Tom Davidson stories, Page 38

Tom Davidson
Tom Davidson
Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Pittsburgh’s newest police dogs welcomed to the force
Cappy, Dodger and Zane are the newest four-legged members of the Pittsburgh police. They were full of drool and needed plenty of water at noon Monday as they panted, sniffed and strolled around the grounds of the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial on the North Shore on a bright day where...
Tarentum Action Committee works to combat blight in the borough
They’re cleaning up Tarentum by pulling one weed at a time. A group of volunteers calling themselves the Tarentum Action Committee spent Saturday morning outside seven blighted properties in the borough, pulling weeds and clearing debris to improve their curb appeal, according to the committee’s chairwoman, Lorri Wildi. “This is...
Presses to stop at Youngstown’s daily newspaper, The Vindicator, on Aug. 31
Bertram de Souza was alone in The Vindicator’s newsroom early Saturday afternoon in downtown Youngstown. “The newsroom is empty, and I’m sitting here contemplating the next 60 days,” de Souza, a 40-year veteran of the paper who works as editorial page editor and columnist, told the Tribune-Review. “It’s a certain...
Boil water advisory in place for Harrison’s Natrona neighborhood
People who live in Harrison’s Natrona neighborhood are advised to boil water before drinking it. Harrison Water Authority board member Mark Krumenacker said the advisory was issued because of a large water main break Friday on Springhill Road. The line was repaired Friday, but the advisory will remain in place...
Severe thunderstorm warning issued for parts of Butler County
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Butler County until 12:45 p.m. Saturday. Winds of up to 60 mph and hail can be expected. The storm was headed toward Evans City and Harmony, the weather service said. Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Meridian PA, Evans City...
Verona man killed, 3 hurt in head-on crash in Penn Hills
A 23-year-old Verona man was killed and three others were injured in a two-car crash early Saturday morning on Saltsburg Road, authorities said. Marc Anthony Joseph Hazur was killed, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office and his family. Penn Hills police Chief Howard Burton said the crash happened...
Much like the insect, cicada cookie emerges from Beaver County man’s freezer after 17 years
Even Cookie Monster might pass on munching the treat Beaver County lawyer Robert Banks has kept in his freezer since 2002. That’s the last time Kretchmar’s Bakery sold cookies that are decorated to look like the cicadas that have taken the region by swarm since early May. Like the insect,...
Police: Shaler man charged after trying to arrange trysts with boys in library restroom
An 18-year-old Shaler man is facing felony charges after police allege he placed an online ad seeking boys to have sex with at the Shaler North Hills Library restroom. Shaler police and FBI agents arrested Nicholas J. Cukanow on Thursday at Kiwanis Park, near the Shaler library. He was expecting...
Police: Oakmont driver says he did shots of Fireball after striking flagger
An Oakmont man told police that he was so distraught after striking a flagger with his car in a construction zone in Highland Park that he downed two shots of Fireball to calm his nerves, authorities said. Pittsburgh police charged Brett Liberto, 29, with aggravated assault while driving drunk, drunken...
7 injured when dump truck crashes into Port Authority bus in Strip District
Seven people were hurt when a dump truck rear-ended a Port Authority bus at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday on Penn Avenue at 33rd St. in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph said all of the injuries were minor. The driver of the bus was taken to Allegheny General...
Celebrate Pittsburgh’s soul, city native, tech leader tells summit attendees 
Pittsburgh has the soul of a small town and that’s one of its biggest assets, one of its expatriates said Thursday. Caterina Fake left the area when she was 7, but she said her Western Pennsylvania roots have helped shape her into the Silicon Valley success story she’s become. Fake,...
Pittsburgh Crime Stoppers offers reward in May homicide in McKeesport
Pittsburgh Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the people responsible for the May 8 stabbing of a Pittsburgh man in McKeesport. Irvin Green, 48, was found in the street in front of 1231 Evans Ave. with a...
Blairsville woman escorting son to gate caught with gun at Pittsburgh airport
A Blairsville woman had a loaded handgun in her purse Wednesday when she was escorting her son to a flight at Pittsburgh International Airport, authorities said. The woman was stopped by Transportation Security Administration officers and was questioned by Allegheny County Police. She was carrying a loaded 9 mm pistol...
2 teens shot near daycare on Pittsburgh’s North Side
Two teens were shot Wednesday afternoon on Norwood Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Perry South neighborhood, police said. The shooting was reported at 2:30 p.m. and was initially for a person shot in the 2600 block of Norwood. But when police arrived they found two teens had been shot. Police didn’t release...
Police investigating whether Troy Hill shootings that left 1 dead were related
A Troy Hill neighborhood was rocked by gunshots early Wednesday as two shootings left one man dead and another critically wounded. Pittsburgh police are working to determine if the shootings were related. A man was shot and killed at 3:43 a.m. Police found him dead on Truax Way. The Allegheny...
21 more people charged in federal prison drug smuggling ring
A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh has indicted more people and added charges in an investigation into a prison drug smuggling ring that authorities dismantled in January. “This drug trafficking organization, which consists largely of repeat offenders, peddled dangerous drugs in prisons and in our communities. If this type of...
Mt. Lebanon man found guilty of third-degree murder in infant daughter’s death
A 31-year-old Mt. Lebanon man was found guilty of third-degree murder Tuesday in the November 2017 death of his four-month-old daughter. Joseph Gazzam, 31, had entered guilty pleas in April to charges including reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child, along with a general plea to one count...
1 flown from South Huntingdon crash
A West Newton man is in stable condition after he was flown by helicopter following a crash Saturday afternoon in South Huntingdon. Michael L. Smalich, 63, of West Newton was taken to Allegheny General Hospital after state police said he drove off Mt. Pleasant Road near its intersection with Painter...
Firefighters from across Western Pa. pay respects to New Ken chief J. Edward Saliba 
New Kensington fire trucks lined Alder Street street Saturday in Lower Burrell. More from Lower Burrell, Upper Burrell, Arnold, Tarentum, Greensburg and departments throughout and beyond the Alle-Kiski Valley were parked across Freeport Road in a plaza parking lot awaiting their spot in the procession. There wasn’t a parade. Instead,...
Pittsburgh planning chief Ray Gastil to join CMU faculty
Pittsburgh’s planning chief has changed plans. Ray Gastil, the city’s Planning Director, has accepted a position at Carnegie Mellon University. He will be the David Lewis Director of Urban Design and Regional Engagement in the School of Architecture at CMU, where he will teach architecture and urban design and direct...
McKeesport man suspected in deadly shooting arrested after chase
A 26-year-old McKeesport man suspected of shooting and killing a man dating his ex-girlfriend was arrested early Saturday after leading police on a chase that ended with a crash into a hillside, police said. Marcus Acie-Griffin was charged with homicide, aggravated assault, fleeing police and other charges. Allegheny County police...
Plum’s Frank Furko, best remembered as Pudgie Wudgie’s owner, dead at 85
Frank J. Furko’s claim to national fame was being the owner of a 20-pound tabby cat named Pudgie Wudgie — a famed feline in the 1990s. But Furko was more than that to people who knew him in the Oakmont and Plum areas. Furko of Plum’s East Oakmont neighborhood died...
Experts: Refugee vetting effective despite alleged Pittsburgh terror plot
The system for vetting refugees coming into the United States is effective despite allegations by federal prosecutors that a Syrian refugee living in Pittsburgh plotted to bomb a North Side church in an ISIS-motivated attack, terrorism experts told the Tribune-Review. “The threat posed by refugees is overall very low despite...
Avalon man convicted in drunken driving crash that killed McKeesport teen
A 23-year-old Avalon man who killed a McKeesport teen in a crash after drinking at a birthday party and on a party bus was found guilty on charges including homicide by vehicle while drunken driving during a non-jury trial before Allegheny County Judge Thomas Flaherty. Robert L. Darrisaw Jr., 23,...
Airport Authority partners with Carlow University to improve customer service
The Allegheny County Airport Authority is teaming up with Carlow University to improve customer service at Pittsburgh International Airport. Four Carlow graduates will be working shifts at the airport, looking for people who may need help navigating the terminal. They started making rounds in the terminal June 8 and will...


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