Top Stories category, Page 807
Woman killed in Downtown Pittsburgh apartment building fire identified
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday identified the individual who died in a Downtown fire this week as 80-year-old Barbara Johnson. Police said Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene, where a five-alarm fire consumed the 12th floor of The Roosevelt Building at Penn Avenue and Sixth Street....
Fern Hollow Bridge could open before Christmas, officials say
Less than one year after collapsing, the Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh could reopen before Christmas and reconnect a vital artery in the city’s East End. PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said the Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park is anticipated to reopen before the end of 2022, and possibly...
Pittsburgh City Council approves $10M budget for Housing Opportunity Fund
Pittsburgh City Council has approved a $10 million budget for the city’s Housing Opportunity Fund. More than $3.8 million of the budget is allocated for rental gap financing, which aims to help in building more affordable rental housing units in the city. Most of that money — about $3 million...
A decade after Sandy Hook, grief remains but hope grows
NEWTOWN, Conn. — They would have been 16 or 17 this year. High school juniors. The children killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012 should have spent this year thinking about college, taking their SATs and getting their driver’s licenses. Maybe attending their first prom. Instead,...
State police investigating officer-involved shooting in North Braddock
State police are investigating after a North Braddock police officer fired his weapon after being shot at by a man fleeing a crash scene late Tuesday. Neither the officer nor the suspect were hurt, state police Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said. According to state police, the crash happened about 11:45 p.m....
Allegheny Township officials disagree on need for public information officer
Allegheny Township’s supervisors meeting Monday evening was routine, until it wasn’t. More than 20 residents showed up, and many of them spoke publicly against a proposal to appoint Township Manager Gregory Primm as public information officer. The resolution passed 2-1 Monday, with Supervisors Michael Korns and Ren Steele voting in...
Respiratory virus surge impacting local schools
As respiratory viruses surge, schools and parents have differing opinions on how to handle sick students. With illness on the rise, particularly respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, some schools are sending students home on a daily basis — much to the frustration of some parents, nurses say. Meanwhile, as those...
Ice storm warning issued for areas north, east of Pittsburgh
The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning and a winter weather advisory for parts of Western Pennsylvania for Wednesday night and Thursday. The alerts are scheduled to start at 10 p.m. Wednesday and last through 10 p.m. Thursday. Ice up to a half-inch is expected to accumulate...
Community mourns the loss of 2 children killed in Sewickley house fire
Wylde Lightner and Lyric Keys were energetic, happy children who were a bright spot at Quaker Valley School District’s Edgeworth Elementary. “Just a bright spot in our day every day,” said Sue Paton, administration assistant at the school. “Wylde was definitely a happy boy.” The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office...
Defense: Former Pirates pitcher was humiliated when he was forced to walk like a woman at sex assault trial
When former Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez was on trial for statutory sexual assault of a teenage girl last year, the Westmoreland County judge on the case forced the 6-foot, 3-inch Venezuelan man to demonstrate the way the victim walked — including swaying his hips in front of the jury...
Army sergeant killed at Georgia base identified as Plum resident
FORT STEWART, Ga. — The Army on Tuesday said a soldier who was fatally shot at a Georgia base was a sergeant whose nearly eight years of military service included a deployment to Afghanistan. Sgt. Nathan M. Hillman, 30, of Plum was killed Monday by a gunman at Fort Stewart,...
1 juvenile dead, 1 in critical condition following shootings in McKeesport
A 16-year-old is dead and another juvenile was in critical condition following a shooting Tuesday afternoon in McKeesport, according to Allegheny County Police detectives. First responders were called to the 3400 block of Versailles Avenue shortly after 3:30 p.m., county officials said. They found two juvenile shooting victims, both of...
Former Elizabeth Borough police chief pleads guilty to stealing drug evidence for personal use
A former Elizabeth Borough police chief who admitted to stealing thousands of bags of heroin from his department’s evidence room pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of theft of government property, U.S. Attorney Cindy K. Chung said Tuesday. The U.S. Attorney’s office said Timothy L. Butler Jr., 45,...
Allegheny County Council adopts $3B budget after debate over amendments
Allegheny County Council adopted its 2023 budget on Dec. 6 in a seemingly typical process, but confusion over amendments led to some contentiousness. The budget of just more than $3 billion passed unanimously at first with no discussion. The contention came about after council voted on another resolution and about...
Former Pittsburgh mayoral candidate accused of threatening man with shotgun
A former Pittsburgh mayoral candidate and retired police officer is facing charges after police said he threatened a man with a shotgun. Anthony “Tony” Moreno, 54, the Republican nominee for mayor in 2021, called Pittsburgh police Monday to report that a man was trying to remove dogs from a McClure...
Some Penn State Law faculty say main campus presence needed in possible law schools merger
Dozens of Penn State Law faculty are urging those weighing their school’s reunification with Dickinson Law in Carlisle to consider what Penn State University would lose if the combined entity lacks a significant University Park presence. A statement endorsed by 42 of Penn State Law’s 51 fulltime faculty stopped short...
Fusion breakthrough is a milestone for climate, clean energy
WASHINGTON — Scientists announced Tuesday that they have for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it — a major breakthrough in the decades-long quest to harness the process that powers the sun. Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California...
Man accused of threatening to kill Allegheny County DA, encouraging mass killing
A Rosslyn Farms man is accused of making threats online to kill Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. and others and threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction. Scott Township police arrested Joshua J. Thompson, 46, on Monday. He was denied bail at an arraignment early Tuesday...
Pittsburgh considers using $1 million from rescue plan to alleviate residents’ medical debt
Pittsburgh City Council will consider legislation that would use $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to help alleviate medical debts for residents. Councilman Bobby Wilson introduced a proposal Tuesday that would allow the city to partner with RIP Medical Debt, a New-York based nonprofit that would buy dischargeable...
Former Letsche Elementary School in Hill District to be converted to mixed-income housing
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority has agreed to sell the former Letsche Elementary School in the city’s Hill District to a developer that will revitalize the historic building as part of a mixed-income housing development. The project, called Letsche School Apartments, will include 42 apartments in the former school building, as...
Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander readied for 2023 touchdown
A lunar lander built by Astrobiotic in Pittsburgh has passed a battery of critical tests, moving one step closer to touching down on the moon early next year. The Peregrine lunar lander, which stands a bit more than 6 feet tall and is about 8 feet in diameter, is expected...
Massive U.S. storm brings tornado warnings, blizzard threatVideo
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A massive storm blowing across the country spawned tornadoes that wrecked homes and injured a handful of people in parts of Oklahoma and Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as much of the central United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Midwest braced Tuesday for...
Winter storm watch issued for ice accumulations in higher terrain outside Pittsburgh
Locations in higher terrain outside of Pittsburgh could see ice accumulating Wednesday night into Thursday morning, a National Weather Service meteorologist said Tuesday. With cold air in place, freezing rain will start developing over the area around 10 p.m. Wednesday, meteorologist David Shallenberger said. In lower elevations, Shallenberger said the...
Beaver County man’s death in fall at Acrisure Stadium ruled an accident
A Beaver County man’s death at Acrisure Stadium was an accident, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled. Dalton Ryan Keane, 27, of Center Township died after falling from an escalator at the stadium following an Oct. 2 Steelers game. The medical examiner said Keane died from multiple blunt...
‘Our hearts are broken’: Children killed in Sewickley house fire identified
Less than two weeks before Christmas, the Quaker Valley School District community is mourning the loss of two Edgeworth Elementary School students who died Tuesday morning in a house fire. “Our hearts are broken by the loss of these children. They were treasured members of the Quaker Valley family and...
