Outdoors
Peregrine falcons to be protected during Tarentum Bridge construction project
Peregrine falcons that nest under the Tarentum Bridge will be protected as best they can during an upcoming, long-term construction project along the span. PennDOT is working with the state Game Commission to safeguard the nest — one of six in Allegheny County — when the $97.5 million rehab project...
Game commission advises Pennsylvanians to report sick, dead birds to help with avian flu trackingVideo
Pennsylvania Game Commission officials are asking bird watchers and hunters to report sick or dead birds they encounter as they continue to monitor avian influenza’s presence in the region. “Avian influenza can affect any bird, but we tend to see it more specifically in waterfowl, along with the family of...
Game commission releases ‘bonus’ pheasants across southwestern PennsylvaniaVideo
Five minutes after the Pennsylvania Game Commission released a couple hundred pheasants into the wild near Loyalhanna Creek on Thursday morning, the crack of the first gunshot echoed across the meadow. Each year, commission staff release “bonus” pheasants, left over from their annual breeding program. In anticipation of losing pheasants...
Pennsylvania deer hunting opener stays Saturday after Thanksgiving — ‘for now’
Pennsylvania hunting regulators cast a preliminary vote on keeping the Saturday after Thanksgiving as the opening day for the regular firearms season for white-tailed deer. A final vote is scheduled at the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners’ next quarterly meeting April 10-11. Commissioners meeting Saturday in Harrisburg listened to public...
Pa. Game Commission considers Saturday start before Thanksgiving for deer seasonVideo
For Mike Shipley, the Monday after Thanksgiving was a holiday tradition that died in 2019. That was the year the Pennsylvania Game Commission shifted its hunting schedule to start two days earlier, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, ending a decadeslong ritual of hunters heading into the woods the first Monday after...
Latrobe teacher, 18-time marathoner launches coaching business
Rachel Bankaci never considered herself an athlete in her youth. But with 18 marathons under her belt — and a 19th in the works — Bankaci has come a long way from her childhood days of watching track athletes compete in the Olympics. Now, Bankaci is a personal trainer and...
Got turkeys? The Pennsylvania Game Commission wants to know
Thanksgiving is long gone, but for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, it’s time to talk turkey — specifically, where they are and how many you see. The commission is making its annual request for public assistance in reporting the location of turkey flocks they see between now and March 15, as...
Cosmic chaos: Supermoon, meteor shower to grace Western Pa. skies Saturday
Two astronomical phenomena — a supermoon and a meteor shower — will collide in Western Pennsylvania skies Saturday. Supermoons occur between three and four times per year and meteor showers grace skies about six times annually, said Daniel Vanden Berk, director of Saint Vincent College’s Angelo J. Taiani Planetarium. But...
A California fisherman may have broken records by catching a 10.25-pound canary rockfish
SAN FRANCISCO — A Northern California man caught a plump canary rockfish he says weighed in at 10.25 pounds, likely setting state and world records. Mendocino County fisherman Brendan Walsh, 26, said he caught the fish Tuesday off the coast of Albion, about 150 miles north of San Francisco. Walsh...
Firearms deer hunting season to wrap up in Pennsylvania
The window of opportunity to go hunting for deer in Pennsylvania is quickly shrinking, as firearms deer season closes this Saturday. The Pennsylvania Game Commission reminded hunters to make the most of the final days in the woods. After Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a bill in the summer lifting the...
Hidden Valley, Laurel Mountain resorts set to open Saturday, 1 week after Seven Springs
Hidden Valley and Laurel Mountain ski resorts will open Saturday, one week after Seven Springs Mountain Resort. Somerset County’s Hidden Valley Resort and Westmoreland County’s Laurel Mountain Ski Resort will open at 9 a.m. An opening day celebration — featuring a DJ, complimentary cookies, prizes and giveaways — is slated...
Hunter seriously injured in fall from tree stand in North Buffalo
Emergency crews used a side-by-side rescue vehicle to extract a hunter from a remote section of woods in North Buffalo early Saturday after the hunter suffered a fall from a tree stand. The hunter was then taken to a waiting life-flight helicopter to be transported to a hospital. Jamison Hughes,...
Westmoreland hunters find success in woods on opening day of rifle season
Just before 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Don Henry heard branches cracking near his hunting blinds in the woods near New Alexandria. Henry, 46, of Unity had spooked about a half-dozen doe. “I didn’t have long to shoot,” he said. But Henry managed to fell one of the largest of the group...
Is roadkill legal to eat? The laws vary by state. Here’s what you need to know
In some states, it’s illegal to catch fish with a lasso or hunt wild animals from a moving vehicle. But when it comes to roadkill, the rules are a bit more flexible — depending on the animal and the circumstances. Many states allow certain animals accidentally killed by vehicles to...
Atlantic’s Nicholas Thompson explores life, pain, and purpose in ‘The Running Ground’
When Nicholas Thompson isn’t busy overseeing The Atlantic magazine as CEO, he can often be found running to and from its lower Manhattan offices — or chasing records further afield. In 2019, he ran his fastest marathon in 2:29 and, in 2021, set the American record in the 50K for...
Glamping coming to some Pennsylvania state parks next year
Those looking to enjoy Pennsylvania’s state parks will no longer have to choose between comfort and roughing it. The commonwealth next year will offer glamping — glamorous camping — at eight state parks. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will offer “glampsites” at Poe Valley, Hills Creek, Laurel Hill,...