Top Stories category, Page 840
Vandergrift police shock man who bit officer, fought with others arresting him for warrants
Vandergrift police say a man wanted on multiple warrants had to be repeatedly shocked with a stun gun after he ran from officers and then bit one of them in the arm while being taken into custody. Antjuan Dewayne Smith, 39, of the 2600 block of Brown Avenue in Hempfield...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Oct. 28-29
Natural wonders — like dinosaurs and other spooky specimens, talented teens and musical geniuses — are in the spotlight this weekend in Pittsburgh. Tyrannosaurus time Dinosaurs roam the earth again in the Jurassic World Live Tour, coming this weekend to PPG Paints Arena, 1001 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh. Show times are...
5 things to watch in Week 9 of high school football
Almost everyone has an off year once in a while, yet Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz and North Catholic’s Pat O’Shea have never had a team miss the playoffs in their head coaching careers. That might change after this week. Kasperowicz’s teams reached the playoffs eight consecutive years at Pine-Richland from...
Officials look to market shuttered Westmoreland test track
Westmoreland County officials will continue to pursue development of a $20 million test track facility despite the shuttering of Argo AI, a marquee tenant at the East Huntingdon site. “There’s a strong demand for test track space, and I’m pretty confident we will be able to back-fill this facility with...
8 found dead after house fire in Tulsa area; homicide feared
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Eight people were found dead Thursday in a burning Tulsa-area house in what was being investigated as multiple homicides, police said. The fire was reported about 4 p.m. Thursday in a quiet residential area of Broken Arrow, 13 miles southeast of Tulsa. Broken Arrow police said...
State employees to get 20% discount for online courses from PennWest University
PennWest University will offer a 20% online tuition discount for all of Pennsylvania’s state employees offered through its PennWest Global Online. The reduction, announced Thursday, will be available on about 150 programs under a partnership with the state, effective for the 2023 spring semester. The discount applies for undergraduate and...
Pittsburgh community comes together for Tree of Life 4th-year commemorationVideo
Pittsburgh gathered to remember on Thursday, a bright, mild and sunny day that provided a stark contrast to the gloomy, rainy day when 11 worshippers were shot to death at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Oct. 27, 2018. An estimated 500 members of the Pittsburgh community...
Man hid camera in Frick Pittsburgh bathroom, police say
Pittsburgh police are looking for a man suspected of hiding a camera inside a city museum’s bathroom to spy on museum-goers. The man is believed to have taken “multiple pictures and video of victims (ranging) from children to senior citizens” at The Frick Pittsburgh on South Homewood Avenue in Point...
Pittsburgh’s soaring homicide rate leaves officials baffled
Pittsburgh police said Thursday its officers have investigated 59 homicides to date in 2022 — the highest rate in at least seven years and a 25% spike year over year. There have been nearly 700 homicides in Pittsburgh since 2010, county records show. Homicides in Pittsburgh hit 60 in 2015...
Economy returned to growth last quarter, expanding 2.6%Video
WASHINGTON — The economy grew at a 2.6% annual rate from July through September, snapping two straight quarters of contraction and overcoming high inflation and interest rates just as voting begins in midterm elections in which the economy’s health has emerged as a paramount issue. Thursday’s better-than-expected estimate from the...
AG’s office announces sex charges against 4 men; Butler suspect kills himself before arrest
A Butler County man who was about to be arrested Thursday morning on charges of rape and sexual abuse killed himself in the bathroom of his home, officials said. Eric E. Eleam Sr., 61, of Butler, was one of four men facing charges in connection with a statewide investigating grand...
Elon Musk takes control of Twitter, ousts top executives
Elon Musk has taken control of Twitter and ousted the CEO, chief financial officer and the company’s general counsel, two people familiar with the deal said Thursday night. The people wouldn’t say if all the paperwork for the deal, originally valued at $44 billion, had been signed or if the...
Looking back at the 2018 Tree of Life attack in Squirrel HillVideo
On Oct. 27, 2018, a gunman opened fire inside the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, killing 11 worshippers and wounding two. It was the deadliest act of anti-Semitic violence in U.S. history. Four Pittsburgh police officers were injured by gunfire as they responded to the attack. To capture...
Antisemitism decried 4 years after Tree of Life attack
PITTSBURGH — In what has become an annual ritual, Pittsburgh’s Jewish community Thursday honored the memory of the 11 Jews who were murdered on this date in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. For many community leaders, their grief is mixed with dismay over the continued and growing incidents...
Unity man charged with homicide in Cassandra Gross disappearance
For 1,662 days, Kathe Gross waited for Thursday. It was the day state police charged the man they believe killed her daughter, Cassandra Gross, of Unity. Since April 9, 2018 — the day Kathe Gross reported her daughter missing — she pushed for homicide charges against Thomas G. Stanko, 52....
In Pa. governor’s race, faith surfaces in contrasting ways
In one of the most closely watched races in one of the most contested of battleground states, both gubernatorial candidates bring up religion. But in starkly different ways. Republican Doug Mastriano’s campaign has several hallmarks of Christian nationalism, which fuses Christian and political imagery, words and rituals and promotes a...
Editorial: Did Fetterman-Oz debate change any minds?
For weeks and months, the question was out there. When would the candidates for Pennsylvania’s first up-for-grabs U.S. Senate seat in years face off in a debate? It finally happened Tuesday. So did it change anyone’s mind? Maybe for some people. In reality, probably not for many. It is increasingly...
Early voting soars in Westmoreland County
Exceeding expectations, nearly 22,000 Westmoreland County voters already have cast ballots with less than two weeks to go before the Nov. 8 general election. County officials said the number of mail-in applications requested and returned by voters has continued to surpass estimates. As of Wednesday, more than 36,000 mail-in and...
Teen dies after being shot in head in Beechview
A 17-year-old boy was killed Wednesday after being shot in the head in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood, city police said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office identified the boy as Clayton Tierney of Pittsburgh on Thursday morning. He was found shot around 4:20 p.m. on the 1700 block of Broadway Avenue,...
Bodies recently found in Pittsburgh communities being investigated as homicides
Pittsburgh police continue to investigate the deaths of two men whose bodies were found earlier this week. Officers were dispatched at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday for reports of a dead man found along the 800 block of Aisbett Street in the city’s Garfield neighborhood. Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said the...
Josh Shapiro rallies in Cheswick, says 33rd House District critically important
A visit to Cheswick by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro on Wednesday highlighted the significance of the 33rd District to flipping the state House, many audience members said. “Having the potential governor spend time and resources in our area shows how important our voices are,” Brackenridge Councilman Dino Lopreiato said....
Allegheny Township woman dies in wreck on Garvers Ferry Road
A 45-year-old Allegheny Township woman is dead after she crashed her car into a tree Wednesday afternoon, police said. Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office identified the driver as Sarah Bowser of Gene Drive. She died at the scene as the result of blunt force trauma. Her death was ruled accidental. Township...
Federal judge dismisses wrongful termination case against University of Pittsburgh
A federal judge on Wednesday threw out a retaliation lawsuit filed by a former researcher at the University of Pittsburgh against her employer, saying that she failed to prove that it was protected conduct that led to her termination. Diana Zaldonis, who worked in UPMC’s Cardiothoracic Transplantation division, filed the...
Father ordered to stand trial on charges of strangling, murdering son in New Kensington
A man accused of killing his 9-year-old son earlier this year in New Kensington will stand trial. During a preliminary hearing Wednesday, District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. held Jean J. Charles, 40, of Brackenridge for trial on criminal homicide, first-degree murder, unlawful restraint, strangulation, concealing the death of a...
How redistricting could alter control of the Legislature — and other changes to watch on Election Day
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — It’s showtime for Pennsylvania’s brand-new legislative districts. The revamped state House and Senate lines were approved by a commission...
