Top Stories category, Page 811
4 Democrats enter Allegheny County Council races
Four candidates already have come forward to declare runs for Allegheny County Council. Two of the candidates will be challenging incumbent Democrats, while the other two are facing off against one another in the South Hills. The results of these races could shift power on county council, which has seen...
Kevin McCarthy voted down time after time for House speaker
WASHINGTON — House Republicans flailed through a long second day of fruitless balloting Wednesday, unable to either elect their leader Kevin McCarthy as House speaker or come up with a new strategy to end the political chaos that has tarnished the start of their new majority. Yet McCarthy wasn’t giving...
Funeral arrangements set for Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire
Funeral arrangements have been set for late Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire, who was killed Monday in the line of duty. The arrangements were confirmed by Ross Walker III, owner of Ross G. Walker Funeral Home in New Kensington. Visitation will take place from 2 to 8 p.m. Monday and...
Ward begins brief lieutenant governor term
HARRISBURG — Kim Ward, Pennsylvania’s ranking state senator, ascended to the job of state lieutenant governor Tuesday after Democrat John Fetterman resigned minutes before he was sworn in to office as the state’s newest U.S. senator. Ward, a Republican from Hempfield and the new and first woman to serve as...
Sheriff: No foul play in ‘Avengers’ star Jeremy Renner snow tractor injury
RENO, Nev. — The serious injuries actor Jeremy Renner suffered while using a snow tractor to free a snowbound motorist on a private mountain road near Lake Tahoe appear to be a “tragic accident,” the sheriff in Reno said Tuesday. The 51-year-old “Avengers” star was seriously hurt when he was...
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $940M after no winner
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Mega Millions jackpot increased to an estimated $940 million after another drawing resulted in plenty of losers but not a single grand prize winner. The numbers drawn late Tuesday were: 25, 29, 33, 41, 44 and gold Mega Ball 18. The next drawing is scheduled...
Pizza driver robbed, abducted in Elliott
A pizza delivery driver was robbed, assaulted and later, abducted Tuesday night in Pittsburgh’s Elliott neighborhood. The male victim told police he was kicked and beat up by three male suspects with their guns and fists around 10 p.m. after stopping his car to locate a pizza delivery address. According...
Boomerang burglars — same Greensburg store targeted again — in 2 days
Greensburg police officers were looking Wednesday for two potential suspects in connection with two burglaries in three days at Puff n Snuff, according to Chief Shawn Denning. The thieves used a tool to break in through a door at the East Pittsburgh Street business in Greensburg Shopping Center, and police...
First gun of 2023 confiscated at Pittsburgh International Airport
An Ohio woman was caught with a loaded handgun inside her makeup bag at Pittsburgh International Airport on Monday. It was the first gun of the new year found at the airport after 26 guns were caught at Pittsburgh Airport checkpoints in 2022. In this case, it was a loaded...
Police chief’s murder was part of a dayslong manhunt
The murder of Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire and subsequent death of his killer were the culmination of a days-long manhunt that stretched from the Alle-Kiski Valley to Pittsburgh. This is a timeline of the events as released by Allegheny County Police, the lead investigators in the case: 11:45 a.m....
Brackenridge police chief was ‘ambushed’ by his killer, investigators say
Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire was “ambushed” and shot dead while searching the borough’s Third Avenue for a fugitive late Monday afternoon, Allegheny County Police Superintendent Christopher Kearns said Tuesday. The fugitive — Aaron Lamont Swan Jr., 28, of Duquesne — later used a gun that had been modified to...
Southwest Airlines sending vouchers to passengers disrupted by holiday meltdown
Southwest Airlines is sending out vouchers worth as much as $300 to clean up the reputational damage from canceling more than 17,100 flights in eight days around Christmas. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is trying to untangle a mess it made after winter weather swept across the country in the days before...
Police find photo of gun, but still lack weapon in Monessen teen homicide case
A gun used in a November fatal shooting in Monessen has not been located, but Westmoreland County Detective Nicholas Caesar said a photograph of the suspect holding a handgun was found on the dead teen’s cellphone. The photo was sent to 16-year-old Amari Altomore from Terry Newton, 16, who is...
Man accused of killing mailman in Collier dies from cancer while in jail
The man accused of killing a mail carrier in Collier last year died Monday while in custody. Court filings said Eric Kortz, 54, had previously been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was being held in Butler County Prison. Kortz’s federal public defenders filed a motion seeking a detention hearing on...
Divided Pennsylvania House elects Democrat Mark Rozzi as speaker
HARRISBURG — A Democrat who promised to govern as an independent was elected speaker of the narrowly divided Pennsylvania House of Representatives in a surprising move Tuesday on the strength of every Democrat and more than a dozen GOP votes. Rep. Mark Rozzi was elected speaker by a vote of...
Brackenridge Chief Justin McIntire recalled as ‘humble, hard-working hometown son’
Friends of Justin McIntire say that if there’s a heaven, the slain Brackenridge police chief is up there either hunting or playing euchre. “I knew him since he was a little kid, playing in his grandfather’s yard,” said Butch Magnetta, a family friend. “He loved this community, and he always...
Experts: Next 24 hours critical in Damar Hamlin’s recovery
Experts say the next 24 hours will be critical in the recovery of Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills safety and McKees Rocks native who suffered cardiac arrest during a “Monday Night Football” game at Cincinnati. “It’s hard to say exactly what’s going on. But at this point, they are maintaining...
Idaho slayings suspect waives right to fight extraditionVideo
A criminology graduate student accused of the November slayings of four University of Idaho students agreed Tuesday to be extradited from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested last week, to face charges in Idaho. Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old doctoral student at Washington State University — a short drive from the scene...
Former Congressman Mike Doyle to take job with Pittsburgh law firm
After serving nearly three decades in Congress, former U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle will be taking a lobbying job at a multinational law firm based in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh office of global law firm K&L Gates LLP announced last week that Doyle will be joining the firm as a government affairs...
Photo gallery: Paying tribute to slain Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire
A contingent of police, fire and ambulance vehicles from around the region converged in Tarentum on Tuesday for a procession in honor of slain Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire, who was shot to death on Monday during a confrontation with a suspect wanted on an arrest warrant. Related • Brackenridge...
Gunman in Brackenridge police chief slaying had extensive criminal history
The Duquesne man who police said killed Brackenridge’s police chief Monday had been charged with homicide nearly a decade ago. Aaron Swan, 28, was shot and killed Monday night after a shootout with police in Pittsburgh’s Homewood-Brushton neighborhood. Police said Swan had shot Brackenridge Chief Justin McIntire earlier in the...
Kevin McCarthy fails in marathon votes for speaker, House adjournsVideo
WASHINGTON — Unable to elect Republican leader Kevin McCarthy as the new House speaker Tuesday, the Republicans adjourned for the day in disarray as the party tries to regroup from his a historic defeat after a long, messy start for the new Congress. The surprise move end to Day One...
Father hailed as hero after scuffle with man who killed Brackenridge chiefVideo
What unfolded before 16-year-old John Pierce’s eyes Monday afternoon in Brackenridge was nothing short of terrifying. His father, Todd Pierce, 50, was in the family’s driveway on Morgan Street cleaning out his work van when a gunman suddenly appeared, demanding the elder Pierce give up the keys to the van....
Damar Hamlin’s family releases statement thanking everyone for support
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin continues to receive treatment at University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Tuesday, and his family members expressed their thanks for support from around the NFL and beyond. “On behalf of our family, we want to express our sincere gratitude for the love and support shown...
Allegheny County police investigate fatal shooting of Pitcairn man
Allegheny County police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man on Jan. 2 in Pitcairn. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the victim as Nekye Smith, 20, of Pitcairn. The shooting was reported to county 911 dispatchers just after 4 p.m. in the 400 block of Robinson...
