Top Stories category, Page 699
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey names Olga George as new press secretary
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Thursday appointed Olga George as his new press secretary. George, of Squirrel Hill, previously worked as an assignment desk editor and producer at KDKA-TV and has more than three decades of journalism experience. She will serve as Gainey’s primary spokeswoman and media liaison. The mayor’s...
NTSB urges bridge owners to fix drainage, corrosion problems that plagued Fern Hollow
Year after year, a devastating mixture of dirt, debris, leaves and water conspired to clog drains and severely corrode the special steel used to build critical components of the Fern Hollow Bridge a half-century ago, federal investigators announced Thursday. But a report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board didn’t...
Supreme Court rules against Andy Warhol in copyright case with Prince photo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the 2016 publication of an Andy Warhol image of the singer Prince violated a photographer’s copyright, a decision a dissenting justice said would stifle the creation of art. The high court ruled 7-2 for photographer Lynn Goldsmith. “Lynn Goldsmith’s original works, like...
New Alzheimer’s drugs raise hopes and questions
The Alzheimer’s Association is stepping up public pressure on the Biden administration, hoping to convince the government to pay for a new class of promising but expensive Alzheimer’s drugs. To date, the advocacy group’s campaign has been intense but low-tech, featuring everything from critical statements in the media to a...
San Francisco to name 1st-in-nation drag laureate
SAN FRANCISCO — Anti-trans legislation is roiling the nation. Bills prohibiting drag performances are cropping up in statehouses. Violence and vitriol are turning children’s drag story hour events into headline-news protests. San Francisco is fighting back Thursday by naming the nation’s first drag laureate, an ambassador-style position designed to represent...
Transgender rights: What to know about bills in the U.S. statehouses
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has highlighted efforts by Republican governors and statehouses across the country to embrace proposals limiting the rights of transgender people, signing new restrictions as he moves closer to a presidential bid. The restrictions are spreading quickly despite criticism from medical groups and advocates who say they’re...
Morning Roundup: State police looking for suspects in retail thefts
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, May 18, 2023: State police seek suspects in thefts at Hempfield Marshall’s State police are looking for three women they say were involved in a pair of retail thefts at Marshall’s in Hempfield. Police released surveillance images of...
Mail-in ballots drive Westmoreland primary voter turnout
Nearly 29% of all votes cast in Tuesday’s primary election in Westmoreland County were submitted through the mail, according to election officials. Just shy of 18,000 ballots were cast by mail in addition to the more than 44,700 Democrats and Republicans who cast votes in person at the county’s 307...
Democrats set sights on Westmoreland commissioner race
As votes were tabulated Tuesday to determine the two Republican candidates for Westmoreland County commissioner in November, Democrats sat quietly on the sidelines, setting their sights on trying to regain majority control of county government this year. The Democrats, Ted Kopas, who served more than a decade as a commissioner...
Allegheny Valley School District joins lawsuit against social media companies
The Allegheny Valley School District joined a growing list of school districts nationwide pursuing legal action against social media companies. The district’s school board voted this week to join a civil, multijurisdictional lawsuit against social media companies including Facebook, TikTok and YouTube in an effort to hold those companies accountable...
Blink-182 brings wild ‘Rock Show’ to PPG Paints Arena
Blink-182 might have grown older over the years, but they sure haven’t grown up. Despite enduring over the past eight years, among other things, a cancer scare, a departure and subsequent reunion with a founding member, and the scrutiny from marrying into a celebrity family, the pop-punk stalwarts are still...
EPA rule would force clean-up of toxic coal ash dumped in landfills, ponds near power plants
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is strengthening a rule aimed at controlling and cleaning up toxic waste from coal-fired power plants. A proposal announced Wednesday would for the first time require safe management of so-called coal ash dumped in hundreds of older landfills, “legacy” ponds and other inactive sites...
Montana becomes 1st state to ban TikTok
HELENA — Montana became the first state in the United States to enact a complete ban on TikTok on Wednesday when Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a measure that’s more sweeping than any other state’s attempts to curtail the social media app, which is owned by a Chinese tech company....
Effort to expel George Santos falters as Republicans vote to send measure to Ethics CommitteeVideo
WASHINGTON — A resolution to expel Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., from Congress was referred to the House Ethics Committee on Wednesday as Republicans successfully sidestepped an effort to force them into a vote that could have narrowed their already slim four-seat majority. The House voted along party lines, 221-204, to...
Shapiro talks mental health, budget plans with Hempfield Area High School students
Hempfield Area High School students talked about school start times, stress, mental health, class workload and free breakfast during a Wednesday visit from Gov. Josh Shapiro. The governor listened to the students’ suggestions on ways to improve their education experience during a roundtable discussion in the high school library. Shapiro...
Man who killed 8 in NYC terrorist attack gets 10 life sentences plus 260 years
NEW YORK — An Islamic extremist was given 10 life sentences and another 260 years in prison on Wednesday for killing eight people with a truck on a bike path in Manhattan and severely injuring 18 others. “The conduct in this case is among the worst if not the worst...
Allegheny County pilot program for low-income transit riders has high demand in 1st 6 months
An Allegheny County pilot program geared toward lower-income transit riders has experienced high demand in its first six months and advocates say the statistics make a strong case for expanding the program. Nearly 16,000 people applied to take part in a program that provides free and discounted rides to people...
Kiski Township supervisor candidate with leaked Only Fans account cruises to victory; 3 incumbents appear to be out
The Kiski Township supervisor candidate at the center of a social media controversy appears to have cruised to victory and ousted three incumbents along the way. The operative phrase, though, is “appears” to have done so. Brittany Hilliard, 29, earned the most votes of four Republican candidates seeking two available...
Man dies in head-on crash in North Versailles
A 65-year-old man was killed in a head-on crash Tuesday afternoon in North Versailles, according to authorities. North Versailles police said the two-vehicle crash happened around 3:15 p.m. on East Pittsburgh-McKeesport Boulevard near Braddock Avenue. A 19-year-old man driving an SUV with a 16-year-old female passenger crossed the median and...
Grand jury indicts man in 4 University of Idaho stabbing deaths, eliminating need for hearing
BOISE, Idaho — A grand jury has indicted a man who was already charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, allowing prosecutors to skip a planned week-long preliminary hearing that was set for late June. Bryan Kohberger was arrested late last year and charged with burglary...
Jury pool for Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial is set
The panel of prospective jurors who will hear the case against a man accused of killing 11 people at a Squirrel Hill synagogue is set. After 17 days of questioning over four weeks, 69 people have moved into the pool from which 12 jurors and six alternates will be selected...
U.S. drug overdose deaths slightly increased in 2022, CDC says
NEW ORLEANS — Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. went up slightly last year after two big leaps during the pandemic. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the numbers plateaued for most of last year. Experts aren’t sure whether that means the deadliest drug overdose epidemic...
Firefighters respond to Pittsburgh Airbnb where 2 were killed in shooting last year
Firefighters on Wednesday morning responded to a North Side house where two teens were killed and eight people were injured in an Easter morning shooting last year. Around 10 a.m., smoke was coming from the roof of the home at Suismon Street and Madison Avenue in East Allegheny. By 11:30...
2nd escaped inmate captured after breaking out of Philadelphia prison
PHILADELPHIA — A task force led by federal marshals recaptured the second of two inmates who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison earlier this month, a man who had been held on charges in four slayings, authorities said. Ameen Hurst, 18, was rearrested Wednesday morning in Philadelphia, according to Robert Clark,...
Morning Roundup: Pittsburgh drivers to get warnings about passing stopped school buses
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, May 17, 2023: Pittsburgh drivers to get warnings about passing stopped school buses Drivers illegally passing stopped Pittsburgh Public School buses will get warning letters with no monetary penalty starting Wednesday under the district’s new stop-arm camera program....
