blocks most of an Iowa law banning some school library books and discussion of LGBTQ+ issues
DES MOINES, Iowa — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked key parts of an Iowa law that bans some books from school libraries and forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues. Judge Stephen Locher’s preliminary injunction halts enforcement of the law, which was set to take effect Jan. 1 but...
West Virginia starts distributing funds from the settlement of opioid lawsuits
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia is issuing the first checks from a fund established by the settlement of opioid lawsuits in the state, which has by far the nation’s highest drug overdose death rate. The Kanawha County Commission said Thursday it received a $2.9 million check and plans to discuss...
Power outage in Greensburg traps 4 in courthouse elevator
The wheels of justice may grind slowly, but for four people riding in an elevator Friday at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg, those wheels actually ground to a halt. Senior county Judge Al Bell was one of four people trapped inside the elevator for about 45 minutes when a...
Victim in fatal Derry Township crash identified; Route 217 reopens
Officials have identified the person who died in a three-vehicle crash Friday afternoon at the intersection of Route 217 and Industrial Boulevard in Derry Township. Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson identified the victim as David Leonard, 72, of Derry. Carson said Leonard, traveling in a red Nissan Rogue traveling south...
In Pennsylvania, any challenge to Trump being on the ballot must go through the courts
Pennsylvania’s secretary of state said Friday he does not have the authority to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot and any such challenge here must be done through the courts. “Pennsylvania’s Election Code does not give me, as secretary of the commonwealth, the authority to reject a nomination...
Allegheny County Jail now offering treatment for opioid use disorder without a prescription
A month after reaching an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Allegheny County Jail officials announced Friday that incarcerated people with opioid use disorder can now be treated with buprenorphine as part of their medication-assisted treatment program. Even patients who don’t have a prescription will be able to benefit...
Greensburg Salem elementary teacher, aide arraigned on abuse accusations
A report from another teacher prompted the investigation that led to the arrests this week of a teacher and aide at Greensburg Salem’s Robert F. Nicely Elementary School on accusations they mistreated three students in a special needs classroom, according to police. “It seems that somebody from the classroom at...
