Top Stories category, Page 887
Accused Pelosi laptop thief wants off house arrest to visit Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire
A Mechanicsburg woman accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol wants to be let out of house arrest to visit the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire this weekend, according to court documents. Riley Williams, 25, filed the request in federal court to...
Fox Chapel officials to make solar panel installation less cumbersome
Fox Chapel property owners may soon find it a little easier to have solar panels. Council unanimously voted Monday advertising amendments to its ordinance regulating such sun-powered equipment. It also approved sending it to the Allegheny County Planning Department for a 45-day review. The ordinance is expected to be passed...
Police: Man found shot in Penn Hills, shooting believed to have begun in Pittsburgh
A man was taken to a hospital after being shot twice Wednesday afternoon in an incident that started in Pittsburgh and continued into Penn Hills, according to Allegheny County Police. Officers were dispatched shortly before 1 p.m. for a shooting along the 1600 block of Brushton Avenue in Penn Hills....
South Fayette man pleads guilty to beating his mother to death
A South Fayette man accused of killing his mother three years ago pleaded guilty Wednesday to third-degree murder. As part of a plea agreement, David Sumney, 33, is expected to be ordered to serve 20 to 40 years in state prison when he is sentenced on Nov. 17. According to...
Allegheny Valley School Board approves health, safety plan without contact tracing
Allegheny Valley School District students will not have to quarantine if they come in close contact with a student who tests positive for covid-19. School board members voted 8-0 to approve the district’s health and safety plan, which eliminates contact tracing, during their meeting Tuesday, Aug. 16. Board member Jessica...
Pittsburgh International Airport concessions company loses management fight, for now
An Allegheny County judge on Wednesday ruled against the company running concessions at Pittsburgh International Airport, saying that it failed to show it would suffer irreparable harm if it was removed from its role. In her ruling, Common Pleas Judge Christine A. Ward denied Fraport Pittsburgh’s request for a preliminary...
Pa. lawmakers are set to get huge raises next year
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 — Fiscal responsibility is an axiom in Harrisburg, but nearly none of Pennsylvania’s 253 state lawmakers seem to mind when...
Kids-for-cash judges ordered to pay more than $200M
Two former Pennsylvania judges who orchestrated a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks were ordered to pay more than $200 million to hundreds of people they victimized in one of the worst judicial scandals in U.S. history. U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner awarded $106 million...
Pittsburgh leaders look for ways to fight homelessness
Pittsburgh leaders are looking to combat what they say is a growing problem with homelessness in the city. City Council President Theresa Kail Smith, D-Westwood, said she encountered the problem first-hand a few months ago in Mt. Washington, where people were staying in Fireman’s Parklet at Shiloh Street and Virginia...
Rudy Giuliani says he ‘satisfied’ obligation with Georgia grand juryVideo
ATLANTA — Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that he had “satisfied his obligation” after facing hours of questioning Wednesday before a special grand jury in Atlanta as a target of an investigation into attempts by former President Donald Trump and others to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia. In an...
Survey: Many at-risk youths in Allegheny Co. lose family to gun violence
A teenage girl whose sister was gunned down one Saturday night last year. A boy shot in the back at 17 who had to relearn to walk. They are among the children and young adults whose voices were heard in a recent survey focused on Allegheny County’s at-risk youth. The...
U.S. traffic deaths, once in decline, continue to rise in 2022
DETROIT — U.S. traffic fatalities began to climb two years ago and that deadly trend is continuing in 2022. Roadway deaths rose 7% during the first three months of the year to 9,560 people, the highest number for a first quarter in two decades, according to estimates by the National...
CDC director announces ‘reset’ aimed at speed, fixing flaws in agency
NEW YORK — The head of the nation’s top public health agency on Wednesday announced a shake-up of the organization, intended to make it more nimble. The planned changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — CDC leaders call it a “reset”— come amid ongoing criticism of the...
Historic Salina Bridge to be replaced beginning as early as 2024
The historic Salina Bridge connecting Kiski and Bell townships will be replaced with a modern bridge, maybe as early as 2024. And the new bridge won’t be built in the same spot as the existing one. The exact dates are not set in stone, but Troy Pitts, PennDOT project manager,...
Ex-Shaler substitute charged in Capitol riot chooses trial by judge, not jury
A former Army Ranger and substitute teacher in the Shaler Area School District charged with participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has chosen to have a bench trial at the end of this month. Robert Morss, who was originally scheduled to have a jury trial in late August, filed...
3 people escape Munhall fire, 2 pets rescued, 1 dies
Three people were able to escape a fire that broke out early Wednesday at a Munhall home, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI. Crews responded to the home in the 2800 block of Main Street at about 1:50 a.m. Three adults were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. Two...
Gilpin cop off the job after corruption of minor charge filed against him in Greensburg
A Gilpin Township police officer was suspended without pay and subsequently resigned after he was charged with corruption of a minor in Greensburg. William Andrew Rapone II, 22, of the 200 block of Longfellow Street in Vandergrift, was charged by Greensburg police on Aug. 3 with misdemeanor counts of corruption...
Mustached cat from Hunker takes the cake in Meow Mix ads, international cat shows
Smudge the cat might have a mustache and goatee, but don’t be fooled — she’s a girl. The black and white cat from Hunker is well-known in Western Pa. and beyond. She has won titles in international cat shows hosted by the Cat Fanciers’ Association and most recently appeared in...
Trump foe Liz Cheney defeated in Wyoming GOP primary; mulls 2024 bidVideo
CHEYENNE — Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Donald Trump’s fiercest Republican adversary in Congress, soundly lost a GOP primary, falling to a rival backed by the former president in a rout that reinforced his grip on the party’s base. The third-term congresswoman and her allies entered Tuesday downbeat about her prospects,...
Pa. joins multi-state suit against Mariner Finance loan company; alleges predatory practices
Pennsylvania is seeking more than $27 million in restitution from a finance company the state claims added hidden charges to loans and interest from those fees over three years through what it claims are “predatory” practices, according to a multi-state lawsuit the attorney general filed with four other states and...
Doug Mastriano challenges Josh Shapiro to 2 debates, but only on his terms
State Sen. Doug Mastriano has proposed two debates in October with Attorney General Josh Shapiro, his Democratic rival for Pennsylvania’s governor’s office, but this particular offer appears to be dead on arrival. The Republican nominee’s proposed rules of engagement — cutting out all outside organizers and allowing debate questions only...
PWSA supervisor gets probation for role in dumping sludge in Allegheny River
A former Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority supervisor will serve three years of probation after pleading guilty in federal court to dumping sludge into the Allegheny River. Glenn Lijewski, of Brookline, worked at the Aspinwall Drinking Water Treatment Plant. He was charged by federal prosecutors with violating the Clean Water...
Scott man who obtained millions in fraudulent covid-19 relief loans pleads guilty, faces prison
A Scott man who fraudulently obtained federal covid-19 relief loans and used the money to buy luxury vehicles and artwork and pay college tuition pleaded guilty Tuesday to bank fraud and money laundering. Randy Frasinelli, 66, will be sentenced on Dec. 20 by U.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy. According...
Biden signs massive climate and health care legislationVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill into law on Tuesday, delivering what he has called the “final piece” of his pared-down domestic agenda, as he aims to boost his party’s standing with voters less than three months before the midterm elections. The...
Jill Biden tests positive for covid-19, has ‘mild’ symptomsVideo
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — First lady Jill Biden tested positive for covid-19 and was experiencing “mild symptoms,” the White House announced Tuesday. President Joe Biden continues to test negative after recently recovering from the virus but will wear a mask indoors for 10 days as a precaution. The Bidens have...
