Top Stories category, Page 906
Officer Brian Shaw Foundation concert: Where brotherhood and gift baskets meet
A restaurant and bar in Lower Burrell has become the hub for planning and raising tens of thousands of dollars in honor of Officer Brian Shaw to help police, high school students and communities. Shaw, of Lower Burrell, was a New Kensington police officer who was shot and killed after...
Pro wrestling on display in New Kensington, just ahead of a wrestling school’s opening
Pro wrestling came to the heart of New Kensington on Saturday evening at the Voodoo Brewery along Fifth Avenue. Seven matches were scheduled in an event dubbed MV Young’s Backyard BBQ. Michael Young, 27, a Lower Burrell native, was the main attraction. He’s the organizer and current singles champion for...
Power companies rush to restore electricity after Saturday’s storms in Southwest Pennsylvania
The storm that blew through the region Saturday afternoon left tens of thousands of households without power, as one of the region’s two major power companies reported significant progress while the other reported more customers were affected. Trees and power lines were down all across the region after high winds...
Recent UFO reports spur excitement at annual Kecksburg UFO Festival
The Kecksburg UFO Festival hasn’t taken place in the years since the covid-19 pandemic began. During that same time, U.S. military officials declassified information that includes hundreds of reports of unidentified flying objects. And while nothing at the festival focused on that specifically, it wasn’t far from the minds of...
10 things we learned from Jan. 6 committee hearings on the Capitol attack
The events leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, represent more than just the day when Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol. In a series of public hearings, the House committee investigating the deadly Capitol attack has laid out the “arc of carnage” that was sparked months earlier on Election Night...
In Uvalde, closeness complicates accountability for shooting
UVALDE, Texas — After the massacre at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School in May, Jesse Rizo was worried about his old friend, police chief Pete Arredondo. Blame for the botched police response was being directed heavily at Arredondo when Rizo texted him just days after the shooting: “Been thinking of and...
UN health agency chief declares monkeypox a global emergency
LONDON — The chief of the World Health Organization said the expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an “extraordinary” situation that now qualifies as a global emergency, a declaration Saturday that could spur further investment in treating the once-rare disease and worsen the scramble for scarce vaccines....
Mega Millions jackpot swells to $790M, nation’s 4th largest prize
DES MOINES, Iowa — Lottery officials on Friday raised the Mega Millions grand prize to $790 million, giving players a shot at what would be the nation’s fourth largest jackpot. The next drawing is on Tuesday. The jackpot has grown so large because there hasn’t been a winner in three...
1 dead after police pursuit, rollover crash at Allegheny County Airport
Allegheny County Police are investigating a pursuit that ended in a fatal crash early Saturday morning at the Allegheny County Airport. At about 3:20 a.m. Saturday, county police said the driver of a black Cadillac Escalade nearly struck a Duquesne Police Department vehicle on Route 837 near Center Street and...
State AG accuses used car dealer of selling unsafe cars with useless warranties; owner denies wrongdoing
The state Attorney General’s Office has taken legal action against a Sharpsburg used car dealership accused of knowingly selling numerous vehicles that weren’t roadworthy and came with worthless warranties. Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Friday announced his office has filed a lawsuit against JK Motor Cars at 1214 Main St....
McKeesport men charged in robbery, assault of 90-year-old Elizabeth Township woman
Two McKeesport men are accused of robbing a 90-year-old woman in a home invasion early Thursday in Elizabeth Township, and one of the suspects is charged with assaulting her. The woman told township police she was sitting in her living room watching television when her cable service went out and...
Judge rules intent to harm supports murder count in Derry Township homicide
Westmoreland County prosecutors will be allowed to seek a first-degree murder conviction against a Unity man who, police say, shot into a Derry Township home and killed a woman as she slept. Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger, in a 20-page opinion issued Friday, rejected a defense request that claimed there...
‘That was my last day,’ Quecreek miner says of rescue date after 30-year career
Ron Hileman’s last day underground as a coal miner was July 28, 2002. Being trapped 240 feet below the surface in Quecreek Mine for 77 hours with eight other miners was enough to make him retire. “That was my last day,” he said. Hileman, 69, of Gray, had spent almost...
Penn State increases tuition costs for some, not all, students
Penn State University’s board of trustees approved a tuition increase of 5% for in-state University Park undergraduates and 2% for their commonwealth campus counterparts. That’s the university’s largest tuition hike in 12 years, but it comes with a caveat: In-state and out-of-state students who have a household income of $75,000...
Steve Bannon convicted of contempt charges in Jan. 6 case
WASHINGTON — Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was convicted on Friday of contempt charges for defying a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Bannon, 68, was convicted after a four-day trial in federal court on two...
Pennsylvania-owned universities hope to increase financial aid, graduation rates
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is starting the final stage of its plan to rethink how it manages state-owned schools. PASSHE’s board of governors approved the third phase during a meeting this week. Among numerous goals, it aims to increase financial aid and graduation rates for students at...
Pittsburgh Bus Rapid Transit project costs grow, undergoing scope revisions
Pittsburgh’s Bus Rapid Transit project is still set to upgrade stations and boost reliability of buses between the city’s two largest business districts - Downtown and Oakland - but officials now say the project is going to cost more than initially estimated, and some of its scope is shrinking. On...
More charged after 911 operator accused of not sending help for Greene County woman
WAYNESBURG — Authorities have filed charges against three more people in the case of a Pennsylvania 911 operator accused of failing to send an ambulance to the rural home of a woman who died of internal bleeding about a day later. According to a criminal complaint, the three men were...
Judge won’t move Capitol riot trials for ex-Shaler teacher, others
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Friday denied a motion to change venue for the former Shaler substitute teacher charged in the Jan. 6 riot, saying that he believed it was possible to select a fair jury in the nation’s capitol. Defense attorneys for Robert Morss and several of...
Jan. 6 probes: What’s next for Congress, criminal cases
WASHINGTON — This isn’t the end of the Capitol riot story. The House committee investigating the deadly events of a fateful, chilly January day — now a year and a half in the past — has wrapped up its hot summer series of televised hearings, each featuring revelatory details about...
John Fetterman inches back onto campaign trail in Philly with 1st fund-raiser appearances since stroke
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, largely absent from the campaign trail for two months, is slowly resuming his campaign following a stroke that nearly killed him. Fetterman, who suffered the stroke four days before the primary election, has mostly remained out of public view but traveled to the Philadelphia area...
Gainey looks to increase diversity in Pittsburgh boards, commissions
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Thursday announced an effort to increase diversity on the city’s boards and commissions. As part of the initiative, the city launched an application available to all city residents who want to apply for a spot volunteering on a city board or commission. “City government must...
Mission accomplished: How rescuers saved the trapped Quecreek miners
Brad Hillegass had operated a crane plenty of times but never with the lives of nine men in the balance. That changed July 24, 2002, when nine miners were trapped 240 feet underground at the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County and his job was to safely lift them to freedom...
‘A complete miracle’: 20th anniversary of the Quecreek Mine rescueVideo
John Unger promised his wife that if something bad ever happened on his job in the coal mine, he’d find a way to survive. For 29 years, he kept that promise, always returning to the rural, century-old Somerset County home where they raised a family and tended to their cattle....
‘A sticky weekend’: Temps in the upper 80s, 90s expected in Pittsburgh region
It’s going to get hot in the Pittsburgh region this weekend. As a heat wave sweeps across the nation, the area will see temperatures upward of 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures are expected in the upper 80s on Friday and Saturday and low-to-mid 90s on Sunday, according to Lee Hendricks, meteorologist...
