Top Stories category, Page 8
As antisemitism rises and strife over Israel continues, Josh Shapiro turns toward his Jewish faithVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Thousands of teenagers from more than a dozen countries, many standing on their chairs in a cavernous convention hall, screamed and cheered as Josh Shapiro took the stage. Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor still may be unknown among many Americans outside his home state, but here at BBYO, the world’s...
Millions are stuck at home due to blizzard warnings and travel shutdowns in northeastern U.S.
NEW YORK — A massive snowstorm pummeled the northeast United States from Maryland to Maine on Monday, forcing millions of people to stay home amid strong wind and blizzard warnings, transportation shutdowns, and school and business closures. The storm dumped up to 2 feet of snow in parts of the...
Pitcairn woman playing with gun fatally shoots girl, 17, in her room, police say
Several people were smoking marijuana and drinking tequila early Monday in a Wilkins apartment when a pistol one of them was waving around went off, fatally striking a 17-year-old girl in the head, according to investigators. Police arrested Rayohna Hexstall, 20, and charged her with involuntary manslaughter, a misdemeanor, in...
Lost driver’s license? New program helps navigate process of regaining privilegeVideo
A new program at Summit Legal Aid helps people who’ve lost their driver’s license to get the privilege restored. What started as a pilot program in Washington County has spread to nine other counties, including Westmoreland, in an effort to help those who have lost, or are in danger of...
Pennsylvania schools to embrace cursive writing once again
Each of the 15 students in Mollie Sweeney’s third grade class raised their dominant hand. Sweeney, a teacher at Burrell’s Bon Air Elementary, then walked through the motions of how to write a lowercase letter in cursive. Students air-traced the motion. Only after that did the students take pencil to...
Debate intensifies over ICE contract for detention center as vote approaches in Clearfield County
Editor’s note: This is the third in a three-part series. PHILIPSBURG — The future of Clearfield County’s partnership with federal immigration authorities at a massive detention center hinges on an upcoming vote by county commissioners. The Geo Group, a private prison operator, in 2021 made the Moshannon Valley Processing Center...
‘One Battle After Another’ wins big at BAFTA film awards
LONDON — Politically charged thriller “One Battle After Another” won six prizes, including best picture, at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, building momentum ahead of Hollywood’s Academy Awards next month. Blues-steeped vampire epic “Sinners” and gothic horror story “Frankenstein” won three awards each, while Shakespearean family tragedy “Hamnet”...
Full speed on the halfpipe: Seven Springs’ special feature lets skiers catch airVideo
Snowboarder Nolan Johngarlo was attacking the new halfpipe — a 13-foot-high wall of snow — at Seven Springs Mountain Resort on Saturday, maneuvering back and forth on the walls of the football-field length special feature at the Somerset County resort. “There’s so much things you can do. The jumps are...
Reactions pour in following Team USA’s gold-medal Olympic hockey win over Canada
Team USA men’s hockey brought home its first gold medal since the “Miracle on Ice” Olympics in 1980, so let’s not beat around the bush. From a member of the Canadian team assessing the game with “you be the judge of who the better team was,” to recent political events...
Police fatally shoot man armed with knife in Heidelberg
A man was shot and killed by police in Heidelberg after he charged officers armed with a knife and could not be stopped with a Taser, according to Allegheny County Police. According to county police, a person called 911 at midnight Sunday claiming to be armed and threatening to harm...
Greater Pittsburgh area largely escapes heavy nor’easter snow
As it turns out, ol’ Punxsutawney Phil may have been onto something when he forecast six more weeks of winter earlier this month. After a brief warm spell, snow was back, tossing a light blanket late Saturday into Sunday across southwestern Pennsylvania. But the region is largely set to avoid...
Early-morning fans revel in U.S. men’s hockey win for Olympic goldVideo
When the puck dropped at 8:10 a.m. EST in the gold medal Olympic men’s hockey final between the U.S. and Canada, Sunday morning looked more like a Saturday night in the confines of Primanti Bros. in Harmar. It was among the many places that opened bright and early Sunday morning...
Jack Hughes scores in overtime as U.S. beats Canada for gold at the Olympics
MILAN — The United States is on top of the hockey world for the first time in nearly a half-century. No miracle needed. Jack Hughes scored less than 2 minutes into overtime, and the U.S. beat Canada, 2-1, in the gold-medal final at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday, earning...
Armed man shot and killed after entering secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, Secret Service says
WASHINGTON — An armed man drove into the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida, before being shot and killed early Sunday morning, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service. Trump was not there but was at the White House in Washington. The...
Injured captain Sidney Crosby out for Canada against the U.S. in the Olympic gold medal game
MILAN — Sidney Crosby will not play for Canada in the men’s gold medal hockey game against the U.S. at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, four days after suffering an apparent right knee injury. Crosby’s status was revealed just over an hour before puck drop when the lineups came out....
Burrell grows initiatives to support students experiencing grief
About 30% of Burrell School District students have experienced the loss of an immediate family member within the past year, according to Greg Egnor, the district’s director of pupil services. “The amount of grief that students in our district have experienced this year has been a lot,” Egnor said. “Trauma...
Here’s what to know about the ICE detention center in Clearfield County
Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a three-part series. PHILIPSBURG — When detainees first step into a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center facility in Clearfield County, their risk level is quickly determined — and it shows in the color of their jumpsuit. Red marks those classified as...
Gilpin begins ‘preventative measures’ in regard to data centers
In the coming months, the Gilpin supervisors plan to be proactive by having conversations about how best to regulate potential data centers in the township. During a meeting Tuesday, the supervisors authorized township Solicitor Tim Miller to draft an amendment to the township’s zoning ordinances regarding data centers. “Right now,...
Editorial: Let’s see the receipts on data centers
Pennsylvania lawmakers are embroiled in the annual dance in balancing our collective checkbook — the state budget. At the same time, the Keystone State is offering a tax exemption to data center developers that the Department of Revenue acknowledges it cannot fully track. It’s an odd thing to justify. Qualifying...
East Deer scrap yard fire forces closure of Freeport Road, halt to train traffic
Vehicles and trains alike were not able to travel through East Deer for hours on Saturday because of a scrap yard fire at Pitt Penn Recycling. Freeport Road had to be closed and Norfolk Southern trains stopped because firefighters had to run a hose from a hydrant on the opposite...
Family, friends of Jeannette native, Hempfield grad Jasmine Jones celebrate Olympics bronze medal winVideo
The only thing bigger than the excitement at a South Greensburg restaurant Saturday afternoon was the pride for Jeannette native Jasmine Jones, who will come home as an Olympic medalist. That, and the decibel level from the cheering. Jones, a 2014 Hempfield Area graduate, and her teammate, Kaillie Armbruster Humphries,...
From Forbes Field to PNC Park, fans remember Pirates legend Bill MazeroskiVideo
Dave Sedor felt chills Saturday as he paced along a patch of grass at the remains of the Forbes Field outfield wall, thinking of the late Pittsburgh Pirates legend Bill Mazeroski. Sedor, of Madison, Wis., was in Charleroi celebrating his aunt’s 101st birthday when he heard Mazeroski had died. “I...
Tarentum teen charged in 2 shootings; gun linked to a 3rd
A Tarentum teen wanted in connection with multiple shooting incidents was taken into custody this week by Pittsburgh police. Marcell Fields, 18, was charged with attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, reckless endangering and multiple weapons charges. City and Pittsburgh Regional Transit police said Fields took part in shootings...
Trump says he’ll raise tariffs to 15% after Supreme Court ruling
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he wants a global tariff of 15%, up from 10% he had announced a day earlier after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down many of the far-reaching taxes on imports that he had imposed over the last year. Trump’s announcement on social...
Ligonier church hosts full house at pancake breakfast to benefit Ruthie’s Diner employeesVideo
About 10 minutes after the doors opened on Saturday morning, it was standing-room-only for a pancake breakfast at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Ligonier. The occasion was a benefit for employees of Ruthie’s Diner, just a few minutes down the road on Route 30, which was destroyed in a late January...
