Top Stories category, Page 812
TSA finds 2 guns at Pittsburgh airport security checkpoint
Transportation Security Administration officers caught two guns Wednesday at the Pittsburgh International Airport security checkpoint. The first gun, confiscated from a carry-on bag belonging to a West Newton man, was a loaded 9mm handgun. The second firearm was a loaded, antique .22-caliber handgun that belonged to a man from Clarksburg,...
Elizabeth Holmes’ former partner gets nearly 13 years in Theranos caseVideo
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A judge on Wednesday sentenced former Theranos executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani to nearly 13 years in prison for his role in the company’s blood-testing hoax — a sentence slightly longer than that given to the CEO, who was his lover and accomplice in one of Silicon...
Uniontown man convicted for role in Capitol riot
A Uniontown man could face decades in prison after a jury convicted him for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The Department of Justice said Peter Schwartz, 49, threw a folding chair at police officers and sprayed them with pepper spray that he took from them. He...
Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ stir controversy on social media
Drama surrounding billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter continues to escalate as a series of tweets deemed “The Twitter Files” showcases the social media giant’s internal struggle over the 2020 story about the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop. Hunter Biden is the son of President Joe Biden, who was a...
Pittsburgh City Council won’t decide on proposed Oakland zoning changes until next year
Proposed zoning changes for Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood won’t be decided until next year. Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday postponed a vote on the proposed changes for at least six weeks to take additional time to discuss the measure. Council members could make additional amendments ahead of a preliminary vote, now...
Medical examiner IDs missing Frazer woman
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner on Wednesday identified the remains of a woman found in a wooded area in Armstrong County as those of Darlene Harbison of Frazer. The identification comes after Allegheny County Police on Monday reported that a license plate number on a motorcycle that was found and...
Report: Classified items found at Trump storage unit in FloridaVideo
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump found at least two items marked as classified during a recent search of a storage unit in West Palm Beach, Fla., and have provided them to the FBI, according to a published report Wednesday. The Washington Post, citing anonymous sources, reported that...
Democrats move to take power with narrow Pa. House majority
HARRISBURG — Democrats who barely won back a majority of seats in the Pennsylvania House in November moved to take control of the chamber Wednesday and replace one of their incumbents who died and two others who won higher office. Shortly after Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia was quietly...
Pitt faculty members protest slow contract talks
About 75 University of Pittsburgh faculty members, frustrated by the slow pace of trying to secure their first union contract, protested Wednesday outside the provost’s office in the Cathedral of Learning. They did not manage to get a face-to-face meeting with Provost Ann Cudd, Pitt’s chief academic officer. Instead, the...
Pittsburgh International Airport to get new flight to Southern California
Pittsburghers who love Disneyland, beaches, and sunshine can rejoice. Pittsburgh International Airport is getting a new flight to Orange County in Southern California. The low-cost carrier Breeze Airways announced Tuesday it will be flying nonstop between Pittsburgh and John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif., starting on March 31. Breeze...
‘City of Steel’ lets former workers chronicle the rise and fall of Pittsburgh steel industry
When Bruce Spiegel was a child, he would look out his Greenfield window at the heart of American industry: the U.S. Steel Homestead Works. “I would look out into the night and watch the Homestead furnaces blowing blue flames,” Spiegel said. “I thought steel-making was never going to end.” In...
Database spotlights those who died at Pearl Harbor
JOHNSTOWN — The stories of the more than 2,300 American service members who died at Pearl Harbor, including Cambria County Military Hall of Fame member Navy Petty Officer 1st Class John Lipple, from Ashville, have been chronicled by Stories Behind the Stars. The nonprofit is working to compile brief bios...
USS Arizona survivor: Honor those killed at Pearl Harbor
HONOLULU — USS Arizona sailor Lou Conter lived through the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor even though his battleship exploded and sank after being pierced by aerial bombs. That makes the 101-year-old somewhat of a celebrity, especially on the anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, assault. Many call him and...
Police say Penn Hills man’s Facebook car ads were a setup to steal buyers’ cash
Pittsburgh police said a man used Facebook marketplace to set up four purported vehicle sales around Homewood and then robbed potential buyers of the cash they brought, according to court papers. Alan Green, 29, of Penn Hills is facing nine charges of robbery and three counts of conspiracy that were...
East Hills mother dies of injuries from shooting that killed her 4-year-old daughter
An East Hills woman died late Tuesday at a hospital, five days after being wounded in a Lincoln-Lemington shooting that killed her 4-year-old daughter. Temani Lewis, 21, had been scheduled to stand trial next month in connection with a separate shooting over the summer. The 4-year-old girl, Kaari Thompson, and...
Pleas issued for blood donations as supply suffers holiday season shortage
Regular blood donor Kayani Hull had an extra incentive to roll up her sleeve for a donation drive last week at the University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg campus. “I found out that B-type blood is pretty rare, and I have B blood,” said the Pitt-Greensburg sophomore from Verona. “It makes me...
Hundreds of new charges filed against Squirrel Hill man accused of hiding cameras in bathrooms
A Squirrel Hill man arrested last month for planting a hidden camera in a restroom at The Frick museum now faces a slew of additional charges for hiding the device and spying on restroom-users elsewhere. Todd Bueschen, 35, was charged Tuesday with eight counts of sexual abuse of children by...
Congress set to rescind covid-19 vaccine mandate for troops
WASHINGTON — The covid-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military would be rescinded under the annual defense bill heading for a vote this week in Congress, ending a directive that helped ensure the vast majority of troops were vaccinated but also raised concerns that it harmed recruitment and...
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock beats Herschel Walker in Georgia runoffVideo
ATLANTA — Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Georgia runoff election Tuesday, ensuring Democrats an outright majority in the Senate for the rest of President Joe Biden’s current term and capping an underwhelming midterm cycle for the GOP in the last major vote of the...
Pittsburgh Regional employees sue over covid-19 vaccine mandate
A group of Pittsburgh Regional Transit employees and former employees filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court Tuesday challenging the authority’s covid-19 vaccine mandate. The lawsuit, filed as a class action, seeks to represent not only employees who were terminated by PRT for failing to get vaccinated but also employees...
Stowe fire chief punched firefighter during blaze, police say
A fire chief is facing charges after police say he punched a firefighter at a McKees Rocks blaze the two were battling. Stowe Fire Chief Matthew Chapman was charged Tuesday with simple assault and harassment in connection to the Sunday incident. Chapman was the first to arrive on scene and...
Trump Organization convicted in executive tax dodge schemeVideo
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s company was convicted of tax fraud on Tuesday in a case brought by the Manhattan District Attorney, a significant repudiation of financial practices at the former president’s business. The guilty verdict came on the second day of deliberations following a trial in which the Trump...
Pittsburgh unemployment near record lows, but region is slow to regain workers
Pittsburgh’s unemployment rate is one of the lowest the region has seen in the past 50 years, but that isn’t necessarily a sign that the city’s economy is humming, according to a University of Pittsburgh economist. The unemployment rate for October was 4.1%, the Pennsylvania Center for Workforce Information and...
Big Tech, free speech advocates join to oppose journalism bill
WASHINGTON — Top social media companies and free speech advocates, groups that usually take opposing views over tech policy, are coming together to oppose a measure that would allow journalism organizations to jointly negotiate with tech companies. The groups are opposing any inclusion in the fiscal 2023 Pentagon policy bill...
DOJ subpoenas state election officials, including Allegheny County, for Trump documents
MADISON, Wis. —Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed local election officials in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania, asking for communications with or involving former President Donald Trump, his 2020 campaign aides and a list of allies involved in his efforts to try to overturn the results of the election. The...
