Top Stories category, Page 631
Sheriff provides the first details of how a white man fatally shot 3 Black people at a Florida storeVideo
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 21-year-old white man fatally shot three Black people in Florida with guns bought legally despite his once being involuntarily committed for a mental health exam, the local sheriff said Sunday. Ryan Palmeter shot one of his victims as she sat in her car outside a Jacksonville...
Use of force by city police to be reviewed in Downtown Pittsburgh drug arrest
Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Safety will review the use of force by a group of city police during their arrest of a man Downtown on Friday night, after multiple videos posted to social media brought criticism from community groups and others. Police said the man, identified in a criminal complaint...
Fueled by Heather Lyke’s leadership, Pitt athletics experiencing renaissance of success
One by one, they enter the room. Pat Narduzzi. Jeff Capel. Jay Vidovich. Dan Fisher. Every head coach of a varsity program at the University of Pittsburgh shuffles into a room in either the Petersen Events Center or the South Side football facility. They’re all here to meet with their...
Pitt chancellor: Multiple factors will play into a new contract for AD Heather Lyke
New University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel minced no words when it came to her assessment of Athletic Director Heather Lyke. “Heather is without question one of the best athletic directors in the country,” Gabel recently told the Tribune-Review. “She’s been recognized as such (for) wins on the field and...
Mega-donor Chris Bickell helping Pitt level playing field with college football’s elite teams
Chris Bickell is helping to keep Pitt athletics in the game. For starters, there’s the matter of the $20 million — the largest single donation provided to Pitt athletics — he donated in 2021. To put that into perspective, John and Gertrude Petersen of Erie donated $10 million in 1999...
Court ruling on Pa. education funding puts school infrastructure in spotlight
As residents of Hempfield recently learned, the cost associated with school building projects can easily climb above $100 million. For decades, school administrators could turn to what was known as PlanCon to pursue state funding to help ease the local burden. PlanCon — short for the Planning and Construction Workbook...
11-year-old Harrison girl raises money for Lower Burrell police dog
At age 6, Kaley Bastine hosted her first fundraiser. Her lemonade stand made $106 that day, according to her mother, Jamie Bastine. Now, at age 11, Kaley Bastine has raised about $50,000 for local police departments, according to her mother. The Harrison girl organized an ice cream social Saturday at...
Coroner called to scene of drowning in Connellsville
A person appears to have drowned in the Youghiogheny River early Saturday afternoon, Fayette County 911 officials said. Emergency responders were called to Yough River Park, just off North Sixth Street along the banks of the Yough, around noon. One person was recovered from the water, and the county coroner...
Bob Barker, dapper ‘Price Is Right’ and ‘Truth or Consequences’ host and animal advocate, dies at 99
Bob Barker, the enduring, dapper game show host who became a household name over a half century of hosting “Truth or Consequences” and “The Price Is Right,” has died. He was 99. Barker — also a longtime animal rights activist — died Saturday morning at his home in Los Angeles,...
Rustic Ridge homeowners whose houses were damaged by the house explosion could get tax relief
Plum officials are notifying Rustic Ridge homeowners whose houses were substantially damaged by the house explosion there two weeks ago that they may be eligible for a significant reduction in their property assessment. Plum officials are pointing to those homeowners to a Catastrophic Loss Application that is available from the...
Bare electrical wire and leaning poles on Maui were possible cause of deadly fires
In the first moments of the Maui fires, when high winds brought down power poles, slapping electrified wires to the dry grass below, there was a reason the flames erupted all at once in long, neat rows — those wires were bare, uninsulated metal that could spark on contact. Videos...
University of Pittsburgh is equipping many classrooms with ‘panic buttons’
The University of Pittsburgh says it is installing panic buttons in numerous classrooms ahead of Monday’s fall semester start, among other upgrades, after active shooter hoaxes in April drew heavily armed police to campus and terrified students. The changes follow a “major review of the procedures, policies and tools” for...
Dealership #1 Cochran expands with South Hills Honda purchase
Auto retailer #1 Cochran has snapped up another dealership, acquiring South Hills Honda in Peters Township. The deal is the fourth acquisition for the company this year and fifth in the last 10 months. South Hills Honda makes the first Honda store in #1 Cochran’s Pittsburgh market and second overall...
Power coming back steadily across Southwestern Pa. after heavy storms, Fayette tornado, but outages remain
Power crews continued working Saturday afternoon to restore power to more than 5,000 customers in Southwestern Pennsylvania following strong storms and a tornado that touched down in Fayette County. West Penn Power had about 3,690 customers still without power around 5 p.m. Saturday, down from 8,000 in the morning. The...
Elizabeth Forward rebuilds, starts new school year amid aftermath of fire devastation
Though Elizabeth Forward is one of many districts returning to school, students’ first day on Thursday was abnormal because renovations are in progress following a fire last winter at the high school. The Feb. 12 blaze destroyed the auditorium, band and choir rooms at Elizabeth Forward High School, forcing the...
White man fatally shoots 3 Black people at Florida store, kills himself
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A masked white man fatally shot three Black people inside a Jacksonville, Florida, Dollar General store in a predominately African-American neighborhood on Saturday, in an attack where he used a gun painted with a swastika, officials said. The shooter, who had also posted racist writings, then killed...
Neighbor near fatal Plum house explosion can get house fixed but mourns loss of friends, wonders about the future
Andy Zarroli might be the first of nearly a dozen homeowners in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood to know his house can be repaired following the fatal house explosion two weeks ago. But while his house can be fixed, he’s not sure if he and his wife can call it home...
Garfield shooter’s instability, extreme ideology likely contributed to violent confrontation
Before a tense, six-hour standoff Wednesday captured Pittsburgh’s attention and ended with the death of William Hardison Jr., there were several warning signs that a confrontation with him likely wouldn’t go smoothly. Probation records, legal documents and social media history all point to an unstable life filled with run-ins with...
Homicide suspect captured in Vandergrift after manhuntVideo
An Apollo-area man on the run while facing vehicular homicide charges was captured in Vandergrift on Friday night hiding in the basement of a winery. Matthew David Carlson, 35, of Spring Church, Kiski Township, faces charges of felony vehicular homicide and vehicular aggravated assault while driving under the influence, among...
Delmont man, 83, sentenced to state prison for attempted murder of neighbor
An 83-year-old wheelchair-bound Delmont man was sentenced Friday to serve up to eight years in state prison for the 2019 attempted murder of his neighbor. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger said prison confinement was not the preferred option but was the one that offered the best choice to...
Olympus Energy donating 250 gas detectors to Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood
A Washington County-based oil and natural gas company is donating 250 methane detectors for homes in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood where six people died from a house explosion Aug. 12. Olympus Energy of Cecil Township gave the detectors to the Rustic Ridge Homeowners Association. Gov. Josh Shapiro and Rich Negrin,...
How to manage spotted lanternflies in your yard
Spotted lanternflies have invaded Pittsburgh. After a few years of sparse sightings, the local lanternfly population apparently has exploded and the invasive species is being spotted across Southwestern Pennsylvania. While not immediately dangerous to humans, the insects love to gorge on vegetation and swarm on trees, the sides of homes...
Tim Benz: Reestablishing ‘the standard’ for ascending Steelers — and let’s remember it all the way through January
Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers are giddy in anticipation of the opening game for the 2023 season on Sept. 10. Based on how the preseason went, they should be. Not only did the club win all three of its games, but the first-team offense sparkled under the direction of the...
Federal judge: West Virginia can restrict abortion pill sales
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia can restrict the sale of the abortion pill, despite federal regulators’ approval of it as a safe and effective medication, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers determined Thursday that the near-total abortion ban signed by Republican Gov. Jim Justice...
Casey hopes tax credits for clean-energy projects can boost Pa.’s ‘coal communities’
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey released a map this week of areas where clean energy projects could be eligible for a bonus tax credit up to 10% through the federal Inflation Reduction Act. The region includes all of Southwestern Pennsylvania. The energy community bonus is available to developers for locating projects...
