Top Stories category, Page 946
Pittsburgh begins gathering community input on 2023 budgets
Pittsburgh’s Office of Management and Budget is inviting city residents to share their input regarding the city’s 2023 capital and operating budgets through virtual forums and online surveys. The capital budget funds projects that design, build, restore or purchase city-owned assets, have a minimum value of $50,000 and have a...
Educator joins West Overton staff as whiskey distiller
The real potency of the whiskey being produced at West Overton Village is its ability to capture in barrels and bottles the history of the rural community’s 19th century industrial transformation. So it seems natural those in charge of the East Huntingdon museum complex turned to a home-brewing enthusiast with...
Biden sees chance of ‘rational’ Republican approach on guns
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday that the “Second Amendment was never absolute” and that, after the Texas elementary school shooting, there may be some bipartisan support to tighten restrictions on the kind of high-powered weapons used by the gunman. “I think things have gotten so bad that everybody’s...
A dad’s anguish outside Texas school while shooting unfolded
UVALDE, Texas — Javier Cazares raced to his daughter’s school when he heard there was a shooting, leaving his truck running with the door open as he ran into the school yard. In his rush, he didn’t bring his gun. He spent the next 35 to 45 agonizing minutes scanning...
Coal ash workers dying as lawsuit over illnesses drags on
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In 2013, the first of more than 200 workers who labored to clean up the nation’s worst coal ash spill filed a suit against the contractor, blaming Jacobs Engineering for illnesses they believe were caused by exposure to heavy metals and radioactive particles in the ash. Nearly...
Fallen soldiers honored throughout Alle-Kiski Valley on Memorial DayVideo
Memorial Day is much more than just parades and picnics. Some people mark the holiday as the unofficial start of summer, while others remember to pay tribute to those who served in the military. In Vandergrift, a multi-stop morning of patriotic tributes kicked off around 7:30 a.m. Monday, hosted by...
Last of derailed Norfolk Southern cars removed from Guys Run; Freeport Road remains closed
The last of the Norfolk Southern tanker cars that toppled into Guys Run Creek during a derailment last week in Harmar have been removed, officials said Sunday. “The last tank car containing petroleum distillate was removed from the creek this morning, and all rail cars have now been removed from...
Police: 1-year-old victim identified in Downtown Pittsburgh shooting, suspect vehicle found
The sunny holiday weekend was shattered midday Sunday when someone opened fire on a car in Downtown Pittsburgh, killing the 18-month-old baby who was inside with his mother. The infant was pronounced dead at the scene. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the child as De’Avry Thomas. Officials said...
Gun sales, permits surged during the pandemic in Philly and Pennsylvania
In Uvalde, Texas, a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school, after picking up two powerful, AR-15-style rifles ordered through an online seller shortly after his 18th birthday — something that would have also been perfectly legal in Pennsylvania. Here, over the last two years, more...
Riderless horse marks Memorial Day ceremonies in North HuntingdonVideo
For the past two years, Memorial Day ceremonies at the Penn Lincoln Memorial Park in North Huntingdon have included a “riderless horse,” with military boots facing backward in the bootstraps, a tribute to soldiers lost over the years. One of those soldiers was Army Signal Corps member Daniel Tomko, who...
Uvalde tells Biden to ‘do something’; he pledges ‘we will’
UVALDE, Texas — President Joe Biden sought Sunday to comfort a city grieving the killings of 19 elementary school pupils and two teachers at the hands of a lone gunman. Faced with chants of “do something” as he departed a church service to meet privately with the families, Biden responded:...
Christian nationalism on the rise in some GOP campaigns
PITTSBURGH — The victory party took on the feel of an evangelical worship service after Doug Mastriano won Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial primary this month. As a Christian singer led the crowd in song, some raised their arms toward the heavens in praise. Mastriano opened his remarks by evoking Scripture: “God...
State police: Mercer County cold case closed after 4 decades
Pennsylvania state police say modern DNA testing and genealogy methods allowed them to close a 42-year-old Mercer County cold case and provide closure to the victim’s family. The remains of Edwin Rodriguez, of Chicago, Ill., discovered in 1980 in Wolf Creek Township, were positively identified and returned to his family,...
Girl, 12, in critical condition after being struck by vehicle in South Huntingdon
A 12-year-old girl is in critical condition after being hit by a car Saturday night while riding a hoverboard in South Huntingdon. Emergency responders were called to the intersection of Sixth and Osborne streets just after 7:15 p.m. Police said the girl was riding a hoverboard with a kart buggy...
Police seek McKeesport man charged with fatal South Side Flats shooting
Pittsburgh Police are looking for a McKeesport man charged with a fatal shooting March 19 in Pittsburgh’s South Side Flats neighborhood. Police issued an arrest warrant for Zahvair Palmer, 22, on charges of criminal homicide, robbery and weapons violations. Palmer is accused of fatally shooting Adam Cloud, 29, of New...
Brookline man charged with beating postal worker with baseball bat
A Pittsburgh man was arrested Saturday night, charged with brutally assaulting a postal worker and then barricading himself inside his Brookline home. Mt. Lebanon police were dispatched to Dorchester Avenue and Good Way just before 4:30 p.m. Saturday for a report of a man who had assaulted a U.S. postal...
‘Forget me not’: Lower Burrell niece, Dutchman honor New Kensington World War II serviceman neither knewVideo
Christine Siess has never forgotten the uncle she never knew. Thousands of miles and an ocean away, Aldwin van der Velden also remembers Siess’ uncle. Norman Frank Kajut, a New Kensington native, is among the thousands of American World War II service members van der Velden and his fellow Dutch...
Newest statue at Soldiers & Sailors museum to be unveiled Memorial DayVideo
One soldier is standing, the other kneeling. They are positioned in opposite directions. Each has one foot touching. Both are clutching M4 rifles. Their eyes are wide open. The sculpture, titled “America’s Defenders,” is believed to be one of only a few nationwide that represent a female soldier in combat...
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers: I still have hope
As I sit on my porch, the crisp morning breeze wafts over the rose bush, enabling me to take in the sweet smell of the blossoms. The sun shines on me, warming up the air. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Right? Wrong. The beauty is a mask over...
No timetable set for Freeport Road in Harmar to reopen; official tells public to stay away
A section of Freeport Road in Harmar will remain closed while crews work to empty and then remove tankers that toppled into Guys Run when a train derailed Thursday on tracks that run along side the road. And officials gave no timetable in an update Saturday as to when the...
Diocese of Pittsburgh announces 10 parishes will be merged into 3 in July
Three groupings of parishes in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh will merge on July 1 to create three new parishes, Bishop David Zubik announced Saturday. Ten parishes will be part of the mergers. The mergers will bring the number of parishes in the Diocese of Pittsburgh from 70 to 63....
Taking a leap: The Kangaroo returns to Kennywood
The Kangaroo will jump again. Kennywood announced Saturday that the iconic ride returns at 3 p.m. Sunday. Season pass holders can ride early starting at 11 a.m. “Guests asked for it to come back, and we decided to bring what we believe is the last ride of its kind in...
Air travelers face cancellations over Memorial Day weekend
Airline travelers are not only facing sticker shock this Memorial Day weekend, the kickoff to the summer travel season. They’re also dealing with a pileup of flight cancellations. More than 1,200 flights were canceled as of 2 p.m EST Saturday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. That followed more than...
FBI records on search for fabled Pennsylvania gold raise more questions
A scientific analysis commissioned by the FBI shortly before agents went digging for buried treasure suggested that a huge quantity of gold could be below the surface, according to newly released government documents and photos that deepen the mystery of the 2018 excavation in remote western Pennsylvania. The report, by...
Long-distance hug: JCC, 10.27 Healing Partnership is collecting donations to help children in Uvalde
When unspeakable tragedy struck Mister Rogers’ neighborhood on that rainy Saturday morning in October 2018, it was the immediate outpouring of love that Rabbi Ron Symons recalled as an embrace for the healing process. Symons wants to pay that compassion forward to the ‘Burgh’s neighbors in Uvalde, Texas — through...
