Top Stories category, Page 693
Fitzgerald takes county minimum wage increase to court
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is asking a court to weigh in on whether the executive’s office or council can determine wages for public employees. The move follows a vote by county council last week that overrode Fitzgerald’s veto of an ordinance that would raise the minimum wage for county...
Madonna postpones upcoming Celebration tour due to ‘serious bacterial infection’
LOS ANGELES — Madonna has postponed her career-spanning Celebration tour due to what her manager called a “serious bacterial infection” and her ongoing recovery. Manager Guy Oseary wrote Wednesday on Instagram that the singer had spent several days in an intensive care unit after becoming ill on Saturday. He said...
Pittsburgh synagogue attacker had ‘very serious mental health history from a very young age,’ expert says
“He moves through the world under a vague feeling of threat and paranoia.” “He is quick to agitation.” “Active psychosis makes it impossible for him to assess stimuli and read the world appropriately.” All of those findings, an expert in neuropsychiatry and epilepsy testified Wednesday, mean that Robert Bowers could...
Pittsburgh synagogue shooting memorial mural met with approval in Squirrel Hill
As with Pittsburgh’s efforts to come to grips with the horror of the events of Oct. 27, 2018, a Tree of Life shooting memorial mural unveiled Wednesday in Squirrel Hill is a work in progress. The mural includes a line of human figures holding hands against a background of hearts...
Coast Guard says ‘presumed human remains’ found in wreckage of Titan submersible
PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. Coast Guard says it has likely recovered human remains from the wreckage of the Titan submersible and is bringing the evidence back to the United States. The submersible imploded last week, killing all five people on board. The vessel was on a voyage see the...
Woman accused of attacking McDonald’s coworker with headset ordered to stand trial
A former employee at the McDonald’s restaurant in Lower Burrell was ordered to stand trial on charges of assaulting a new co-worker by hitting her in the head with a $900 drive-thru window headset. Nicole Monique Brundage, 37, of the 200 block of Freeport Road in New Kensington, was charged...
They’re back: Furries frenzy arrives in Pittsburgh
Instead of the Kaufmann’s Clock, Pittsburgh will have a new meeting spot this weekend — “Meet me at Anthrocon Avenue and Furry Way.” The Downtown intersection of Penn Avenue and 10th Street has been renamed in honor of the annual Anthrocon convention at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Every...
Morning Roundup: Cop, 2 teens in stolen car hurt in crash along East Busway
Here are some of the latest news items from Wednesday morning: 3 people injured in crash on East Busway Three people were injured after a stolen vehicle crashed into a police cruiser along the East Busway on Tuesday night, according to authorities. Two teenagers were traveling inbound on the dedicated...
Westmoreland 250: 10 unique things in Jeannette
(Editor’s note: To mark Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday this year, we’ve come up with a list of 250 things — 10 things in 25 communities — that we consider to be important to the makeup of our area. This series will appear each week through December. If you have a...
A blistering heat wave is turning up the pressure on Texas’ power gridVideo
AUSTIN, Texas — On another 100-degree day in Texas, Sean Whitaker lingered outside a Dallas cafe after polishing off an iced coffee, having switched off the power to everything back home except his refrigerator. “That’s the reason I’m out,” said Whitaker, 52, finding shade at a patio table. As an...
Westmoreland Commissioner Thrasher appointed to state appeals board
Westmoreland Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher was confirmed on Tuesday to fill a vacancy on the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. Thrasher, 37, a Democrat from Hempfield is serving out her second four-year term and announced in February she would not seek reelection, instead focusing on a career as a lawyer....
Opinions in Jewish community differ on seeking death penalty for Pittsburgh synagogue shooter
Robert Bowers murdered Donna Coufal’s friend. But she doesn’t want him to be executed for it. “I hope that, whatever happens in (Bowers’) trial, people find peace,” said Coufal, 69, a member of Congregation Dor Hadash who lives in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill. “And I hope no other jury would have...
Pair accused of defrauding SBA, banks of $14 million in covid-related aid
A Pittsburgh woman and a Detroit man have been accused of defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration and at least two lenders of about $14 millions by obtaining fake loans for hundreds of companies from a program designed to help business recover from the covid-related financial losses, the U.S. Attorney...
Gilpin family celebrates million-dollar lottery win in Allegheny Township
A Leechburg Area High School senior is having a summer to remember. Summer St. John, 17, celebrated the news Tuesday of her mother’s million-dollar lottery win with a commemorative check presentation at the Giant Eagle in Allegheny Township. Summer and her parents, Paul and Tricia St. John, shared hugs, smiles...
South Greensburg woman to stand trial on aiding suicide charge in ex-boyfriend’s death
State Trooper Phil Dern testified Tuesday he believes it is clear that a man took his own life at a Hempfield apartment in 2021 because he repeatedly was told to do so by his former girlfriend, Mandie R. Reusch. Dern said the man posted messages he received from Reusch, 35,...
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh looks to expand in Lawrenceville
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is looking to build an addition at its Lawrenceville campus to house its growing Heart Institute. Hospital leaders presented plans Tuesday to the city’s Planning Commission that showed a 50,000-square-foot addition atop an existing parking structure. Diane Hupp, the hospital’s president, said the new addition...
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...
