Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1040
Woman who posed as FedEx worker to steal packages from Pittsburgh home being held without bail
A woman who dressed as a FedEx worker and stole packages from a home in Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 8. Laura Woester, 50, was arrested Monday by Pittsburgh police and faces charges of theft by unlawful taking. She was denied bail...
Thieves swipe vehicle inspection stickers at 2 Ross auto shops
Ross police are investigating after thieves broke into at least two auto shops and stole vehicle inspection stickers, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. The thefts happened sometime over the weekend at Midas and Jiffy Lube, both on McKnight Road. The suspects pried open lock boxes to swipe the stickers,...
West Mifflin High School switches to remote learning after threat
Students at West Mifflin Area High School learned remotely on Wednesday after the district was targeted by an online threat. Superintendent Jeffrey Soles said the threat did not appear to be credible, but the district opted to keep students at home out of caution. West Mifflin police are investigating the...
Man in stable condition after being struck by vehicle in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood
A man was hospitalized in stable condition after being struck by a vehicle Tuesday in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said the incident took place around 3:50 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Shady Avenue and Beacon Street. A 31-year-old man was walking in a crosswalk...
Conservatives eagerly await Supreme Court abortion arguments
It’s the moment conservatives have been waiting for. Oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday represent the best opportunity leaders on the right have had in decades to gut the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which codified a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion before a fetus can...
Brazil and Japan report 1st cases of the omicron variant
Brazil and Japan joined the rapidly widening circle of countries to report cases of the omicron variant Tuesday, while new findings indicate the mutant coronavirus was already in Europe close to a week before South Africa sounded the alarm. The Netherlands’ RIVM health institute disclosed that patient samples dating from...
CNN suspends Chris Cuomo for helping brother in scandal
NEW YORK — CNN said Tuesday it was suspending anchor Chris Cuomo indefinitely after details emerged about how he helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as he faced charges of sexual harassment. The network said that documents released by New York’s attorney general Monday indicated a greater...
Butler County Community College to resume classes, reopen campuses Monday after ransomware attack
Butler County Community College will resume classes and reopen its campuses Monday, Dec.6. College officials made the announcement Tuesday evening. Both fall semester credit and noncredit classes were brought to a standstill and the campus closed as a result of a ransomware attack. The main campus in Butler Township and...
Allegheny Health Network can handle influx of covid-19 patients, but staffing, supply costs surging, CFO says
Despite confronting spiking staffing costs while covid-19 hospitalizations climb, Allegheny Health Network’s leaders say they’re confident in the 14-hospital system’s ability to treat influxes in patients as the pandemic rages on. “We have capacity and we’ve got the equipment that we need,” AHN Chief Financial Officer James Rohrbaugh told the...
Penn Hills man gets 13 years in federal prison for running heroin operation
A Penn Hills man with a history of drug convictions will spend 13 years in federal prison for running a heroin trafficking organization between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Trevon Kendrick, 28, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV on one count of conspiracy to distribute at least...
Dr. Oz calls Keystone State home as he ponders U.S. Senate bid
Dr. Mehmet Oz’s claim to residency in Pennsylvania may be both recent and tenuous, but that won’t keep him off the crowded GOP ballot of contenders seeking to replace U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey. The Associated Press reported that Oz, 61, a longtime New Jersey resident, is planning to announce his...
FDA panel narrowly backs covid-19 pill from Merck
WASHINGTON — A panel of U.S. health advisers on Tuesday narrowly backed a closely watched covid-19 pill from Merck, setting the stage for a likely authorization of the first drug that Americans could take at home to treat the coronavirus. A Food and Drug Administration panel voted 13-10 that the...
Gov. Tom Wolf will use computer-drawn maps and other tools to help spot Pa. gerrymandering
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania’s new congressional map will help shape political power for a decade — and Gov. Tom Wolf is laying down some rules as it gets drawn. Wolf plays a key role in the decennial redistricting: The Republican-controlled state Legislature will draw a map, but Wolf, a Democrat, can...
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto helps craft guide for responding to mass shootings
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto didn’t have a playbook or checklist to refer to as his administration responded to the mass shooting at Squirrel Hill’s Tree of Life synagogue three years ago. Now, Peduto and a team of mayors from across the country who found themselves in similarly tragic scenarios worked...
Michigan school shooting suspect detailed plans to kill in videos and journal, authorities sayVideo
OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The 15-year-old charged in the killings of four of his Oxford High School classmates recorded videos on his cellphone the night before the shootings and wrote in a journal recovered in his backpack of plans to shoot and kill students, authorities said Wednesday. School officials spoke...
Monongahela River among 4 nominees for Pennsylvania River of the Year
The Monongahela River — one of the most polluted rivers in the country more than 50 years ago — is among four nominees for Pennsylvania River of the Year for 2022. The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) sponsors the annual competition. The Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and...
Rostraver commissioner arrested by police, accused of harassing rivals via text, social media
John J. Lorenzo, chairman of Rostraver Township commissioners, is accused of using prepaid, disposable “burner” phones and setting up fake Facebook accounts to harass political opponents and rivals for more than two years, according to criminal complaints filed Tuesday. A yearlong investigation started after fellow Commissioner Gary N. Beck Sr.,...
Mask mandate to remain in place pending Pa. Supreme Court hearing next week
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday said the statewide school mask mandate will remain in place as the state’s highest court gets ready to weigh arguments on the issue next week. On Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration asked the appellate court to keep the masking order in place after the...
Pittsburgh City Council removes pension offset for city’s nonunion employees
Nonunion Pittsburgh city employees who were facing a reduction in pension benefits are now eligible to receive full pension pay, as City Council removed the pension offset Tuesday. The pension offset — which impacted city employees hired after June 30, 2004, with exceptions for firefighters, police and EMTs — called...
Brackenridge man arrested after, police say, homeowner finds him eating ice cream at kitchen table
A Brackenridge man was arrested after a borough resident told police he returned to his Cleveland Avenue home Thanksgiving Day and found the man sitting at the kitchen table eating ice cream. Richard Troup, 46, of Sixth Avenue was charged with two felony counts each of burglary and criminal trespass...
Sources: Dr. Oz plans to run for Senate seat in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity heart surgeon best known as the host of TV’s Dr. Oz Show after rocketing to fame on Oprah Winfrey’s show, is planning to run for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat as a Republican, according to three people familiar with his plans. Should...
New Kensington cat rescue ‘swimming in kittens,’ seeking donations for their care
A New Kensington cat rescue is asking for help caring for nearly three dozen kittens it has taken in recently. “We’re swimming in kittens,” said Rachelle Ebel, assistant clinic manager at Frankie’s Friends Cat Rescue. The 34 kittens were among 75 cats at the Fifth Avenue clinic Tuesday. The rescue...
Seven Springs kicks off season this Saturday, other ski resorts gearing up
With more than a week of snowmaking already underway, Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion will open its slopes Saturday. This year’s major upgrade is a new Doppelmayr Alpen Star chairlift that replaces the resort’s former Avalanche lift. The new lift will be able to carry an additional 600 people...
November delivers another hit to sinking consumer confidence
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer confidence fell to a nine-month low in November, clipped by rising prices and concern about the coronavirus. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index dropped to a reading of 109.5, down from 111.6 in October. It was the lowest reading since the index...
New York City OKs safe sites for drug use, aiming to curb overdoses
NEW YORK — The first officially authorized safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics have been cleared to open in New York City in hopes of curbing deadly overdoses, the mayor and health commissioner said Tuesday. The “overdose prevention centers” — commonly known as supervised injection sites...
