Natasha Lindstrom stories, Page 17

Some children at St. Maria Goretti’s had a hard time learning their elementary school would be closing for good this summer, several parents and community members lamented Thursday night. “They were upset. Some were in tears,” said Sister Norma Rodriguez, a Brooklyn, N.Y. native and 10-year volunteer at the nearly...

Plans for the 50-acre former Shenango Coke Works site on Neville Island remain unclear — but property owner DTE Energy hopes to ink a deal with one or more developers by the end of this year, community organizers told residents at a public meeting Wednesday night. No potential tenants or...

August Wilson didn’t rely merely on his imagination when he set to work composing a play. The Pittsburgh native’s writing process involved immersing himself in sights, sounds and people that inspired him, recalled the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright’s widow, Constanza Romero Wilson. He’d jot down ideas and dialogue on napkins while...

Wilkinsburg Mayor Marita Garrett on Monday posted to Facebook a scathing rebuke of Allegheny County police and prosecutors, calling on law enforcement officials to “recognize their egregious missteps” and “reckless handling” of the investigation into the murders of five adults and an unborn child killed during a 2016 ambush of...

The day she became CEO of the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Janis Burley Wilson walked through the Downtown Pittsburgh building’s reflective glass doors to find its interior completely empty. “There were no phones or computers, no printer, pencils or pens or any supplies,” Burley Wilson said about her...

A newly formed coalition of black attorneys in Western Pennsylvania on Friday condemned Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Mark Tranquilli’s alleged racist remarks regarding a black female juror. Tranquilli is accused of repeatedly referring to the woman as “Aunt Jemima.” Tranquilli — who was barred last week from hearing new...

Two minor crashes on Route 28 snarled traffic during Friday’s afternoon rush-hour commute. Emergency dispatchers received a report of the first crash at about 5:30 p.m. in the southbound lanes at the 40th Street Bridge near Millvale, an Allegheny County 911 shift commander said. The scene was cleared in less...

Primanti Bros. is appealing to the singles crowd with lovers to scorn on Valentine’s Day, or at least those eager to move on with help from a french fry-slathered sandwich — and industrial-grade shredder. Dubbed the “Shred Your Ex” special, the regional chain’s timely marketing ploy will offer customers a...

Two Pittsburgh schools went on lockdown Thursday afternoon while a police chase ended in a crash in East Liberty, officials said. School district police ordered the security measure as a precaution when they learned that officers were pursuing a man wanted by Allegheny County detectives traveling in a vehicle nearby,...

A University of Pittsburgh laboratory soon will tackle researching a possible vaccine against COVID-19 — the newly named disease caused by the coronavirus outbreak that surfaced in Wuhan, China, late last year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the University of Pittsburgh’s requests to be among U.S. academic...

At least two people were injured Monday in a crash involving multiple vehicles on Route 28 near the Highland Park Bridge, officials said. The crash prompted officials to shut down the southbound lanes of Route 28 between Aspinwall and Fox Chapel, snarling traffic from Etna through Blawnox for more than...

Elementary-schooler Kaley Bastine is celebrating her latest successful event to raise money for police dogs in the Alle-Kiski Valley. On Saturday night, the Harrison girl hosted a candy fundraiser at Bird Dogs Sports Bar & Grill in Harrison and raised more than $3,300, according to her mom, Jamie Bastine. The...

Ringgold School District in Washington County will be closed Monday while officials investigate reported threats of violence, district officials told parents in a letter Sunday. In a letter to parents and guardians, Superintendent Megan Marie Van Fossan said that administrators and district police were alerted to potential threats to student...

A Pittsburgh man has pleaded guilty to sharing child pornography videos of girls younger than 10 years old, federal prosecutors said. Gary Lee Whisner, 37, was convicted of distributing material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said. Tuesday’s plea marked a shift from Whisner’s...

A man stabbed himself in Pittsburgh’s Market Square Thursday afternoon, then initially told medics that someone else had done it, officials said. Pittsburgh police officers and medics responded to a report of a stabbing in the 20 block of Market Square at about 2:20 p.m., Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews...

A storm set to strike Western Pennsylvania early Friday could bring as little as 1 inch and as much as 5 inches of snow, making for potentially difficult travel conditions during rush-hour commutes, officials warned Thursday. “The snow (Friday) might be heavy at times, especially during the morning rush hour,...

A New York prison inmate pleaded guilty in Pittsburgh federal court to scheming to sell synthetic marijuana while behind bars, prosecutors said . Quoc Boa Trinh, a former inmate at a federal prison in Otisville, N.Y., admitted to conspiring to distribute synthetic cannabinoid substances from 2017 through early 2019, U.S....

Pennsylvania’s Republican congressmen rejoiced following Wednesday’s acquittal of President Trump on both impeachment charges. U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah was the sole Republican to join Democrats in finding Trump guilty of abusing his powers, a charge that was rejected, 48-52. On obstructing Congress, all 53 Republicans voted not guilty....

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey credited President Donald Trump with setting “an optimistic and ambitious agenda for the future” in Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech, which cited goals such as eradicating the AIDS epidemic, curing childhood cancer and planting the first flag on Mars. Toomey, a Lehigh Valley Republican,...

A Florida man convicted in a multi-state mail theft ring was sentenced to 21 months in prison, federal prosecutors said Monday. Cassio Orville Donald Slowden, 28, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., pleaded guilty in federal court in Downtown Pittsburgh, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said. Slowden bilked Citizens Bank, Bank of...

Chris McGrath doesn’t plan to give up his dream of helping people quit cigarettes by vaping. But the Harrison vape shop owner is worried the mounting challenges confronting his industry, particularly its smallest players, could push his and hundreds of other small shops and manufacturers out of business. “Small businesses...

Western Pennsylvania still is in need of thousands of more part-time census workers as federal officials and their local partners prepare Census 2020 submissions to begin next month. Allegheny County initially struggled to fill 9,000 positions, with only about 4,500 temporary workers hired as of late December. Officials have seen...

A woman was killed Friday in the first of two back-to-back vehicle crashes along Interstate 79 near Cranberry, state police reported. Cristi Reibert, 41, of Lyndora was pronounced dead after she was involved in a crash at about 3:30 p.m., just north of Cranberry in Butler County. The initial investigation...

A man walking in Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill neighborhood was struck Friday night by an SUV in a hit-and-run incident, officials said. Pittsburgh police, firefighters and medics responded to the report of the pedestrian injured by a vehicle on Troy Hill Road near Goettman Street at about 6 p.m., Public Safety...

A jury convicted a Duquesne man of violating federal drug laws while on parole after officials found nearly 280 grams of crack cocaine worth more than $22,000 and other street drugs at his residence, prosecutors said Friday. Donte Taylor, 37, faces a possible sentence of not less than 10 years...