Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 745
Virginia judge says law banning sales of handguns to young adults is unconstitutional
RICHMOND, Va. — A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that a law banning licensed federal firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under 21 violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutional. The ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne in Richmond, if not overturned, would allow...
Authorities: Pittsburgh man arrested while attempting to flee the country
Authorities say a Pittsburgh man, facing charges in Allegheny County, was arrested while attempting to flee the country Wednesday night. 30-year-old Emeka Ukaegbu is facing charges of burglary, theft and criminal mischief after allegedly breaking into a North Side apartment and taking several items. Pittsburgh police charged Ukaegbu in December...
House Republicans pass new asylum restrictions as Title 42 ends; Biden promises vetoVideo
WASHINGTON — House Republicans passed a sweeping bill Thursday to build more U.S.-Mexico border wall and impose new restrictions on asylum seekers, creating a hard-line counter to President Joe Biden’s policies just as migrants are amassing along the border with the end of coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The bill has virtually...
Officials ID dead body found along Ohio River shoreline at Neville Island
Officials have identified a man found dead Thursday afternoon along the Ohio River in Ohio Township as a Pittsburgh man who was reported missing in March. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Brandon Pfeifer Davis, 22, was pronounced dead shortly after 2:15 p.m. Thursday in the 2800 block of...
Norwin grad named head of National Archives and Records Administration
A Norwin High School alumna will take over the National Archives and Records Administration at at time when the agency is embroiled in a controversy with former President Donald Trump. Colleen Shogan, a 1993 graduate of Norwin, was confirmed as archivist Thursday in a 52-45 vote by the Senate. Only...
Prosecutors: Man who choked NYC subway passenger to death will face manslaughter charge
NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors said Thursday that they will bring criminal charges against a man who used a fatal chokehold on an unruly passenger aboard a New York City subway train, a death that stirred outrage and debates about the response to mental illness in the nation’s largest transit...
Federal money won’t be enough to solve Pa.’s abandoned oil and gas well problem, advocates say
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 — Cheryl Thomas first asked Pennsylvania officials to cap old oil wells on her land in 1988. Abandoned by the...
Elon Musk says he’s found a woman to lead Twitter as new CEO
Elon Musk said Thursday he has found a new CEO for Twitter, or X Corp. as it’s now called — and it’s a woman. He did not name her but said she will be starting in about six weeks. Musk, who bought Twitter last fall and has been running it...
McDonald’s found liable for girl’s burns from chicken nuggets. Next up: Jury to determine how much company will pay
McDonald’s is to blame for not warning customers about the dangers of its overheated Chicken McNuggets, one of which fell on a little girl’s lap and left her with second-degree burns on her upper thigh in 2019, a Broward jury ruled Thursday. A second jury will be empaneled to decide...
Carnegie Mellon artificial intelligence institute to receive $20M in federal funding
Carnegie Mellon University will use $20 million in federal funding to establish an artificial intelligence institute that will look for ways to use AI to deal with public health, disaster management and other societal needs. The AI Institute for Societal Decision Making will develop “human-centric AI tools” that can respond...
Pittsburgh’s URA says it spent $12.7M on affordable housing efforts last year
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority said in its 2022 annual report that it created or preserved more than 500 affordable housing units in the city last year. The authority, which released its annual report this week, said it spent $12.7 million on housing creation and preservation last year, including more than...
West Mifflin man get 15 to 35 years for beating mother to death, leaving her to die
A West Mifflin man was sentenced Thursday to 15 to 35 years in prison for violently beating his 80-year-old mother and leaving her to die in their basement in 2019. Kenneth Burdick, 45, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder in the death of Dolores Burdick. Heath Leff, a...
Are sports a pass-fail proposition? Local coaches, just like Giannis Antetokounmpo, don’t think so
Sam Albert has experienced his fair share of wins and losses after 28 years coaching football. However, it might come as a surprise to learn that for Albert, who enters his seventh season at Kiski Area this fall, determining a successful year vs. one he deems substandard does not have...
Pittsburgh woman charged in fentanyl death of her 7-month-old granddaughter
Allegheny County police charged a second person in connection with the fatal fentanyl poisoning of a 7-month-old Penn Hills infant — the girl’s grandmother. Barbara Ann Dunlap-Toombs, 66, of Larimer, turned herself in to sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday. She is charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of children and...
2023 primary day election guide: Details on races, candidates, issues in Western Pa.
Primary day is today. Here’s a guide to the many local races through Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and anyone in line at 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote. The state has an online tool to let voters find their polling...
What to know about Trump’s CNN town hall: Lies about election and abortion, attacks on accuser
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s primetime return to CNN Wednesday for the first time since 2016 felt like a throwback: Trump with the long, twisting answers; the interviewer at times struggling to fact-check him or return his focus to the question at hand; and then, eventually, both talking over each...
‘Now or never’: Migrants rush to U.S. border ahead of Title 42 expiration
MATAMOROS, Mexico — Migrants rushed across the border hours before pandemic-related asylum restrictions were to expire Thursday, fearing that new policies would make it far more difficult to gain entry into the United States. In a move to clear out overwhelmed holding facilities, Border Patrol agents were told Wednesday to...
As public health emergency ends, pandemic-era support programs have already been fading away
WASHINGTON — The formal end of the national Public Health Emergency on Thursday is largely a symbolic and psychological step, representing the country’s formal emergence from the covid-19 pandemic. But behind the scenes, several core aspects of America’s pandemic-era emergency safety net are also coming to a close, from extra...
Morning Roundup: Man charged in shooting in Pittsburgh’s Strip District
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, May 11, 2023: Man charged in shooting in Pittsburgh’s Strip District A Pittsburgh man has been charged in a shooting that wounded two others last month in the city’s Strip District. Jaquan Steadman, 24, is charged with two...
‘I’m going to reach all of them:’ Pirates star Andrew McCutchen eyes milestone moments
For all the fanfare that surrounded his return to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Andrew McCutchen passed a major milestone in his baseball career this week with barely a written word or whisper of congratulations. If not for a daily milestone tracker kept by team historian Jim Trdinich as the five-time All-Star,...
Norfolk Southern train derails in New Castle; officials say no hazardous materials released
Crews worked Thursday morning to clear a Norfolk Southern train derailment that occurred late Wednesday in Lawrence County. The derailment was reported shortly before 11:30 p.m. near Montgomery Avenue and Lafayette Street in New Castle. The were no reports of hazardous materials being released, according to New Castle police. Norfolk...
Campaigns turn up heat in crowded Democratic primary race for Allegheny County executive
Allegheny County executive candidates — and groups aggressively campaigning on behalf of some of them — are making their closing arguments to voters with less than a week to go until Tuesday’s primary. State Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Lawrenceville, has appeared to gain some momentum, with a recent poll showing her...
Iranian man arrested in connection with bomb threat at Pittsburgh International Airport
Allegheny County Police have arrested an Iranian national in connection with a bomb threat at Pittsburgh International Airport on Wednesday. Officers were dispatched at 4:35 p.m. to gate B-30 for a report of a passenger making a bomb threat. Police said Hossein Dehnavifard, 37, was taken into custody. He is...
Florida teen dies after crashing motorcycle in Pittsburgh
State police are investigating a fatal crash Wednesday afternoon that took place along the Veterans Bridge on-ramp from Route 28. Officers were dispatched around 1 p.m. for the crash involving a motorcycle. The driver was transported from the scene via Pittsburgh EMS to UPMC Mercy hospital where he later died...
New Kensington, Arnold leaders offer encouragement to Valley High football players
Three leaders of the New Kensington and Arnold communities have put themselves at the service of players on the Valley High School football team. New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo, Arnold Mayor Joe Bia II and District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. spoke to members of the Vikings team on the...
