Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 670
Phil Jurkovec leads Pitt to 45-7 victory against Wofford
Long before kickoff, Pat Narduzzi and everybody in the crowd of 45,096 at Acrisure Stadium knew Pitt would defeat tiny Wofford on Saturday. Clean execution and careful planning had plenty to do with the 45-7 victory that, in reality, was easier than the final score indicated. Wofford, an FCS team...
Plum fire trucks among vehicles at food truck rally, touch-a-truck event benefiting Rustic Ridge
Three of the Plum fire trucks that responded to the Rustic Ridge house explosion Aug. 12 were out in the community for a different, but related, reason on Saturday. Ladder trucks from the Holiday Park and Unity fire departments and an engine from the Renton company were among the vehicles...
Bill Richardson, a former governor and UN ambassador who worked to free detained Americans, dies
WASHINGTON — Bill Richardson, a two-term Democratic governor of New Mexico and an American ambassador to the United Nations who also worked for years to secure the release of Americans detained by foreign adversaries, has died. He was 75. The Richardson Center for Global Engagement, which he founded and led,...
Killer who escaped suburban Philadelphia prison is spotted on surveillance cameras
WEST CHESTER — A recently convicted murderer who’s been on the run for days after escaping a suburban Philadelphia prison was spotted shortly after midnight Saturday by residential security cameras in an area not far from the prison, authorities said. Authorities haven’t disclosed the circumstances of how Danelo Cavalcante, 34,...
Futules’ Harmar House gives update on Facebook
Nick Futules Jr. offered thanks to various people Saturday and gave an update on the aftermath of a fire Wednesday, Aug. 30 that destroyed Futules’ Harmar House banquet hall and downstairs lounge and apartments. In a Facebook post, Nick Futules Jr. began by thanking everyone who offered their condolences and...
Biden is surveying hurricane’s toll from the sky and ground in Florida
LIVE OAK, Fla. — President Joe Biden got a look Saturday from the sky at Hurricane Idalia’s impact across a swath of Florida before setting out on a walking tour of a city recovering from the storm. Notably absent from his schedule was any time with Gov. Ron DeSantis, a...
Children hit hardest by the pandemic are now the big kids at school. Many still need reading help
They were the kids most disrupted by the pandemic, the ones who were still learning to write their names and tie their shoes when schools shut down in the spring of 2020. Now, they’re the big kids at elementary schools across the United States. Many still need profound help overcoming...
Madison, a town without a working government, gets court intervention to pay bills
Joe Borkovich doesn’t pay much attention to the inner workings of his hometown. He just knows tiny Madison Borough remains a nice place to live. Standing in the driveway of his home that overlooks the town’s park and playground, Borkovich, 81, said he sees no signs of Madison’s stagnant government...
‘Margaritaville’ singer Jimmy Buffett, who turned beach-bum life into an empire, dies at 76
NEW YORK — Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist Caribbean-flavored song “Margaritaville” and turned that celebration of loafing into a billion-dollar empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions, has died. He was 76. “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded...
First roundabout in Alle-Kiski Valley aims to decrease vehicle crashes in Allegheny TownshipVideo
A newly completed roundabout is operating smoothly in Allegheny Township, officials say. The roundabout, the first of its kind in the Alle-Kiski Valley, is at the intersection of Route 356 and La Belle Vue Road. A roundabout is a one-way type of circular intersection that does not require vehicles to...
Motorcyclist killed in Route 119 motorcycle crash in Salem
A Salem man was killed Friday night when his motorcycle hit a utility pole’s guy wire along Route 119 in Salem, Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson said. The victim, William Earl Rager, 44, was driving the Harley Davidson motorcycle southbound when he lost control and hit a drainage culvert on...
As workers scramble to finish upscale student high-rise in Pittsburgh, college students scattered in temporary housing
Hailey Garza, a Carnegie Mellon University sophomore, envisioned herself this fall in luxury high-rise student housing just off campus on Forbes Avenue — a complex with a 24-hour fitness center, coffee bar and hot tub. Instead, she’s in Shadyside — in a basement Airbnb that sometimes has a subterranean smell...
Federal loan to support $500M expansion at Eos Energy’s Mon Valley facility
New Jersey-based battery company Eos Energy is expanding at its Mon Valley facility and creating a $500 million program that elected officials say will create hundreds of jobs locally. U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, announced Thursday that the U.S. Department of Energy has made a conditional commitment on a nearly...
NexTier, Mars Bancorp banks reach merger agreement
Two local banks have agreed to merge. Butler-based NexTier Inc. plans to acquire Mars Bancorp Inc., according to a joint announcement by the two companies. The Mars-based bank will operate under NexTier’s brand. “We believe the merger with Mars Bank provides NexTier the opportunity to provide additional banking services to...
Swissvale woman accused of having yearslong sexual relationship with teen boy
A Swissvale woman accused of maintaining a yearslong sexual relationship with a boy starting when he was 14 was arrested Friday, police said. Rachel Witkowski, 42, faces five counts of indecent assault, two counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of minors, and one count each of statutory...
Former Springdale power plant to be demolished Sept. 22
A Sept. 22 implosion date has been set for the boiler house building at the former Cheswick Generating Station plant in Springdale. Scott Reschly, vice president of operations for Charah Solutions, an environmental remediation firm and the property’s owner, said Friday the demolition of the boiler house building is planned...
Spotlight PA fights to unseal lobbyist communications with the legislature
This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Deep within Pennsylvania’s 36-page Right-to-Know Law, a clause says that correspondence between a state lawmaker and a person seeking their help is off-limits to the...
Wallen, Wiz and a porta-potty: Morgan Wallen brings excitement with 2 shows in Pittsburgh
Fans were in for a lot of excitement during Morgan Wallen’s two-show stint in Pittsburgh. The country star performed two nights in a row at PNC Park, and the shows included two events that ended up going viral on social media. During the Wednesday night show, four Wallen fans were...
New Kensington Bridge reopens to traffic
The New Kensington Bridge reopened to traffic, a couple days earlier than planned. PennDOT announced Friday that the bridge, which spans the Allegheny River between East Deer and New Kensington, reopened after it was closed for about six weeks. The 10th Street underpass on the New Kensington side of the...
Allegheny County officials seeking to place a small homeless shelter in Carrick
Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services is seeking proposals to build a homeless shelter in Carrick that would house about a dozen people. The move comes as the Department of Human Services is seeking to fund multiple small, low-barrier shelters across the county. Homelessness in Allegheny County has been increasing...
Pa. to end state funding for anti-abortion counseling centers
HARRISBURG — For nearly 30 years, Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania have approved millions of taxpayer dollars for an anti-abortion program. Now the state’s new governor plans to end the contract as the organization that distributes those funds and other groups like it gain attention since the overturning of...
Morning Roundup: Fire destroys vacant Hempfield home
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Sept. 1: Fire destroys vacant Hempfield home A Hempfield home along Middletown Road was destroyed in a fire early Friday. Firefighters were met around 2 a.m. with heavy flames and smoke centered on the front part of the...
1 dead, 2 injured in shooting in Downtown Pittsburgh
A man was killed and two others were injured in a shooting in Downtown Pittsburgh late Thursday, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner and city police. Lonnie Latham III, 23, of Pittsburgh died at a hospital after the 10:30 p.m. shooting in the area of Strawberry Way and Smithfield...
Man convicted of killing girlfriend escapes Pa. prison
WEST CHESTER — A man recently convicted of murder in Pennsylvania for the fatal stabbing his ex-girlfriend remained at large Friday, a day after he escaped from a county jail. Danelo Cavalcante, 34, is also wanted in his native Brazil in a separate slaying and is considered an extremely dangerous...
Planned reduction of Medicare drug costs could ease burden on cash-strapped seniors
Susie Bell of Penn Township dreads this time of year. It’s not the hot weather that bothers her, but the fact that by early summer, she’s fallen into the “doughnut hole,” a colloquial term for the annual Medicare coverage gap — when the health care plan contributes far less toward...
