Top Stories category, Page 957
New riverfront residential property unveiled for Pittsburgh’s SouthSide Works
SomeraRoad unveiled a riverfront residential property called The Park this week, one of the final visions for its revitalization of SouthSide Works. It will be located steps away from the water along the riverfront trail. The commercial real estate investment developing company, based in New York and Nashville, has offices...
Pittsburgh Fire Chief injured in crash while responding to fire
Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Chief Darryl Jones was injured late Friday afternoon in a two-vehicle collision while responding to a fire in Edgebrook, according to a Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman. The crash occurred shortly after 5 p.m. at the intersection of Brookline Boulevard and Whited Street. The fire was nearby...
Melissa Hart drops out of Pa. GOP gubernatorial field — 7 remain
Melissa Hart, the only woman in Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial primary race, announced Friday she has decided to bow out of the contest and throw her support to Lou Barletta. Her decision comes on the heels of Jake Corman’s exit from the race Thursday. He too is endorsing Barletta to be...
Landslide dumps dirt, trees on 40-foot stretch of Butler-Freeport trail
Heavy rains last weekend triggered a large landslide covering a 40-foot section of the Butler-Freeport Community Trail near the border of Buffalo and South Buffalo townships. The slide occurred about a mile from the trail’s Laneville entrance. The 21-mile recreational trail stretches from Freeport to Butler. “It’s a very big...
Former UPMC CEO Jeffrey Romoff made $10.4M in 2020, IRS records show
Former UPMC CEO Jeffrey Romoff was paid $10.4 million in compensation during the 2020 fiscal year, an increase of 9.4% or about $900,000 compared to the year before, tax records filed Friday show. Romoff stepped down last year. Leslie Davis, who was named CEO last August, earned $2.4 million in...
Police: Contractor who swindled pastor also ripped off church employee from Richland
A home improvement contractor who is awaiting trial on charges that he never showed up to do the work after cashing a $15,000 check from a church in West Deer has been accused of doing the same thing to a Richland homeowner who works at the same church. Northern Regional...
Manor Theatre celebrates a century in Squirrel Hill
You know a movie theater has been around for a long time when the first film it ever showed was a silent hit at the time. That’s a boast that the Manor Theatre in Squirrel Hill can make. When it opened on Murray Avenue exactly 100 years ago on May...
2 jailed in Trafford drug bust; police seize $81K from suspect
Two people are being held without bail after police said they found $6,000, four bricks of suspected heroin and a stolen gun at a Trafford apartment last month, according to court papers. Westmoreland County detectives and Penn Township police on Friday charged Gessica A. Merlin, 25, of Hempfield, and Damone...
New Kensington planners recommend approval of city’s new design guidelines
New Kensington’s planning commission has recommended approval of proposed new “design guidelines” and “overlay districts” for the city. Only about a half-dozen people attended the commission’s meeting Tuesday, during which consultant Barb Ciampini of Your Towne gave an overview of the proposal. Many of the questions and comments that followed,...
A million empty spaces: Chronicling covid’s cruel U.S. toll
On the deadliest day of a horrific week in April 2020, covid took the lives of 816 people in New York City alone. Lost in the blizzard of pandemic data that’s been swirling ever since is the fact that 43-year-old Fernando Morales was one of them. Two years and 1...
Allegheny County covid cases rise, Pittsburgh schools reinstate mask mandate
Covid-19 cases are on the rise again in Allegheny County, sending the county into “medium” community level as defined by federal guidelines and triggering mandatory masking across Pittsburgh Public Schools. The levels laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — low, medium, and high — take into...
Wilkinsburg man gets life in prison for killing father of former Pitt, NBA player
A Wilkinsburg man will spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced Friday for first-degree murder. A jury in February found Dilon Bartifay, 34, guilty of killing Gregory Lamont Blair Sr., the father of former University of Pittsburgh basketball star DeJuan Blair. He was sentenced by Allegheny...
2-year-old boy dies after being found unresponsive in Munhall home
A 2-year-old boy died Thursday after being found unresponsive at a Munhall home, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner identified Robert Kraft of Homestead as the boy, who later died at UPMC Children’s Hospital. A cause of death was not provided. Police were notified of...
Butterfly gardens offer haven for hard-working pollinators
Butterflies aren’t just beautiful — they’re out there working hard, pollinating as they flit from flower to flower. In fact, butterflies are the second-largest group of pollinators, after bees. Unfortunately, like many other pollinators, butterfly numbers are decreasing around the world because of factors including loss of native habitat, replacement...
Musk puts Twitter buy on hold, casting doubt on $44B deal
DETROIT — Elon Musk said Friday that his plan to buy Twitter is “temporarily on hold,” raising fresh doubts about whether he’ll proceed with the $44 billion acquisition. Musk tweeted that he wanted to pinpoint the number of spam and fake accounts on the social media platform. Musk has been...
New firm to add jobs after settling into former JCPenney building site in Lower Burrell
The buyer of the former JCPenney building in Lower Burrell plans to bring some jobs with them after they renovate and settle in to the site, which has sat empty for 17 years. Earlier this week, Schaedler Yesco, an electrical distribution and supply company in O’Hara’s RIDC Park, announced it...
Pittsburgh Public Schools: Masks required again for some buildings
Pittsburgh Public Schools said Thursday that all students, staff and visitors to some of its buildings will be required to wear masks for the next seven to 10 days because of a covid outbreak. Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts Magnet School in Downtown and the Colfax School in Squirrel Hill...
FBI, Pittsburgh police seek help identifying Brookline bank robber
The FBI and Pittsburgh police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man authorities said robbed a Community Bank earlier this week in Brookline. Police responded to the bank at 714 Brookline Blvd. around 2:20 p.m. on Monday. A robber handed a bank teller a note asking for...
Bernie Sanders stumps for Summer Lee at Pittsburgh rally
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders rallied in Downtown Pittsburgh on Thursday in support of congressional candidate Summer Lee, in an attempt to help her win what has become a contentious race in the final days before Tuesday’s primary election. Lee, a progressive state representative from Swissvale, is leading in polls for...
Lawsuit alleges Pittsburgh’s inclusionary zoning ordinance is unconstitutional
Just 10 days after Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey signed an inclusionary zoning bill into law, the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh filed a federal lawsuit against the city alleging it improperly shifts the burden to fund low- and moderate-incoming housing to residential real estate developers. The lawsuit alleges the ordinance...
Rand Paul stalls quick Senate OK of $40B Ukraine packageVideo
WASHINGTON — Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul defied leaders of both parties Thursday and single-handedly delayed until next week Senate approval of an additional $40 billion to help Ukraine and its allies withstand Russia’s three-month old invasion. With the Senate poised to debate and vote on the package of military...
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s transition team delivers recommendations to address key issues
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s transition team released a report Thursday outlining 69 recommendations to address pressing city issues in four key areas, ranging from immediately creating a new process for hiring the next police chief to offering paid internships for Pittsburgh students. “We want this document to be the roadmap...
Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Kevin McCarthy, 4 other GOP lawmakersVideo
WASHINGTON — A House panel issued subpoenas Thursday to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other GOP lawmakers in its probe into the violent Jan. 6 insurrection, an extraordinary step that has little precedent and is certain to further inflame partisan tensions over the 2021 attack. The panel is...
McKeesport teen gets 2 to 4 years for involuntary manslaughter in fatal shooting
A McKeesport teen accused of accidentally shooting and killing a friend last year will serve two to four years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter. Phillip Payne, 17, admitted to shooting Dontae McKenith, 18, at McKenith’s mom’s house on Soles Street in McKeesport on July 24, 2021....
Fallen Westmoreland County police officers recognized at park ceremony
The ultimate sacrifice of 27 law enforcement officers in Westmoreland County was recognized Thursday by their peers, families and friends. For Rosemarie Reed, it was especially welcome. “This means a lot to me,” she said. “Just knowing the fact that my husband is being recognized for his service.” St. Clair...
