Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 820
Confidential document reveals key human role in ShotSpotter gunshot technology
CHICAGO — In more than 140 cities across the United States, including Pittsburgh, ShotSpotter’s artificial intelligence algorithm and intricate network of microphones evaluate hundreds of thousands of sounds a year to determine if they are gunfire, generating data now being used in criminal cases nationwide. But a confidential ShotSpotter document...
Pittsburgh’s URA provides $1.2M loan to support Uptown development project
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is providing a $1.2 million loan to support an Uptown development project that will include affordable housing and commercial space. The City’s Edge project will include 110 apartments on Colwell Street on a site that is now a parking lot, said Ben Peyton, senior lending analyst...
Google parent company to lay off 12K workers, unclear how that will affect Pittsburgh office
Google’s parent company announced Friday that the tech giant plans to lay off about 12,000 employees across its workforce. Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, reported in October that it employed nearly 187,000 people globally. Pittsburgh is home to a Google office in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood. It’s unclear how the broad-based...
DA’s office says Pittsburgh activist should be jailed over social media posts after police chief’s killing
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office said a Pittsburgh activist should be jailed and resentenced after she posted messages on Facebook about the shooting death of Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire. Prosecutors filed a motion to detain Nicky Jo Dawson on Jan. 6 and supplemented that with an additional 20-page...
4 face felony drug charges after agents find fentanyl during raid at New Kensington house
Four people arrested by a team of agents who raided a home in New Kensington in late December have been ordered to stand trial on drug charges. Tammy Alane Hess, 53; Paul Scott Scratchard, 55; and Didiel Tirado, 57, all of the 2500 block of Seventh Street in New Kensington;...
Mt. Pleasant resale store to close as Westmoreland Community Action looks to sell property
A Mt. Pleasant Borough nonprofit resale store specializing in building and home improvement materials is closing after about 13 years of helping keep those types of items out of landfills. The last official day for American Architectural Salvage is Jan. 31, said Mandy Welty Zalich, chief executive officer of Westmoreland...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Jan. 20-22
It’s getting to be about that point of the winter when folks are looking for things to take their minds off the gray, dreary landscape. From travel ideas to films, those things can be found this weekend. Pittsburgh Travel Showcase “You don’t need a passport to see the world. The...
Dry January continues to rise in popularity
Six years ago, Jacob Zadnik spent most of the week traveling for work as a consultant. That included eating out most days — and, with that, drinking lots of alcohol. He and his coworkers challenged each other to try Dry January — 31 days of no alcohol. This month is...
Morning Roundup: School’s Disney band trip saved by rival school
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023: Neighboring school district helps save Disney trip for high school band United School District in Indiana County will still be taking a trip to Disney World later this year, thanks to a rival school district...
Tree of Life attack survivor Dr. E. Joseph Charny dies at 95
Dr. E. Joseph Charny, a longtime Pittsburgh resident who survived the Tree of Life attack, has died at age 95. He died in Washington, D.C., due to complications of a stroke, compounded by Alzheimer’s disease, according to his obituary in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. He stood next to Rabbi Jeffrey...
2nd T-shirt sale set for fallen Brackenridge chief; organizers say support has ‘surpassed expectation’
Anyone who missed the chance to buy a memorial T-shirt for fallen Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire will have another chance next week. Considering the merchandise at the first sale Jan. 14 sold out in 25 minutes, lines are expected to be long, organizer Shasta Biricocchi said. More than 4,000...
Those huge, stone Wabash piers on the Mon are up for sale
Someone out there can own an unusual piece of Pittsburgh history — not to mention an unusual piece of real estate. The Wabash piers, those hulking stone towers standing about 45 feet above the Monongahela River, Downtown, are up for sale. “The fascinating thing about these piers — they were...
UPMC grew too fast, gained too much market share, report says
A report released Thursday said Pittsburgh-based health care giant UPMC has gained too much share of the market and has too much power. The American Economic Liberties Project, which produced the report, is a nonprofit group that formed to research consolidated corporate power and advocate for stronger antitrust regulations. In...
Debra Todd to be installed as first female chief justice of Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Debra Todd knew that in 2023, she would become the first female chief justice in the 300-year history of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Her predecessor and longtime friend Max Baer had planned to retired in December, and as the next longest-serving member, the role of chief would fall to her....
House GOP rewards hard-liners, George Santos with committee seatsVideo
WASHINGTON — The most far-right House Republicans, early opponents of Speaker Kevin McCarthy and even embattled new Rep. George Santos all are in line for coveted committee assignments. Some are set to serve on the high-profile oversight committee investigating President Joe Biden’s administration. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and...
Former Franklin Regional board member not guilty of Hempfield political sign thefts
A jury deliberated less than 30 minutes Thursday before finding a former Franklin Regional School Board member not guilty of stealing political signs from Hempfield roadways. Since his arrest nearly two years ago, Gary English, 66, of Murrysville claimed he was simply clearing litter and performing a task — removing...
Strong winds knock out power around Western Pa.; snow forecast for Friday
Sporadic power outages swept across Allegheny and Westmoreland counties Thursday night. The outages and strong winds followed a cold front that brought with it heavy winds, rain and thunderstorms earlier in the evening. Larger outages were reported by Duquesne Light in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood, Penn Hills and Plum. FirstEnergy reported...
Suspect arrested in fatal Downtown Pittsburgh shooting; victim identified
Editor’s note: Officials initially misspelled the victim’s last name. It has been corrected. Police arrested an 18-year-old man Thursday night in connection with the fatal shooting of a man that afternoon in Downtown Pittsburgh,. Police charged Erique Collington, no address given, with criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy, tampering with physical evidence,...
Larimer man whose blood-alcohol level was 4 times legal limit gets prison for deadly crash
A Larimer man will spend at least 2-1/2 years in state prison after pleading guilty to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in 2021. Cody Riggins, 28, pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle and driving under the influence in December. On Thursday, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kelly Bigley sentenced...
Allegheny County Chief Public Defender Matt Dugan announces run for district attorney
Matt Dugan has worked in Allegheny County’s criminal justice system for 16 years, holding nearly every attorney position in the Public Defender’s Office during that time. He has been among the youngest in the room as a pretrial attorney, and he’s been among the most experienced, trying homicide charges before...
Pa. woman accused of killing parents, living with their dismembered bodies
A Montgomery County woman found at home with her parents’ dismembered bodies was charged Wednesday with killing them, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office. Police found the bodies of a 73-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman in a home in the 1100 block of Beverly Road with their...
Pirates ranked 28th overall, last in NL in payroll last season, per league figures
The Pittsburgh Pirates had the lowest payroll in the National League and third-lowest in baseball in 2022, at $61,196,070, according to MLB figures obtained by the Associated Press. The Pirates ranked 28th overall, directly behind the Cleveland Guardians ($69,080,715) and ahead of only the Baltimore Orioles ($60,377,739) and Oakland Athletics...
Gov. Shapiro signs order moving state’s hiring emphasis from degrees to experience, skills
Trying to deliver on a 2022 campaign promise, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order Wednesday designed to encourage more people without college degrees to seek out employment opportunities within state government. The order flatly declares that 92% of all executive branch jobs don’t require four-year degrees, though in reality,...
Alec Baldwin to be charged with manslaughter in set shooting
SANTA FE, N.M. — Actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons specialist will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a New Mexico movie set, prosecutors announced Thursday, citing a “criminal disregard for safety.” Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies issued a statement announcing the...
U.S. Treasury buys time for Biden and GOP on debt limit deal
WASHINGTON — The countdown toward a possible U.S. government default began Thursday with Treasury implementing accounting measures as a stopgap, while frictions between President Joe Biden and House Republicans raise alarms about whether the U.S. can sidestep a potential economic crisis. The Treasury Department said in a letter to congressional...
