Top Stories category, Page 853
Highly touted freshman Pitt basketball player Dior Johnson charged with assaulting woman, suspended from team
A University of Pittsburgh basketball player is facing charges of aggravated assault, strangulation and false imprisonment after an incident that took place last month. Dior Johnson, 18, of Forbes Avenue, Oakland, is accused of assaulting a woman Sept. 5 and again the next morning in his apartment because he was...
Experts say Pa. Supreme Court vacancy should be filled quickly
With the death last week of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Max Baer, the state’s highest court is left with a vacancy that the Pennsylvania Constitution says must be filled. The question now: Will Gov. Tom Wolf nominate someone during his last few months in office, or will he wait...
Single-lane restrictions begin Monday along Route 28 near Highland Park Bridge
Motorists who travel along northbound Route 28 in O’Hara and Sharpsburg should allow extra time next week. Single-lane restrictions are scheduled to begin Monday, according to PennDOT. Crews from Swank Construction Company will be installing new signs. Work will begin at about 7 a.m., just before rush hour, and will...
Butler man stormed onto school bus and threatened students, police say
Butler police arrested a city man Thursday evening after they say he got onto a school bus and threatened students earlier in the day. Police said an officer stopped Clifford Jenkins Anderson, 43, while he was driving and arrested him without incident. In Anderson’s arrest papers, police said a school...
Leah Lizarondo leaving 412 Food Rescue
Leah Lizarondo, the driving force behind a Pittsburgh organization providing millions of pounds of food to those in need, has announced she’s stepping down from her leadership role with 412 Food Rescue and its app Food Rescue Hero. She is set to depart in the spring of 2023. Since co-founding...
Uvalde schools suspend entire police force after outrage
AUSTIN, Texas — The Uvalde school district on Friday pulled its embattled campus police force off the job following a wave of new outrage over the hiring of a former Texas state trooper who was part of the hesitant law enforcement response during the May shooting at Robb Elementary School....
Pittsburgh tears down pedestrian bridge over Bigelow Boulevard after crane boom strikes it
A crane boom struck a pedestrian bridge in Pittsburgh on Friday, warping a metal beam of the bridge and causing closures of Bigelow Boulevard in both directions. The closure could last at least a week. Maria Montaño, spokeswoman for Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, said the Finland Street pedestrian bridge will...
New specialty mobile coffee cafe opens in Gilpin
A one-woman barista is stirring up the coffee scene in Gilpin. Gilpin native Damia Lorenz, 29, opened The Caffeinated Co., a mobile coffee cafe, on Aug. 21. On most days, you’ll find the trailer parked and operating from a vacant lot next to Stu’s Truck & Auto at 352 Route...
Off-duty officer punched woman at Star Lake concert, report says
Hanover Township police said an off-duty Pittsburgh police officer punched a woman in the face during a September concert at the Pavilion at Star Lake, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI. Chas Kulow was at the Washington County venue with his girlfriend for a Five Finger Death Punch concert on...
Community colleges tapped to address cybersecurity talent gap
Waleed Farag knows all too well the growing need for computer systems security professionals. As director of Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Cyber Security, he is hoping to address the steadily increasing demand for computer-based professionals by tapping the resources of six community colleges, including Westmoreland County Community College....
After being hit by a pickup, South Huntingdon girl spent summer recovering from injuries
Peyton Benner did not have a fun, carefree summer like some of her classmates at Yough Middle School. The South Huntingdon girl instead spent the warm months recovering after being hit by a pickup while riding a hoverboard May 28 on the street where she lives in the village of...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Oct. 7-9
This weekend sees the return of the nation’s longest-running fall flower show and a perennially popular art exhibition, the start of a new season of ballet and opportunities to celebrate or contribute to good works in the community. Storytelling in dance Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre opens its 2022-23 season this weekend...
North Hills schools to retire chief logo, but keep ‘Indians’ nameVideo
The North Hills School District Board of Education voted Thursday night to stop using a Native American chief logo, but will continue to use the name “Indians” for the district’s athletic teams. The board voted 7-2, with Deanna Philpott and Elizabeth Nease voting against the resolution that was introduced at...
5 things to watch in Week 6 of high school football
This could be a make-or-break week for some teams with conference title hopes. There are five matchups on the Week 6 schedule pitting teams with undefeated conference records. Among them is a Century Conference matchup between fourth-ranked Washington (5-1, 2-0) and No. 5 Sto-Rox (3-2, 3-0). Each team celebrated an...
Construction worker dies in fall from bucket truck off Parkway East overpass
A construction worker died Friday morning from injuries suffered in a fall from a Parkway East overpass, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The man was identified by Allegheny County officials as Derek Cronk, 41, of Bridgeport, Ohio. Pittsburgh firefighters and medics were called shortly after 3 a.m. to the area...
Biden: Nuclear ‘Armageddon’ risk highest since ’62 crisis
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden said Thursday that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at a...
10 hospitalized, including 3 firefighters, in 6-alarm blaze at apartment complex in Ross
Ten people, including three firefighters, were hospitalized Thursday night from injuries they suffered in a fire that damaged a four-story apartment building in Ross and forced the evacuation of the entire 80-unit building, a Ross-West View fire official said. The seven residents of the building in the 5900 block of...
Ian evacuees return to mud, rubble as death toll hits triple digitsVideo
SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. — Rotting fish and garbage lie scattered in Sanibel Island’s streets. On the mainland, debris from washed-away homes is heaped in a canal like matchsticks. Huge shrimp boats sit perched amid the remains of a mobile home park. “Think of a snow globe. Pick it up and...
Fetterman raised ‘record-breaking’ $22M in latest quarter; Oz loaned himself $7M
Democrat John Fetterman has reported raising a whopping $22 million in the most recent reporting period, easily outpacing Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, who plowed $7 million of his own fortune into the U.S. Senate race. Campaign finance reports for the third quarter are due to be filed with the Federal...
Pittsburgh man pleads to soliciting sex from agent posing online as young girl, her parent
A Pittsburgh man who federal officials said solicited sex from someone he believed was the parent of a young girl pleaded guilty in federal court this week. Wayne E. McNutt, 57, was accused of booking a hotel room at the Waterfront in July 2021 to engage in sex with the...
Grand jury ends probe into Jim Rogers’ tasing death, unknown whether police will be charged
The grand jury investigating the death of a homeless man a day after he was tased at least eight times by a Pittsburgh police officer has concluded its term. The panel, which met at the Dormont municipal building every other Thursday beginning in April 2021, had its last meeting Thursday,...
Police: 2 dead, 6 injured in stabbings along Las Vegas StripVideo
LAS VEGAS — An attacker with a large kitchen knife killed two people and wounded six others in stabbings along the Las Vegas Strip before he was arrested Thursday, police said. Three people were hospitalized in critical condition and another three were in stable condition, according to Las Vegas police,...
Family, friends hope for news on Tarentum woman missing more than 5 weeks
Family and friends of missing Tarentum woman Tonya Sadecky are holding out hope that she will be found safe after last being seen Aug. 28. “I drive around, up and down the streets just hoping that I’ll see her,” said Sadecky’s mother, Carol Richardson. Allegheny County Police on Thursday issued...
Biden pardons thousands for ‘simple possession’ of marijuana
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana under federal law, as his administration takes a dramatic step toward decriminalizing the drug and addressing charging practices that disproportionately impact people of color. Biden’s move also covers thousands convicted of the crime in...
Pittsburgh no longer requiring new police recruits have 60 college credits to join academy
Pittsburgh will no longer require police recruits to have completed 60 college credits before entering the city’s police academy, according to Mayor Ed Gainey’s office. “Now, we’ve giving recruits the opportunity to earn those credits as they go through the academy class,” said Maria Montaño, Gainey’s spokesperson. Recruits will not...
