Top Stories category, Page 814
Both sides see high stakes in gay rights Supreme Court case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is being warned about the potentially dire consequences of a case next week involving a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding websites for same-sex couples. Rule for the designer and the justices will expose not only same-sex couples but also Black people, immigrants,...
FDA change ushers in cheaper, easier-to-get hearing aids
It’s now a lot easier — and cheaper — for many hard-of-hearing Americans to get help. Hearing aids can now be sold without a prescription from a specialist. Over-the-counter, or OTC, hearing aids started hitting the market in October at prices that can be thousands of dollars lower than prescription...
Behind the Art: ‘Dark Planet’ graces SAMA-Ligonier Valley sculpture garden
Soon after the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley launched its sculpture garden, a local philanthropist offered to add to the collection. “Donald Green, a gentleman who was very philanthropic to the Ligonier Valley, reached out to SAMA to see if we would be interested in having another...
Non-religious voters wield clout, tilt heavily Democratic
When members of the small Pennsylvania chapter of Secular Democrats of America log on for their monthly meetings, they’re not there for a virtual happy hour. “We don’t sit around at our meetings patting ourselves on the back for not believing in God together,” said David Brown, a founder from...
Trail towns poised to capitalize on increasing access, popularity of rails-to-trails
Lauren Edinger and her husband, Edd Velez, whitewashed an antique tin ceiling in their future ice cream and sandwich shop in the former J.H. Shoop & Sons building in Freeport. The repurposing of the century-plus-old retail building — home to one of the oldest family-owned men’s clothing stores in the...
‘Generational changing’ investments poised to remake Western Pa.’s trails system
Described as “generational changing,” recently awarded investments in rails-to-trails will help connect more than 100 miles of recreational trails in Western Pennsylvania, opening previously unrealized pathways to communities poised to benefit economically. Murrysville to Rankin. O’Hara to East Deer. Aspinwall to Homewood. Plans are underway to grow and connect mostly...
90-year-old man, left on Pittsburgh doorstep as newborn, meets the family he never knew
A 12-day-old baby boy left in a basket on a Garfield doorstep in 1932, has found his long-lost Pittsburgh family. Jim Scott wrote a “Christmas wish” to connect with his birth family in 2016. And for the past six years, he’s been putting together the pieces of what most of...
Tree falls on person in Allegheny Township
A tree fell on a person Saturday afternoon in Allegheny Township, according to Westmoreland County 911. The incident happened about 1 p.m. in the 100 block of Lynn Lane, according to a county dispatcher. EMS responded, the dispatcher said. An Allegheny Township police officer on duty Saturday said only the...
McKeesport man dies in single-vehicle Parkway East crash
A 20-year-old man died in a single-vehicle crash on the Parkway East early Saturday morning. Jaquawn Walton, of McKeesport, crashed into a concrete barrier and a PennDOT pole at around 3:15 a.m. near the Oakland exit, according to state police. He was dead at the scene. State police, Pittsburgh police,...
U.S. Steel hit with $458K fine for air pollution violations
U.S. Steel must pay over $458,000 in penalty fines after the company violated air pollution control regulations, according to the Allegheny County Health Department. The violations occurred at Clairton Coke Works early this year, the health department said. Per a 2019 agreement between U.S. Steel and the health department, 90%...
RSV, flu, covid put pressure on pediatric providers
Every day about 3 p.m., nurses, doctors and staff in the emergency room at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh brace for impact. That hour marks the beginning of an eight-hour stretch that in recent months has been the busiest time of day for the department, which has seen a spike...
USW reaches tentative pact covering 200 Allegheny County court-related workers
The United Steelworkers union has reached a tentative agreement on a four-year deal with Allegheny County that will raise wages and improve working conditions for about 200 court-related professional workers, the union said Friday. The USW/Allegheny County Court-Related Professional Employees unit represents workers in the court records, district attorney, medical...
Police: Man found unconscious in Downtown Pittsburgh alley was attacked with BB gun
Pittsburgh police say a man who died after being found unconscious in a downtown alley had been assaulted with a BB gun. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Christopher Gaylor, 50. He died at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. According to police, officers and medics went to Coffey...
Mayor Ed Gainey takes gun violence concerns to social media after 4-year-old’s death
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey took his criticism of gun violence to social media Friday night, speaking directly to Pittsburghers via Twitter and Facebook livestreams the day after a 4-year-old girl was shot and killed in the city. “There is no reason a 4-year-old should have been murdered,” said Gainey, who...
Court hearing held for all 7 suspects in July shooting in New Kensington
A Westmoreland County judge said he will consider early next year requests to transfer to juvenile court four criminal homicide prosecutions in connection with the July fatal shooting of a man in New Kensington. All seven suspects accused in last summer’s alleged murder of 39-year-old Jason Raiford appeared in court...
Lower Valley Ambulance Service pleads for help to avert ‘financial crisis’
The Lower Valley Ambulance Service is pleading with local officials for financial aid so it can stay afloat — as fingers are being pointed about how much help they actually are receiving from an outside entity. With what he said are a lack of payments from patients being serviced and...
Rail strike averted: Biden signs bill enforcing agreement
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed a bill Friday to avert a freight rail strike that he said could have plunged the U.S. into a catastrophic recession. At the White House, Biden signed a measure passed Thursday by the Senate and Wednesday by the House. It binds rail companies and...
Democrats move to make South Carolina, not Iowa, 1st voting state
WASHINGTON — Democrats voted Friday to remove Iowa as the leadoff state on the presidential nominating calendar and replace it with South Carolina starting in 2024, a dramatic shakeup championed by President Joe Biden to better reflect the party’s deeply diverse electorate. The Democratic National Committee’s rule-making arm made the...
Pittsburgh Land Bank approves $10M spending plan for covid relief money
The Pittsburgh Land Bank’s board voted unanimously Friday to approve a plan to spend $10 million in American Rescue Plan funding — despite the fact Mayor Ed Gainey has said he wants to take $3 million of that money to create a food justice fund. The Land Bank’s plan calls...
Counterfeit $20 bills passed at Live! Casino Pittsburgh
Seven counterfeit $20 bills were passed at Live! Casino Pittsburgh in Hempfield and the U.S. Secret Service is investigating, according to state police. The fake money was spotted by a bank and returned to the casino Tuesday, police said in a news release. Troopers turned it over to the Secret...
Pitt students abused corpses in anatomy class, police say
Two University of Pittsburgh students are accused of inappropriately touching corpses in their anatomy class. Sonel Jimenez, 19, of Albrightsville, Carbon County, and Amay Gupta, 19, of Fremont, Calif., were charged Thursday with abusing a corpse in connection with the incident, which took place at Pitt’s Victoria Hall on Nov....
Space Force opens Pittsburgh hub to boost regional space and tech industries
Nearly four decades after the collapse of the steel industry, the Pittsburgh region has emerged as a growing technology hub in the fields of robotics and life sciences. Those industries are likely to see a boost from the newly created Keystone Space Innovation Center on Pittsburgh’s North Side. The facility...
Texas truck driver accused of running over man at Hempfield auto parts store
A Texas commercial truck driver is accused by state police of hitting and running over a man Wednesday at a Hempfield auto parts store, leaving him seriously injured, according to court papers. The incident was reported at ABC Auto Parts on Mt. Thor Road around 5 p.m. A witness told...
Hundreds report seeing fireball streak across sky in Pa. and 11 states, CanadaVideo
The sky over the Pittsburgh region Thursday night was mostly obliterated by clouds, according to the National Weather Service. But anyone casting their gaze to the heavens around 7:30 p.m. and was lucky enough to catch a break in the clouds was treated to a spectacular light streaking across the...
Lower Burrell city manager takes township manager’s position in Harrison
Harrison’s gain is Lower Burrell’s loss as Amy Rockwell, Lower Burrell’s city manager, has been hired as the new township manager for Harrison. Rockwell, a Lower Burrell resident, has been Lower Burrell’s city manager and administrator since 2018. She will start her job as Harrison’s manager in early 2023 at...
