Top Stories category, Page 673
Marc Fogel Act seeks transparency in wrongful detainment designations for Americans
A bipartisan group of Pennsylvania congressmen on Tuesday introduced the Marc Fogel Act, a bill named for an Oakmont teacher who was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison for possessing a small amount of medical marijuana. The lawmakers said the legislation would require the State Department to be...
Supreme Court rejects GOP claim that state lawmakers have full power over electionsVideo
WASHINGTON — In another surprise ruling, the Supreme Court on Tuesday firmly rejected a Republican claim that the Constitution gives state lawmakers full and unchecked power over the elections of members of Congress and the president in their state. The so-called independent state legislature theory had alarmed Democrats and threatened...
More than $200 billion in covid-19 aid may have been stolen, federal watchdog says
WASHINGTON — More than $200 billion may have been stolen from two large covid-19 relief initiatives, according to new estimates from a federal watchdog investigating federally funded programs that helped small businesses survive the worst public health crisis in more than a hundred years. The numbers issued Tuesday by the...
FBI, Homeland Security ignored ‘massive amount’ of intelligence before Jan. 6, Senate report says
WASHINGTON — The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security downplayed or ignored “a massive amount of intelligence information” ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S Capitol, according to the chairman of a Senate panel that on Tuesday released a report on the intelligence failures ahead of...
Canadian wildfires are causing unhealthy air quality again in Chicago and other parts of the U.S.Video
CHICAGO — Drifting smoke from the ongoing wildfires across Canada is creating curtains of haze and raising air quality concerns throughout the Great Lakes region, and in parts of the central and eastern United States. In Minnesota, a record 23rd air quality alert was issued Tuesday through late Wednesday night...
Trump target Al Schmidt gets crucial approval as he moves closer to becoming Pa.’s top election official
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. Al Schmidt, the former Philadelphia city commissioner who made national headlines in 2020 for rebuking then-President Donald Trump’s election fraud claims, is one step closer to officially becoming Pennsylvania’s...
It’s official: Harrison has a new police chief
Harrison police Sgt. Brian Andrew Turack officially is the department’s new chief. Turack was sworn in at Monday’s commissioners meeting. He has been serving alongside retiring Chief Michael Klein since May, when commissioners appointed Turack to the chief’s post. Klein has been the chief for the past 29 years. His...
Experts debate brain imaging of Pittsburgh synagogue shooter
An MRI of Robert Bowers’ brain shows an unusually large number of white matter lesions that could be indicative of schizophrenia, an expert testified Tuesday. But those types of lesions also can be caused by uncontrolled high blood pressure, migraines or heavy smoking, the expert said. Dr. Murray A. Solomon,...
Hills Snack Bar food truck gets OK from health inspector
The return of the Hills Snack Bar is now one step closer to becoming reality. Just last year, Jason Powell of Aliquippa revealed he was bringing back a version of the famed snack bar from Hills department stores in the form of a food truck. On Tuesday, Powell announced that...
‘June Boötid’ meteor shower will peak in Pittsburgh area tonight
The annual June Boötid meteor shower will stick around until July 2, but its peak — and the best chance to catch a glimpse — will be tonight. In the Pittsburgh area, the shower will be visible from dusk well into the night. But what is it, and why is...
State teacher’s union blasts proposed school voucher scholarships
Pennsylvania’s teachers union is protesting a proposed program that would shift funding from public to private schools. The initiative would provide state-funded “lifeline scholarships” to eligible students at schools identified as “low-achieving.” The program could come to a vote in the Senate this week amid the state budget approval process....
Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law is upheld again, as court rules against Republican challenge
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state court on Tuesday rejected the latest Republican effort to throw out the presidential battleground state’s broad mail-in voting law that has become a GOP target following former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud. It is the latest of several refusals by a state...
Supreme Court makes it more difficult to convict someone of making a threat
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to make it more difficult to convict a person of making a violent threat. The case could make it harder for prosecutors to convict certain people who threaten elected officials, including the president. The high court ruled in a case that involves a...
Supreme Court rules state courts can play role in policing federal elections
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that North Carolina’s top court did not overstep its bounds in striking down a congressional districting plan as excessively partisan under state law. The justices by a 6-3 vote rejected the broadest view of a case that could have transformed elections for...
Industrial development agencies finalize venture to redevelop New Kensington park
Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. and the Regional Industrial Development Corp. finalized a joint venture to redevelop the New Kensington Advanced Manufacturing Park. Westmoreland County commissioners and IDC directors Sean Kertes, Doug Chew and Gina Cerilli Thrasher approved the partnership with RIDC, which has agreed to the terms. “We’re extremely...
Lordstown Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Commercial electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection nearly two months after it warned that it was in danger of failing. In early May electronics company Foxconn wavered on a $170 million investment in Lordstown. The Ohio company said in a regulatory filing at...
Breeze Airways adds low-cost flights from Pittsburgh to Tampa
One of the newest airlines operating out of Pittsburgh International Airport plans to add flights to Tampa early this fall. Breeze Airways, which launched service in Pittsburgh in July 2021, announced that it will begin offering nonstop flights between Pittsburgh and Tampa International on Oct. 5. Round-trip flights will be...
Morning Roundup: Penn Hills police seek 2 suspects who shot at Amazon driver
Here are some of the latest news items from Tuesday morning: Penn Hills police seek 2 suspects who shot at Amazon driver Penn Hills police are searching for two men who they say attacked an Amazon driver and fired a shot at him while the driver was making deliveries. Police...
Man fatally shot in Pittsburgh’s East Hills
A man was killed Monday night in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood, according to police. Officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert around 9 p.m. in the 2200 block of Wilner Drive and found with a man with a gunshot wound to his neck, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at the...
Westmoreland officials pledge to reopen juvenile detention center
Westmoreland officials on Monday pledged to reopen the county’s juvenile detention center upon the conclusion of state investigations launched this month when two youths were injured at the Hempfield facility. “As soon as the investigations are done, we hope to be up and running. As soon as we can get...
With increased interest in self-defense classes, instructors focus on situational awareness
Fourth-degree black belt Bob Makowski doesn’t mind scaring students in his self-defense classes. The harder he grabs their attention, he said, the better chance they learn tools that can thwart danger. “About 65% of assaults occur with someone you know and also happen indoors,” said Makowski, owner of a martial...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh’s Zoe wins ‘Baking Championship;’ locals on ‘Bachelorette,’ ‘Jeopardy!’Video
She won! Mt. Washington’s Zoe Peckich, pastry sous chef at Ritual House in Downtown Pittsburgh, won Food Network’s “Summer Baking Championship” Monday night, pocketing the $25,000 grand prize and setting up the potential for future Food Network show appearances. It was actually a double win for Peckich, who grew up...
Tape has Trump discussing ‘highly confidential’ document with interviewerVideo
An audio recording from a meeting in which former President Donald Trump discusses a “highly confidential” document with an interviewer appears to undermine his later claim that he didn’t have such documents, only magazine and newspaper clippings. The recording, from a July 2021 interview Trump gave at his Bedminster, N.J.,...
Hempfield to purchase former state prison site, demolish buildings
Hempfield will buy the former SCI Greensburg state prison and plans to work with the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corporation to demolish the complex. Supervisors on Monday approved spending $3.5 million to buy the 96-acre property on Route 119 between Youngwood and Greensburg. The medium-security prison was originally built to...
Prosecutors seeking death penalty against man accused of slaying of 4 University of Idaho students
BOISE, Idaho — Prosecutors say they are seeking the death penalty against a man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death late last year. Bryan Kohberger, 28, is charged with four counts of murder in connection with the deaths at a rental house near the Moscow, Idaho,...
