Top Stories category, Page 943
Russia may be in Ukraine to stay after 100 days of war
When Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in late February, the Russian president vowed his forces would not occupy the neighboring country. But as the invasion reached its 100th day Friday, Russia seemed increasingly unlikely to relinquish the territory it has taken in the war. The ruble is now an...
Working through covid-19 pandemic pays off for Pa. government workers with bonuses
Most state employees who worked through the covid-19 pandemic will reap their reward this month. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is offering covid-19 retention bonuses to about 45,000 union-represented employees under his jurisdiction who remained on the job and got paid from May 1, 2020, through June 3. The bonus payments...
Latrobe-area leaders upbeat about proposed merger of Excela, Butler health systems
Leaders in the Latrobe area expressed optimism about the future of health care in their community after an announcement that the local system of medical providers, Excela Health, is planning to merge with a similar organization in Butler and Clarion counties. Officials with Westmoreland County-based Excela have said the move...
Former Alabama man sentenced to 15 years on sex trafficking charges
A man accused of bringing a woman from Alabama to Pittsburgh to prostitute her was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on Thursday, according to U.S. Department of Justice officials. Anthony Juskowich, 23, who was living in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood at the time of his arrest, brought the victim...
FBI: Emsworth man charged after arranging to meet undercover agent he thought was 14
An Emsworth man is facing federal charges after engaging an FBI agent he believed was a 14-year-old girl with sexual advances, photos and videos. Thomas Kastory, 31, of Emsworth, was charged with knowingly attempting to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity. There were a series of text and...
Pa. court orders contested ballots counted in Senate primary
HARRISBURG — A state court agreed Thursday night in a ballot-counting lawsuit with the campaign of David McCormick, who is in a neck-and-neck Republican primary contest for the U.S. Senate against celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz. In the decision, Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer ordered counties to count...
Biden appeals for tougher gun laws: ‘How much more carnage?’Video
WASHINGTON — “Enough, enough,” President Joe Biden exclaimed over and over Thursday night, as he delivered an impassioned address to the nation imploring Congress to take action against gun violence after mass shootings he said had turned schools, supermarkets and other everyday places into “killing fields.” If legislators fail to...
Transgender woman settles lawsuit over sexual assault at Allegheny County Jail
A transgender woman who was repeatedly assaulted at Allegheny County Jail when she was housed in a protective custody cell with a known sexual offender for four days in 2015 has settled a federal lawsuit. Jules Williams will receive $300,000 in the settlement. “Her main goal with this lawsuit was...
Police: Multiple victims in Wisconsin cemetery shootingVideo
RACINE, Wis. — A shooting on Thursday afternoon at a cemetery south of Milwaukee resulted in multiple victims, police said. Racine police said on social media that numerous shots were fired about 2:30 p.m. at Graceland Cemetery in Racine, about 30 miles south of Milwaukee. Ascension All Saints Hospital, which...
Access to clean water coming to dozens of residents in Bell Township
Kim Hardin is tired of having orange-colored water at her residence on Forest Drive in Bell Township. “The sooner I can get city water, the happier I’ll be,” Hardin said. “My commodes and tubs in the bathrooms were so orange when we bought this house eight years ago — it...
Explainer: Can GOP gov. candidate Mastriano make voters reregister?
HARRISBURG — Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania’s Republican candidate for governor, has made no secret of his endorsement of former President Trump’s assertion that widespread fraud cost him the 2020 election. A state senator and retired Army colonel, Mastriano says he wants to make everyone reregister if they want to vote again....
‘Probable’ case of monkeypox in Philadelphia likely 1st in Pennsylvania
A “probable” case of monkeypox in Philadelphia is likely the first case to be reported in Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health said Thursday it has “identified a Philadelphia resident who is a probable monkeypox case based on preliminary testing at the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Bureau of Laboratories.”...
White House: 1st shots for kids under 5 possible by June 21
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Thursday that children under 5 may be able to get their first covid-19 vaccination doses as soon as June 21, if federal regulators authorize shots for the age group, as expected. White House covid-19 coordinator Ashish Jha outlined the administration’s planning for the last...
Man gets 14 to 40 years in prison for Tequila Cowboy fatal stabbing
Dulane Cameron Sr. approached the front of the courtroom on Thursday holding a small, square cardboard box. “I want Joden to see what he has reduced my son to,” Cameron said. “He should be better than ashes in a box. “I miss my son.” Cameron left the ashes on a...
New York City man charged in Pittston Township shooting
State police at Wilkes-Barre have charged Christopher Nelson Carmona with attempting to kill a woman he allegedly shot twice Wednesday afternoon outside a nail salon business. Carmona, 37, of Manhattan, N.Y., was captured during a massive police manhunt when a trooper spotted him walking about one-half mile from Pittston Crossings...
Red-hot summer job market awaits U.S. teens as employers sweat
WASHINGTON — Mary Jane Riva, CEO of the Pizza Factory, has a cautionary message for her customers this summer: Prepare to wait longer for your Hawaiian pie or calzone. The Pizza Factory’s 100 West Coast locations are desperately short of workers. With about 12 employees per store, they’re barely half-staffed...
Mastriano willing to talk to Jan. 6 committee, spoke to FBI
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor, Doug Mastriano, has offered to sit for an interview with the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and was interviewed by FBI agents last year about it, his lawyer said Thursday. Mastriano, a state senator and retired U.S....
Police: Tulsa gunman targeted surgeon he blamed for painVideo
A gunman who killed his surgeon and three other people at a Tulsa medical office blamed the doctor for his continuing pain after a recent back operation and bought an AR-style rifle just hours before the rampage, police said Thursday. The gunman called the clinic repeatedly complaining of pain and...
Troopers: Maryland woman ran with toddler from 2-vehicle crash on Route 30
A 39-year-old woman ran away from a two-vehicle crash early Wednesday on Route 30 in Unity carrying her toddler, state police said. The woman, Amy M. Bernstein of Hagerstown, Md., was later located and arrested on charges of aggravated assault while drunken driving, child endangerment, hit and run, fleeing the...
Teen in hot dog costume, another in gas mask prompt lockdown at Hempfield schools
State police suspect the last day of school in Hempfield Area School District may have been the impetus for two bizarre, unrelated incidents that prompted a lockdown of three schools Thursday. Police said a 14-year-old wearing a hot dog costume with his face painted as the Joker, a DC Comics...
Water main break creates geyser near I-279 on North Side
A water main break sent water flying into the air Thursday morning in Pittsburgh’s East Allegheny neighborhood, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. The station reported crews from the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority were on the scene at 6:30 a.m. working on a reported leak when the 24-inch water...
Penn Hills to spend more than $1 million on paving, largely through state grants
Penn Hills plans to spend about $1.2 million to pave 14 streets this year. Council recently awarded its paving program to Oakmont-based A. Folino Construction. Municipal manager Scott Andrejchak said the company was the lowest of three bidders. “Folino has completed similar work in Penn Hills previously, and the municipality...
2 Pittsburgh firefighters injured in blaze in Oak Hill
Two firefighters were taken to the hospital Wednesday after sustaining injuries from a two-alarm fire in Oak Hill, Pittsburgh Public Safety Spokesperson Cara Cruz said. Pittsburgh firefighters responded to the two-alarm residential structure fire at 6:30 p.m. in the 3000 block of Terrace Street, she said. Firefighters were able to...
Tarentum man faces prison for part in drug trafficking ring
A Tarentum man faces at least 10 years in prison for his part in a cocaine distribution ring, officials announced. John William Montgomery, 33, pleaded guilty in federal court before U.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy to charges of conspiracy to distribute at least 5 kilograms of cocaine. Montgomery admitted...
Ex-Aquinas Academy teacher claims he was fired over same-sex relationship
A former teacher at Aquinas Academy in Greensburg claimed in a federal lawsuit Wednesday he was fired from his job last year because he is in a same-sex relationship. Kenneth Ference of Unity alleged in his lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg that Maureen Marsteller, the diocese’s superintendent...
