Top Stories category, Page 626
Lana Del Rey strikes right notes in sold-out Pittsburgh area debut
Lana Del Rey could be described as an enigma, even calling herself “a modern day woman with a weak constitution” in one song. Yet there was little weakness on display Tuesday — just vulnerability, and isn’t purposefully exposing that actually a true sign of strength? Sure, her songs often dwell...
Westmoreland 250: 10 things to see in South, Southwest Greensburg
(Editor’s note: To mark Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday this year, we’ve come up with a list of 250 things — 10 things in 25 communities — that we consider to be important to the makeup of our area. This series will appear each week through December. If you have a...
5 people were wounded in a shooting after a homecoming event at Morgan State University in Baltimore
BALTIMORE — A shooting interrupted a homecoming week celebration at Baltimore’s Morgan State University on Tuesday, wounding five people and prompting an hourslong lockdown of the historically Black college. Students hunkered down for about four hours, as police went room to room looking for suspects. No arrests were made. Police...
Sara Innamorato, Joe Rockey debate crime, public safety ahead of Allegheny County executive race
Former state Rep. Sara Innamorato and former PNC executive Joe Rockey on Tuesday outlined their platforms in an hourlong live, televised debate hosted by Tribune-Review news partner WTAE and the League of Women Voters. Innamorato, of Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood, and Rockey, of Ohio Township, spent much of the debate discussing...
New York judge issues limited gag order after Trump sends disparaging post about court clerkVideo
NEW YORK — A New York judge sternly imposed a limited gag order in Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial Tuesday after the former president disparaged a key court staffer. Amid a long day of testimony, Judge Arthur Engoron issued the order, which applies to all parties in the case...
Derry Township woman testifies about finding purported trip wire at top of basement stairs
It was a normal Saturday morning until Laura Dankesreiter discovered something odd at her Derry Township home. At first, she thought she had tripped on a ripped piece of carpet after opening the basement door, something she initially attributed to one of her cats. But on further inspection, Dankesreiter noticed...
Speaker McCarthy ousted in historic House vote, as scramble begins for a Republican leaderVideo
WASHINGTON — Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the job Tuesday in an extraordinary showdown — a first in U.S. history, forced by a contingent of hard-right conservatives and throwing the House and its Republican leadership into chaos. It’s the end of the political line for McCarthy, who has...
String of suspicious fires, shooter on the loose disconcerting for New Kensington, Arnold residents
Melissa McCrory and some friends were sitting on the stoop of her Leishman Avenue home Monday when she heard a volley of gunfire ring out from somewhere up the street. Moments later, she said, she encountered one of the people involved in a shooting that took place in the 1500...
Ray A. Shetler’s trial for assault of a police officer set to begin
Trial is expected to begin Wednesday morning in the case of a New Florence man who is accused of assaulting police officers. A jury was empaneled Tuesday and will hear evidence against Ray A. Shetler Jr., 39. He has been in jail awaiting trial since his arrest in December 2021...
Western Pa. members of Congress weigh in on potential ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Congress could lose its House Speaker on Tuesday afternoon, as the U.S. House could vote this afternoon to vacate its top position. The effort is led by U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a hard-line conservative from Florida, who is upset with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., over a recent vote to...
Pennsylvania House proposes April 2 for presidential primary, 2 weeks later than Senate wants
HARRISBURG — Most Pennsylvania lawmakers want to move their state’s presidential primary election up from late April, but disagreements arose in the House on Tuesday over whether to embrace a Senate-backed plan that would shift the election to mid-March. A House committee first rejected, but later passed, a bipartisan Senate...
Those in solitary confinement unit at Fayette prison face ‘cruel and unusual punishment,’ lawsuit says
Five people who have spent years in solitary confinement at a Fayette County state prison are suing the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and prison administrators, alleging that people housed there are subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, also includes claims for due process violations...
Mt. Pleasant Township man accused of stabbing elderly mother
A man accused of stabbing his elderly mother multiple times while she slept in their Mt. Pleasant Township home early Tuesday told authorities he thought she was a Nazi war criminal, according to court documents. Kort Noel Eckman, 45, was placed in the Westmoreland County Jail awaiting arraignment Tuesday on...
Lawsuit claims nurse killed 3rd victim with insulin, blames Lower Burrell nursing home
A woman charged with killing two nursing home patients in Butler County by overdosing them with insulin faces new allegations that she caused a third such death at a Lower Burrell health care facility where she was a supervisor. The claims are part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed Tuesday...
Three juveniles charged, security heightened after gun-passing incident at Hempfield high school
Hempfield Area High School students on Tuesday were met by a robust police presence and handheld metal detectors — a response to guns being found at school a day earlier, and three 15-year-old students have been charged in connection with the incident. Lines stretched across the gym and around the...
Record October heat possible in Pittsburgh before temps plummet
Pittsburghers will be dealing with potentially record-breaking heat for much of the week before a dramatic cold shift this weekend. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Moon said Allegheny County might experience patchy fog Tuesday morning, followed by a mostly sunny day with “unseasonably warm” temperatures. The temperature should...
Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to 3 federal gun charges filed after plea deal collapsed
WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to three federal firearms charges filed after his earlier deal imploded, setting the case on a track toward a possible trial in 2024 while his father is campaigning for reelection. President Joe Biden’s son has been charged with lying about...
After fiery first day, Donald Trump returns to court as his fraud trial gets down to business
NEW YORK — After a fiery first day of opening statements, lawyers in Donald Trump’s business fraud trial in New York will move on Tuesday to the more plodding task of going through years of his financial documents in what’s expected to be a weekslong fight over whether they constitute...
Your cellphone, TV and radio will sound alarms today — here’s why
On Wednesday afternoon, your cellphone, TV and radio will all sound alarms. While it may give a jolt of surprise, there is no reason to worry. It is just a test. Two tests, actually. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission will conduct a nationwide test at...
Woman dies in Allegheny County’s first West Nile virus case of 2023
Officials have identified the first human case of West Nile virus in 2023 in Allegheny County. The woman, who was in her 80s and lived in Pittsburgh’s Elliott neighborhood, experienced fever and weakness, leading to hospitalization, the Allegheny County Health Department said Monday. She died in late September. The state...
Morning roundup: Fire impacts 3 Murrysville businesses; arrest made in robbery of 2 Pitt students
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Oct. 3: Fire in Murrysville impacts 3 businesses A fire broke out in a business building early Tuesday in Murrysville. The fire was reported at about 2:30 a.m.on the 4000 block of William Penn Highway. The structure houses...
Greensburg hopes to raze shuttered parking garage by Westmoreland Hospital
Greensburg officials have a plan in place for demolishing the city’s shuttered J. Edward Hutchinson Parking Garage, but the state’s blessing is needed. The garage has been closed for about two years, since the city determined it wasn’t worth the projected cost of more than $2 million to extend the...
Edgewood’s Bhavini Patel announces Democratic challenge to U.S. Rep. Summer Lee
After a roughly contested primary in 2022, Western Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District could be in for another competitive spring race. Bhavini Patel, 29, a Democrat from Edgewood, said Monday that she plans to challenge freshman U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, in next year’s primary. Less than two years ago, Lee...
Rep. Matt Gaetz’s motion to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy throws House into new turmoilVideo
WASHINGTON — Speaker Kevin McCarthy is facing an extraordinary referendum on his leadership of the House after a conservative member of his own Republican majority, a longtime critic, moved to launch a vote to oust him from the helm. Late Monday, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., rose in the chamber as...
4 weekend fires in New Kensington, Arnold — 3 on same street — being treated as suspicious
Investigators are trying to determine whether four fires that erupted over the weekend — including one that sent a firefighter to the hospital with serious injuries — were deliberately set and connected to one another. Three of the four fires were on Leishman Avenue and one was on Fourth Avenue....
