Natasha Lindstrom stories, Page 5
Pittsburgh’s Heinz Endowments to dole out $10M to Western Pa.’s Black arts, cultural groups
Pittsburgh is among seven U.S. metropolitan areas set to get a multimillion-dollar infusion to support arts and cultural groups that represent people of color. A new pot of $10 million in grant money will be up for grabs this fall, thanks to $5 million from the Ford Foundation as part...
Highmark seeks to buy Gateway Health; deal looks to add 355K insurance members
Highmark Health’s insurance arm looks to grow by more than 350,000 members if state regulators approve a proposed deal to acquire sole ownership of Gateway Health. The acquisition instantly would expand Highmark’s insurance rolls from 6 million to 6.355 million members, a nearly 6% increase. For nearly three decades, Highmark...
Call for artists: Pittsburgh Foundation seeks submissions for nearly $400K fund to promote social justice
The Pittsburgh Foundation is seeking submissions from local artists striving for social justice solutions to compete for a slice of nearly $400,000 in newly available funding, the foundation announced Thursday. The grant initiative, called “Exposure: An Artists Program,” was created in collaboration with The Opportunity Fund. Its goal is to...
Fake unemployment claims, real checks hit Western Pa. mailboxes; what to do if a fraudster targets you
Beware of fake unemployment claims hitting your mailbox as fraudsters continue to target Pennsylvania’s labor coffers at alarming rates. Scammers have been signing up unwitting — and still fully employed — residents for jobless benefits as part of a surge in sophisticated identity theft schemes to steal taxpayer money during...
Wisconsin official to helm Partner4Work, aims to help Pittsburgh workforce rebound from covid woes
One of Wisconsin’s top workforce development officials is leaving his state post to helm a Downtown Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that aims to increase job opportunities throughout the region. Robert L. Cherry, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, has been chosen as CEO of Partner4Work, formerly known as the...
2 Pittsburgh firefighters join search teams at Surfside collapse; North Side nonprofit starts fund for victims
Two Pittsburgh fire officials traveled to Surfside, Fla. on Thursday to join hundreds of first responders in the search for possible survivors of the 12-story building collapse that has killed at least 18 people and left 145 missing. A captain and a lieutenant of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire have...
Turtle Creek woman pleads guilty to dealing fentanyl with 2 siblings
A Turtle Creek woman confessed to helping two siblings run a fentanyl ring out of their home, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Marleka Robinson, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of drug trafficking for her role in acquiring and preparing to sell fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and marijuana as part of the...
Washington County man gets 28 years for child sex abuse convictions
A Washington County man has been sentenced to 28 years behind bars for documenting acts of child sexual exploitation and abuse, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Sean Houston, 48, of Centerville also must pay nearly $29,000 — $13,700 in victim restitution and a $15,000 fine to the court, Acting U.S. Attorney...
Pilot, passenger injured when small plane crashes in rural Washington County
Two people were injured when a small plane crashed Monday evening in rural Washington County, according to authorities. Officials learned of the crash-landing in a large pasture near School and Short Cut roads in Somerset Township around 6:15 p.m., according to state police. Several ambulances, fire trucks and medical helicopters...
Tarentum Bridge reopens in both directions a day early
The Tarentum Bridge reopened in both directions a half-day earlier than planned, much to the relief of many drivers headed through the Alle-Kiski Valley on Sunday afternoon. PennDOT officials had postponed the reopening of the westbound lane linking New Kensington to Tarentum until 6 a.m. Monday after a car crashed...
320-mile trek from Philly to Lower Burrell on track to raise nearly $300K for vets; founding charity member dies
When the climb got roughest during the 320-mile trek across Pennsylvania, Tucker McCullough mustered the energy to press forward by invoking the past. Accompanied by five comrades on the PA Hero Walk from Philadelphia to the Alle-Kiski Valley, the Army veteran recalled the many brave soldiers who traversed the same...
First woman, Black bishop chosen to helm Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh voted Saturday to elect the Rev. Ketlen Solak as its ninth bishop, making the Delaware minister the first woman and person of color to helm the religious leadership post in Western Pennsylvania. Solak, the rector of Brandywine Collaborative Ministries in Wilmington, Del., and a native...
Body found in Ohio River ID’d as South Side man who went missing 5 months ago
A body found in the Ohio River earlier this week was identified Friday as a man who went missing in Pittsburgh’s South Side in January. William Casale, 62, was pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m. Monday in Kilbuck, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office reports. His body was pulled from the...
Turtle Creek vehicle crash kills man, 74
A man died soon after being injured a vehicle crash Thursday in Turtle Creek, officials said. Richard H. Platt, 74, was pronounced dead at 10:30 a.m., less than 40 minutes after the incident happened near 26 McDonald Street, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office reported Friday afternoon. Platt’s cause of...
Suspect charged in fatal shooting of 17-year-old boy in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood
A teen was arrested and charged with homicide in connection to the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy last month in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood, officials said Friday. Clinton Miller, 18, was booked at Allegheny County Jail on homicide and gun charges, court records show. Miller was found and detained by...
What Western Pa. doctors are saying about controversial Alzheimer’s drug
Whether the first U.S. drug intended to thwart Alzheimer’s disease signals a major milestone or “dangerous hope” depends on which Western Pennsylvania doctor you ask. One thing many in the medical community seem to agree on: They didn’t expect the drug to win over federal regulators, at least not yet....
She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at 53. But this Unity woman is not giving up.
The neurologist’s diagnosis sent Sara Belt’s family members into shock. Alzheimer’s disease? At just 53 years old? “I went numb,” her husband, Don Belt, said of that summer day three years ago at the Westmoreland County specialist’s office. The 74-year-old venture capitalist and former corporate marketing executive recalls feeling helpless...
Vice President Kamala Harris to visit Pittsburgh next week
Vice President Kamala Harris plans to travel to Pittsburgh on Monday, White House officials announced. Harris will be joined during her visit to Western Pennsylvania by U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, the former Boston mayor who became the final department secretary of President Biden’s cabinet to be confirmed on March...
Pa. advocates optimistic about newly FDA-approved Alzheimer’s disease drug; doctors mixed on how effective it could be
Advocates for nearly 300,000 Pennsylvanians living with Alzheimer’s disease celebrated the federal government’s approval Monday of a controversial new drug some say could prove “life-changing” for those showing early signs of the memory-destroying disorder. Though debate persists over just how well the novel treatment could work, the Food Drug and...
Monroeville man sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for cocaine-dealing while on probation for heroin conviction
An Allegheny County man has been sentenced to 5½ years behind bars for plotting to sell cocaine for a prison drug smuggling ring while on probation for a prior heroin-dealing conviction, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Dorianne Harris, 28 — whom officials linked to residences in Monroeville as well as Munhall,...
McKees Rocks woman gets time served, 5 years’ probation for role in cocaine ring linked to GBK gang
A McKees Rocks woman who sold cocaine for members of a street gang in Pittsburgh’s West End has been sentenced to time served and five years of probation, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Mardeja Chapple, 26, was convicted of conspiring to distribute more than 280 grams of crack cocaine — or...
Pa. advocates optimistic about new FDA-approved Alzheimer’s disease drug; doctors mixed on whether it will work
Advocates for nearly 300,000 Pennsylvanians living with Alzheimer’s disease celebrated the federal government’s approval Monday of a controversial new drug some say could prove “life-changing” for those showing early signs of the memory-destroying disorder. Though debate persists over just how well the novel treatment could work, the Food Drug and...
Las Vegas man admits to traveling to Pittsburgh in attempt to have sex with teen
A Nevada man admitted to a federal judge in Pittsburgh that he traveled to Western Pennsylvania in an attempt to have sex with a 15-year-old West Mifflin girl after stalking her online for more than a year, prosecutors said. Renad Bautista, 31, of Las Vegas pleaded guilty to one count...
Police investigate deadly daytime shooting in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood
Police are investigating a shooting Thursday evening in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood that left one man dead, officials said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Robert Thomas, 36, of Pittsburgh. Shortly after 5:30 p.m., emergency dispatchers received several 911 calls about someone getting shot near the 300...
U.S. Attorney: Hillandale Farms accountant embezzled $6.8M, spent stolen money on luxury cars, condo, travel jaunts
A former accountant of Greensburg-based Hillandale Farms was arrested Thursday on federal charges of bilking nearly $7 million from the nationwide egg distributor, then funneling the stolen money through businesses across Western Pennsylvania and spending it on lavish personal items such as collectible cars, real estate, high-end dining and travel....
