Top Stories category, Page 932
Westmoreland health care providers, employees combat staffing shortages from pandemic
The local health care industry had its challenges before a pandemic swept around the world two years ago. As summer 2022 approaches, human resources directors and department managers are finding it even more difficult to find the people who can provide basic services. It’s especially tough for small facilities such...
New Alexandria man sentenced to 5 years on child porn charges
A New Alexandria man found with 8,000 images and videos of child pornography was sentenced to five years in federal prison and 10 years of probation for distributing the sexually explicit material, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh said Friday. Senior U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti sentenced Matthew T....
Watergate 50th meets Jan. 6. Common thread: Thirst for power
WASHINGTON — The wreckage of Watergate and Jan. 6 are a half-century apart yet rooted in the same ancient thirst for power at any cost. Two presidents, wily and profane, tried an end run around democracy. Mysteries from both affairs endure as the House inquiry into the Jan. 6, 2021,...
Police: Man kills neighbor, then himself in Kennedy Township
Allegheny County Police said a man shot and killed his neighbor in Kennedy Township on Friday afternoon before killing himself. Officers were notified of a shooting on Jane Street around 2:45 p.m., police said. Responding officers said they found a 78-year-old man later identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s...
HazMat Safety Train gives Western Pa. first responders training on dealing with dangerous derailments
The first emergency responders arriving on the scene where 17 cars of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in Harmar in late May had only their training to rely on when making split-second decisions amid the chaos. Nine of the cars, including tankers, landed in Guys Run, a tributary feeding...
Fayette County man killed by police on West Virginia interstate
WESTON, W.Va. — A gunman who was fatally shot by police on an interstate highway in northern West Virginia after he wounded a sheriff’s deputy has been identified as a Pennsylvania man, state police said. Matthew Brevosky, 38, of Grindstone, Fayette County, was killed by law enforcement Thursday on Interstate...
Canceled flights rise across U.S. as summer travel heats up
U.S. airlines canceled high numbers of flights for a second straight day on Friday as they tried to recover from storms while accommodating growing crowds of summer vacationers. By early afternoon in the eastern U.S., airlines has scrubbed more than 1,100 flights after canceling more than 1,700 on Thursday, according...
Man pleads guilty to shooting ATF agent in Pittsburgh
A man who shot a federal agent as investigators arrived at his Uptown home to arrest him on drug charges pleaded guilty Friday. Dion Williams, 46, pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal agent with a dangerous weapon, as well as to trafficking cocaine. He will be sentenced by U.S. District...
3 charged as 61 animals removed from Monessen home
Sixty-one animals were removed from a Monessen home earlier this month that city police and rescuers said was in deplorable condition. Three people were charged with animal cruelty and related offenses Wednesday while rescue groups work to rehabilitate the dogs, birds, chickens, cats, kittens and a rabbit. All of the...
Vice President Kamala Harris visits Pittsburgh, touts need for lead pipe removal
Vice President Kamala Harris, in a visit to Pittsburgh on Friday, discussed the administration’s efforts at the federal level to replace lead pipes — an issue familiar to many Pittsburgh residents. Harris, alongside EPA administrator Michael Regan and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, spoke at the Community Empowerment...
North Hills School District holding town hall to discuss Indian mascot future
Like other school districts that have used an Indian as their mascot, North Hills School District will host a town hall for residents to voice their thoughts regarding a possible change to its mascot. It will be held at the North Hills High School auditorium at 6 p.m. June 22....
Harmar bald eagles unflappable as 2 take their first flights
The Harmar bald eagles, now in their ninth year of breeding on the same hillside above Route 28, raised a family of two eaglets that took to the skies this week. “The first flight of one of the juveniles on Wednesday was smooth but when it came to land, she...
Police: Woman picked up on warrants charged with felony for handing crack pipe over to deputy
A woman wanted on warrants issued in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties was arrested when New Kensington police spotted her inside a McDonald’s restaurant. Police also charged her with felony possession of contraband after they said she handed a crack pipe over to a deputy sheriff who came to transport her...
FDA authorizes 1st covid shots for infants, preschoolers
U.S. regulators on Friday authorized the first covid-19 shots for infants and preschoolers, paving the way for vaccinations to begin next week. The Food and Drug Administration’s action follows its advisory panel’s unanimous recommendation for the shots from Moderna and Pfizer. That means U.S. kids under 5 — roughly 18...
U.K. government orders Julian Assange’s extradition to U.S.; appeal planned
LONDON — The British government on Friday ordered the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges, a milestone — but not the end — of a decade-long legal saga sparked by his website’s publication of classified U.S. documents. WikiLeaks said it would challenge...
Juneteenth in Western Pennsylvania has long roots, history
As the region celebrates Juneteenth, education about the holiday and its importance has been at the forefront of many festivals and events. The new federal holiday, celebrated annually on June 19, recognizes the day in 1865 that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and spread the news that the Civil...
Mastriano proposal would allow school employees to be armed; Pa. teachers union pushes back
A Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to allow K-12 school employees to carry firearms in classrooms in an effort to prevent mass shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 students and two teachers. The proposal by Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin County, would let employees with a concealed carry permit...
Beaver County dog euthanized after being found tied up outside in heat
A dog in Beaver County was cooked from the inside after being left out in the heat Wednesday without shade or water, according to a report from Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. The full-grown husky was euthanized because of heat stroke. Its owner, Di Xiao, 29, of Baden is charged with...
Historic Hotel Saxonburg for sale but will remain open while on the market
The oldest continuously operating hotel, bar and restaurant in the heart of historic Saxonburg in Butler County is on the market. The Hotel Saxonburg, built in 1832 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is listed for about $1.2 million with Coldwell Banker of Fox Chapel. The business,...
Honor roll includes 3 Westmoreland men whose cancer deaths followed service in Vietnam
James Sumner of Greensburg lost a battle with cancer just more than a year ago, at 76. New Kensington’s Donald Penzera, formerly of Greensburg, lost his in 2006, when he was 56. Floyd Serbanjak of Herminie was 23 when he succumbed to the disease in 1974. The three Westmoreland County...
Police: 3rd victim in Alabama church shooting dies
VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. — The third victim of a church shooting in Alabama has died, police said Friday. The 84-year-old woman died at a hospital a day after a gunman opened fire with a handgun Thursday at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills, the police...
Fire damages home in New Kensington
Firefighters from multiple departments responded to a house fire in the 300 block of New Kensington’s Fifth Avenue on Thursday night. The fire at 324 Fifth Ave. in the Parnassus section of the city was reported shortly before 8:30 p.m. Crews used three ladders to get to the second floor...
Infant who died in Upper St. Clair after being left in vehicle for hours is identified
A 3-month-old boy died Thursday after police said he was left inside a vehicle for several hours in Upper St. Clair. Allegheny County Police Lt. Venerando Costa said in a statement Friday that it will be up to District Attorney’s Office as to whether charges are filed in the child’s...
5 former fraternity members sentenced in hazing death
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Three former fraternity members were sentenced Thursday to jail terms for their roles in the hazing death of a Bowling Green State University student, while two others were ordered to serve house arrest. Jarrett Prizel, 19, of Olean, New York, Daylen Dunson, 22, of Cleveland, and...
Jan. 6 panel: Plan for Pence to reject electors ‘nuts,’ ‘crazy’
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s closest advisers viewed his last-ditch efforts pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to halt congressional certification of his 2020 election defeat as “nuts,” “crazy” and even likely to incite riots if Pence followed through, witnesses revealed in stark testimony to the Jan. 6 committee on Thursday. Gripping...
