TribLive stories, Page 34
Laurels & lances: Preparing & polling
Laurel: To giving shelter. People across the region are bracing for temperatures that continue to fall — and for the first snow of the season. While no one looks forward to the shift from wearing sweaters to paying heating bills, some have no home to heat. That’s a dangerous place...
More Outback Steakhouses expected to close in Bloomin’ Brands turnaround plan
The parent company of Outback Steakhouse is cooking up a turnaround strategy to improve its restaurants. As part of its turnaround plan, Bloomin’ Brands has closed nearly two dozen U.S. restaurants and has decided to not renew the leases of more than 20 additional U.S. restaurants, the company said in...
Trump administration must fully fund food aid benefits by Friday, federal judge rules
A federal judge on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to fully fund food aid for 42 million low-income Americans in November by Friday, blocking its plan to only provide reduced benefits during the government shutdown. U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island accused the administration of withholding...
Pirates announce details for PiratesFest 2026
PiratesFest will return to a single-day event at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on Jan. 24, 2026. The fan event will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will include interactive games and attractions for all ages. Pirates players, alumni, coaches, broadcasters and mascots will be in...
Private reports suggest U.S. labor market weakened in October
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy shed jobs in October amid losses in the government and retail sectors, while cost-cutting and the adoption of artificial intelligence by businesses led to a surge in announced layoffs, data showed on Thursday. The reports, including an estimate from the Chicago Federal Reserve that the...
Afghanistan and Pakistan exchange fire as peace talks begin
ISLAMABAD/KABUL — Afghan and Pakistani troops briefly exchanged fire along their shared border on Thursday, both nations said, on the same day talks to find a lasting peace restarted in Istanbul. Each nation blamed the other for starting the exchange of gunfire near Spin Boldak, an Afghan border town toward...
Terrelle Pryor, ex-NFL player and Jeannette standout, sued over South Side crash
Former Jeannette football star and NFL player Terrelle Pryor is being sued in Allegheny County for negligence after three women said he crashed into their vehicle on Pittsburgh’s South Side this spring, seriously injuring them. Two separate lawsuits were filed on Oct. 22 in Common Pleas Court. Plaintiffs Thea Brown...
Winning Pa. Lottery ticket sold in New Kensington
A progressive top prize-winning ticket worth $180,566 for the Suite Winnings game from the Pennsylvania Lottery was sold Wednesday the Giant Eagle on Tarentum Bridge Road, New Kensington. Suite Winnings is $10 Fast Play game that offers progressive top prizes starting at $125,000. Fast Play games print on-demand from a...
Veteran wide receiver Liam Clifford brings ‘secret sauce’ to Penn State’s offense
UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State’s situation at quarterback is dire. Redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer has done a commendable job handling the huddle — albeit on a struggling unit as a whole — while relieving the injured Drew Allar. In trying to find a spark with two-quarterback sets, redshirt sophomore Jaxon...
Trump expands U.S. critical minerals list to include copper, metallurgical coal
The Trump administration on Thursday unveiled a new list of critical minerals it deems essential to the U.S. economy and national security, adding copper, which is vital to electric vehicles, power grids, and data centers, as well as metallurgical coal, which is used to make coke. The Interior Department’s list...
Cross-filing backfires for some Allegheny County judicial candidates
Call it the curse of cross-filing. As election results were pouring in Tuesday night, political pundit Joseph Sabino Mistick noticed a trend emerging in the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court race. While all 13 candidates for judge were Democrats, those who were cross-filed — listed on the ballot as both...
David Williams: Pennsylvania lawmakers should reject ill-advised online gaming tax increase
Pennsylvania recently surpassed stalwarts like Nevada and New Jersey to become the national leader in online gaming. But now, Keystone State lawmakers are proposing a tax increase that could reverse that growth and drive the industry underground into the black market. With tax rates of 36% for sports betting and...
U.S. judge approves DOJ decision to drop Boeing criminal case
WASHINGTON — A U.S. judge on Thursday approved a request by the Justice Department to dismiss a criminal case against Boeing in a deal that allowed the planemaker to avoid prosecution on a charge stemming from two fatal 737 MAX plane crashes that killed 346 people but harshly criticized the...
Trump gets new review of New York criminal hush money case
NEW YORK — A federal appeals court Thursday said President Donald Trump deserves another chance to show his New York state hush money criminal case belonged in federal court, providing a fresh opportunity for the U.S. president to try to erase his conviction. Trump has argued that presidents are immune...
Letter to the editor: Don’t pay, or reelect, legislators involved in shutdown
Kudos to the writer of the letter ”Shutdown would end if legislators’ pay stopped” (Nov. 2, TribLive), which eloquently stated a solution to the shutdown. Also, remember these congressional members when elections roll around, and boot them out. Monica Yuhas Smock...
Through the Years: 40 years ago, Jeff Christy sparked big Freeport comeback
Each week throughout the high school football season, the Valley News Dispatch will take a look at the players, coaches and events that shaped our scholastic legacy. After falling behind 17-0 in the first quarter, Freeport rallied for a 21-17 victory in the opening round of the 1985 Class 2A...
Texas seeks to block Kenvue dividend amid Tylenol lawsuit
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday asked a state judge to block Kenvue from paying a nearly $400 million shareholder dividend this month, after suing the drugmaker for allegedly concealing risks to children from the use of Tylenol by pregnant women. The Oct. 28 lawsuit against Kenvue and its...
U.S. airlines scramble to rework schedules as government orders flight cuts
U.S. airlines were scrambling on Thursday to rework schedules and fielding a flood of customer queries after the U.S. ordered flight cuts at some of the nation’s busiest airports, the latest travel disruption from the prolonged government shutdown. On Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he would order steep cuts...
Groping of Mexico’s president puts violence against women in spotlight
MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday she filed a complaint against a man who groped her and tried to kiss her as she walked between meetings in the capital city, a day after a video of the incident went viral. “If this happens to the president, where...
France says EU must investigate Shein over sex dolls, weapons
PARIS — The European Union must take action against Shein, French government officials said on Thursday, saying the Chinese online retailer was in breach of the bloc’s regulations due to the sale of child-like sex dolls and banned weapons on its marketplace. France moved to ban Shein over the illicit...
Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, internal documents show
Meta internally projected late last year that it would earn about 10% of its overall annual revenue – or $16 billion – from running advertising for scams and banned goods, internal company documents show. A cache of previously unreported documents reviewed by Reuters also shows that the social-media giant for...
U.S. military to establish presence at Damascus airbase, sources say
AMMAN/DAMASCUS — The United States is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus to help enable a security pact that Washington is brokering between Syria and Israel, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The U.S. plans for the presence in the Syrian capital, which...
Letter to the editor: Immigration the right way
I recently completed nine weeks of hospitality service at the Texas/Mexico border. I learned this. Immigration “the right way”: Open our hearts. Pray for the suffering. Do what we can! In the early 1900s, immigration was a paperless system. Buy a ticket and get on a boat. At Ellis Island,...
Editorial: High turnout shows Pennsylvania voters are engaged
It isn’t really a surprise when people don’t turn out for an election the year after a president is selected. Especially in Pennsylvania. As a perennial swing state, Pennsylvania is lobbied hard during a presidential year. The ads are everywhere — on TV, on the radio, online and in mailboxes,...
Chicago takes fans back through the decades at UPMC Events Center show
Few rock bands can brag about still touring with original members after nearly six decades, a cavalcade of personnel changes, more than two dozen albums and 20 Top 10 singles. Chicago can. Now in their 58th year, the Windy City band blew through Southwestern Pennsylvania on Wednesday night to deliver...
