Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 675
Temporary Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh flight coming this winter
Though just a bit over two hours away by car, Alaska Airlines soon will be offering a flight from Cleveland to Pittsburgh this winter. The daily, afternoon flight only travels one way from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. According to the Alaska Airlines website, tickets start as low as $129. The Seattle-based...
How Trump’s attacks on prosecutors build on history of using racist language and stereotypes
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s aggressive response to his fourth criminal indictment in five months follows a strategy he has long used against legal and political opponents: relentless attacks, often infused with language that is either overtly racist or is coded in ways that appeal to racists. The early Republican...
Man shot in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood has died
A man wounded in a shooting Thursday in the Beechview neighborhood of Pittsburgh has died. The victim, Carl J. Meyers, 21, of Pittsburgh, was taken from the scene to the UPMC Mercy emergency room and died two days later in the hospital, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office....
‘It’s a small number of people who are very loud’: Local libraries grapple with book challenges, bans
Over the past few years, Librarian Sharon Coronado has been tested by select patrons who oppose the presence of certain voices in books at Ligonier Valley Library, particularly the voices of people of color and LGBTQ individuals. In one instance, Coronado recalls, a group of parents came into the library...
Morning Roundup: Truck crashes into Etna house, sends person to hospital
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Aug. 22: Truck crashes into Etna house, sends 1 to hospital At least one person was taken to a hospital after a truck crashed into a house Monday evening in Etna , Tribune-Review news partner WTAE-TV reported. The...
Whistleblower lawsuit claims Pa. state police bypassed spouse of fellow officer for promotion
A state police trooper is claiming she was passed over for promotions on the force in retaliation for her husband’s role as a whistleblower. Lauren Spallone of Unity, a 14-year veteran with the Pennsylvania State Police and a sergeant since 2019, claims in a lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County court...
Rustic Ridge families organize 2-day back-to-school event for neighborhood kids
In her 20 years as a resident of Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood, Jennifer Corson, a mother of three, had never seen an event like she saw Monday. Another resident, Kristie Keller, organized a two-day back-to-school affair to help the area’s children prepare for their return to the classroom Wednesday while...
Pa. trooper charged with vehicular manslaughter in crash that killed teacher
Prosecutors charged an off-duty Pennsylvania state trooper with homicide by vehicle for causing a fiery head-on crash that killed a woman earlier this year. Attorney General Michelle Henry announced the charges Monday in connection with the Feb. 11 crash in Sullivan Township in Tioga County. Tioga County is in northern...
DEP examining ‘pinhole leak’ in gas line as part of Rustic Ridge house explosion probe
Officials with the state Department of Environmental Protection gave an update Monday on the agency’s investigation in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood following a fatal house explosion Aug. 12. It came a week after Gov. Josh Shapiro directed the agency to start a stray gas investigation. DEP Secretary Rich Negrin dispatched...
Man facing more charges in kidnapping case and Pennsylvania prison escape that led to manhunt
WARREN — A man who was the subject of a manhunt in two states last month after his escape from a northern Pennsylvania jail is facing more charges in the escape and in the original case alleging he kidnapped a couple and forced them to accompany him on his cross-country...
Biden sees devastation wrought by Hawaii wildfire during visit to LahainaVideo
LAHAINA, Hawaii — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Monday viewed the devastation wrought by the flames that ripped through the western part of the Hawaiian island, seeing for themselves the hollowed homes, structures and singed trees left behind by the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than...
University Line construction to alter several Pittsburgh bus routes
Some Pittsburgh bus riders will see altered service because of upcoming construction beginning for the University Line bus-rapid transit project, the region’s first major public transit operation in years. Four bus routes that currently cut though Oakland on their way to Downtown Pittsburgh will be shortened in order to make...
Another tiki boat captain saves person from drowning in Pittsburgh river
A tiki boat captain saved a woman from drowning in the Monongahela River near Point State Park on Saturday, just one month after another tiki boat captain fished a drowning boy out of the Allegheny. Captain Robb Rusiewicz, who saved the unidentified woman shortly after 10 a.m., was modest in...
Trump says he will surrender Thursday on Georgia charges tied to efforts to overturn 2020 election
ATLANTA — Former President Donald Trump says he will surrender to authorities in Georgia on Thursday to face charges in the case accusing him of illegally scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss. “Can you believe it? I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED,” Trump wrote...
Lawsuit contends Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board violates transparency laws
Two women who regularly attend Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board meetings are suing the board claiming it violates Sunshine Act laws on transparency. Rachel C. Radke and Tanisha Long are being represented, in part, by the ACLU of Pennsylvania. They filed an amended complaint on Friday. Previously, Radke was the...
Planned helicopter exercise to take place over Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire announced Monday that approximately four helicopters will fly over the city on Tuesday morning as part of a planned exercise with the Pennsylvania Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team. Team members will be picked up by Black Hawk helicopters from the vicinity of the former Veterans Affairs...
Pittsburgh police avert nightclub shooting during patrol
A group of quick-thinking Pittsburgh police officers thwarted a nightclub shooting Sunday at a Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar intersection. Two officers were on surveillance around 5 a.m. outside the nightclub known as Batcave, or just The Cave, near the intersection of Lincoln and Lemington avenues. They said that they spotted a man, later...
Penn Hills woman accused of animal cruelty after pets left behind in Jeannette home
A former Jeannette woman relinquished her rights to seven dogs, four cats, five cockatiels and a gecko that police said she left behind in a condemned home after moving out of town, according to court papers. Paula Kessler-Nock, 45, of Penn Hills, is free on $30,000 unsecured bail after being...
Hilary drenched deserts and flooded roadways in California. Now it’s threatening Oregon and Idaho
LOS ANGELES — Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, swept people into swollen rivers, toppled trees onto homes and flooded roadways as the massive system marched northward Monday, prompting flood watches and warnings in more than a half dozen states. The National Hurricane Center...
Latrobe police: Meth lab operated near elementary school
A Latrobe man remains behind bars after police said they found evidence of methamphetamine manufacturing in his apartment during a home visit last month from Westmoreland County probation officers, according to court papers. Ryan William Nupp, 28, was arrested last week on charges of operating a methamphetamine lab, risking catastrophe,...
Greensburg man charged in meat cleaver attack
A Greensburg man is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday in connection with a stabbing at his home that left another man hospitalized with several wounds, according to court papers. City police and Westmoreland County detectives said Liwu Tian, 57, admitted through an interpreter that he lost a fight with...
Police: 2 women face burglary charges after vacationing Allegheny Township family sees movement on doorbell camera
Allegheny Township police accused two New Kensington women of breaking into a home after the owners reported seeing activity on their Ring doorbell camera while away on vacation. Hailey Marie Bollinger, 20, of the 500 block of Keystone Drive was charged Aug. 17 with felony counts of burglary, criminal trespass,...
Mark Madden: Small sample sizes being blown out of proportion in Steelers’ preseason games
The Steelers are winning the preseason. They might be preseason champs. It wouldn’t be a shock if Kenny Pickett gets preseason MVP. He’s the king of exhibitions: Three drives, three touchdowns. Pickett has performed very well. I wish he’d played more. Built additional momentum. But Pickett was excellent in last...
West Virginia University students hold walkout to protest cuts in academic programs
Christian Adams arrived at West Virginia University this month to begin his second year of work toward a degree in Chinese studies, only to receive devastating news. His undergraduate major is being yanked out from under him, eliminated along with dozens of other academic programs, including every foreign language taught...
Greensburg-area dentist convicted of killing wife on African safari given life sentence and over $15M penalty
DENVER — As a wealthy dentist convicted of killing his wife at the end of an African safari listened in court, her brother vowed on Monday to move her remains to a place that Larry Rudolph would never discover. Shortly before a judge sentenced Rudolph to life in prison in...
