Natasha Lindstrom stories
In wake of Pittsburgh bridge collapse, motorists cite mounting concerns over potentially looming disasters
Chad Leichliter is a big fan of bridges — well-maintained ones, anyway. The 41-year-old Jeannette electrician traverses dozens of spans of all sizes on a typical workday, sometimes hauling up to 10 tons with his equipment truck and trailer. “I prefer my bridges not to collapse when I drive over...
Brighton Rehab no stranger to federal, state scrutiny for resident care
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Hidden danger: Registered sex offenders often go undetected in care homesVideo
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Shop with Heroes event at Harrison Walmart pairs kids with first responders
A 9-year-old boy jumped on the edge of the shopping cart and scooted ahead of his newfound cop buddy, playing hide-and-seek in the superstore’s toy aisles. He paused to scour the shelves of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards and snag some Japanese manga comic books, teaching Harrison police Officer Matt...
Former Westmoreland County judge David Regoli remembered as passionate, friendly, fair
David A. Regoli was in his mid-20s and fresh out of law school when he took on Frank Woiewodski as one of his first civil clients. The pair had met while lifting weights at the then-Powerhouse Gym in the Parnassus section of New Kensington. Right away, Woiewodski was struck by...
90% of Allegheny County employees comply with vaccine mandate; 2 sheriff’s employees suspended without pay
More than 90% of Allegheny County’s 5,000 executive-branch employees showed proof of getting vaccinated against covid-19 by Wednesday — the deadline to do so or risk being fired, county officials report. Just two of more than 200 employees with the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office — an independent entity — still...
Beaver County man gets 1 month behind bars in Capitol riot case
A Beaver County man will spend a month behind bars for participating in the storming of the Capitol in January, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Russell Peterson of Rochester — who bragged about his role in the insurrection on social media — also must pay a $500 fine, U.S. District...
90% of Allegheny County employees comply with vaccine mandate; 2 sheriff’s employees suspended without pay
More than 90% of Allegheny County’s 5,000 executive-branch employees showed proof of getting vaccinated against covid-19 by Wednesday — the deadline to do so or risk being fired, county officials report. Just two of more than 200 employees with the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office — an independent entity — still...
Pittsburgh man gets 1 year, 1 day in prison for throwing brick at police car during 2020 protest
A Pittsburgh man who threw a brick through a police cruiser window during protests last year was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a day behind bars. George Allen, 33, of the city’s Sheraden neighborhood, also must spend three years on probation following his release from federal prison, U.S. Attorney...
Heinz Endowments President Grant Oliphant stepping down to lead San Diego foundation
Grant Oliphant is stepping down as president of The Heinz Endowments, spurring a nationwide search for the next leader to helm Western Pennsylvania’s second-largest grant-making foundation. Oliphant — who has headed The Heinz Endowments for the past eight years — is leaving to become CEO of the San Diego-based Conrad...
Allegheny Health Network can handle influx of covid-19 patients, but staffing, supply costs surging, CFO says
Despite confronting spiking staffing costs while covid-19 hospitalizations climb, Allegheny Health Network’s leaders say they’re confident in the 14-hospital system’s ability to treat influxes in patients as the pandemic rages on. “We have capacity and we’ve got the equipment that we need,” AHN Chief Financial Officer James Rohrbaugh told the...
‘More questions than answers’ about latest covid variant omicron, Pittsburgh doctors say
The newly flagged covid-19 variant dubbed omicron likely already has hit the United States — though scientists aren’t yet sure how contagious or dangerous the latest mutated version of the novel coronavirus might be. “Anytime a new variant is found, scientists start studying to see if it’s more contagious —...
Deadline nears to enroll in Medicare Advantage health insurance for 2022 coverage
The deadline is approaching for seniors and people with disabilities to sign up for a Medicare-eligible health insurance plan for 2022. Enrollment closes Dec. 7 for coverage that begins Jan. 1. Medicare Advantage plans are privately offered alternatives to traditional Medicare and supplemental government-provided plans. They’ve long been popular in...
3 indicted in ‘grandparent scheme’ targeting Pa. seniors by posing as fake attorneys, bail bondsmen
A federal grand jury has indicted three out-of-state residents for targeting elderly Western Pennsylvanians in a so-called “grandparent scheme” that involved posing as attorneys and bail bondsmen to bilk their victims out of at least $250,000. Roderick Feurtado, 54, and Tarek Bouanane, 45, both of Las Vegas, and Roberto Gutierrez,...
Pickup smashes into Five Below in Cranberry, driver taken to hospital
A pickup truck crashed into a Five Below discount retail store Friday afternoon in Cranberry, smashing through the storefront’s glass facade, flying past the entryway cart corrals and crushing gift boxes and wrapping paper rolls beneath its wheels as it came to a rest against a shopping aisle. An ambulance...
Pittsburgh tax preparer gets federal prison time for lying on tax returns
A tax preparer from Pittsburgh’s North Side has been sentenced to 4 months in federal prison for lying on tax returns he prepared for clients, including making up fake gifts to charity and phony business expenses. Jamar White, 49, also was ordered to pay nearly $70,000 in restitution to the...
Pittsburgh man gets 44 months in federal prison for ‘hijacking’ bank, credit accounts
A Pittsburgh man has been sentenced to 3 years and 8 months behind bars for using fraudulently obtained debit and credit cards to buy $250,000 worth of gift cards, clothes, jewelry and other items, U.S. Attorney Cindy K. Chung said. Sulemon Arowokoko, 32, a Nigerian native who also has ties...
Kentucky doctor who reaped $565K in kickbacks from Hempfield lab gets 2 years of home detention
A Kentucky doctor who admitted reaping more than $500,000 in illegal kickbacks from the owner of a now-defunct Westmoreland County drug testing lab will serve two years of home detention, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. John Baird, 55, a Louisville physician who specializes in physical medicine, rehabilitation and pain management,...
UPMC on pace for record-breaking revenue in 2021, health giant took in $18B through September
UPMC is poised to log another record year of billion-dollar revenue growth in 2021, records made public Tuesday show. The health giant headquartered in Downtown Pittsburgh’s U.S. Steel Tower raked in $18 billion between January and September — about $1 billion more than it made by this time last year,...
FBI accuses Penn Hills man of preying on teens in Snapchat ‘sextortion’ scheme
A Penn Hills man is accused of co-running a child sex abuse scheme that involved using Snapchat to threaten teenage girls into sending him sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves, court records show. The far-reaching federal “sextortion” investigation targeted Kaung Myat Kyaw and a yet-to-be named co-conspirator for attempting...
Downtown Pittsburgh winter homeless shelter reopens, but covid limits capacity to 68 people per night
Amid bouts of chilly wind, icy rain and temperatures dipping into the 30s, several dozen people showed up at the steps of Downtown Pittsburgh’s Smithfield United Church of Christ this past week in need of a warm place to sleep. An average of 25 to 35 people who are homeless...
Fake energy company jilts investors out of $2M used to buy boats, jewelry, wedding gifts; 1 of 3 indicted pleads guilty
A Greene County man admitted bilking Western Pennsylvania investors out of more than $2 million under the guise of funding a promising renewable energy company, only to use the money to pay for lavish personal items and the living expenses of he and his fellow schemers. Authorities say the money...
Pittsburgh man pleads guilty to heroin distribution via South Side gang-linked drug ring
A Pittsburgh man caught throwing 17 bricks of heroin off the balcony of a Homestead hotel and making drug deals in the Penn Hills area has been convicted for his role in a drug ring linked to a local street gang. Henry Johnson, 30, of the city’s South Side neighborhood,...
Carrick man pleads guilty to dealing meth in cross-country drug trafficking case
A Pittsburgh man has pleaded guilty to dealing methamphetamine as part of a cross-country drug ring that was busted earlier this year, federal prosecutors said. Doug Austen, 40, of the city’s Carrick neighborhood, admitted in federal court this week to possessing and distributing large quantities of methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney...
Pittsburgh seeks volunteer ‘snow angels’ to shovel, salt driveways of seniors in need
Pittsburghers looking for a way to give back without digging into their wallets have a wintery option — shoveling snow and salting sidewalks for a neighbor in need as a volunteer “snow angel.” The city is seeking volunteers for its annual Snow Angels Program. Officials with the mayor’s office on...
