Top Stories category, Page 987
Petition protests Burrell School District making graduation caps and gowns all blue
More than 1,700 people have signed a petition on change.org protesting Burrell School District’s decision to use just one color for graduation caps and gowns. Traditionally, Burrell’s ceremony has featured both of the school’s colors: senior boys wearing blue caps and gowns with girls donning white. But the administration recently...
Pa. Republicans eye greater control over redistricting in response to new political maps
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Republicans are moving to change how the state’s political...
Latrobe ordinance update sparks debate over guidelines for motorized wheelchairs
Latrobe officials could lump motorized wheelchairs and scooters into a new ordinance that was designed to govern the use of bicycles and skateboards in the city. The move would be part of a proposed ordinance update that would make provisions for wheeled devices that aren’t mentioned while eliminating an outdated...
University Prep on modified lockdown after guns found in nearby Hill District home
A school in Pittsburgh Hill District was on modified lockdown Tuesday after police found guns in an abandoned home nearby, officials said. Ebony Pugh, a spokeswoman for Pittsburgh Public Schools, said the guns were found at a home on Vancroft Street, not far from University Prep, a grade 6-12 school...
Region under winter weather advisory for morning commute
Not so fast. Old Man Winter isn’t through with you yet. Despite Wednesday afternoon temperatures expected to each the 60s, weather early in the day could be another blast of winter. A mix of snow, rain and freezing rain could make for a slippery morning commute Wednesday. The National Weather...
Poll: Americans ease up on masks, virus safeguards
Many Americans have taken significant steps back from once-routine coronavirus precautions, with fewer than half now saying they regularly wear face masks, avoid crowds and skip nonessential travel. Americans are letting down their guard even as experts warn a new wave of covid-19 cases is coming. A new poll from...
Former New Kensington-Arnold superintendent now Harrison manager
Harrison Township commissioners hired John E. Pallone as township manager by a unanimous vote. Pallone, a former five-term state legislator and superintendent of the New Kensington-Arnold School District, will be paid $80,000 per year. Pallone replaces part-time township manager Richard G. Hill, who resigned March 11 “to pursue other opportunities.”...
Union says Urban Pathways charter school teachers being cut over organization efforts
Nearly three dozen teachers at Urban Pathways K-5 charter school in Downtown Pittsburgh have filed to unionize with the American Federation of Teachers labor union. According to AFT Pennsylvania, administrators at Urban Pathways K-5 doled out non-renewal contracts to some staff and fired one employee in response to March 22...
State police arrest Greensburg man in 7-mile chase that ended on busy Hempfield highway
A Greensburg man is accused of leading state police on a 7-mile chase Monday that ended on a busy section of Route 30 in Hempfield, according to court papers. Troopers said the chase started when Isaac J. Brown, 19, fled a traffic stop in New Stanton at 5:30 p.m. Police...
Payments to begin for UPMC employees who fell victim to data breach
UPMC on Thursday will begin making payments to 66,000 employees who were victims of a 2014 data breach — as part of a settlement approved late last year. Employees were notified via an email on Monday that they will receive a payment notification with a link to claim it electronically....
DNA from welding glove leads to arrest of Delmont break-in suspect
DNA evidence from a welding glove left at the scene of a 2020 burglary in Delmont led to the arrest of a Washington Township man on Monday. Jesse T. Noble, 26, was charged with burglary, receiving stolen property, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and possession of instruments of crime in connection...
FDA OKs another Pfizer, Moderna covid booster for 50 and up
Americans 50 and older can get a second covid-19 booster if it’s been at least four months since their last vaccination, a chance at extra protection for the most vulnerable in case the coronavirus rebounds. The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized an extra dose of the Pfizer or...
I-81 crash victim: ‘It was like shotgun blasts going off’
MINERSVILLE — Bill Wickwire knew he was in trouble when his car went into a slide Monday morning on Interstate 81 in Foster Township. On his way from the Isle of Palms in South Carolina to his home in New Hampshire, the 81-year-old Navy veteran slid off the highway amid...
Trout fishing season opens Saturday with single statewide opening day
Trout fishing season opens at 8 a.m. Saturday. It’s the first single statewide opening day since the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission last October approved an end to dual opening days. From 2007-20, there was a statewide opening Saturday preceded by an earlier regional opening in 18 southeastern counties. When...
Relief for Kyiv? Russia vows to scale back near the capital
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia announced Tuesday it will significantly scale back military operations near Ukraine’s capital and a northern city, as the outlines of a possible deal to end the grinding war came into view at the latest round of talks. Ukraine’s delegation at the conference, held in Istanbul, laid...
Jan. 6 committee votes to hold Dan Scavino, Pete Navarro in contemptVideo
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously Monday night to hold former Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress for their monthslong refusal to comply with subpoenas. The committee made their case that Navarro, former President Donald...
Lawsuit says lack of treatment at Allegheny County Jail led to leg amputation
A man is suing Allegheny County Jail and medical officials alleging that their failure to treat a wound on his heel while he was incarcerated there led to him having his right leg amputated below the knee. Clayton McCray, 27, is suing the county, the jail’s medical director and staffers...
UPMC Matilda H. Theiss Health Center returns to Pittsburgh’s Hill District
The UPMC Matilda H. Theiss Health Center will begin seeing patients in Pittsburgh’s Hill District again on Friday. The clinic moved out of the Hill District last August because of structural problems at its prior facility, and it operated temporarily in the South Side, according to Dr. Jonathan Yadlosky, the...
Pitt-Greensburg art exhibit showcases Black experiences
Watercolor paintings, emotion-filled photographs, bold quotations and more line the sidewalk outside Chambers Hall at Pitt-Greensburg. The artwork makes up “Black Lives in Focus,” a multimedia exhibit that puts Black experiences in the campus spotlight. The exhibit, which comprises 21 art panels and 10 text panels, has traveled to all...
Biden says remark on Putin’s power was about ‘moral outrage’Video
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday that he would make “no apologies” and wasn’t “walking anything back” after his weekend comment that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” The president also insisted he’s not calling for regime change in Moscow. “I was expressing the moral outrage that...
Will Smith apologizes: ‘I was out of line and I was wrong’
LOS ANGELES — The day after slapping Chris Rock on the Oscars stage and upending the 94th Academy Awards, Will Smith issued an apology to the comedian, to the academy and to viewers at home, saying he was “out of line” and that his actions are “not indicative of the...
High court to hear case about Andy Warhol art, Prince photo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review a copyright dispute involving works of art by the artist Andy Warhol that were based on a photograph of the musician Prince. A lower court had at first said the artwork created before Warhol’s 1987 death was “fair use” of the...
Man gets 18 to 36 years in connection with East Hills, Penn Hills robberies
A man who shot at police officers responding to an armed robbery in Pittsburgh’s East Hills will spend 18 to 36 years in state prison. Timothy Franks, 24, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty Monday to the Jan. 18, 2019, robbery of a Family Dollar store in East Hills. He also...
Steelers, Kraft Heinz in talks over naming rights for North Shore stadium
The Pittsburgh Steelers are in talks with Kraft Heinz Co. over possibly extending the longstanding naming rights for the team’s North Shore stadium. The stadium has been named Heinz Field since it opened 21 years ago, the result of a 20-year, $57 million naming rights deal that was extended by...
‘Someone knows what happened to Samantha’: Hope remains to solve ’07 Derry Township homicide
Whoever killed Carol Polo’s daughter has had 15 years of freedom. She hopes that will end soon. “We pay for it every day, the last 15 years we have paid for it,” she said. “Now it’s time for somebody else to pay for it — and they need to.” Investigators...
