Top Stories category, Page 869
Pittsburgh secures funding to boost DUI enforcement, which is about half what it was 5 years ago
Pittsburgh police are making about half the DUI arrests they did just five years ago, but a state grant could help the bureau ramp up enforcement, officials said Wednesday. A $174,000 grant from PennDOT’s Highway Safety Division will help pay for overtime for officers to work DUI checkpoints and patrols,...
Harrison, ATI and Western PA Conservancy partner to ‘put trees to bed for winter’
Harrison resident Sharon Ellis spent much of Tuesday morning weeding and mulching around the trees that dot the grass outside the Highlands High School football stadium along California Avenue. “Trees are good for the health of the community and it’s important that you take care of them properly,” Ellis said,...
Pa. law protects workers who are approved for medical marijuana — but once they use it, it’s a different story
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. Vague legal safeguards for medical marijuana users in Pennsylvania are forcing patients to choose between their job and a drug they...
Local kids get free bikes from Kiski Township police
Kiski Township police bestowed a rainbow selection of bikes for kids living in the Pine Valley Estates along Sugar Hollow Road. Small Huffy bikes with silver streamers on the handlebars, along with red and green boys’ bikes, and pink models emblazoned with butterflies with white wheels for girls, arrived Tuesday...
Queen Elizabeth II lies in state after solemn procession
LONDON — The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II left Buckingham Palace for the last time Wednesday, borne on a horse-drawn carriage and saluted by cannons and the tolling of Big Ben, in a solemn procession through the flag-draped, crowd-lined streets of London to Westminster Hall. There, Britain’s longest-serving monarch will...
Devastated Ukrainian village emerges from Russian occupation
HRAKOVE, Ukraine — There’s not much left of Hrakove. Its houses and shops lie in ruins, its school is a bombed-out hull. The church is scarred by rockets and shells, but the golden dome above its blasted belfry still gleams in the fading autumn light. Only about 30 people remain,...
Man critically injured in Turtle Creek shooting
A man was critically injured in a shooting late Tuesday in Turtle Creek, according to Allegheny County Police. First responders found the man when they were dispatched to a shooting reported shortly before 11:30 p.m. in the 1200 block of Airbrake Avenue. The victim, who suffered a gunshot wound to...
Gun found at Pittsburgh International checkpoint; no charges expected
Allegheny County Police said they do not expect to file charges against a 30-year-old Armstrong County man whose handgun was found in a duffel bag Wednesday at Pittsburgh International Airport. Police said Transportation Security Administration officers spotted the gun at the main security checkpoint at 3:30 a.m. Police determined that...
Former McKeesport teacher faces new sex charges as 8th child comes forward
A former McKeesport Area middle school teacher accused of sexually assaulting several children faces additional charges as an eighth alleged victim has come forward, police said. Allegheny County police on Tuesday charged Eric Vincent Fairman, 26, of Pleasant Hills, with corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor under the...
MyPillow executive Mike Lindell says FBI agents seized his cellphone
WASHINGTON — MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell said Tuesday that federal agents seized his cellphone and questioned him about a Colorado clerk who has been charged in what prosecutors say was a “deceptive scheme” to breach voting system technology used across the country. Lindell was approached in the drive-thru of...
Former Fort Pitt Brewery in Jeannette recommended for demolition
The former Fort Pitt Brewery in Jeannette and seven other structures in the city were deemed public nuisances Tuesday and recommended for demolition. It was a formality for the crumbling multibuilding brewery complex in West Jeannette that has been acquired by the Westmoreland County Land Bank in preparation for redevelopment....
Mutt Strut: Pittsburgh event benefits group that provides service dogs to veterans
After a two-year hiatus, Pittsburgh’s Community Mutt Strut returned for an in-person day of fun for four-legged friends and their people pals, all for a good cause. The event, held virtually during the covid-19 pandemic, benefits Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs Inc., a Florida-based nonprofit that rescues, raises and trains...
Oz backs U.S. Senate bill to protect same-sex marriage rights
Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz has joined more than 400 Republican leaders who are calling on the Senate to pass legislation to protect marriage rights for same-sex couples. Same-sex marriage was legalized in 2015 after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, but Justice Clarence Thomas hinted this...
Spirit cuts Fort Myers flights from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity
Spirit Airlines has eliminated its seasonal flights to Fort Myers, Fla., from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, on Tuesday confirmed the Unity airport’s lone commercial carrier has slashed the route that over the past half-decade carried passengers on three flights a...
Hempfield woman told police she was going to sell 40 bricks of heroin to raise cash for son’s attorney
A Hempfield woman told police she bought 40 bricks of heroin to earn money and was going to sell the drugs to pay for her son’s defense attorney, according to court papers. Misty D. Giron, 46, was arrested last week on drug charges. She is accused of talking with her...
Ken Starr, whose probe led to Clinton impeachment, dies
WASHINGTON — Ken Starr, a former federal appellate judge and a prominent attorney whose criminal investigation of Bill Clinton led to the president’s impeachment, has died at age 76, his family said Tuesday. Starr died at a hospital Tuesday of complications from surgery, according to his former colleague, attorney Mark...
GOP’s Lindsey Graham unveils nationwide abortion ban after 15 weeksVideo
WASHINGTON — Upending the political debate, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a nationwide abortion ban Tuesday, sending shockwaves through both parties and igniting fresh debate on a fraught issue weeks before the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. Graham’s own Republican party leaders did not immediately embrace his...
Baldwin parents plead guilty to 3rd-degree murder in infant son’s drug death
Despite the tragic circumstances of his young life, Tommy Snelsire was always smiling, his grandfather said. He spent his first days at the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh after being born addicted to heroin and fentanyl. Doctors treated him with methadone. While Tommy’s extended family was at the facility constantly, prosecutors...
5 things to know about updated covid-19 booster shots
Two weeks after the federal government signed off on covid-19 booster shots targeting the most dominant strains of the virus, clinics and health care providers in Southwestern Pennsylvania have begun offering the shots to eligible recipients. The newly authorized bivalent vaccines are updated boosters that specifically target the BA.4 and...
Kimberly Clark-Baskin sworn in as Pittsburgh’s city clerk
Pittsburgh City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to appoint Kimberly Clark-Baskin as city clerk. Clark-Baskin, a former assistant city clerk, has served as acting clerk since her predecessor Brenda Pree left the post last month. “I look forward to continuing to work with you all and paving a new lane for...
Eiffel Tower to go dark earlier as Paris saves energy
PARIS — Lights on the Eiffel Tower will soon be turned off more than an hour earlier at night to save electricity, the Paris mayor announced Tuesday, as Russia’s war in Ukraine deepens an energy crisis in Europe. Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the iconic tower that is normally illuminated until...
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin optimistic T.J. Watt’s injury isn’t season-endingVideo
When T.J. Watt walked off the field with 16 seconds to play in the fourth quarter Sunday and pointed to his left pectoral muscle, the Pittsburgh Steelers suspected they might be without the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year for a significant amount of time. That might still be the...
Westmoreland sheriff warns new round of scam calls are posing as department
Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert is warning residents that more scam calls are apparently making the rounds claiming to be originating from his department. In the latest one, the caller identifies themselves as “Officer Chris Hawkins” from the sheriff’s department calling from 724-484-6211, he said. It has been reported that...
Child finds loaded gun on playground at McKeesport day care
Police are investigating after a child found a loaded handgun on a playground at a McKeesport day care center. No one was injured in the incident that happened sometime last week, according to Jasmine Smith, a teacher at the McKeesport Child Development Center. She said McKeesport police were notified. The...
Michael Keaton wins 1st Emmy on funny, entertaining night
Michael Keaton picked up his first Emmy Award for his role in Hulu’s opioid crisis drama “Dopesick” at Monday night’s 74th annual Emmy Awards. That was only after a cringeworthy song-and-dance opening number — set to TV theme songs that only got worse as it went on. Fortunately after that,...
