Top Local and National News Stories
Pete Hegseth warns Anthropic to let the military use the company’s AI tech as it sees fit
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic’s CEO a deadline for Friday to open the company’s artificial intelligence technology for unrestricted military use or risk losing its government contract, according to a person familiar with their meeting Tuesday. Anthropic makes the chatbot Claude and remains the last of its...
Pittsburgh tourists find safety in Puerto Vallarta resorts amid unrest and violence
Barbara Melone saw “huge, black billowing” clouds of smoke from her eighth-floor balcony at the Sunset Plaza Beach Resort & Spa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, at the start of the week. “It was a normal day, and we started realizing there were all these fires,” said Melone, 77, who grew...
Breeze Airways to begin nonstop Myrtle Beach flightsVideo
Pittsburgh International Airport continues to expand its roster of destinations. The latest addition comes from budget carrier Breeze Airways, which will launch seasonal nonstop service to Myrtle Beach beginning July 3. “We are excited to now offer Myrtle Beach as a destination for our Pittsburgh guests,” Breeze Airways founder and...
Supreme Court rules Postal Service can’t be sued, even when mail is intentionally not delivered
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Americans can’t sue the U.S. Postal Service, even when employees deliberately refuse to deliver mail. By a 5-4 vote, the justices ruled against a Texas landlord, Lebene Konan, who alleges her mail was intentionally withheld for two years. Konan, who...
CMU scores 1st tenant for $100M Hazelwood Green robotics center
Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Innovation Center has secured its first tenant ahead of the $100 million facility’s opening celebration Friday. California-based FieldAI will establish a small lab and office suite in the 150,000-square-foot building, the university announced Monday. The Robotics Innovation Center is located at Hazelwood Green, site of a...
Resolution to not aid ICE, CBP noncriminal activity passes in McCandless
A 5-2 vote at McCandless Council’s meeting on Feb. 23 approved a resolution that neither the town nor its police will aid federal agencies in enforcing noncriminal federal immigration laws. Resolution No. 2026-03 was first presented at the Feb. 9 meeting, where residents voiced opinions on whether or not McCandless,...
Hempfield seeks more information on easements for Northmont flood control project
Hempfield supervisors on Monday tabled a request from Greensburg officials to use eminent domain to get easements on two township properties for a planned flood control project. Supervisor Doug Weimer said the board wanted more information from Greensburg about how the project would benefit Hempfield. Greensburg officials have been working...
Woman charged after threatening Pittsburgh Public Schools secretaries
Police have charged a woman they say threatened secretaries in the Pittsburgh Public Schools with physical harm. Kemauri Vasciannie, 23, of the South Side Slopes was one of two women who police say entered John Morrow Elementary School at 1611 Davis Ave. in Brighton Heights under the guise of “wanting...
Multi-vehicle crash delays morning commute on Route 28 at Etna
A multi-vehicle crash Tuesday morning shut down a northbound lane of Route 28 near the Etna interchange. The crash has since been cleared, and both lanes of the roadway have reopened. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation initially said in a press release that the roadway had been closed at Exit...
Trump’s State of the Union will seek to calm voters’ economic concerns ahead of midterm electionsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will use Tuesday’s State of the Union to champion his immigration crackdowns, his slashing of the federal government, his push to preserve widespread tariffs that the Supreme Court just struck down and his ability to direct quick-hit military actions around the world, including in Iran...
Hempfield Area will replace 4 grass fields with synthetic turf following split vote by school board
Hempfield Area School District will spend nearly $5.4 million to replace four of its grass fields with synthetic turf following a divided vote by the school board Monday night. The district will place turf on its high school baseball, softball and multipurpose grass fields this summer. District officials cited rainy...
Home for sex offenders on Pittsburgh’s South Side prompts uproar
About a dozen sex offenders living in a recovery house in Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes will be moving out amid community uproar, according to the city councilman who represents the neighborhood. The three-quarter house on Salisbury Street spurred concerns among neighbors who received notifications that sex offenders were moving in,...
ICE arrests Sewickley father whose daughter, 6, is battling cancer
Federal immigration agents conducting a traffic stop Sunday arrested a Sewickley resident and Brazil native whose young daughter is undergoing cancer treatment at a Pittsburgh hospital. A spokeswoman for the family said four Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled over a car carrying Bruno Guedes da Silva, 38, and his...
2nd lawsuit filed by family of East Huntingdon man killed in Clairton Coke Works blastVideo
The wife of a Westmoreland County man killed in the Aug. 11 Clairton Coke Works explosion is suing for wrongful death. Danielle Menefee filed the complaint Friday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court against Nippon Steel North America Inc., which took over U.S. Steel in June; MPW Industrial Services Inc.,...
Mother of slain Arnold man demands names of accomplices at sentencing
Phyllis Williams demanded to look into the eyes of the man convicted of murdering her son six years ago as she directly asked him to reveal who else was involved in the fatal shooting. “I am a grieving mother who lost my only son, who was a wonderful son and...
Keystone Wheelchair Games provide a platform for para-athletes in Pittsburgh
Lester L. Bennett’s goal for Friday was to go home with his neck feeling a little heavier. It was Bennett’s second year competing for medals in the Keystone Wheelchair Games. “I’m here to kick everybody’s butts,” Bennett, 50, of Homestead said. The games are an annual, winter-based adaptive sports competition...
Westmoreland juvenile center to double capacity as $1M security project wraps
A long-discussed plan to double capacity at Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center is expected to accelerate in the coming months, officials said Monday. Director Rich Gordon told members of the county’s juvenile detention board that a nearly $1 million project to replace doors and locks throughout the Regional Youth Services...
Aspinwall pharmacist to appear at State of the Union address
An Aspinwall pharmacy owner who has advocated for reform in his industry to protect community pharmacies against national monopolies will attend Tuesday’s State of the Union address as a guest of U.S. Rep. Chris DeLuzio. Jonathan Akanowicz owns Towne Drugs on Commercial Avenue in Aspinwall and has worked to change...
North Hills student catches puck at U.S. women’s hockey gold medal game
The luckiest Olympians get something to take home with them. That’s apparently also true of Olympic spectators, as one North Hills High School sophomore found out. Joseph “Trip” Cillo was visiting Italy with his family for the 2026 Milano Cortina games and was in the arena as the U.S. women’s...
Jury convicts security guard of voluntary manslaughter in Penn Hills club slaying
A jury on Monday found a security guard who shot and killed a woman at a Penn Hills after-hours club guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Chaz Jackson, 43, of Pittsburgh will be sentenced by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos on May 20. After the verdict was read, Jackson,...
Most Pittsburgh Water customers face rising tide of higher bills
Pittsburgh Water is raising rates for most customers March 8. The utility’s typical customer will see monthly bills climb to $115 from $100, reflecting a roughly 15% increase. Nearly 9,000 low-income ratepayers enrolled in a discount program are facing much smaller average hikes, and may even see their costs go...
Mazzocco, Leckenby to square off in state House special election in South Hills
A special election is being held Tuesday in the South Hills to fill a vacant state House seat. The seat had been occupied by former state Rep. Dan Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon, for more than 12 years. He stepped down after being elected in November to serve as an Allegheny County...
U.S. Steel secures permit to build $100 million slag recycler
U.S. Steel announced Monday it secured permission from the Allegheny County Health Department to build a $100 million slag recycler at the Edgar Thomson Works. A critical air quality permit arrived Friday, U.S. Steel said, allowing the company to start site preparation at the facility straddling Braddock and North Braddock....
Spring break plans scrapped as violence erupts in Mexico
Rising tensions in Mexico are forcing students to rethink their spring break getaways. Tina Devita, a mother of a Penn State University student, was already uneasy about her 19-year-old son’s planned trip to Puerto Vallarta. After watching political tensions escalate this week, she decided to tell him to cancel it....
Former Pittsburgh Steelers player Bill Priatko remembers longtime friend Bill Mazeroski
Former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Bill Priatko feels honored to have called the late Pirates legend Bill Mazeroski his friend. Mazeroski, the Hall of Fame second baseman who hit the home run to win the 1960 World Series, died Friday at 89. Priatko, 94, of North Huntingdon, became friends with Mazeroski,...
