Report: 2 killed, 40 detained in new gay purge in Chechnya
MOSCOW — The Russian republic of Chechnya has launched a new crackdown on gays in which at least two people have died and about 40 people have been detained, LGBT activists in Russia charged Monday. The new allegations come after reports in 2017 of more than 100 gay men arrested...
Fact check: Trump isn’t holed up nonstop at White House
WASHINGTON — Eager to defend a prolonged government shutdown over his border wall, President Donald Trump is pretending that he’s holed up nonstop at the White House waiting for a deal with Democrats. He’s also rewriting history regarding his promise to make Mexico pay for the wall. Trump says he...
Tarentum wage increases follow pay freezes for some
Some Tarentum employees are getting pay raises in 2019 after having their pay frozen last year. The salaries hikes are included in the borough’s $3.58 million 2019 general fund budget. There was no increase in property taxes, which remain at 5.48 mills. The borough’s public works, water plant and office...
Man accused of leading police on nearly 10-mile chase in Sewickley Township
A Madison man is accused of leading police on a 9½-mile chase Saturday with an open bottle of vodka in his car, according to arrest papers. Brian Allen Smith, 47, allegedly caused at least $1,000 worth of damage to a state police cruiser during the incident. He was being held...
Attorney Bob Manzi running for Indiana County D.A.
A White Township man and former assistant district attorney has announced that he will seek the Republican nomination for Indiana County District Attorney. Bob Manzi, 41, works as a partner at Indiana law firm Holsinger, Clark and Armstrong, P.C. An Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Widener School of Law graduate,...
4 weddings and a robbery? Hugh Grant seeks script return
LONDON — British actor Hugh Grant has a plea for the thief who broke into his car: Please return the script that was inside. Grant, who shot to fame in “Four Weddings and a Funeral” in 1994, tweeted about the robbery late Sunday night. He said that in “the unlikely...
‘So happy.’ Chris Pratt engaged to Katherine Schwarzenegger
LOS ANGELES — A whirlwind romance is leading to an engagement for actor Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger. Pratt posted a photo of his 29-year-old partner sporting an engagement ring on Instagram Monday. He wrote, “Sweet Katherine, so happy you said yes!” There’s no word on when and where the...
Driver seriously hurt after vehicle goes off Parkway East near Churchill
A Pittsburgh man was injured when his SUV went over a steep hillside along the Parkway East early Monday morning. The incident occurred just after 6:30 a.m. at mile-marker 80.7, which is between the Business US-22 and Rodi Road exits. State police said Lamonte Lewis, 58, was driving eastbound in...
Congress to face same question: When will shutdown end?
WASHINGTON — Congress returns to Washington for its first full week of legislative business since control of the House reverted to Democrats, but lawmakers will be confronted with the same lingering question: When will the partial government shutdown end? One Republican senator says he’s offered President Donald Trump a possible...
Developers, not farmers, get biggest hit from wetlands rule
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump often points to farmers as among the biggest winners from the administration’s proposed rollback of federal protections for wetlands and waterways across the country. But under longstanding federal law and rules, farmers and farmland already are exempt from most of the regulatory hurdles on behalf...
Pa. bar offering reward for stolen party bus
BETHLEHEM, Pa — A Pennsylvania bar is offering a $2,500 reward to get back its stolen party bus. Bethlehem police say the owners of the Revel Social Lounge and Restaurant reported the black mini bus stolen from its parking lot Thursday. Police say the bus can hold 15 passengers, and...
Will Fetterman’s legacy set Braddock on a path to renewal?
John Fetterman cast only one vote during his 13 years as Braddock’s mayor: In 2012, he helped the borough council choose a president. The mayor of the Western Pennsylvania steel town that wakes each morning in the shadow of the hulking Edgar Thomson Works along the Monongahela isn’t supposed to...
Power restored in New Brighton after car knocks down utility pole
Power was restored to hundreds of homes in New Brighton after a car crash caused an outage Sunday night. At least 600 Duquesne Light customers were without power after a car crashed into a pole around 10 p.m. on Penn Avenue, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV reported. Police told the station...
State police investigating pattern of thefts from construction sites
State police are investigating an ongoing pattern of thefts from construction sites in the New Stanton and Mt. Pleasant area. Troopers said they responded Thursday to a report of tools having been stolen from a construction site on Mt. Pleasant Connel Road in East Huntingdon, where someone broke into a...
Pittsburgh’s $3.5B OnePGH to launch this year, mayor says
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s biggest initiative to date is full of big numbers. The $3.5 billion plan, dubbed OnePGH, is looking to raise about $50 million a year for the next 12 years from the city’s largest institutions. The money will go toward 46 projects, including public art, universal preschool,...
For home-flippers, Pittsburgh region is one of nation’s most profitable bets
Tim Pommer had been managing an auto-repair shop in the Alle-Kiski Valley for nearly a decade when he decided to turn his knack for fixing and reselling cars into fixing and reselling houses. “I figured the profit would be a lot bigger when I flipped bigger things. I wanted to...
Pitt, Japanese students celebrate newfound adulthood with traditional ceremonyVideo
While volunteers wrapped and folded Emily Farmer in the layers of a kimono, she put her four semesters of Japanese to the test. The Pitt sophomore majoring in molecular biology understood when they would ask about things like the lengths of the garments or its front and back during the...
As oil prices rise, lowest gas prices may be in rearview mirror
With oil prices back over $50 per barrel, gas prices may soon bottom out and start to move higher, said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “While it doesn’t seem that prices will rise very far, it looks more and more like the lowest price of the year...
3-hour ‘standoff’ ends when homeowner returns from walk
BETHLEHEM — A nearly three-hour standoff with police at a Bethlehem Township home turned out to be at an empty house. The incident Saturday night began when the father of a man who lives at the house called 911 and said he thought his son had been shot by his...
Westmoreland’s Register of Wills to seek another term in office
Westmoreland County Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton has announced she will seek a second term in office. Hamilton, 42, a Republican from Hempfield, was first elected in 2015 to run the courthouse office that oversees estate records, orphans court and marriage licenses. She served one year as the office’s...
He spotted Jayme Closs at a bus stop, then launched deadly plan to kidnap her, police say
BARRON, Wis. — He shaved his head and his face, wiping down his father’s shotgun and six 12-gauge shells to avoid leaving a physical trace. He replaced his car’s license plates with a set he had stolen, removing a glow-in-the-dark cord from the trunk that allowed people to open it...
Latrobe OKs 26 percent hike in garbage fees, hears union drivers’ concerns
Latrobe residents will see their quarterly garbage collection bills increase by $15, or an average of 26 percent, this year under a new five-year contract between the city and its refuse hauler, Republic Services. With Mayor Rosie Wolford absent, city council Monday voted 6-0 in favor of the agreement, which...
Leechburg library reopens after major 8-month tech renovation
Although the renovated Leechburg Public Library opened last week, residents are invited to attend a grand re-opening at 6 p.m. Jan. 22. The library has been closed since May for extensive renovations. It now boasts a more open space with comfortable seating and technological upgrades, including a media center and...
Details about Manafort’s interactions show Mueller’s focus on Russian contacts
New revelations about Paul Manafort’s interactions with a Russian associate while he was leading President Trump’s campaign provide a window into how extensively the special counsel has mapped interactions between Trump associates and Russians in his 20-month investigation. When Manafort pleaded guilty in September to federal crimes related to his...
Daughter’s plea draws 50,000 birthday cards for World War II veteran
FULLERTON, Calif. — When Sue Morse requested on Facebook that friends send her father well-wishes for his Dec. 30 birthday, she expected maybe 160 cards. At 96, World War II veteran and Purple Heart medal recipient Duane Sherman has survived most of his friends. As of Jan. 9, Sherman received...
