Megan Swift stories, Page 18

Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain, whose band ushered in the Seattle grunge phenomenon of the 1990s, died 30 years ago today. Cobain died on April 5, 1994. His body was found on April 8, 1994, at his home and it was determined that he died days earlier. Cobain died of...

The Driver Era — featuring brothers Ross and Rocky Lynch — brought the house down Tuesday night in the Roxian Theatre during its first North American tour stop. The McKees Rocks venue was sold out, and despite the miserable weather, fans showed up in droves to watch the band. Western...

One lone cloud in the wrong place at the wrong time could ruin the party — or view of the much-anticipated solar eclipse. With just one week until the total eclipse, travel and viewing plans for many have shifted to the weather forecast. Right now, things look promising in Western...

In Michigan, Republican state Rep. Matt Maddock wrongfully claimed on social media that he had photo evidence of “illegal invaders,” who were arriving at the Detroit Metro Airport this week. As it turns out, the “evidence” was actually photos of college basketball teams flying in Wednesday and being transported to...

The Gap clothing store in Shadyside has permanently closed. The Walnut Street store was one of only a few Gap locations remaining in the Pittsburgh area. On Friday afternoon, all of the store’s signage had been removed and the windows were covered with construction paper. Other Gap stores in the...

Walk-in mammograms will be available this spring through Allegheny Health Network — at both the Allegheny General Hospital Breast Center and North Fayette Health + Wellness Pavilion. The campaign will run from April 1 through June 14 for women over 40 and anyone younger with a family history of breast...

Punxsutawney Phil got busy after predicting an early spring this year. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club took to Facebook on Wednesday to announce groundhogs Phil and Phyllis have given birth to two babies. The baby groundhogs are healthy and with their mom and dad at the zoo located at the Punxsutawney...

Trader Joe’s banana prices have held at 19 cents each for over 20 years. Until now. The bananas are now priced individually at 23 cents. The more than 20% increase was enacted because Trader Joe’s reached a point where the change was “necessary,” a spokesperson told CNN. “We only change...

Does seeing unsolicited political content on social media bother you? Instagram and Threads are no longer recommending political content to users of the social media platforms — but some users have been reposting directions showing how to reverse the new feature. Meta rolled out the restriction in early February through...

Many of Pittsburgh’s Jewish residents may need to take advantage of mail-in ballots because the April 23 primary is also the first day of Passover. There are nearly 50,000 Jews in Allegheny County. The holiday falls on Election Day, and will prevent some of them from going to the polls,...

Call it a wave of social madness. While Duquesne Dukes basketball fans have been riding the high of an NCAA Tournament first round win against Brigham Young University, Duquesne itself also has been riding a high — in terms of online reach. Web activity has “skyrocketed” in the wake of...

Cheering fans lined Uptown streets Tuesday to support players from Duquesne men’s basketball team en route to March Madness. “They’re … still dancing,” student Zach Rothrock said. “I mean, what’s not to love?” Rothrock, 19, is a freshman majoring in business at Duquesne. He and his friends joined a crowd...

As a speech pathologist, Jessica Valko is a fan of word games. But there’s one in particular that she’s been playing every day — Wordle. The online word game that’s run by the New York Times is celebrating its 1,000th puzzle on Friday. Valko, 51, of Murrysville said she loves...

Trader Joe’s $2.99 Mini Canvas Tote Bags have quickly become the trendiest new must-have item to buy, and some have been listed in sets for as much as $499 on eBay. Rivaling the hype of Stanley tumblers and Taylor Swift merch, the Washington Post reported the mini tote bags have...

The fatal house explosion in Crescent on Tuesday morning marks the third in Western Pennsylvania since August. Emergency crews responded to the scene just before 9 a.m. at the 1400 block of Riverview Road,. The Crescent explosion is exactly seven months after the Aug. 12 house explosion in Plum’s Rustic...

Are you feeling extra exhausted after the weekend? A likely explanation could be your body’s response to the daylight saving time switch, according to Dr. Brian Lamb, internal medicine physician at Allegheny Health Network. From Saturday night into Sunday morning, an hour of sleep was lost — to offset the...

For Sean Carey, long covid proved fatal. Carey contracted an early strain of covid in July 2020 when he and his wife, Meghan, lived in Daytona Beach, Fla. “He had pain that was too inhumane to live with,” his wife said. “He had tremors that were like lightning bolts going...

Covid-19 stole Lisa Merlo’s lungs, limbs — and nearly her life. But it wasn’t done. The 57-year-old West Deer resident continues to cope with the disease’s latest attack on her body: long covid. Merlo said she was told she had a 20% chance of living after a covid diagnosis in...

Samantha Ervin-Upsher kept getting calls recently from a Washington, D.C., number. She assumed they were spam and didn’t answer or call back. But Monday, she finally picked up, and she’s glad she did. Turns out, it was the White House — yes, that White House — with an important question...

On a typical early March day, riding the zipline at Murrysville Community Park would mean risking frostbite. Thanks to southern winds, however, there was no chance of that Monday, as Pittsburgh tied its record high temperature for the date, meteorologists said. As of 4 p.m., the thermometer had hit 74...

Pittsburgh police and the University of Pittsburgh police are searching for information related to a sexual assault that occurred early Sunday morning. A female was sexually assaulted at approximately 2:10 a.m. on the 200 block of Melwood Avenue, and the perpetrator displayed a knife, struck her in the face and...

A woman was killed early Saturday in a three-vehicle crash on the West End Bridge, according to Pittsburgh police. She was dead when medics arrived at the scene, according to a news release from a Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson. The release did not give the victim’s age or any other...

Celebrating Heather Willey’s birthday is a rarity. She was born on Feb. 29 — Leap Day. The last Leap Year fell in 2020. Willey celebrated her birthday at a Penguins game. Then the covid-19 pandemic struck. “I’m a little worried to see what will happen this year,” Willey said. Being...