Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 852
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...
Lawmakers, officials reflect on 30-year legacy of Pa.’s CHIP
When Chris Coles’ husband lost his job as a steelworker in the mid-1980s, she feared for her family. She feared for her ability to put food on the table and pay electric bills, and, most of all, she feared for her son Justin’s health. “We lost our health insurance immediately,...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Dec. 2-4
Holiday music and shopping — along with the ghostly appearance of William Shakespeare — are among events on tap this weekend in Pittsburgh. Shakespeare’s ghost Premiere performances of Pittsburgh playwright Nathan Wagner’s “Perdita” will be at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Friday in the New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square...
Elon Musk suspends Kanye West’s Twitter account
Early Friday, Kanye West’s Twitter account was suspended after the rapper posted a picture of a swastika merged with the Star of David. New Twitter CEO Elon Musk confirmed the suspension in a tweet replying to West’s post of an unflattering photo of the billionaire, which West called his “final...
Allegheny Valley Habitat for Humanity Christmas raffle to benefit Ukrainian orphans
Alle-Kiski Valley residents interested in winning a decorated Christmas tree, wreath or menorah have a chance to do that while also helping the youngest victims of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Two Christmas trees, a wreath and a menorah are up for raffle at Allegheny Valley Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore in...
Western Pa. spots to watch the USA-Netherlands World Cup match
World Cup fever has hit Western Pennsylvania. After a tense match against Iran, team USA advanced out of the group stage of the World Cup thanks to a goal from American superstar and Pennsylvania native Christian Pulisic. The win means that the Stars and Stripes will move on to the...
Bidens entertain more than 330 guests at 1st state dinnerVideo
WASHINGTON — The first White House state dinner of President Joe Biden’s administration drew big names Thursday from fashion, entertainment, politics and business who turned out to help celebrate French President Emmanuel Macron and the return of large social events after the pandemic. There were kisses all around as the...
Man recounts events that led up to his brother’s stabbing outside Greensburg bar
Nico Williams remembers looking back as he left a Greensburg bar with his brother and seeing Anthony J. Sharp following them. His brother and Sharp, who are acquaintances, had gotten into an altercation inside Rialto Bar & Bistro in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving, and Nico Williams, Joey Williams...
4-year-old dies in Pittsburgh shooting, 2 others injured
Three people were hospitalized in connection with a double shooting Thursday night in Pittsburgh. On Friday, Pittsburgh police said in a news update that the 4-year-old victim has died. Allegheny County dispatch said calls for the shooting came in around 6:40 p.m. along the 1500 block of Lincoln Avenue. Among...
Pittsburgh needs to step up police recruitment efforts, officials say
Police recruit training classes planned in Pittsburgh next year could bring in about half as many officers as the city has lost from its force this year, officials said Thursday. Only eight people applied to join the first class, which will train people who were officers elsewhere, said Councilman Anthony...
Trump probe: Court halts Mar-a-Lago special master review
WASHINGTON — A unanimous federal appeals court on Thursday ended an independent review of documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, removing a hurdle the Justice Department said had delayed its criminal investigation into the retention of top-secret government information. The decision by the three-judge panel represents a...
Teen charged in California-Kirkbride homicide also accused in funeral service shooting
A Pittsburgh teenager who police say opened fire on a Brighton Heights funeral service in late October has been charged in connection with a homicide that took place more than two months earlier. The Aug. 7 shooting in the city’s California-Kirkbride neighborhood left one man dead and three others injured....
Senate moves to avert rail strike amid dire warnings
WASHINGTON — The Senate moved quickly Thursday to avert a rail strike that the Biden administration and business leaders warned would have had devastating consequences for the nation’s economy. The Senate passed a bill to bind rail companies and workers to a proposed settlement that was reached between the rail...
The teams helping Josh Shapiro prepare to become Pa.’s next governor include wealthy donors, Republicans
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 — Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro is preparing for his inauguration and making key decisions about his administration surrounded by some of...
New Downtown Pittsburgh homeless shelter already at capacity
Second Avenue Commons, a homeless shelter that opened last week in Downtown Pittsburgh, is already at capacity, officials said. “We’re now into the overflow space, which is the cafeteria that’s downstairs,” said Dan Palka, Allegheny Health Network’s director of urban health and street medicine. Palka is collaborating with the city...
$7M contract extension considered for security at Pittsburgh’s City-County Building, other sites
Pittsburgh City Council is considering spending $7 million over five years to extend a contract with a Pittsburgh-based firm that provides security at the City-County Building and other city sites. The proposed contract would pay security guards a fraction of what guards are making at some county-owned facilities, according to...
Pitt student wins big during ‘Wheel of Fortune’ College Week
University of Pittsburgh sophomore Noah Stockwell got the idea of competing on the popular TV game show “Wheel of Fortune” sort of as a joke. He wound up having the last laugh after winning a massive prize on an episode that aired on Nov. 24. “I figured it would be...
