Top Stories category, Page 859
St. Ladislaus group lobbies for shrine designation at Natrona church
Longtime Natrona resident Conrad Zylinski attended the former St. Ladislaus Elementary School in the 1960s and served as an altar boy at the magnificent domed church on Spruce Street. He no longer attends Mass every week but said he sees the significance of the 118-year-old church to the community. Zylinski...
Mehmet Oz picks up key endorsement from national business organization for his ‘pro-growth’ views
When it comes to who should be a voice for Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate for the next six years, the world’s largest business organization has chosen Republican candidate Mehmet Oz. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday announced it was endorsing Oz in the hotly contested race against Democrat...
Monessen-born rapper Coolio dies at age 59
LOS ANGELES — Coolio, the rapper who was among hip-hop’s biggest names of the 1990s with hits including “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage,” died Wednesday at age 59, his manager said. Coolio, whose legal name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., died at the Los Angeles home of a friend, longtime...
Doug Mastriano said in 2019 that women who violate an abortion ban should be charged with murder
Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor, suggested in 2019 that women who violate an abortion ban he proposed should be charged with murder, a position considered far outside the political mainstream. In a radio interview with WITF, Mastriano — then a state senator — was asked about legislation...
Three sentenced in $87 million Medicaid fraud scheme
Three people who were part of a sophisticated, $87 million health care fraud scheme were sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Pittsburgh. The three were among a total of 16 people charged for billing Pennsylvania Medicaid for in-home health care for services that were never performed. Fifteen of those people...
Republican commissioners remove ballot drop box from Westmoreland courthouse
Westmoreland County’s Republican commissioners Wednesday refused to vote on a plan to install one drop box for mail-in ballots at the courthouse. Commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew said the box that had been in place for years in the courthouse’s lobby and last spring at the rear entrance of...
Hempfield man, 62, suffers medical issue, dies following East Huntingdon crash
A Hempfield man who suffered a medical emergency while driving Wednesday morning died of injuries from the resulting crash, Westmoreland Coroner Tim Carson said. James A. Shifko, 62, of Broadway Avenue was headed south on Westec Drive shortly before 7 a.m. State police said he was believed to have suffered...
$1.4B terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport takes shape
A $1.4 billion project to build a new terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport is on pace to be completed on schedule by early 2025, officials said Wednesday during a tour of the bustling construction site. Eleven large cranes rose above the site Wednesday, and the first structures are going up....
Death penalty trial in slaying of off-duty Pittsburgh officer postponed until February
The trial for a man accused in 2019 of killing an off-duty Pittsburgh police officer has been postponed until Feb. 27. Jury selection in the capital case against Christian Bey was supposed to begin on Monday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski. However, according to a motion...
Holocaust survivor, Tree of Life witness Judah Samet dies at 84
Judah Samet referred to himself as “a professional survivor.” He survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after the Nazis forced him and his family from their home in Hungary when he was 7 years old. Four years ago at age 80, Samet also survived the October 2018 mass shooting at the...
Kennywood to add chaperone policy, security protocols after shooting
Kennywood Park officials said Wednesday they will add new security protocols and a chaperone policy before reopening this weekend after a triple shooting inside the park. The chaperone policy requires anyone under 17 to be accompanied by an adult 21 or older at all times. Masks are banned after 6...
Schools like Penn State self-police student-athlete endorsement deals
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. A unanimous 2021 Supreme Court decision opened the door to student-athletes earning money for their “name, image, and likeness” — often...
Group seeks to cut Norwin library funding; director says service cuts may follow
Norwin Public Library could lose about 85% of its taxpayer-generated funding if voters in the area it serves decide to cut 1 mill from the special 1.2-mill library tax on real estate. “It will impact the library’s state funding and other funding. It will have a cascade effect,” that likely...
Man fatally shot in Pittsburgh’s St. Clair neighborhood
A fatal shooting Tuesday night has left a man dead in Pittsburgh’s St. Clair neighborhood. The man, identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner as Marcus Watts, 26, of Pittsburgh, was discovered by Pittsburgh Police around 8:15 p.m. in the 500 block of Kohne Street after officers responded to reports...
Arson suspected after fire destroys 3 Pittsburgh police vehicles
A suspicious fire overnight Wednesday gutted three Pittsburgh Police cruisers at their Training Academy facility. Pittsburgh police said they are investigating the incident as an arson case. The three cars were parked in the academy parking lot. ATF investigators arrived on scene early Wednesday morning at the academy at 900...
How to apply for a Pa. property tax or rent rebate
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 — Pennsylvania’s rent and property tax rebate program — which helps older and disabled residents offset the rising cost of...
Man shot in Turtle Creek
A man was hospitalized after being shot in the leg Tuesday night in Turtle Creek, Allegheny County Police said. The victim, who was not identified, was reported shot around 9:05 p.m. in the 300 block of Clugston Avenue, police said. The man was transported to an area hospital and is...
Pittsburgh police seek missing girl, 13
Pittsburgh police were searching for a 13-year-old girl Tuesday who left her home for classes at Westinghouse Academy, but did not return at the end of the school day. The girl, Kamahra Sanders, was last seen wearing a white shirt, black pants and white shoes, when she left her Carver...
Hurricane Ian strikes Cuba, Florida braces for wind, floodingVideo
HAVANA — Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane Tuesday, knocking out power to the entire country and leaving 11 million people without electricity, before churning on a collision course with Florida over warm Gulf waters amid expectations it would strengthen into a catastrophic Category 4 storm....
Teen killed, 4 wounded in shooting after football scrimmage at Philly area high school
PHILADELPHIA — A 14-year-old youth was killed and four other students wounded in a shooting near a northwest Philadelphia high school athletic field after a football scrimmage, authorities said. Police said players were walking off the field behind Roxborough High School after a scrimmage involving three schools when at least...
Mitch McConnell backs post-Jan. 6 revisions to elections lawVideo
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he will “proudly support” legislation to overhaul rules for certifying presidential elections, bolstering a bipartisan effort to revise a 19th century law and avoid another Jan. 6 insurrection. The legislation would clarify and expand parts of the 1887 Electoral Count Act,...
Harrison Manager John Pallone resigns after 6 months
Harrison Manager John Pallone has resigned after six months on the job. Pallone, a former five-term state legislator and superintendent of the New Kensington-Arnold School District, was not immediately available for comment. The township commissioners accepted his resignation during their meeting Monday. At least one commissioner said he believes Pallone...
Allegheny County to launch pilot program for low-income public transit users
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced Tuesday that the county will soon be embark on a 12-month pilot program to provide some low-income transit users with discounted transit passes, with the goal of potentially launching a permanent program in late 2023. The program is being facilitated through the county’s Department...
Records: Texas attorney general fled home to avoid subpoenaVideo
DALLAS (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ran out of his house and jumped into a truck driven by his wife, a state senator, to avoid being served a subpoena to testify Tuesday in an abortion access case, according to court documents. A process server wrote in an affidavit...
Jan. 6 panel delays hearing as Hurricane Ian aims at Florida
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol announced Tuesday that it had postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday as a hurricane hurtled toward the Florida coast. The committee had planned to hold what was likely to be its final investigative hearing Wednesday afternoon,...
