Top Stories category, Page 579
Lower Burrell police to get training to better assess incidents, ‘prioritize deescalation’
Lower Burrell police officers soon will undergo training to better assist them in deescalating situations. The police department will participate in ICAT training — which stands for Integrating, Communications, Assessment and Tactics — the next two Fridays, Dec. 8 and 15. “This training for our police personnel is equipped with...
Face-to-face connection of Greensburg Holiday Market gives artisans a boost
As soon as the Greensburg Holiday Market started Sunday, Allison Mullen had customers. They fawned over her laser-etched coasters and handmade wooden decorative pieces before settling on a purchase. Meeting customers and learning about what products they want is one of the best aspects of participating in the market, she...
Man dies from gunshot wounds in Carrick
A man was fatally shot Sunday in Carrick after an apparent altercation, according to Pittsburgh Police. Witnesses told investigators there was a fight between two men before the shooting around 1:30 a.m. on Brownsville Road. The suspect then fled. Police were summoned to the scene and said they found the...
2 dead after shooting at home in McKeesport
A man and woman were fatally shot in a McKeesport house, according to Allegheny County Police. Their bodies were found at 5:20 p.m. Saturday during a welfare check at a 27th Street home. Police said the circumstances leading up to the shooting are under investigation, but they don’t believe anyone...
Homegrown Pitt men won 22 games in a row 50 years ago
While others were sleeping and the doors to Fitzgerald Field House were locked, they came out and ran up and down the streets of Oakland. Sometimes, they climbed the steps of the Towers — the on-campus dormitory complex whose tallest building rises 224 feet above Fifth Avenue — building endurance...
2 Westmoreland teens competing this week in rodeo’s Junior World Finals in Las Vegas
Two Westmoreland County teens will be competing in the Junior World Finals this month in hopes that their homegrown rodeo skills will land them a top prize. Aubrie Loughner, 18, is set to compete in barrel racing and breakaway roping while Jack Brentzel, 14, qualified to participate in the bull...
Nationwide youth gun-violence epidemic hitting teens, families in Pittsburgh region
Attorney Casey White has seen youth violence surge. Since the North Hills native launched his career 13 years ago as a criminal defense lawyer in Pittsburgh, he has witnessed gun violence involving children and teens grow exponentially. He said he has never had as many juvenile clients in jail awaiting...
Astronaut Warren ‘Woody’ Hoburg, a Pittsburgh-area native, to lead Terrible Towel twirl at Steelers game
Most know that Steelers fans and their Terrible Towels are a force to be reckoned with come game day. But a certain Terrible Towel to be waved at Sunday’s Steelers-Cardinals game, and the man behind it, are quite actually out-of-this-world. Astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, 38, of Houston, Texas, but who...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers must make most of opportunity ahead
It’s difficult to evaluate the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season. They are beneficiaries of an unchallenging schedule, a dearth of quality NFL quarterbacks, a rotten league in general. As Tom Brady rightly said, “I don’t see the excellence that I saw in the past.” I doubt Brady sees it in Pittsburgh, either....
Indiana Township woman fulfills lifelong dream of opening a special-needs school
An Indiana Township resident is celebrating a professional milestone. Cherie River worked for decades to accomplish her goal of opening a school specifically designed to meet the educational needs of special-needs students in grades K-8. The River Academy of Excellence opened Nov. 1 at 3390 Saxonburg Blvd. in Indiana Township....
Springdale Township to tap into reserves to balance 2024 budget
Springdale Township will tap into its reserves to balance its budget for 2024 and prevent taxpayers from seeing an increase in their bills. The township estimates it will have $2.3 million in expenditures in 2024 but anticipates only $1.7 million in revenue, said Tim Basilone, vice president of the township...
Drought watch declared in Westmoreland, voluntary water conservation continues
State officials on Friday declared a drought watch in Westmoreland County as a voluntary water conservation order remains in effect for some customers of the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. The state Department of Environmental Protection said moving Westmoreland County to drought watch status will support the efforts there to...
Trump denied immunity against U.S. election subversion charges
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is not entitled to absolute presidential immunity against criminal charges over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday rejected Trump’s early efforts to get the federal indictment in Washington tossed out, including his contention...
Union workers rally at Westmoreland Manor, cite wage, staffing issues in county contract talks
Members of a union representing more than 500 Westmoreland County employees picketed Friday in front of the county-owned nursing home, saying county officials aren’t proposing a fair contract as the workers’ four-year labor agreement is set to expire at the end of the month. Representatives of Service Employees International Union...
Protester critically injured after setting self on fire outside Israeli consulate in Atlanta
ATLANTA — A protester was in critical condition Friday after setting themself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, authorities said. A security guard who tried to intervene also was injured. A Palestinian flag found at the scene was part of the protest, Atlanta police Chief Darin Schierbaum said...
Flu on the rise, while RSV infections might be peaking
NEW YORK — Flu is picking up steam, while RSV lung infections that can hit kids and older people hard might be peaking, U.S. health officials said Friday. Covid-19, though, continues to cause the most hospitalizations and deaths among respiratory illnesses — about 15,000 hospitalizations and about 1,000 deaths every...
Billboards thanking John Fetterman for his support of Israel are circling Pennsylvania Society events in N.Y.
NEW YORK — LED trucks thanking Sen. John Fetterman for his support for Israel are driving around midtown Manhattan this weekend during Pennsylvania Society, the annual glitzy gatheringof the state’s political establishment. The digital billboards have a photo of Fetterman next to an Israeli flag and say, “Thank you Senator...
Inmate who stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 times is charged with attempted murder, prosecutors say
An incarcerated former gang member and one-time FBI informant was charged Friday with attempted murder in the stabbing of ex-Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at a federal prison in Arizona. John Turscak stabbed Chauvin 22 times at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson and said he would have killed Chauvin...
Man wounded in arm in South Huntingdon hunting incidentVideo
A man was taken by ambulance to Forbes Hospital in Monroeville on Friday after being wounded in an apparent hunting incident in South Huntingdon. Emergency crews were dispatched shortly before 5:30 p.m. to the 400 block of State Hill Road, east of Smithton, to assist a 60-year-old man with a...
Former Brighton Rehab employee testifies that she was told to falsify records
A former employee at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center said Friday that her supervisor asked her to add names of people who had not worked to the schedule to pad their numbers to meet state staffing requirements. Susan Harrington worked at the facility, previously known as Friendship Ridge nursing home...
Prosecutors gain cooperation from 4 charged in New Kensington killing
Four of seven defendants charged in connection with the killing of a New Kensington man last year are cooperating with Westmoreland County prosecutors. Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro said during a court hearing Friday that two young men and a juvenile who were scheduled to go on trial next week...
$350 million contract to cleanup Parks Township nuclear waste site isn’t enough, feds say
The $350 million earmarked for cleanup of the Parks Township nuclear waste dump isn’t enough to finish the job, so the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking for new contractors interested in continuing the cleanup when that money runs out. The Corps on Friday announced it will issue a...
Mildred Miller Posvar, famed mezzo-soprano and founder of Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, dies at 98
Mildred Miller Posvar, a Rust Belt singing sensation who soared to stardom on some of the world’s biggest opera stages before finally alighting in Pittsburgh, where she coached voice for decades, founded an opera company and became an indefatigable booster of the arts and the University of Pittsburgh, died Wednesday....
Rostraver woman gets prison term for embezzling nearly $400K from credit union
A Rostraver woman was sentenced in federal court to 30 months in prison and one year of supervised release for embezzling nearly $400,000 from a Monessen credit union in 2016. Patty L. Mavrakis, 65, was a branch manager for Valley 1st Community Federal Credit Union. She was charged in 2021...
Allegheny County Jail ordered to provide medication to inmates with opioid use disorder
Allegheny County Jail health officials will now be required to provide medication for inmates being treated for opioid use disorder after reaching an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. As part of the agreement, the county also will pay a person at the jail who was denied access to...
