Top Stories category, Page 720
Final beam placed at FNB Financial Center
During a ceremony Thursday, officials placed the final construction beam atop the 26-story FNB Financial Center, the anchor of a redevelopment effort at the former Civic Arena site in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood. Construction at the FNB Financial Center began in September 2021 and is slated to be finished next...
Sheetz orders up more space in Pittsburgh’s Bakery Square
Any given Sheetz convenience store location is recognizable by its bright red décor and liberal use of the letter Z. But its Bakery Square presence is a bit more unassuming in a former industrial space along Penn Avenue where the Altoona-based retailer is expanding, adding 20,000 square feet to accommodate...
Fallen Westmoreland County law enforcement remembered at service
The lives of 28 law enforcement officers who made the ultimate sacrifice were commemorated Thursday during Westmoreland County’s second annual law enforcement memorial service. For Rosemarie Reed, the ceremony signifies that the community remembers officers lost in the line of duty. “It means a lot to me that they’re not...
Excela-Butler health system sees further financial losses
The merged Butler and Excela health systems reported losses of more than $62 million over the nine-month period ending March 31, according to disclosure reports released this week. The combined health system, which laid off 13 manager-level staff members in March, officially formed from Excela Health and Butler Health System...
Pittsburgh’s acting police chief addresses racial profiling, police brutality in City Council interview
Larry Scirotto, Pittsburgh’s acting police chief, said Thursday during a four-hour interview with City Council that his officers should follow a ban on minor traffic stops. City Council voted in late 2021 to ban police from pulling over drivers for minor infractions such as having a burned-out brake light or...
Charges dropped against Arnold code officer, 2nd man involved in brawl after both decline to testify
Charges were dismissed Thursday against two men involved in brawl outside a firefighters club in Arnold after they decided not to testify against each other. One of the men, Albert Colelli Jr., 51, of Arnold, faced a felony count of aggravated assault along with simple assault and disorderly conduct in...
Unions contend UPMC’s market dominance suppresses workers’ wages
Two labor organizations filed an antitrust complaint against UPMC with the Department of Justice accusing the health care giant of using its market dominance to tamp down wages and trap workers in low-paying, unsafe conditions. In a 55-page complaint filed Thursday, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania and the Strategic Organizing Center contend...
Allegheny County ends covid vaccine requirement for employees
Allegheny County government is ending its requirement that current employees and new hires be vaccinated against covid-19. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced Thursday the lifting of the mandate. The move comes a week after the federal government ended its covid health emergency. Fitzgerald said it is time for Allegheny County...
5 IUP executives fired in move to cut costs, streamline operations
Five executives at Indiana University of Pennsylvania have lost their jobs in a move the university says is designed to cut costs and streamline operations. “IUP, like colleges and universities across the nation, is facing dramatic challenges both internally and externally (and) must accelerate its progress toward student-centeredness and financial...
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...
