Top Stories category, Page 818
Freedom Caucus brings its national brand of conservatism to the Pennsylvania state House
The new Pennsylvania branch of the House Freedom Caucus is open and ready for business. The original Freedom Caucus, for the uninitiated, launched within the U.S. House of Representatives in 2015, as a wing within the House’s Republican conference for conservative members who resolved not to compromise on conservative principles...
1 of 2 Tarentum brothers arrested, charged in Harrison shootout
One of two brothers charged in a suspected mid-October shootout in Harrison was arrested Monday morning. Arrested was Troy Vickers, 30, of Tarentum. A felony arrest warrant is still active for his brother, 19-year-old Brian Vickers, also of Tarentum. Troy Vickers was arrested by the U.S. Marshal Western Pennsylvania Fugitive...
Cleveland police seek suspect in Adrianna Taylor killing
A 43-year-old Cleveland man is wanted for the aggravated murder of Adrianna K. Taylor, whose body was found Thanksgiving night in a Wilkinsburg backyard. An arrest warrant was issued for Anthony Kennedy, 43, in connection with Taylor’s death. Taylor, 23, was initially listed as missing by Cleveland police on Nov....
Mike Pence calls on Trump to apologize for dinner with antisemiteVideo
NEW YORK — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Monday said Donald Trump “demonstrated profoundly poor judgment” and called on him to apologize after the former president had dinner last week with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and the rapper formerly known as Kanye West days after launching his third campaign...
Penn Hills man arrested in Tarentum, charged in Verona shooting
A Penn Hills man faces charges after, police say, he was responsible for a Nov. 10 shooting in Verona and fled from police afterward. Shuron B. Porter, 43, of Penn Hills was taken into custody early Monday in the 300 block of West Eighth Avenue in Tarentum, according to Allegheny...
GOP-controlled Arizona county refuses to certify election
PHOENIX — Republican officials in a rural Arizona county refused Monday to certify the 2022 election despite no evidence of anything wrong with the count, a decision that was quickly challenged in court by the state’s top election official. The refusal to certify by Cochise County in southeastern Arizona comes...
Rostraver commissioner, already in probationary program, charged with harassment, disorderly conduct
A Rostraver commissioner is accused of disrupting a township Halloween event by threatening people and slapping a fellow commissioner in the face. John J. Lorenzo, 43, of Rostraver was cited with two counts of harassment or physical contact, disorderly conduct and an additional harassment charge in connection with the Oct....
Woman shot, left on I-579 ramp in Pittsburgh; arrest warrant issued for husband
Pittsburgh police are searching for a man accused of shooting his wife during an argument while they were driving and then leaving her along the road suffering from a gunshot wound. An arrest warrant has been issued for Kevin Crews, 37, of Pittsburgh, who faces two counts of aggravated assault...
Allegheny County to close covid testing sites
The Curative covid-19 testing sites located throughout Allegheny County will close by the end of the year, officials said Monday. County officials cited lower numbers of daily infections, deaths and hospitalizations from the virus as they announced changes to testing options. “For the past two and a half years, Curative...
Woman gets 8 to 16 years for driving over, killing boyfriend in Homewood
Ausha Brown had only been dating Von Washington, she said, for about five weeks when she killed him. On Monday, as Brown was ordered to serve eight to 16 years in prison for third-degree murder, she told the court that in the moments before she ran Washington over in her...
North Versailles man pleads guilty to 2019 fatal crash on Tri-Boro Expressway
A North Versailles man whose blood alcohol was nearly three times the legal limit when he crashed his car on the Tri-Boro Expressway, killing his passenger, pleaded guilty to criminal charges on Monday. Edward Wharton, 60, will be sentenced on charges of homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence and...
5 things to know about new covid subvariants
Though new covid-19 subvariants continue to crop up, a local infectious disease doctor said there likely won’t be another massive wave of severe infections because of them. New subvariants of the covid-19 omicron variant — like XXB, XBB and BQ.1 — are spreading throughout the United States, said Dr. Matt...
Mon Valley area sees record-setting hail stones, officials say
Sunday’s windy and unstable atmosphere led to hail blowing through parts of the Mon Valley and Westmoreland County, including record-setting, 2-inch hail stones. Reports show that Perryopolis, in Fayette County, experienced hail stones that were more than two inches in diameter, which is only the third time in recorded history...
Buffalo gunman pleads guilty in racist supermarket massacre
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The white gunman who massacred 10 Black shoppers and workers at a Buffalo supermarket pleaded guilty Monday to murder and hate-motivated terrorism charges, guaranteeing that he will spend the rest of his life in prison. Payton Gendron, 19, entered the plea Monday in a courthouse roughly two...
Tax keeps Pennsylvania gas prices high despite nationwide downward trend, analyst says
Despite falling gas prices nationwide, Pennsylvania finds itself in the company of West Coast states with the highest average prices in the nation. Pennsylvania’s statewide average on Monday was about $3.97 per gallon, about 42 cents higher than the national average and higher than all surrounding states, according to AAA....
City Controller Michael Lamb to run for Allegheny County Executive
Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb on Monday announced he will run for Allegheny County executive next year. “As county executive, we will have a county government that is transparent and accessible,” Lamb said. He said he hopes to provide “county leadership that is committed to making Allegheny County work better...
Pa. Republicans look inward after voters quashed the expected red wave
Votes were barely counted in the Nov. 8 election before the “autopsy” stories started rolling in on the Pennsylvania Republican Party. After Democrats took back the state House after 12 years and won contested congressional races, the governor’s race, and U.S. Senate seat in an expected “red wave” year for...
Pennsylvania campaign wild card Fetterman turns to governing
HARRISBURG — When John Fetterman goes to Washington in January as one of the Senate’s new members, he’ll bring along an irreverent style from Pennsylvania that extends from his own personal dress code — super casual — to hanging marijuana flags outside his current office in the state Capitol. Pennsylvania’s...
Hawaii’s Mauna Loa erupts, officials warn people to prepareVideo
HONOLULU — Waves of orange, glowing lava and smoky ash erupted Monday from the world’s largest active volcano and people living on Hawaii’s Big Island were warned to be ready if their communities are threatened. The eruption of Mauna Loa wasn’t immediately endangering towns, but officials told residents to be...
Bird-safe glass taking off: Vitro of Harmar produced National Aviary windows for $3M project
When it comes to glass, the National Aviary on Pittsburgh’s North Side has a unique problem. Not only do officials there not want any of their more than 500 birds to fly into its windows and glass ceilings, but they also don’t want wild birds outside hitting it either. Window...
Police: Driver impaled inside vehicle after fleeing traffic stop, crashing in Squirrel Hill
The driver of a car that fled from police in Squirrel Hill was critically injured when he crashed into a fence and a light pole and was impaled by a piece of metal, according to investigators. A Pittsburgh police officer on patrol at around 9:40 p.m. on Saturday saw a...
Penn Hills paramedic dies after crashing ambulance, suffering medical emergency
Pittsburgh Public Safety officials have identified the first responder who died after the Penn Hills ambulance he was driving collided with another vehicle in Shadyside, according to authorities. Paramedic Nicholas A. Theofilis, 23, of Penn Hills was driving along 5th and Morewood avenues shortly after 11 p.m. when the collision...
Tim Benz: Only 1 storyline will matter coming out of Steelers-Colts
Coming out of their Week 9 bye at 2-6, there was a path toward postseason contention that the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise had walked in the past. In 2013, the team began 2-6 and ended up 8-8, staying alive for the playoffs until the final week of the regular season. By...
Hospitals embrace mergers as path to survival
Editor’s note: This is the second part of a three-day series examining the rapidly changing health care landscape in Western Pennsylvania. As Excela Health CEO John Sphon irons out the details of a merger with Butler Health System, his message to the public is clear. He believes the alliance...
St. Mary’s in New Kensington reopens 2 years after sustaining damage in tornado
Denise Zellefrow’s mother was baptized in this very church 100 years ago. Tillie Stelmach was married in it in 1953. Patty Solobak buried her husband here in 2012. Nearly everyone who attended the reopening of St. Mary of Czestochowa church in New Kensington on Sunday had a personal story about...
