Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 737
Back to normal: Spike in Memorial Day travel expected
A normal Memorial Day is finally on the horizon, including ceremonies honoring veterans, family vacations and maybe even some hot dogs doused in Heinz ketchup. With the end of the covid-19 public health emergency May 11, and the halting of most pandemic restrictions, Americans have big plans for Memorial Day,...
DeSantis launches GOP presidential campaign in Twitter announcement plagued by glitchesVideo
MIAMI — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday with a Twitter announcement plagued by technical glitches, stepping into a crowded Republican primary contest that will test his strength against former President Donald Trump and criticism that he’s not ready for the national stage. The 44-year-old...
Officials identify man found in wooded area in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood
Pittsburgh police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found Wednesday morning wrapped in a tarp and left in a wooded area. Police were called to the 400 block of Ardary Street in the city’s Garfield neighborhood, where they found a Black man whose body had been...
Shell Appalachia fined $10 million for air quality violations from Beaver County ‘cracker’ plant
Shell Chemicals Appalachia will pay nearly $10 million for air quality violations during the commissioning of its petrochemical plant in Beaver County. Under the agreement announced Wednesday, Shell will pay a $4.9 million civil penalty, with 25% going to local communities. Along with $5 million for environmental projects to benefit...
Questions surround timing of vote for new Harrison police chief
The Harrison Commissioners didn’t break the law but they appear to have violated the intent of the state’s Open Meetings law when they voted during last week’s agenda meeting to hire the township’s new police chief, according to an attorney for the PA NewsMedia Association. “Residents and taxpayers expect and...
Westmoreland Republican row officers secure Democratic nominations through write-in votes
Westmoreland County Treasurer Jared Squires and Controller Jeffrey Balzer were out to lunch in late April when they decided to put in motion a plan to ensure they wouldn’t have any competition for the jobs they’ve held for the last 11 years. “We realized no one was running against us....
1 year after Uvalde shooting, investigation of police response continues
AUSTIN, Texas — A criminal investigation in Texas over the hesitant police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting is still ongoing as Wednesday marks one year since a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde. The continuing probe underlines the lasting fallout over...
Ex-Army Ranger from Glenshaw gets 5-plus years for Jan. 6 Capitol riot
A combat-hardened ex-Army Ranger from Glenshaw who breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and fought with law enforcement officers was sentenced Wednesday to 66 months in federal prison. Robert Morss, 29, a former Shaler Area School District substitute history teacher, was convicted in August by a federal judge...
Latrobe woman wins big from scratch-off Pa. Lottery ticket
When Diane Babbin sent her mother, Laura LeBlanc, to the Shop ’n Save in Latrobe last week, she was expecting to receive a thermometer, not a million dollars. “We still haven’t bought the thermometer,” Babbin joked Wednesday. The 38-year-old Latrobe woman said her son, Boston Soluri, had stayed home sick...
Tina Turner, unstoppable superstar whose hits included ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It,’ dead at 83
NEW YORK — Tina Turner, the unstoppable singer and stage performer who teamed with husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and ’70s and survived her horrifying marriage to triumph in middle age with the chart-topping “What’s Love Got to Do...
Leechburg Area Pool won’t receive 2nd half of pledged covid-relief money from Gilpin
An effort to raise money for a new water slide at Leechburg Area Pool is causing a splash in Gilpin. In a post Wednesday to the pool’s Facebook page, pool secretary Steve Senjan, a former Gilpin supervisor, criticized Gilpin officials for not following through on their $25,000 pledge to the...
Monessen woman accused of threatening judge, children’s bureau arrested in Washington, D.C.
A Monessen woman charged this month with threatening Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau employees and now accused of threatening a Westmoreland County judge has been arrested in Washington, D.C., police say. Precious L. Gantt, 39, was arrested by the Metro Police Department after it received a copy of a warrant obtained...
Construction to start this summer on Pittsburgh’s Homewood Field
Work is expected to start this summer on a project to update Homewood Field with a regulation-size football field and other amenities. Officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site Tuesday ahead of construction on the project. “Homewood Field is a beloved and heavily used resource by the community,” Mayor...
Jeannette concert, food truck nights expand to 8 summer dates
Some homegrown heroes will take the stage for the season opener of Concert and Food Truck Thursdays in downtown Jeannette. Rock band Twisted Fate will play a free show 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Elliott Group Amphitheater at Clay Avenue and South Fifth Street. Food trucks and a...
Game Commission: 2 children attacked by bear in Northeastern Pennsylvania
A bear attacked two children on Monday in Luzerne County, causing non-life threatening injuries and the Pennsylvania Game Commission is now investigating the incident. The attack occurred while the children were playing in the driveway of their home in Wright Township in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The game commission said there are...
Do not call: States sue telecom company over billions of robocalls
PHOENIX — Attorneys general across the U.S. joined in a lawsuit against a telecommunications company accused of making more than 7.5 billion robocalls to people on the national Do Not Call Registry. The 141-page lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix against Avid Telecom, its owner Michael...
Police identify victim, suspect in Oliver Citywide Academy shooting
An Oliver Citywide Academy student was shot and killed by another student Wednesday morning outside the school, police said. Police identified the victim as Derrick Harris, 15. The suspect, Jamier Perry, also 15, is charged with homicide, possession of firearm by a minor and carrying a firearm without a license...
Just in case: Anxious retirees, social service groups among those making default contingency plans
WASHINGTON — Phoenix retiree Saundra Cole has been watching the news about the debt limit negotiations in Washington with dismay — and limiting her air conditioning use to save money just in case her monthly Social Security check is delayed due to a default. For her, air conditioning is no...
Pa. is sitting on billions in unclaimed property, but a bill would get some back to its owners
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 — Pennsylvania’s treasurer wants the state to start sending unclaimed money directly to the people it belongs to, a proactive...
Feeling lonely: An epidemic of isolation has expanded area mental health needs
Editor’s note: This is the first of two stories on loneliness and its impact on mental health. Part 2: The negative impacts of too much screen time. Greensburg resident John Herrmann has a suppertime appointment each Thursday at the city’s Otterbein United Methodist Church. Helping to hand out meals to...
Morning Roundup: Police investigate alleged kidnapping in Overbrook
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, May 24: Police investigate alleged kidnapping in Overbrook Pittsburgh police said a man was assaulted and dragged into a vehicle in the city’s Overbrook neighborhood Tuesday evening. Police responded to a call at the intersection of Saw Mill...
Norwin cuts 5 teaching positions, balks at layoffs, favors no tax increase
In a move aimed paring a projected deficit, the Norwin School Board cut five teaching positions and one administrative job for the 2023-24 school year, despite warnings about the impact it will have on the district’s education program. The positions the board eliminated Monday for the upcoming school year were:...
Pittsburgh’s public safety, public works vehicle fleets in ‘dire straits’
Pittsburgh’s public safety and public works vehicle fleets are in “dire straits,” officials said during a meeting Tuesday. “We’re duct-taping and bubble-gumming things together,” Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt said. “We’re not providing the level of services we normally should be providing.” Officials said the city’s aging vehicle fleets often...
Former Johnstown man was attempting suicide when he attacked cop, lawyer says
A man who tried to disarm a police officer as he was being discharged from a Greensburg hospital did so in an attempt to end his own life, his lawyer said. “My client grabbed the pistol to have the officer shoot him. He wanted to commit suicide by officer because...
AP: DeSantis to announce 2024 presidential bid Wednesday on Twitter with Elon Musk
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will announce his 2024 presidential campaign in a Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk on Wednesday, according to two people with knowledge of his plans. DeSantis, who has long been seen as Donald Trump’s leading rival for the Republican nomination, will reveal his plans in an...
