Top Stories category, Page 694
Bicyclist, policeman, neighbors help woman escape apartment fire in Brackenridge
Ron Weidenhoff of Tarentum was riding his bike up Brackenridge Avenue on Friday afternoon when he smelled smoke, then saw a woman on the balcony of a house on fire. “I looked up and saw a lady clutching the railing on the balcony. I don’t know if she was trying...
From the Civil War to today’s mattress sales, Memorial Day is full of contradiction
NORFOLK, Va. — Memorial Day is supposed to be about mourning the nation’s fallen service members, but it’s come to anchor the unofficial start of summer and a long weekend of discounts on anything from mattresses to lawn mowers. Auto club AAA said in a travel forecast that this holiday...
Pa. limited a board’s power to regulate abandoned oil and gas wells, but Democrats want to restore it
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 — Across Pennsylvania, unplugged oil and gas wells spew a powerful greenhouse gas into the atmosphere and contaminate soil and...
Mother of man who killed Gabby Petito said in letter she would help son ‘dispose of a body’
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The mother of the man who killed Gabby Petito told her son in an undated letter that she would “dispose of a body” if needed because she loved him so much, according to copies of the note shared publicly for the first time this week by attorneys...
U.S. cities reporting fewer killings hope crime strategies prevent a summer surge
CHICAGO — An expected bump in violent crime this summer has mayors and police officials around the U.S. rolling out familiar strategies of making officers more visible and engaging with community groups, in some cases leaning on civilians to enforce curfews and keep the peace. Chicago is among the U.S....
S.E. Cupp: Can DeSantis — or any Republican — win?
Way back in 2015, we all got to see then-candidate Donald Trump lay out his vision for America after he descended that infamous golden escalator in Trump Tower. It was, in a word, bleak. It included “beating” China, Japan and Mexico, the latter of which was sending drugs, crime and...
Work begins on next phase of improvements in Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Commons Park
Work started this week on the latest phase of construction to upgrade the North Promenade in Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Commons Park. A 15-foot-wide central promenade will be built along North Avenue, the park’s system of connected pathways will be realigned and more than 100 trees will be planted. The project also...
Arrest warrant issued for mother convicted in 2009 drowning of baby in Monessen
A former Monessen woman who served 10 years in prison for the death of her 7-month-old son soon could be back behind bars. Seairia D. Henderson, 35, now of North Charleroi, failed to appear in a Westmoreland County courtroom Thursday for a hearing during which prosecutors sought to revoke her...
McKeesport teen suspected in 2021 shooting arrested in Pittsburgh’s West End, sheriff says
A McKeesport teen wanted in connection with the 2021 shooting of a girl in Clairton has been arrested, Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin M. Kraus said Friday. Anthony Gibson, 18, was charged in May 2021 after police said he fired multiple shots near the Soft Serve and Dee-Lights ice cream shop...
Morning Roundup: Grand jury to hear testimony on Pittsburgh Airbnb shooting
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, May 26: Grand jury to hear testimony over Pittsburgh Airbnb shooting More than a year has passed since two people were killed and eight injured in a mass shooting at an Airbnb in Pittsburgh’s North Side, but now...
Authorities identify man shot and killed in Oakland bar
A 55-year-old man who was shot and killed early Friday in an Oakland bar has been identified. The deceased is Calvin Baldridge of Pittsburgh’s North Oakland, according to an Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s report. The shooting occurred after an argument between two men inside Chief’s Cafe on North Craig Street,...
Excessive screen time a factor in loneliness, mental health risks for youth
Editor’s note: This is the second of two parts on the impact of isolation and loneliness. Michele Wentzel can tell when one of her three children is troubled. “They kind of isolate themselves and are very moody,” she said. “I can tell something’s going on.” Wentzel keeps the lines of...
Springdale’s iconic smokestacks set for implosion
The skyline in the Lower Valley will look different after June 2. According to authorities, that’s the day the Cheswick Generating Station’s smokestacks will be imploded at around 8 a.m. Local police will be coordinating with the Cheswick Plant Environmental Redevelopment Group, the plant’s owner; Grant Mackay Co., the general...
GOP field in Pennsylvania Senate race still wide open as Doug Mastriano says he won’t run
HARRISBURG — A hard-right Pennsylvania state lawmaker said Thursday night that he will not challenge Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, leaving the GOP field wide open as Republican Party officials try to recruit a strong candidate in the moderate battleground state to help capture a Senate majority in 2024. Doug Mastriano,...
Inmate dies days after being booked at Allegheny County Jail
An Allegheny County Jail inmate died Thursday just days after being booked, according jail officials. A 60-year-old man, who’s name has not been released, was brought in by a local police department on a bench warrant for retail theft from another county and booked on Monday, the jail report read....
Neighbors stunned by Harrison nurse’s arrest
Some colleagues who worked with Harrison nurse Heather Pressdee referred to her as the “Angel of Death,” according to one former co-worker. “Things continued to happen with her patients — rapid response calls and ‘code blue’ calls — more often than what anyone would consider normal,” said Adam Kissell, 29,...
Pittsburgh school board member critical of superintendent’s response to Oliver violence
A Pittsburgh school board member whose district includes Oliver Citywide Academy accused the superintendent of being “more concerned with the aesthetics of looking good in public than taking any real action” a day after a deadly shooting at the Marshall-Shadeland school. Oliver student Jaymier Perry, 15, of Hays, faces homicide...
Jury set for Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial
The people who will determine if Robert Bowers lives or dies include a Catholic and a Protestant, an ICU nurse, a real estate manager, a paralegal, a postal worker, a parole board employee, an event manager and a brand-new father. They are among the 11 women and seven men who...
Supreme Court limits EPA protection for wetlands, ruling for property rights over clean waterVideo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday limited federal protection for millions of acres of wetlands, ruling for property rights over clean water. In a 5-4 decision, the justices said the Clean Water Act does not forbid discharges of pollutants into marshy areas or dry creek beds because water does...
Ex-Greensburg police chief accused of taking backpack of drugs from evidence room
Former Greensburg Police Chief Shawn Denning, who resigned in January after his arrest by federal authorities, is facing more trouble as Westmoreland County detectives on Thursday charged him with taking items from the department’s evidence room. Denning, 42, of Delmont, is charged with theft, conspiracy and three counts of tampering...
Bethel Park police lieutenant charged in illegal immigrant transport case
A Bethel Park police lieutenant was taken into federal custody Thursday afternoon after authorities said he transported an illegal immigrant. FBI spokesperson Catherine Coennen confirmed that Lt. Blake Thomas Babin, 59, of Bethel Park, is in custody. He is facing a felony charge of transporting an illegal immigrant, according to...
Braddock man gets 12 to 24 years in prison for role in fentanyl ring
A Braddock man was sentenced to 12 to 24 years in prison for running a million-dollar fentanyl drug ring. Domonique Taylor, 39, pleaded guilty to felony drug trafficking, gun possession and money-laundering charges, state Attorney General Michelle Henry said Thursday. In March 2022, the state Attorney General’s office and local...
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 attack
WASHINGTON — Oath Keepers extremist group founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison for orchestrating a weekslong plot that culminated in his followers attacking the U.S. Capitol in a bid to keep President Joe Biden out of the White House after winning the 2020 election. Rhodes,...
Lawsuit claims Leechburg school officials failed to protect 8th grader from being raped in restroom
The mother of a former middle school student alleges in a lawsuit filed against the Leechburg Area School District that a lack of supervision during an after-school program allowed another student to rape her daughter in a school bathroom in 2021. The civil lawsuit filed in Armstrong County Court by...
Pittsburgh implements new outdoor dining standards
A Pittsburgh commission voted Wednesday to standardize outdoor dining options in the city and streamline the process of getting city approval for outdoor dining areas. Restaurants need to apply for permits to use sidewalks and streets for outdoor operations. Pittsburgh’s Public Art & Civic Design Commission approved setting standards for...
