Top Stories category, Page 756
Medical examiner: BB gun victim died from accidental drug overdose
A man who police said was repeatedly shot with a BB gun by four city teens while he was unconscious in a Downtown alley in November died from a drug overdose, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Friday. Christopher Gaylor, 50, of Cadiz, Ohio, died Dec. 1 at UPMC...
Child sex abuse lawsuit window again gets Pa. lawmakers’ OK
HARRISBURG — Victims would be able to sue over otherwise outdated claims of child sexual abuse under two pieces of legislation passed Friday by the Pennsylvania House, but it’s unclear whether the state Senate will take them up. The legislation to temporarily waive the statute of limitations for sex abuse...
DA: Police justified in killing man who ambushed Brackenridge Chief Justin McIntireVideo
The last thing Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire ever saw, as shown by video taken from the taser he held in his hand, was the man he’d been chasing — aiming at him with a .40-caliber handgun. Aaron Swan Jr., dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans after he dumped...
Final vote on controversial Oakland zoning package expected next week
Pittsburgh City Council is expected to take a final vote next week to approve what has been a heavily debated zoning package for the Oakland neighborhood. City Council had initially planned to vote on the zoning package in December after a lengthy public hearing where residents, developers and officials from...
Construction of $40M workforce center proceeds on CCAC’s North Side campus
The timing seemed right in November 2019 when the Community College of Allegheny County announced an ambitious workforce development initiative that included building a multi-story academic hall and expanding programming to steer more students into high-demand fields. The areas of study slated for the new Workforce Development and Training Center...
DeSantis leads Trump by wide margin in California as primary race starts, poll finds
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has surged to a lead among California Republicans over former President Donald Trump for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination, a poll released Friday found. About 37% of GOP voters backed DeSantis, while 29% preferred Trump, according to the new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll...
Gisele Fetterman shares window into family since husband’s hospitalization
After U.S. Sen. John Fetterman last week checked himself into a hospital for clinical depression treatment, his wife, Gisele, found her home circled by media trucks. In a series of tweets Friday morning, Gisele Fetterman explained how her children were home from school and her home surrounded by press when...
6-year-old Belle Vernon Area student dies after being hit by car
On Friday afternoon, the Rev. Mary Kay Glunt placed a pinwheel, colorful flowers and a stuffed white lamb in the yard of First Presbyterian Church of Belle Vernon. Amanda Woznick saw it and knelt in front of it, crying. Glunt’s mementos marked the scene where, hours earlier, Woznick’s 6-year-old daughter...
Convent turned condo: $350K property hits market on Pittsburgh’s South Side
Sunlight shines through three stained glass windows and the brick frame is adorned with a concrete cross above the front door at Matthew’s Lofts on the South Side. The building, once a convent part of the former St. Matthews Church that closed in 1992, has been transformed into two condominiums....
New Kensington police say ‘bored’ teen stole Jeep from city dealership
New Kensington police say a Wilkins Township man admitted to stealing a Jeep from a used car dealership in the city because he was bored. In court paperwork, police say David Eugene George II, 18, admitted breaking into Wheel Deal Auto Sales on Industrial Boulevard on Feb. 3. They say...
Ukraine 1 year later: Kyiv resident and Pitt professor talks about how life has changed
For the better part of the past decade, Tymofiy Mylovanov has maintained a dual role as president of the Kyiv School of Economics and an associate professor of economics with tenure at Pitt, traveling back and forth between Kyiv and Pittsburgh. In the year since Russia invaded Ukraine, maintaining that...
Millions of U.S. workers are still missing after the pandemic. Where did they go?
Millions of workers are still missing from the U.S. labor force three years after covid-19 surfaced, and economists are scratching their heads as to how big the gap actually is and where all these people went. One estimate found at least 2.1 million who retired earlier then expected. Another calculated...
Report: Pennsylvania’s tax burden still a mixed bag
A comparison of tax levels of the 50 states shows residents in Pennsylvania still pay more than most other Americans. In a yearly comparison carried out by the Independent Fiscal Office, Pennsylvania is above-average with its tax burden. The tax burden is different from overall tax rates: it is measured...
31 flying squirrels take refuge in local animal shelterVideo
More than 30 flying squirrels have found a temporary home at the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Penn Hills. The native rodents, southern flying squirrels, were brought to the center this winter in two large groups after the squirrels’ Western Pennsylvania homes were no longer suitable....
Western Pennsylvania fish fries’ supply chain issues vary
Three years after the start of the pandemic that upended supply chains around the world, some local fish fries still are grappling with inventory while others are reporting no problems getting their menu items. On Monday, Land & Sea in Monroeville was packed with cod waiting to be delivered to...
Morning Roundup: More demolition needed in wake of Elizabeth Forward fire
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Feb. 24, 2023: Virtual learning continues at Elizabeth Forward after fire Fire damage to the Elizabeth Forward High School auditorium is more extensive than originally believed, district officials announced. Superintendent Keith Konyk sent a letter to families saying...
Allegheny County voter turnout rises with a boost from mail-in voting
Allegheny County cast more votes in the November election than any other Pennsylvania county — surpassing even Philadelphia, which has about 350,000 more residents and 100,000 more registered voters. Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said the county’s robust efforts to help people vote by mail were a key factor. Fitzgerald...
Former inmate claims mistreatment in Westmoreland jail
A former Westmoreland County Prison inmate claims his mistreatment while he was at the jail led to health issues that have left him confined to a nursing home, according to lawsuit filed this week. James Robert Frantz, formerly of Hempfield, contends he sustained injuries in a fight with another inmate...
Pittsburgh man charged in connection with shooting at Monroeville hotel
A Pittsburgh man has been charged with assault and various gun violations in connection with a shooting Thursday at a Monroeville hotel. Jamar Reese, 36, remained detained in the Allegheny County Jail on Thursday night after being denied bail. He is charged with aggravated assault, person not to possess guns...
7 shot, including 2-year-old, outside Philadelphia school
PHILADELPHIA — Seven people, including five teens and a 2-year-old girl, were wounded Thursday evening in a shooting near a school in Philadelphia, police said. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports shots were fired shortly before 6 p.m. in the city’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. The 2-year-old was listed in stable condition at...
China calls for Russia-Ukraine cease-fire, peace talks
BEIJING — China, a firm Russian ally, has called for a cease-fire between Ukraine and Moscow and the opening of peace talks as part of a 12-point proposal to end the conflict. The plan issued Friday morning by the Foreign Ministry also urges the end of Western sanctions imposed on...
Pa. Senate committee hears 5 hours of testimony on East Palestine derailment
Lives were at stake and timing was crucial when Pennsylvania officials deferred decision-making authority to Norfolk Southern in the aftermath of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment, according to testimony Thursday at a state Senate committee hearing in Beaver County. About 50 Norfolk Southern cars, including 10 with hazardous materials,...
70s temps set weather record in February
February isn’t over yet, but it’s already made weather history for Southwestern Pennsylvania. The high temperature reached a record-tying 70 degrees at Pittsburgh International Airport in Moon Township on Thursday, National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Frazier said. It was the third time this month that the high has reached 70...
Alec Baldwin pleads not guilty in shooting, can still work
Actor Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie and waived his first formal court appearance, in court documents filed Thursday. Baldwin and a weapons supervisor were charged last month with felony...
$11.5M preservation of Heinz Memorial Chapel’s spire planned
Generations of Pittsburghers know it as an exquisite wedding and worship space, a limestone cathedral that has 23 imposing yet beautiful stained-glass windows and an organ with 4,272 pipes. But that’s not what is drawing the most attention at the University of Pittsburgh’s Heinz Memorial Chapel these days. It’s the...
