Top Stories category, Page 721
PNC Park employees avoid strike, reach agreement with Pirates
The union representing ushers at PNC Park avoided a strike after reaching a tentative agreement with the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Sunday ushers, ticket takers and ticket sellers working at PNC Park voted to strike after rejecting a contract proposal from the Pirates. Workers were planning to picket outside the Pirates’...
Protest arises during transgender event at Pitt, police report ‘incendiary device’ outside buildingVideo
Protests raged into Tuesday night on the University of Pittsburgh campus during a debate with Daily Wire host Michael Knowles about transgender rights inside the O’Hara Student Center. The university closed buildings and reported a “public safety emergency” as a protest crowd grew and an “incendiary device” went off. Police...
Gov. Shapiro calls on tech, robotic companies to join Pittsburgh’s growing innovation industry
Pittsburgh has become a fast-growing hub for many technology and robotics companies, and leaders across the region and state are hoping that expands even more. At the opening night of the Aviation & Robotics Summit in Pittsburgh’s Strip District on Tuesday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro heralded the growth of the...
Ballot mailings to Westmoreland voters await court action
Nearly 22,000 mail-in ballots are scheduled to be sent out to Westmoreland County voters this week, but a dispute over the candidacy of two Republican candidates for commissioner might put that delivery on hold. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is considering whether to hear an appeal filed Monday by the county’s...
Federal judge asked to halt probation holds in Allegheny County unless constitutional protections put in place
Tate Stanford, 23, was serving two years of probation after pleading guilty to reckless endangerment in March 2022. Six months later, he was arrested for carrying a gun without a license, possession of marijuana and receiving stolen property. Although bail was set on the new charges, Stanford was held in...
Parking garage partially collapses in Manhattan, killing 1, injuring 5
NEW YORK — A parking garage collapsed Tuesday in lower Manhattan’s Financial District, killing one worker, injuring five and crushing cars as concrete floors fell on top of each other like a stack of pancakes, officials said. Vehicles tumbled into what looked like a frozen stream of sedans and SUVs....
FDA clears extra covid booster for some high-risk Americans
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators on Tuesday cleared another booster dose of the Pfizer or Moderna covid-19 vaccines for older Americans and people with weak immune systems. The Food and Drug Administration also took steps to make coronavirus vaccinations simpler for everyone, saying that anyone getting a Pfizer or Moderna dose...
Pittsburgh’s South Side Flats could get new sports court for basketball, pickleball
Plans are in the works to build a sports court for pickleball and basketball in Pittsburgh’s South Side Flats. The court would be located on the East Lawn at SouthSide Works. Plans presented Tuesday to the city’s Planning Commission call for a 10-foot fence around the court, as well as...
Expecting more than $1B in opioid settlement money, Pa. grapples with policing versus treatment
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 historic settlement to resolve claims against opioid companies is expected to bring Pennsylvania more than $1 billion, but...
Ralph Yarl shedding ‘buckets of tears;’ shooter in custodyVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As 16-year-old Ralph Yarl struggled to come to grips with being shot for going to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers, the white Kansas City, Missouri, homeowner who shot the Black teenager turned himself in on Tuesday. Andrew Lester, 84, surrendered at the...
Pennsylvania to restrict ‘tranq,’ animal sedative linked to overdoses
HARRISBURG — States are increasingly looking to restrict access to an animal tranquilizer showing up in supplies of illicit drugs and contributing to a growing number of human overdose deaths. Pennsylvania’s governor said Tuesday that his administration will add xylazine to the state’s list of controlled substances, tightening regulations on...
Republicans object to replacing Dianne Feinstein on Judiciary panel
WASHINGTON — Republicans blocked a Democratic request to temporarily replace California Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, leaving Democrats with few options for moving some of President Joe Biden’s stalled judicial nominees. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, objected to...
Southwest passengers face delays after nationwide grounding
DALLAS — Southwest Airlines planes were briefly grounded nationwide Tuesday for what the airline called an intermittent technology issue, leading to more than 1,800 delayed flights just four months after the carrier suffered a much bigger meltdown over the Christmas travel rush. The hold on departures was lifted by late...
Ketchup bottle returns to Heinz Field — make that Acrisure StadiumVideo
A giant Heinz ketchup bottle is back at Heinz Field, err, Acrisure Stadium. On Tuesday, crews were spotted installing the 35-long, fiberglass bottle on the exterior of the North Shore stadium. It will be displayed at the Heinz Gate, also known as Gate C at the venue. The giant bottles,...
Allegheny County executive candidates offer strategies to boost economy, hospitality industry
Five candidates for Allegheny County’s top elected office shared their plans to boost the economy and the county’s $7 billion hospitality industry during a forum hosted by the tourism agency VisitPittsburgh. The forum, held Thursday, featured four of the race’s six Democratic candidates for Allegheny County executive: state Rep. Sara...
Biden signs executive order to improve access to child care
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has signed an executive order containing more than 50 directives to increase access to child care and improve the work life of caregivers, the White House said Tuesday. But the directives would be funded out of existing commitments, likely meaning their impact would carry more...
Fox, Dominion reach settlement over false election claimsVideo
WILMINGTON, Del. — Fox and Dominion Voting Systems reached a settlement Tuesday in the voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit, averting a trial in a case that exposed how the top-rated network chased viewers by promoting lies about the 2020 presidential election. An attorney for Dominion said the settlement was for...
Driver charged with DUI in wrong-way crash on I-279
A Canonsburg man has been charged with driving under the influence after a wrong way crash in March. According to a Pennsylvania State Police report, Jacob Alauzen, 27, was driving north in the southbound lanes near the Camp Horne Road Exit in Ohio Township around 2:30 a.m. March 24. According...
Former Bella Luna space to reopen as The Coxcomb
As he stood behind what will soon be a finished bar top, Will Patterson of Monroeville heard someone driving past the open door of the former Bella Luna restaurant at the Murrysville/Monroeville border. “Are you open?” the woman asked through her passenger side window. “Early June, hopefully!” Patterson shouted before...
Former Seward police chief pleads guilty to sex extortion plot
Former Seward police Chief Robert I. Baldwin Jr. pleaded guilty Monday to charges he offered two women leniency in exchange for sex. Westmoreland County prosecutors claimed Baldwin used his position as head of the police department in the small borough that sits along the Conemaugh River to have a sexual...
Coal-fired Homer City power plant closing; future dim for 2 other regional facilities
The iconic Homer City coal-fired power plant, with its four tall smokestacks and three cooling towers north of Route 22 in Indiana County, will be shutting down over the next three months. Two other coal-fired power plants in Indiana and Armstrong counties could be following the same closure path in...
Duquesne University police, guards to return to work after tentative contract reached
Duquesne University police and guards will be back on the job at 7 a.m. Wednesday after going on strike Monday morning. The university has reached a tentative contract with its police force and security guards, the school announced Tuesday night. The 28-member police force, members of Teamsters Local 249, walked...
Coast Guard, Mexican Navy searching for missing Murrysville native, 2 others
MEXICO CITY — The Mexican Navy said Monday it is using ships and a plane to search for three Americans, one of which is a Murrysville native, who went missing along with their sailboat off Mexico’s northern Pacific coast. The Navy said it is using four patrol boats and a...
‘It’s great to be back’: John Fetterman returns to the Senate
WASHINGTON — Sen. John Fetterman made his highly anticipated return to the Senate on Monday, following a six-week hospital stay for depression, which put mental health challenges under a spotlight that had already been trained on him and his health for months. Fetterman, D-Braddock, climbed out of a black SUV...
North Carolina woman accused in Chalfant stabbing
A North Carolina woman has been arrested in connection with a stabbing in Chalfant over the weekend. Alisa Turner, 50, of Charlotte, faces one charge of aggravated assault, court records show. She was taken to Allegheny County, but was released after posting $5,000 bail on Saturday. Allegheny County 911 was...
