Top Stories category, Page 568
5 tips for enjoying Light Up Night
One of Pittsburgh’s most popular events is upon us again. Light Up Night is Saturday in Downtown Pittsburgh, running from early afternoon and culminating with a fireworks show at night’s end. The festival has been a Pittsburgh tradition for decades and an unofficial start to the holiday season. While many...
‘Not science fiction:’ Robotics Network’s Discovery Day showcases tech in Pittsburgh
The humanoid robot waved at the crowd, folded its arms toward its chest, and bowed in greeting. Then it stepped sideways to show some motor skills. It’s a prototype of Agility Robotics’ bipedal robot, Digit, which is meant to work in warehouses alongside humans to handle the more tedious and...
Implosion brings down last of Hatfield’s Ferry Power StationVideo
The boiler house at at the deactivated Hatfield’s Ferry Power Station near Masontown in Monongahela Township, Greene County, was imploded at about 11 a.m. Friday morning. The FirstEnergy plant was built in the late 1960s and closed in 2013. The boiler house contained the three power-generating turbines and was the...
Biden tells Asia-Pacific leaders U.S. ‘not going anywhere’ as he looks to build economic tiesVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — President Joe Biden on Thursday made America’s case to national leaders and CEOs attending the Asia-Pacific summit that the United States is committed to high standards in trade and to partnerships that will benefit economies across the Pacific. “We’re not going anywhere,” he declared. Fresh off his...
Apollo man convicted of first-degree murder in wife’s killing
Emily and Ean Steele said a Westmoreland County jury found justice for their mother. The jury, after more than four hours of deliberations, convicted their father of first-degree murder Thursday for the May 14, 2022, execution-style slaying of 41-year-old Kelly Steele inside a U-Haul storage facility in Lower Burrell. “It’s...
Trial begins in Comprehensive Healthcare’s nursing home fraud case
One by one, defense attorneys for five nursing home administrators accused of health care fraud told a federal jury Thursday in Pittsburgh that their clients were innocent. That there was actually no fraud at all, but sloppy record keeping. That their clients did not receive any financial benefits for their...
Mistrial declared after federal jury deadlocks in trial of ex-officer in deadly Breonna Taylor raid
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict on federal civil rights charges Thursday in the trial of a former Louisville police officer charged in Breonna Taylor’s death, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial. Brett Hankison was charged with using excessive force that violated the rights of...
Write-in candidates win 2 seats on Greater Latrobe school board
Two write-in candidates won seats on the Greater Latrobe School Board, according to unofficial results released Thursday by the Westmoreland County Election Bureau. Write-in John Petrarca finished third in the race for five, four-year terms on the board, and write-in Tom Gockel finished fifth. Out of the five winners, only...
Police seek man for questioning in connection with abandoned dog at Pittsburgh airport
Allegheny County Police are sharing surveillance video in an attempt to identify and track down the man who abandoned a dog this week at Pittsburgh International Airport. At about 1:15 p.m. Thursday, a traveler at the airport told an Allegheny County Police officer that they saw a dog tied to...
MAWC opts out of ‘forever chemical’ settlement
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will not participate in a proposed $11 billion settlement of class-action lawsuits against major chemical companies who are alleged to have contaminated local water supplies. The authority last year filed its own legal action against six companies that claimed they were responsible for toxic...
Man critically injured after being shot multiple times in Wilkinsburg
A man was hospitalized after being shot multiple times Thursday morning in Wilkinsburg. The shooting happened in the 200 block of Penn Avenue around 11:15 a.m., said Allegheny County Police spokeswoman Jim Madalinsky. The wounded man, who police did not name, was taken to an area hospital in critical condition,...
Kraft Heinz announces new leadership
Packaged food giant Kraft Heinz announced changes to its leadership team in the coming year, months after naming a new chief executive. The maker of Heinz Ketchup and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese appointed Carlos Abrams-Rivera as CEO and a member of the board, effective Jan. 1. Until then, Abrams-Rivera will...
IUP names dean for proposed college of osteopathic medicine
Indiana University of Pennsylvania leaders have hired a dean for their proposed college of osteopathic medicine and say the move is an important step toward establishing the state’s first such school on a public campus. Dr. Miko Rose, 50, comes from the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Pacific Northwest University...
DEP fines companies involved in implosion of smokestacks at former Springdale power plant
Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection announced Thursday a civil penalty in connection to the June 2 implosion of two smokestacks at the former power plant property in Springdale. According to the DEP, Cheswick Plant Environmental Redevelopment Group, Controlled Demolition Inc. and Grant Mackay Co. violated the state’s Solid Waste Management...
Fight over Fern Hollow Bridge collapse records hits courtroom
Lawyers for the City of Pittsburgh and a bus driver hurt in the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse sparred Thursday in court over access to engineering records. Peter Giglione, attorney for Pittsburgh Regional Transit driver Daryl Luciani, wants to subpoena records about the bridge from three engineering firms, but the city...
Workers at 6 Pittsburgh-area Starbucks join daylong strike
Local baristas are participating in a one-day strike Thursday at several Pittsburgh-area Starbucks stores. Unionized workers at six Starbucks located in the city of Pittsburgh and Bethel Park are striking as part of the national Red Cup Rebellion movement. The day of action coincides with one of the coffee giant’s...
Rep. George Santos won’t seek reelection after scathing ethics report cites evidence of lawbreaking
WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee in a scathing report Thursday said it has amassed “overwhelming evidence” of lawbreaking by Republican Rep. George Santos of New York that has been sent to the Justice Department, concluding flatly that he “cannot be trusted” after a monthslong investigation into his conduct. Shortly...
Point State Park holiday tree set to return with new name, look
For years, it was an iconic holiday fixture in Pittsburgh. The Point State Park Christmas tree dotted the city’s confluence as an annual beacon of the season. Until last year. Sponsored by Duquesne Light, the tree stood near the fountain in Point State Park since its introduction in the 1988...
Averting government shutdown, Congress approves temporary funding through the holidays
WASHINGTON — Ending the threat of a government shutdown until after the holidays, Congress gave final approval Wednesday night to a temporary government funding package that pushes a confrontation over the federal budget into the new year. The Senate met into the night to pass the bill with an overwhelming...
Morning Roundup: Man injured in Turtle Creek shooting; police probe pellet gun assaults in Oakland
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Nov. 16: Police respond to report of shots fired in Turtle Creek Allegheny County Police said a man was injured Wednesday night in a shooting incident in Turtle Creek, but he wasn’t hurt from gunfire. First responders arrived...
Bomb squad called to Bethel Park after suspicious devices found near body of man
The Allegheny Bomb Squad responded Wednesday evening after several suspicious devices were found near a man found dead in a Bethel Park home. Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the deceased as Richard Friedman, 53. According to TribLIVE news partner WTAE, Bethel Park police discovered Friedman’s body around 7:30 p.m....
Hatfield’s Ferry power plant demolition embodies end of a bygone era
Masontown council President Bruce Cochrane can remember when the power station at Hatfield’s Ferry was built. A longtime resident of the borough at the border of Fayette and Greene counties, the retired UPS driver has spent most of his life driving on the bridge that crosses the Monongahela River and...
In adopted daughters, Hempfield family finds ‘missing pieces to the puzzle’
Amber Pearce knows what it’s like to be in the foster system — that’s why she and husband John continue to keep their Hempfield home open to children in need. In 2014, they adopted daughter Nia, now 10. On Wednesday, they adopted two more daughters — Deziray, 7, and Reylynn,...
Body of Verona man who jumped from Hulton Bridge recovered from Ohio River
The body of a man who crashed his car on the Hulton Bridge in Oakmont on Nov. 7 and then jumped over the side into the Allegheny River was recovered on Wednesday afternoon from the Ohio River in Pittsburgh. Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the deceased as Jeremy Gilroy,...
Biden and Xi strike deals on military communications, fentanyl, AI
President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed on joint efforts to combat fentanyl, restore high-level military communications and hold a dialogue about artificial intelligence at a high-stakes summit that saw the two leaders seek to repair a bilateral relationship under intense strains. The discussion also included a extended...
