Sports betting will be no home run for state budgets
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The race to legalize sports betting is on now that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed it in all 50 states, but will it provide enough extra tax revenue to make much of a difference for schools, roads or pension debt? Don’t bet on it. Just...
Missing Tarentum teen safely returned home
Tarentum police found a 15-year-old teen who had been missing since early Wednesday morning. Police said in a Facebook post that Kazmir Jones voluntarily left her home just before 2 a.m. Wednesday. She was located and returned home unharmed at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Emily Balser is a Tribune-Review staff...
Uffizi Gallery in Florence tries shaming Germany into returning painting stolen by Nazis
MILAN — The director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence is urging Germany to return a Dutch masterpiece stolen by Nazi troops during World War II, dramatizing its absence by hanging a black and white photo of the work with the label “Stolen” in three languages. Eike Schmidt said in...
3 dead after SUV crashes into river during police chase
MILWAUKEE — A toddler, her young mother and a man died when their vehicle drove into a frigid river while being chased by Milwaukee police officers who suspected they were involved in two armed robberies. Surveillance video shows the vehicle speeding and the driver losing control Monday night before the...
Medications for blood pressure and heart failure recalled
A blood pressure medication is being recalled, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration report, but patients prescribed the drug are advised to continue taking it until they talk to their doctor. Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc. is conducting a voluntary recall of 80 lots of Amlodipine Valsartan Tablets USP,...
Kentucky cops ‘cry’ over lost donuts
In a humorous tweet, a police department in Kentucky lamented the apparent loss of a truckload of Krispy Kreme donuts. The Lexington, Ky., police department posted to Twitter on Dec. 31, “No words” with three photos showing officers seemingly broken up at the scene of a Krispy Kreme truck that...
Boy dies of injuries at Poconos ski resort
ALLENTOWN — A 17-year-old boy has died after an accident at a ski resort in eastern Pennsylvania. Blue Mountain Resort spokeswoman Tricia Matsko says the boy was injured around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. The boy was taken to Palmerton Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities have not said how the...
Trump answers Romney criticism: ‘I won big, and he didn’t’
WASHINGTON — Faced with biting public criticism from Republican Sen.-elect Mitt Romney, President Donald Trump pushed back Wednesday, reminding him that “I won big, and he didn’t.” Days away from joining the Senate’s Republican majority, Romney broadly criticized Trump’s policies and character in a newspaper column, arguing that the president...
Lawsuit: 2nd officer attacked by police dog in Wilkes-Barre
WILKES-BARRE — A second police officer has been added to a lawsuit against the city of Wilkes-Barre over alleged attacks by a police dog. The suit claims the two officers were attacked separately by the dog, named Chase, and that the city put the dog and its handler into service...
Police: Man hit 2 with baseball bat at Hempfield New Year’s Eve party
A Salem Township man started off 2019 in jail after state police said he hit two people with a baseball bat at a New Year’s Eve party in Hempfield. Adam James Daniels, 26, showed up at a get-together at Sinister Muscle Cars on Forbes Trail Road at 2 a.m. Tuesday...
Route 22 eastbound reopens after crash in Salem
Route 22 eastbound was closed for about an hour Wednesday morning at the intersection of Route 66 after a two-vehicle crash, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. A vehicle apparently drove underneath a flatbed tractor-trailer at 7 a.m. near Scenic Drive, east of Route 66, in Salem Township, the dispatcher...
Romney criticizes Trump’s ‘character’ in scathing op-ed
WASHINGTON — Days away from joining the Senate’s Republican majority, Sen.-elect Mitt Romney broadly criticized President Donald Trump’s policies and character and argued that the president “has not risen to the mantle of the office.” “With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is...
Garbage, feces take toll on national parks amid shutdown
WASHINGTON — Human feces, overflowing garbage, illegal off-roading and other damaging behavior in fragile areas were beginning to overwhelm some of the West’s iconic national parks, as a partial government shutdown left the areas open to visitors but with little staff on duty. “It’s a free-for-all,” Dakota Snider, 24, who...
No charges expected in White Oak standoff
A man shot through the ceiling of a house during a four-hour standoff Wednesday in White Oak, authorities said. Officers responded about 4 a.m. to a home on State Street where a 20-year-old man allegedly barricaded himself on the second floor with a gun, according to a statement from White...
West Mifflin police seek public’s help identifying man
West Mifflin police are looking for a person they said could be linked to an ongoing investigation. They did not release details other than a photo. They asked for the public’s help identifying a man shown walking in a hardware store. According to the police Facebook page, officers will release...
Growing popularity of donor-advised funds is changing philanthropy
For Marie Stapinski, giving isn’t necessarily tied to the holidays. Throughout the year, she reviews lists of needs across the Pittsburgh region’s human services, education and arts sectors and meets with community advisers to narrow down her options. With that information, she periodically doles out grants of $1,000 to more...
Catholic bishops to begin prayer retreat on sexual abuse
DETROIT — U.S.-based Roman Catholic bishops will gather Wednesday for a weeklong retreat near Chicago on the church sexual abuse scandal that organizers say will focus on prayer and spiritual reflection and not formulating policy. The retreat begins a day after The Associated Press reported that the Vatican blocked U.S....
Amid shutdown over wall funding, Trump to meet Hill leaders
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is convening a border security briefing Wednesday for Democratic and Republican congressional leaders as a partial government shutdown over his demand for border wall funding entered its 12th day. The president “wants an agreement that reopens the government AND keeps Americans safe,” the White House...
6 sickened on Frontier Airlines flight after drinking from fountains at Cleveland airport
TAMPA, Fla. — Officials say six passengers fell ill on a Frontier Airlines flight from Cleveland to Tampa. WFLA-TV reports health officials boarded the plane when it landed at Tampa International Airport on Tuesday afternoon and the sick passengers were removed. Officials say they are being held for observation. The...
Stabbed man drives into SUV, killing 3 in Philadelphia, including Mummer’s Parade musicians
PHILADELPHIA — Police say a man suffering from multiple stab wounds was driving in Philadelphia when he struck a car, killing two members of a Mummer’s string band and a third person. Police said the 29-year-old man drove his car into an SUV with four people inside about 1:45 a.m....
Jeannette considering creating historic district on Clay Avenue
Jeannette wants to create a downtown historic district to preserve the look of buildings and open up funding opportunities. Council could vote next week on an ordinance defining the district and its requirements. “It gives us the ability to research for grants that might apply for that area,” city clerk...
Super Dave Osborne actor Bob Einstein dead at 76
Emmy-winning actor, comedian and writer Bob Einstein, creator of the bumbling stunt man Super Dave Osborne, died today at age 76. Deadline was the first to report the news on Einstein’s death in Indian Wells, Calif. The outlet reported that Einstein had recently been diagnosed with cancer. Einstein also played...
Westmoreland sheriff logistics officer gets ARD, probation in DUI case
A corporal in the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Department will serve one year on probation for a drunken-driving arrest in May, making her the fourth office employee charged with a crime past year. In court Wednesday, Caitlyn Kralovic, 27, of Rillton, Sewickley Township, was admitted to the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition Program...
A year after Route 28 crash in O’Hara, parents seek answers in son’s death
It’s been more than a year since Joseph and Deborah Wilkoski lost their son to injuries he suffered in a Route 28 crash. Yet, they’re still seeking an explanation as the crash remains under investigation. “I don’t think it’s fair to any family to have to wait a year to...
Vatican letter undermines U.S. cardinal on clergy sex abuse
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican blocked U.S. bishops from taking measures to address the clergy sex abuse scandal because U.S. church leaders didn’t discuss the legally problematic proposals with the Holy See enough beforehand, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. The Nov. 11 letter from the Vatican’s...
