Top Stories category, Page 773
Pittsburgh police staffing shortage at ‘tipping point,’ officials say
Pittsburgh police ranks could drop below 700 officers by the start of 2025, leaving the bureau depleted and with low morale, officials said during a wide-ranging, three-hour city council meeting Tuesday on the state of policing in the city. Thirty-five Pittsburgh police officers retired in 2022; another 39 resigned last...
Pittsburgh region’s unemployment rate flat at 4%
The Pittsburgh region’s unemployment rate held steady in December at 4%, as more people are both looking for work and finding it, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor & Industry. It was the second consecutive month that the jobless rate in the seven-county area was...
McKeesport man found guilty of 1st-degree murder in shooting of ex’s new boyfriend
A McKeesport man will spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury on Tuesday found him guilty of first-degree murder for the 2019 shooting death of a man who was dating his ex-girlfriend. Marcus Acie-Griffin, 30, is scheduled to be sentenced by Allegheny County Common Pleas judge...
How will life change once the covid-19 emergency ends?Video
WASHINGTON — The declaration of a covid-19 public health emergency three years ago changed the lives of millions of Americans by offering increased health care coverage, beefed-up food assistance and universal access to coronavirus vaccines and tests. Much of that is now coming to an end, with President Joe Biden’s...
Prosecutors file charges in set shooting by Alec Baldwin
SANTA FE, N.M. — Actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons specialist have been formally charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a New Mexico movie set, according to court documents filed by prosecutors Tuesday. Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies filed the charging documents naming...
Man, deemed ‘evil’ career offender, gets life in federal prison in drug and weapons case
A man who was so disruptive during his federal criminal case — including attacking his own defense attorney and urinating on a courtroom floor — that he was tried in absentia was sentenced Tuesday to serve the rest of his life in prison. James Taric Byrd, 44, formerly of Pittsburgh,...
Pittsburgh nixes plan for youth curfew enforcement, focuses on creating youth resource centers
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted down a proposal to ramp up enforcement of the city’s curfew, as officials are focusing instead on launching resource centers catered to youth and their families. City Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, earlier this month introduced a measure that would order officials...
Philips plans to cut another 6,000 jobs globally; local impact unclear
Dutch health technology company Philips said it will lay off another 6,000 workers globally. The company, which has several locations Western Pennsylvania, said the move is an effort to restore profitability and improve product safety following a recall of respiratory devices, according to Reuters. Half of the job cuts will...
State game commissioners eye changes to antlerless deer license system, CWD rules
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — The days of applying for antlerless deer licenses with a pink envelope may soon be over. The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners met Saturday in Harrisburg to preliminarily approve hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits for 2023-24, with restructuring the antlerless deer allocation system being one...
2 Westmoreland Prison inmates accused of hiding cocaine in their cell
Two Westmoreland County Prison inmates are accused of having cocaine hidden in their cell, according to court papers. Antjuan D. Smith, 39, of Oklahoma Borough, and Thomas M. Moore II, 33, of Unity, are charged by Westmoreland County detectives with contraband and drug possession. Investigators said another inmate at the...
Highlands to implement new tools to combat student vaping
Highlands administrators will get an edge in their battle against the popular — but unhealthy and illegal — teen habit of vaping. Detectors will be installed in restrooms at the middle and high schools in the coming weeks to notify officials when students are puffing inside the stalls. “Vaping is...
Skull found on Pa. riverbank in 1986 ID’d as missing NJ man
MORRISVILLE, Pa. — Authorities say a skull found on banks of the Delaware River in Pennsylvania more than 3 1/2 decades ago has been identified as that of a man long believed slain in New Jersey along with his girlfriend, whose body had been found in the river on the...
Allegheny County child welfare algorithm faces Justice Department scrutiny
PITTSBURGH — The Justice Department has been scrutinizing a controversial artificial intelligence tool used by a Pittsburgh-area child protective services agency following concerns that it could result in discrimination against families with disabilities, The Associated Press has learned. The interest from federal civil rights attorneys comes after an AP investigation...
Morning Roundup: 1 killed, 1 injured in Beaver County crash
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023: 1 killed, 1 injured in Beaver County crash A teenager was killed and another injured in a crash in Beaver County early Tuesday, according to state police. Troopers said a 15-year-old passenger in a Hyundai...
Sticker shock: High heating bills from December have more seeking help
Henry and Holly Johnson of Greensburg did what they could during the cold days of December to keep their heating bill manageable, to a degree that others might not find comfortable. “We keep the (thermostat) temperature at 67 degrees,” Henry Johnson said. And if family and friends visiting over the...
Architecture of shuttered Westinghouse lab in Churchill to get closer look at webinar
An aerial view of the former George Westinghouse Research and Technology Park in Churchill reveals a nod to the company’s early ties to the railroad industry. The corporate campus was designed to look like a locomotive. But workers at the now-empty Churchill site, which opened on 150 acres in the...
McKeesport mayoral candidate pardoned for 1993 drug convictions faces new drug charges
A McKeesport mayoral hopeful who was previously pardoned for a 1993 drug conviction is now accused of being part of what the state Attorney General’s Office called a major drug ring in Allegheny County. Corry J. Sanders, 52, was one of seven men charged on Dec. 30 following an 11-month...
Report: 1 dead, 1 critically injured in Ellwood City shooting
A woman is dead and another person is in critical condition following a shooting late Monday afternoon in Ellwood City, city officials told Tribune-Review news partner WPXI. Ellwood City police are investigating the shooting, which took place shortly after 5:15 p.m. Monday along First Street, Mayor Anthony Court told WPXI....
Forecasters say snow to taper off — leaving cold, freezing rain behind
Snow was tapering off throughout the region Tuesday morning after rain turned into a mix of snow and icy glaze in some areas, leaving behind cold temperatures, according to National Weather Service meteorologists. “There’s a frontal boundary moving through with some warmer air aloft, and a colder surface temperature,” NWS...
Judge grants motion to separate sentencing phase in Tree of Life trial
The judge presiding over the Tree of Life mass shooting case ruled Monday that if Robert Bowers is found guilty, the sentencing portion of the case will be held in two separate phases. The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville will require that victim impact testimony be received...
President Biden to end covid-19 emergencies on May 11
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden informed Congress on Monday that he will end the twin national emergencies for addressing covid-19 on May 11, as most of the world has returned closer to normalcy nearly three years after they were first declared. The move to end the national emergency and public...
Allegheny County seeks to clarify confusion over permanent mail-in ballot applications
Allegheny County election officials are reminding voters that mail-in ballots are not sent to their homes on a permanent basis, and voters must complete an application at least once a year if they want to vote by mail. This week, the county will be sending out 300,000 mailings to voters...
Pittsburgh to pay tribute to August Wilson during Black History Month
Pittsburgh officials said Monday that the city will celebrate Black History Month in February by paying tribute to August Wilson, an acclaimed playwright who was born in the city’s Hill District. The city’s Office of Special Events is partnering with the University of Pittsburgh Library System, which has acquired Wilson’s...
Woman charged in fatal hit-and-run in Ross
Ross Police arrested a woman in connection with a fatal pedestrian hit-and-run that occurred Jan. 13 on Babcock Boulevard. Erin Lee Petroski, 39, of Ross, is charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence (DUI), involuntary manslaughter, accidents involving death, DUI, driving at an unsafe speed, and careless...
Assault, harassment charges against former Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Tony Moreno thrown out
A Pittsburgh judge on Monday threw out charges against a former city mayoral candidate who police accused of threatening a man with a shotgun. District Judge Mik Pappas dismissed a simple assault charge against Anthony “Tony” Moreno, 54, the Republican nominee for mayor in 2021, and a harassment charge was...
