Top Stories category, Page 846
Chilly temps, snow dust Pittsburgh area but warmer weather ahead
Halloween may be a week and-a-half away but it’s beginning to look like Christmas in the area. Snow was falling in places north of Pittsburgh Wednesday morning and temperatures were as much as 15 degrees below normal, with wind chills in the 20s according to the National Weather Service. A...
Police investigating fatal crash on Parkway East
State police are investigating a fatal crash involving multiple vehicles that happened early Wednesday on the Parkway East. Police said the crash happened as traffic was slowing down because of an overturned vehicle. At that time, a three-vehicle collision happened involving a tractor-trailer. One of the drivers in the crash...
Allderdice teen killed at North Hills Village recalled as good kid who made others smile
It seems that anyone who knew Christopher X. Lucas remembers how the young man made them laugh. Christopher’s sense of humor and infectious smile are the things that stood out for friends and family when asked what they remember most about the 15-year-old ninth grader at Taylor Allderdice High School...
2 people shot, hospitalized in Pittsburgh
Two people were hospitalized after after being shot Tuesday night in Pittsburgh. At around 10 p.m., police found a man shot in the leg near Brownsville Road and Laughlin Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety. Paramedics took the man to a local hospital. Shortly after, one...
Pittsburgh police: Man shot in Homewood, 3 suspects detained
Three men are under arrest after a Homewood shooting that sent one person to the hospital on Tuesday. Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews said city police responded to ShotSpotter alerts for a total of 13 rounds fired around 10 a.m. in the 7200 block of Kelly Street. Officers found...
Biden to release 15M barrels from oil reserve, more possible
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will announce the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve Wednesday as part of a response to recent production cuts announced by OPEC+ nations, and he will say more oil sales are possible this winter, as his administration rushes to...
Philly has spent $205 million on salaries for injured police since 2017. An audit found little is done to prevent fraud
For nearly two decades, top city officials have argued that a generous but loosely-controlled state disability benefit meant for injured Philadelphia police officers has been an easy target for abuse. But an audit of police spending, released Tuesday by City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, has found that the cost to taxpayers...
Woman who faked her kidnapping and went to Disney now faces fraud charges
PHILADELPHIA — A former Pennsylvania woman who made national headlines more than a decade ago by falsely claiming she had been kidnapped when she had actually gone to Walt Disney World is facing new charges in an alleged attempt to steal from an employer. Federal authorities have charged 51-year-old Bonnie...
Pittsburgh pro-life activist could face 11 years in prison after 2020 abortion clinic blockade
A pro-life activist from Pittsburgh could face up to 11 years in prison after a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted him for blocking access to a D.C. abortion clinic. Herb Geraghty, 25, is charged with conspiracy against rights and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act offenses after...
Russian expat acquitted at trial over discredited Trump dossierVideo
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A jury on Tuesday acquitted a think tank analyst accused of lying to the FBI about his role in the creation of a discredited dossier about former President Donald Trump. The case against Igor Danchenko was the third and possibly final case brought by Special Counsel John...
Pittsburgh man who killed another man with a table leg gets 3 to 6 years in prison
A Pittsburgh man who killed another man with a table leg last year will spend three to six years in state prison. Walter Jones, 55, of the city’s Knoxville neighborhood, pleaded guilty in July to one count of third-degree murder. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Alexander P. Bicket also ordered...
Penn Hills man gets mandatory life in prison for home invasion beating death
A Penn Hills man will spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of being released after being sentenced Tuesday in the beating death of a man during a home invasion. A jury found Charles Pershing, 40, guilty of second-degree murder for killing Loxley Johns, 65, at...
2 suspects arrested in Arnold shooting, high-speed chase jailed without bail; driver still being sought
A man and woman accused of shooting into a passing car in Arnold on Monday before leading police from several departments on a chase that reached 100 mph are in jail after a magistrate denied bail at their arraignment Tuesday morning. Tishan Lowe Jr., 30, of the 1000 block of...
TSA catches 4 guns at Pittsburgh International Airport in 5 days
The Transportation Security Administration found four firearms in the past five days at Pittsburgh International Airport security checkpoints. Three of the four people carrying the firearms have been arrested by Allegheny County Police. Gordon Vietmeier, of Pittsburgh; Jacob Huckabay of Westcliffe, Colo.; and Paul O’Brien, of Pittsburgh, all face charges...
Shaler graduation gown town hall draws ire from attendees
Shaler Area School District’s decision to change to one, unified graduation gown continues to draw opposition from the community. About 70 people attended a Sept. 28 town hall meeting at the high school auditorium. Not one of the 15 who chose to speak – to either make comments or ask...
Biden vows abortion legislation as top priority next year
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will promise Tuesday that the first bill he sends to Capitol Hill next year will be one that codifies Roe v. Wade — if Democrats control enough seats in Congress for Biden to sign abortion protections into law. It’s the first time Biden has prioritized...
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette journalists go on strike
Labor strife at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette escalated Tuesday, with most of the newsroom’s unionized employees going on strike to protest what they consider unfair labor practices by the company. This comes after Post-Gazette employees belonging to unions representing production, distribution and advertising workers went on strike earlier this month and...
Unique observatory in O’Hara opens galaxy of opportunity
Patients at the H.J. Heinz III campus of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System are defying physical limitations to study the mysteries of the skies thanks to the opening of an observatory at the O’Hara campus. The Sky Shed Observatory is the first of its kind in VA systems across the...
Construction issues slow rebuild of Westmoreland courthouse garage
A series of setbacks is blamed for delays in completing a $7 million project to rebuild the two-story underground parking garage at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg. Public Works Director Greg McCloskey said the work, which began in April, is now expected to be finished in February. “We’ve had...
For Biden and Trump, 2022 is 2020 sequel — and 2024 preview?
WASHINGTON — This year’s midterm elections are playing out as a strange continuation of the last presidential race — and a potential preview of the next one. Donald Trump, who refused to exit the stage after his defeat and continues to rally his supporters with lies about voter fraud, has...
Workforce training seen as a key to maximizing $63 million grant to boost region’s robotics, AI industries
While Southwestern Pennsylvania’s robotics industry has the potential to grow with a targeted federal grant of almost $63 million, officials Monday stressed the need for a skilled workforce to make that potential for growth a reality. “This is about our economic future,” said Craig Buerstatte, the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s...
GOP goes to court again over Pennsylvania mail-in ballots
HARRISBURG — The state and national Republican parties are suing anew in Pennsylvania in an effort to block some mail-in ballots — those lacking the voter’s handwritten date on the return envelope — from being counted in November, when voters will elect a new governor and U.S. senator. The GOP’s...
Trump’s CDC changed covid reports under political pressure, panel finds
The CDC bowed to the Trump administration’s demands to change the editorial process of its weekly scientific journal after warnings from then health secretary Alex Azar to “get in line,” a House investigation found. The pressure faced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change the Morbidity and...
Monroeville man pleads guilty to DUI-related crash that killed pedestrian
A Monroeville man whose car was filled with dozens of empty alcoholic drink containers when he was involved in a drunken-driving crash last year will serve at least two years in state prison after pleading guilty Monday to homicide by vehicle. Braden Chetsko, 23, was ordered by Allegheny County Common...
Pa. Election Day 2022: A complete guide to the Nov. 8 election
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 — On Nov. 8, Pennsylvanians will make their way to polling places to decide the governor’s race and U.S. Senate...
