Top Stories category, Page 865
Indecent graffiti in Kennedy Park in Vandergrift draws ire from parents
The last thing Vandergrift resident Sarah Cooper expected to find at her local park during an outing Sunday with her young son was X-rated graffiti. Cooper said her 10-year-old son noticed vulgar images of male genitals and obscene words spray-painted on two stone pillars at the entrance to Kennedy Park....
Trump FBI search puts unusual spotlight on National Archives nominee, a Norwin graduate
WASHINGTON — As a novelist, Colleen Shogan has imagined the most vivid of Washington dramas. Larceny at the Library of Congress. A homicide in the House of Representatives. A stabbing in the U.S. Senate. But Shogan is about to become a protagonist in a storyline too fantastical for fiction —...
Arbiter in Trump documents probe signals intent to move quicklyVideo
WASHINGTON — The independent arbiter tasked with inspecting documents seized in an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home said Tuesday he intends to push briskly though the review process and appeared skeptical of the Trump team’s reluctance to say whether it believed the records had been declassified....
Video shows ‘unauthorized access’ to Georgia election equipmentVideo
ATLANTA — A Republican Party official in Georgia told a computer forensics team to copy components of the voting system at a rural elections office two months after the 2020 election and spent nearly all day there, contradicting her sworn deposition testimony about her role in the alleged breach of...
NTSB wants all new vehicles to check drivers for alcohol use
DETROIT — The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that all new vehicles in the U.S. be required to have blood-alcohol monitoring systems that can stop an intoxicated person from driving. The recommendation, if enacted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, could reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes, one...
Mt. Pleasant man charged after incident in Westmoreland County courtroom
A man accused of incidents involving two nurses at the Westmoreland County Prison was charged Monday after a woman was injured when he “thrusted himself” at his attorney in a courtroom, according to court papers. Joe Paul Biller, 37, of Mt. Pleasant, is facing a charge of simple assault. Westmoreland...
5 things to know about Oktoberfest this weekend
On the Sept. 16-18 opening weekend of Oktoberfest at Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh’s North Side, revelers drank 65 half-barrels of beer — or just over 1,000 gallons. If that sounds like a lot, consider this: At the granddaddy of Oktoberfests in Munich, Germany, about 6 million visitors will down about...
Pa. court hears argument on whether life without parole for 2nd-degree murder is cruel, unusual punishmentVideo
When Derek Lee illegally entered a home in Elliott in 2014, he had no intention of killing anyone. He and his co-defendant, Paul Durham, had gone to the house to rob its occupants. But while Lee was upstairs, Durham shot and killed a man in the basement. Both men were...
Bridgeville man pleads guilty for actions in Capitol riot
A Bridgeville man who livestreamed his actions during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony charge of interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder. Kenneth Grayson, 53, pleaded guilty to this charge in a Washington D.C. court. According to court...
Fiona wallops Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico still stunned
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Fiona blasted the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday as a Category 3 storm after devastating Puerto Rico, where most people remained without electricity or running water and rescuers used heavy equipment to lift survivors to safety. The storm’s eye passed close to Grand...
Explainer: Bused, flown migrants can live in U.S. — for now
Republican governors have been sending more migrants released at the U.S. border with Mexico to Democratic strongholds, raising questions about their legal status, how they are lured on board buses and planes and the cost to taxpayers. Florida’s Ron DeSantis flew about 50 Venezuelans last week to the small, upscale...
Ad spending shows Dems hinging midterm hopes on abortion
WASHINGTON — Democrats are pumping an unprecedented amount of money into advertising related to abortion rights, underscoring how central the message is to the party in the final weeks before the November midterm elections. With the most intense period of campaigning only just beginning, Democrats have already invested more than...
2 people injured after falling from Mt. Washington balcony
Two people were injured early Tuesday after falling from a balcony in Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington, city police said. Police were called to a business on Bailey Avenue just before 1:40 a.m. Tuesday for reports of the falls. Two people were found on the ground with head injuries. Medics took a...
Trial date set for Tree of Life accused shooter
A federal judge has set the trial date for the man accused of killing 11 people in 2018 at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill. The jury selection process will begin April 24, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville wrote in an order released Monday night. Robert Bowers...
Man dead after motorcycle crash in Carrick
A Sheraden man riding a motorcycle died Monday evening after a crash in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood, police said. Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said the crash occurred along Saw Mill Run Boulevard/Route 51 shortly before 7:30 p.m. The man was found on the road unconscious and not breathing, Cruz said....
Texas sheriff investigating flights to Martha’s VineyardVideo
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas sheriff on Monday opened an investigation into two flights of migrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, but did not say what laws may have been broken in putting 48 Venezuelans on private planes last week from San Antonio. Bexar County Sheriff...
Salman Rushdie attack victim Henry Reese speaks at opening day of Eradicate Hate Summit
Though Henry Reese never anticipated being relevant to the topic of hateful acts of violence that the yearly Eradicate Hate Global Summit was designed to help eliminate, he has in many ways become one of the faces of this year’s summit. Last month, Reese, co-founder of City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, was...
Dr. Bennet Omalu testifies at West Mifflin concussion trial
A world-renowned neuropathologist recognized for linking chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, to the game of football testified Monday in Pittsburgh he’s certain that symptoms experienced by a West Mifflin man resulted from blows to the head while playing football. “All it takes is just one season,” Dr. Bennet Omalu told...
Airline experts encourage high school pathways to aviation industry
Airlines can talk about workforce opportunities with as many high school students as they want, but without adult support and collaboration, they won’t attract as many students to the industry. That’s according to Glenn Ponas, the director of high school outreach at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Ponas was...
Josh Shapiro rallies in Pittsburgh, vows to create more labor protections for Pa. workers if elected governor
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro said Monday during a campaign rally in Pittsburgh that he would work to create more labor protections for Pennsylvania workers if elected governor in November. Shapiro, the state’s attorney general, faces Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano in the general election. On Monday, Shapiro visited the...
Police: Jeannette man charged after 2 children found in dog cage
A Jeannette man was jailed over the weekend on accusations that two children were found inside an animal cage in his girlfriend’s Jeannette home while he was their babysitter. Brian M. Brabant, 26, was charged by Jeannette police on Saturday with two felony counts each of aggravated assault of a...
‘Out of control’ STD situation prompts call for changes
NEW YORK — Sharply rising cases of some sexually transmitted diseases — including a 26% rise in new syphilis infections reported last year — are prompting U.S. health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts. “It is imperative that we … work to rebuild, innovate, and expand (STD)...
In letter released by Shapiro campaign, 60 veterans blast Doug Mastriano’s Confederate uniform photo as ‘shameful’
A group of nearly 60 veterans from Pennsylvania signed a letter deriding Republican candidate for governor Doug Mastriano for being photographed wearing a Confederate Army uniform, calling it “shameful” and saying it’s “an insult to those of us who served and those who continue to serve.” The letter, released by...
Pittsburgh man caught with gun at court facility
A Pittsburgh man has been arrested after being spotted with a gun Monday at the Juvenile Family Law Center, Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin M. Kraus’ office said. Kinda El-Attrache, 34, is charged with possession of a firearm/weapon in a court facility and carrying a firearm without a license. Security guards...
A day after blackout, Fiona dumps more rain on Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Fiona unleashed more rain on Puerto Rico on Monday, a day after the storm knocked out power and water to most of the island, and National Guard troops rescued hundreds of people who got stranded. The governor warned that it could take days to...
