Top Stories category, Page 678
PennDOT secretary, Pittsburgh officials call for transit funding during budget impasseVideo
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration met with local officials Thursday in Downtown Pittsburgh to stress the importance of transit and infrastructure funding as the state and region looks to repair hundreds of roads and bridges. PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll met with officials on the Smithfield Street Bridge, a 140-year-old span undergoing...
‘We need homes, not vacant lots’: Pittsburgh council hears public land bank support
Pittsburgh City Council on Thursday heard public support for legislation that aims to make it easier for the city’s land bank to take the city’s blighted properties and bring them back to reuse. The proposed legislation deals with what city officials refer to as the tri-party agreement, which outlines how...
Expert details Pittsburgh synagogue shooter’s troubled childhood ‘laden with trauma’
Time and again, Robert Bowers’ mother was told her young son needed help. When he was an infant, both parents threatened to kill him. When he was a toddler, his speech regressed so much he stopped talking altogether. When he had a rash as a young boy, a doctor thought...
Plans being drafted for public works facility in Brackenridge
Brackenridge officials are eyeing a new public works building to replace one that dates to 1900 and has floors that are caving in. The construction is expected to cost about $750,000, all of which will be covered by grants awarded to the borough. Officials hope to move forward in the...
Court releases family photos of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims
There were more than 11 victims when a gunman attacked congregants inside the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Oct. 27, 2018. Families and friends of those killed. Injured congregants. Police officers and first responders. This week, as the trial entered its sentencing phase, government prosecutors told their...
Fetterman says Senate debate performance sent him into deep depression
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman shared the details of the inner turmoil that led him to seek treatment for depression earlier this year with Time magazine in a story published Thursday. The Pennsylvania Democrat told Time national political correspondent Molly Ball that his stilted performance in the Oct. 25, 2022, debate...
Medical marijuana company to close Pennsylvania operations, laying off 76
A medical marijuana company, Goodblend Pennsylvania LLC, is closing its operations in the state, affecting 76 jobs. The company has a facility on Beaver Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Chateau neighborhood, which is expected to shutter by Sept. 15. It also has dispensaries along Baum Boulevard in Friendship and one in Erie,...
Design of VOPP Trail continues, 3 out of 4 phases mapped out
A bike lane through parts of Verona and Oakmont, a new traffic light at a busy intersection near the boroughs’ borders and the use of an old railroad bed are all parts of a proposed bike/walking trail connecting Verona, Oakmont, Penn Hills and Plum. Project officials announced three out of...
Kennywood’s Raging Rapids reopens
After three long years, the Raging Rapids are running again. Kennywood Park’s water ride finally reopened Thursday. In April, the park announced the ride would return at some point this season. Crews have spent weeks working on the ride before its return, said Kennywood spokesperson Tasha Pokrzywa. “We’re really excited...
Tuition remains frozen for Pennsylvania-owned universities
For the 85,000 students attending a Pennsylvania state-owned university who have hoped for relief from rising prices, the news is official. Tuition will remain unchanged for the 2023-24 academic year, now that the State System of Higher Education approved a fifth consecutive tuition freeze across the 10 institutions. By a...
Morning Roundup: Vehicle goes over hillside in West Mifflin
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, July 20. Vehicle goes over hillside in West Mifflin One person is in the hospital after their vehicle went over a hillside Thursday morning in West Mifflin, according to Tribune-Review news partner WTAE. The crash happened around 4...
Quench your thirst: Picklesburgh has plenty of ‘dill-icious’ drink options
Pickle-flavored juice, beer, iced tea, lemonade and alcoholic drinks will be some of the liquids flowing starting at noon Friday when Picklesburgh opens. Pickles are commonly used in food, but the festival pours on the drink options, as well. The annual event produced by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership will have...
Powerball jackpot of over $1 billion has a winner
LOS ANGELES — A winning ticket has been sold in California for the Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $1.08 billion, the sixth largest in U.S. history and the third largest in the history of the game. The winning numbers for Wednesday night’s drawing were: white balls 7, 10, 11, 13,...
Deadline to get Real ID in Pennsylvania is pushed back again
If you vaguely recall hearing something about Real ID requirements, you haven’t imagined it. It’s still happening. The new deadline is May 7, 2025. Previously, the deadline to get your Real ID, identification that will be necessary to fly or access some federal facilities, was in 2020. The covid-19 pandemic...
Springdale takes 1st step on zoning overlay; power plant owner threatens legal action
Despite opposition — and even a threat of legal action — from the property owner, Springdale officials took the first step in creating a zoning overlay district around the former power generating station property. Council members unanimously decided to refer an ordinance providing for various zoning amendments and changes within...
Severe storms possible Thursday in Allegheny County
The Storm Prediction Center has upgraded the current severe weather outlook for Thursday evening to an enhanced risk. The National Weather Service in Moon says the main reason for the upgrade is to include damaging winds. It says to expect the main line/broken discrete cells to begin entering northwestern Pennsylvania...
Pennsylvania-owned universities could see 5th year of tuition freeze
State System of Higher Education administrators plan to recommend Thursday that the system’s governing board freeze tuition for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year across Pennsylvania’s 10 state-owned universities. The board of governors is expected to vote on the proposal at its quarterly meeting in Harrisburg. An affirmative vote would keep...
New Zealand gunman kills 2 people on eve of Women’s World Cup soccer tournament
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A gunman killed two people before he died Thursday at a construction site in Auckland, New Zealand, as the nation prepared to host games in the FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer tournament, authorities said. Police said there were also multiple injuries during the incident, which took...
West Nile virus found in Allegheny County mosquitoes
Mosquitoes collected by the Allegheny Health Department in Mt. Oliver Borough and in the nearby Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Beltzhoover and South Side Slopes have tested positive for West Nile virus. The infected mosquitoes were collected on July 11 as part of the department’s Vector Control Program. County health officials said...
Pfizer reports North Carolina pharmaceutical plant damaged by tornado, no serious injuriesVideo
A tornado heavily damaged a large Pfizer pharmaceutical plant Wednesday in North Carolina, the latest in a string of extreme weather events plaguing the U.S. on a day when floods deluged communities in Kentucky and scorching heat smothered Phoenix and Miami. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer confirmed that a large complex was...
IRS whistleblowers air claims to Congress about ‘slow-walking’ of the Hunter Biden caseVideo
WASHINGTON — House Republicans raised unsubstantiated allegations Wednesday against President Joe Biden over his family’s finances as they summoned IRS whistleblowers to testify publicly for the first time about claims the Justice Department improperly interfered with a tax investigation into Biden’s son Hunter. Lawmakers heard from the two IRS agents...
Pittsburgh International to get additional flights to California, Florida
The expansion of flights at Pittsburgh International Airport continues as the airport announced two sets of expanded service this week. United Airlines is adding another daily round-trip flight from Pittsburgh to San Francisco International Airport starting Aug. 1, according to a release. The flight will provide daytime flight service between...
Bank forecloses on Jeannette EMS building as state health department plans talks with agency
A bank wants to take possession of the Jeannette EMS station to cover a $340,000 debt. KeyBank filed the mortgage foreclosure action Wednesday in Westmoreland County court claiming the ambulance station on South Sixth Street defaulted on repayments of a $275,000 line of credit issued in 2008. The agency used...
Taylor Swift’s shows in Pittsburgh generated $46M, agency says
Taylor Swift’s two Pittsburgh concerts generated $46 million in direct spending, according to tourism agency Visit Pittsburgh. The megastar singer brought record-setting crowds to Acrisure Stadium for her Eras Tour in June. About 83% of ticketholders came from outside of Allegheny County and packed the region’s hotels. According to Visit...
Pittsburgh pool reopens after fatal shooting
Jack Stack Pool in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood reopened Wednesday with new safety measures in place after a fatal shooting nearby last week. Mayor Ed Gainey and public safety officials said they met with lifeguards and pool management to offer trauma support care, listen to concerns and begin crafting a...
