Top Stories category, Page 775
Pittsburgh region’s mild winter mitigates some of the misery of ‘pothole season’
Earlier this month, Debbie Bey was looking for someone — anyone — willing to fix a large pothole just off William Penn Highway in Monroeville at the entrance leading to Gabe’s, Sam’s Club and other stores. “I called around to Monroeville, to PennDOT, everywhere, and no one wanted to take...
Surveillance video solves case of missing Gilpin signs
The mystery surrounding missing signs in Gilpin has been solved. This month, Gilpin officials and the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department reported multiple business signs missing from properties throughout the township. Supervisor Charles Stull took to social media Feb. 17, posting about what he described as a “strange” crime on...
Report: Energy Department believes lab leak was most likely the source of covidVideo
A laboratory leak was the most likely origin of the covid-19 virus, according to findings by the U.S. Energy Department, The Wall Street Journal reported. A classified intelligence report provided to the White House and key members of Congress said the virus likely spread because of a mishap at a...
Building the Valley: Springdale restaurant owner aims to put an end to ‘food desert’
Springdale is a food desert no longer. At least that’s the goal for Jamar Sheffey, owner of Tastefully Blessed Kitchen & Smokehouse. With Springdale residents typically being left with nothing but chain restaurants, Sheffey expanded his catering company and opened a brick-and-mortar location in late November to combat the issue....
‘Powder keg’ for 9/11: 1993 trade center bombing remembered
NEW YORK — Lolita Jackson was at her 72nd-floor desk in the World Trade Center, feeling like she worked at the top of the world. Then came the boom, and smoke started curling in from an elevator shaft. Unsure what was happening, she joined thousands of other office workers on...
Contaminated waste shipments from Ohio derailment to resume
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Shipment of contaminated waste from the site of a fiery train derailment earlier this month in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line will resume Monday to two approved sites in Ohio, according to federal environmental authorities. The announcement came a day after the Environmental Protection...
So thrifty: Buying, selling secondhand is affordable, sustainable and fun
Browsing through Goodwill in Cheswick, Brooke Holler was sizing up a wooden easel she was hoping would make a nice stand for a sign at her wedding in September. Holler isn’t just an avid thrifter — she turned her passion into a business. She runs Busy Bee’s on the secondhand...
Consol Energy planning to build pipeline through Plum to carry mine water to Allegheny River
Consol Energy is preparing to build a nearly 4-mile pipeline to carry treated water from the former Renton Mine through Plum to the Allegheny River. According to Consol, the Renton Mine water treatment facility on Old Mine Road has been in operation for more than 30 years. It prevents an...
Westmoreland at 250: Celebrations marking county’s milestone anniversary planned throughout year
Westmoreland County’s origins date to 21⁄2 centuries ago when local pioneering settlers wanted their own courthouse instead of having to trek to Bedford to settle legal disputes. Sunday marks the 250th anniversary — or semiquincentennial — of when the county officially was formed from a portion of Bedford County. It...
Westmoreland at 250: Unity farm owners keeping history alive
Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series marking the 250th anniversary of Westmoreland County’s founding. Workers have been busy repairing the roofs on several of the 17 outbuildings that fan out from the historic Sewickley Manor farmstead. Calvin Pollins Jr. is the seventh generation of his family to...
Burning bush, privet species added to Pennsylvania’s noxious weeds list
Burning bush shrubs may appear pretty in the fall, when their leaves turn a blazing bright red. But they also are pretty invasive, and this year they earned a spot on Pennsylvania’s list of noxious weeds. For the past few years, the list has seen the addition of several plants...
Experts: Senate job not to blame for Fetterman health concerns
The eyes of the country were watching Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman as the former Braddock mayor and Pennsylvania lieutenant governor took office in January, just months after his recovery from a life-threatening stroke. Just weeks into the job, Fetterman checked himself into the hospital in early February for tests...
Salutes, not sobs: Concert honoring Brackenridge Chief McIntire benefits several Alle-Kiski Valley departments
Loni Hutchens choked up remembering how her knees buckled when she heard that Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire was gunned down. Kim and Dale Davis explained that whenever an officer is shot, they agonize over whether it’s in Pittsburgh, where their son patrols on the midnight shift. And Lisa Ingle...
Fire sprinkler rupture forces Pittsburgh Playhouse evacuation, shows canceled
A ruptured fire sprinkler caused an emergency alarm to go off forcing a mid-performance evacuation of the Pittsburgh Playhouse on Point Park University’s Downtown campus Friday night. It happened in the middle of a performance of Disney’s Newsies, a musical. “A piece of scenery fell to the stage and a...
Pittsburgh Faison teacher accused of sexually assaulting student
Pittsburgh police have put out an arrest warrant for a Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student. According to the criminal complaint, James Ziegler, 41, is a teacher at Pittsburgh’s Faison K-5. Court documents said Ziegler allegedly forced the student to perform sex acts during lunch detentions....
North Huntingdon developer adds franchise division to attract businesses
Sought-after local and national franchises could be coming to Westmoreland County as North Huntingdon- based Colony Holding Companies adds a division aimed at attracting those types of businesses, according to Don Tarosky Jr., developer and partner. First up is a location in North Huntingdon that will combine a coffee shop...
Proposal would allow 15-year-olds to get their driver’s licenses
Pennsylvania teenagers could get their driver’s licenses a year early if a proposal from two lawmakers, including state Rep. Eric Nelson, R-Hempfield, gets approval. Nelson and state Rep. Stephen Kinsey, a Philadelphia Democrat, are seeking co-sponsors for legislation that would lower the age of eligibility for a junior driver’s license...
Lower Burrell home that was recently sold catches fire as old owners remove their items
Officials have determined that a kerosene heater caused a fire Friday night that severely damaged a house in Lower Burrell that had recently been sold. After an investigation that ended shortly before midnight, city Fire Co. 3 Chief Brennan Sites said Saturday that he and a state police fire marshal...
I-79 crossover express lane reopens with safety improvements
PennDOT has reopened the southbound I-79 crossover after closing down the left-hand express lane last Monday night and implementing a 45 mph speed limit in the work zone. The crossover reopened at 4 p.m. Friday in Glenfield, Sewickley Hills, and Frankin Park and Ohio and Aleppo townships. After several crashes...
Brockovich steals show at train derailment seminar in Ohio
EAST PALESTINE, OHIO — It started with a joke, though the message behind the evening was anything but. “My name is Erin Brockovich, not Julia Roberts,” quipped the environmental advocate who Roberts played in the 2000 film bearing her name Friday night in an auditorium here — the site of...
Agents bust large-scale fentanyl ring in Alle-Kiski Valley
A more than yearlong investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office and the Westmoreland County Drug Task Force has disrupted a large-scale fentanyl trafficking organization in the Alle-Kiski Valley. In court paperwork filed Friday, agents said they made controlled buys of fentanyl between January and March 2022 in Arnold, New...
AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh in peril as Warner Bros. Discovery intends to exit regional sports
Warner Bros. Discovery, owner of AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, wants to exit the regional sports network business — and soon — in a move that could potentially leave the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins without a primary TV home. The Wall Street Journal first reported that WBD informed the professional sports teams...
Police: Teens get in shootout over scam involving drug-laced candy bar
Police say an 18-year-old man was jailed after getting into a shootout with a 17-year-old Mt. Pleasant Township boy on Wednesday after the victim was duped into paying $100 for a candy bar — on the false premise it was laced with mushroom-based chemicals. The suspect, Joseph A. Greep Jr....
After Ohio train wreck, Biden orders door-to-door checks
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday directed federal agencies to go door-to-door in East Palestine, Ohio, to check on families affected by the toxic train derailment that has morphed into a heated political controversy. Under Biden’s order, teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Environmental Protection Agency...
Teens charged after leading state police on high-speed chase down Route 30
Three teens were taken into custody after state police said they escaped from Adephoi Village and led law enforcement on a high-speed chase Thursday night along the Route 30 eastbound corridor. State troopers initially responded to a report around 10 p.m. that an employee’s vehicle had been stolen at Technimark,...
