Top Stories category, Page 679
Trump’s former attorney general says indictment is his own faultVideo
Former Attorney General Bill Barr said the U.S. has a “very strong” criminal case against Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents and said the former president has himself to blame. “He had no right to those documents,” Barr, who served as U.S. attorney general under Trump, said Sunday on...
Air quality alert issued for Pittsburgh region
The state Department of Environmental Protection has issued a code orange air quality alert for the greater Pittsburgh area on Monday. The alert is in effect until 4 p.m. for Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties. The code orange alert means that air pollution concentrations within the...
Body of Penn Hills man recovered at Creek Falls in South Huntingdon
A 23-year-old man’s body was recovered Sunday morning at Creek Falls on Jacobs Creek in South Huntingdon following a reported drowning on Saturday. The Westmoreland County Coroner’s office identified the man as Deonte Elliot Johns of Sampson Street in Penn Hills. According to the coroner, Johns jumped from a rock...
Westmoreland Airshow a family affair for Latrobe locals, visitors
Lisa Hartman wasn’t always a fan of the Shop ‘n Save Westmoreland Airshow. As a child, she would visit the air show with her dad, but “hated it,” she said. When her own daughter Olivia got involved with Air Force Junior ROTC in high school back in 2016, she gave...
1 trooper killed, 1 critically wounded in central Pennsylvania
MIFFLINTOWN — State police in Pennsylvania have identified the trooper killed and another trooper critically wounded in separate encounters Saturday with a gunman who attacked a state police barracks and was later shot and killed himself after a manhunt and a fierce gunbattle. Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr., 29, was killed...
Couple escapes Lower Burrell home heavily damaged in blaze
A Lower Burrell man who ran into his neighbors’ burning home Sunday says he found them “calm” inside. Randy Bargerstock said the backyard of his Rodgers Drive home borders the backyard of Charles and Susan Allias’ home on Jefferson Drive, which is located a good distance behind Glen’s Custard on...
Topping it off: Taylor Swift gives hat to Hempfield girl at concertVideo
Cost of two Taylor Swift tickets? $1,800. Watching Taylor Swift give her hat to your daughter? Priceless. “I can’t even believe this happened,” Renata Guarlotti said through a raspy voice after screaming during the Friday night concert. “It was surreal.” The Hempfield woman and her 10-year-old daughter, Katie, had floor...
Attorney General Garland keeps poker face as firestorm erupts after Trump charges
WASHINGTON — On his first day as attorney general, Merrick Garland pledged a return to what he called the “norms” of the Justice Department and said he would work to eliminate the perception of political interference. But in the two years since he took office, the former federal judge has...
Photos: Thousands of Taylor Swift fans took in the show outside Acrisure StadiumVideo
While Taylor Swift was setting an attendance record inside Acrisure Stadium Saturday night, the crowd outside the stadium was also huge. Along with the over 73,000 in the seats of the stadium, thousands of fans (there’s no official count, yet) gathered outside the venue on the grass, along the Allegheny...
Retiring Westmoreland sheriff’s deputy reflects on 4-decade career that he loved
Eric Sinclair never gave a career in law enforcement much thought while growing up in Harrison. But as he reflects on his four decades as a deputy for the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Office, he has no regrets about his decision to skip college and enter the police academy. At 2...
After 3 weeks and a guilty verdict on all counts, Pittsburgh synagogue attack trial moves to penalty phase
On Friday, after hearing three weeks of testimony and deliberating for less than five hours, the jury in the federal case of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooting found the defendant guilty of all 63 counts. Attorneys for Robert Bowers, 50, of Baldwin admitted that he entered the Tree of...
Taylor Swift’s 2nd night in Pittsburgh sets Acrisure Stadium attendance record
Will pop superstar Taylor Swift’s attendance record at Acrisure Stadium “Stay Stay Stay” and prove to be as “Untouchable” as it seems? Swift set an attendance record for Acrisure Stadium Saturday night, according to stadium officials, with the crowd of 73,117 the largest ever for the venue. Country star Garth...
Decorated Tuskegee Airman James Harvey star of Pittsburgh’s Juneteenth parade
Saturday’s Juneteenth parade in Pittsburgh included all of the usual features that highlight a parade — marching bands, music, police cars, horses and candy thrown to kids. But on this day, one individual in particular outshined all other trappings of the event. Former Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. James H. Harvey...
Authorities respond to reported drowning at Creek Falls in South Huntingdon
Multiple dive and water rescue teams were responding to a reported drowning Saturday evening in South Huntingdon, a Westmoreland County emergency dispatcher said. The drowning at Creek Falls on Jacobs Creek was reported around 5:45 p.m., the dispatcher said. Limited information was available as of 8 p.m. A dispatcher said...
Great weather brings record numbers to Westmoreland Airshow
The skies were clear and the temperature in the mid-70s on Saturday. Perfect conditions to draw a crowd to the opening day of the Shop ’n Save Westmoreland Airshow. And did it ever draw a crowd. “This is huge. This is probably the biggest turnout we’ve ever had, and probably...
How a landmark school funding lawsuit is shaping Pa. budget negotiations
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A court decision requiring Pennsylvania lawmakers to make the funding system for public schools more equitable is front and...
Eviction filings are 50% higher than they were pre-pandemic in some cities as rents rise
ATLANTA — Entering court using a walker, a doctor’s note clutched in his hand, 70-year-old Dana Williams, who suffers serious heart problems, hypertension and asthma, pleaded to delay eviction from his two-bedroom apartment in Atlanta. Although sympathetic, the judge said state law required him to evict Williams and his 25-year-old...
6 key points from the scathing report on Minneapolis police after George Floyd’s killing
The Justice Department on Friday issued a scathing assessment of Minneapolis police, alleging that racial discrimination and excessive force went unchecked before George Floyd’s killing because of inadequate oversight and an unwieldy process for investigating complaints. The probe began in April 2021, a day after former officer Derek Chauvin, who...
Heat wave has U.S. South sweltering, from tornado-ravaged West Texas town to Florida beaches
Communities from Houston to New Orleans opened cooling centers to bring relief as steamy hot temperatures settled across a broad swath of the U.S. South on Saturday, and beachgoers fled a water spout that swept ashore on a Florida beach. Gov. Greg Abbott meanwhile visited Perryton in the Texas Panhandle,...
Collapsed stretch of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia to reopen within 2 weeks, governor says
PHILADELPHIA — The collapsed stretch of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia will reopen within two weeks, Pennsylvania’s governor said Saturday, after joining President Joe Biden on a helicopter tour over the critical stretch of highway closed to East Coast traffic since last weekend. “We are getting it done here in Philly,”...
West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins steps down after arrest for DUI in Pittsburgh
West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has resigned a day after his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving in the latest incident in a Hall of Fame career that imploded quickly. The university announced the resignation Saturday night. It came a month after the university suspended him for three games...
Review: Taylor Swift shakes Acrisure with a show for the ages
There’s no one else who can make Acrisure Stadium shake quite so hard as Taylor Swift did Friday night for the first of two Pittsburgh shows on her nationwide Eras Tour. The reviews from other tour stops were indeed true: Swift’s concert is a multihour (3½ hours on Friday) adventure....
Allegheny Valley School District officials question if football team can play at Veterans Memorial Field due to wall issue
Allegheny Valley School District officials are throwing a flag on the safety of Veterans Memorial Field’s bleachers, and the outcome will impact the upcoming high school football season. Part of a wall at the field, which was built in 1938, is leaning toward the stadium from the Lincoln Avenue side...
Photos: Taylor Swift dazzles in 1st of 2 Pittsburgh shows
Taylor Swift played the first of two nights of her Eras Tour stop Friday at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. The pop superstar will be back for a second show Saturday. A little snippet of “22” from Taylor Swift + a few crowd views from inside Acrisure Stadium on Friday night.Photo/video:...
Biden urges tougher gun restrictions, 1 year after Uvalde, Texas, school massacre
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — President Joe Biden made a passionate call for tougher gun restrictions Friday, celebrating the one-year anniversary of the first significant piece of federal firearms legislation in nearly three decades but declaring it was only an “important first step.” He urged voters to defeat lawmakers who resist....
