Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1116
White House details plans to vaccinate children age 5-11Video
WASHINGTON — Children ages 5 to 11 will soon be able to get a COVID-19 shot at their pediatrician’s office, local pharmacy and potentially even their school, the White House said Wednesday as it detailed plans for the expected authorization of the Pfizer shot for elementary school youngsters in a...
Tiny wrists in cuffs: How police use force against children
CHICAGO — Royal Smart remembers every detail: the feeling of the handcuffs on his wrists. The panic as he was led outside into the cold March darkness, arms raised, to face a wall of police officers pointing their guns. He was 8 years old. Neither he nor anyone else at...
Queen accepts medical advice to rest, cancels North Ireland trip
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II has reluctantly accepted medical advice to rest for a few days and has canceled a trip to Northern Ireland, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday. The palace didn’t offer specifics on the decision, but says the 95-year-old monarch is “in good spirits,” and disappointed that she will...
Rape count dropped, sexual assault added against Somerset County prosecutor
State prosecutors dropped a rape charge against an elected district attorney in western Pennsylvania on Tuesday but added new felony charges of sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault. Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Lynn Thomas waived a preliminary hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday. Thomas, 36, is accused of...
Jan. 6 panel votes to hold Steve Bannon in contempt
WASHINGTON — A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection voted unanimously to hold former White House aide Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress after the longtime ally of former President Donald Trump defied a subpoena for documents and testimony. Still defending his supporters who broke into the Capitol...
Pitt faculty members vote to join United Steelworkers
Faculty members across the University of Pittsburgh celebrated the end of a five-year organizing drive Tuesday with the announcement that they had won a vote to become members of the United Steelworkers union. Officials said preliminary vote results indicated 71% of the eligible faculty members who cast ballots in the...
Crash along Route 56 in Lower Burrell injures 3
Three people were hospitalized with minor injuries in a two-car crash in Lower Burrell late Tuesday afternoon. The crash occurred near Hillcrest Volkswagen, by the intersection of Route 56 and Claremont Drive, shortly before 4:30 p.m. Lower Burrell No. 3 Fire Chief Mark Marmo said a Tesla sedan and a...
Former Greensburg chiropractor sentenced to probation for open lewdness
A former Greensburg chiropractor was ordered Tuesday to serve three years on probation and barred from seeking restoration of his professional license after he pleaded no contest to charges in connection with claims that he had improper contact with four females. Westmoreland County prosecutors amended the criminal charges against Moses...
Pittsburgh to use over $560K in grant money on street safety, traffic improvement projects
Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure said Tuesday it plans to use more than $560,000 in grant money on three transportation improvement projects. Mayor Bill Peduto’s office said the projects support the mayor’s Complete Streets and Vision Zero policies, which aim to ensure all Pittsburghers — motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians...
Report: Pennsylvania casino revenues top $415M in September
Pennsylvania casinos generated more than $415.6 million in September, a 46% increase compared to revenues generated during the same period last year, state regulators said. In all, casinos saw $130 million more in revenues last month than in September 2020, when they generated $285.5 million, according to a report from...
‘I wake up grateful every day,’ Pittsburgh employee tells first responders who saved his life
In an emotional reunion in the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh on Tuesday, city employee Matthew Meisenhelter got to meet the colleagues who saved his life – some of whom, up until then, he didn’t know played a role in his survival. “It’s something I’ve been hoping to do,” Meisenhelter...
Children’s bureau caseworker accused of providing privileged information to relative in child welfare probe
A Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau caseworker is charged with illegally accessing privileged information from the state’s anonymous child abuse hotline and providing the identity of a tipster to one of her relatives in Indiana County. County Detective Ray Dupilka on Tuesday obtained an arrest warrant for the worker Rebecca D....
Haiti gang seeks $1M each for kidnapped U.S. missionaries
A gang that kidnapped 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group is demanding $1 million ransom per person, although authorities are not clear whether that includes the five children being held, a top Haitian official told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The official, who wasn’t authorized to speak to the...
Norwin resident seeks racial sensitivity, diversity training for school staff after students wore Confederate flag clothing
A Norwin resident upset over two high school students wearing Confederate flag clothing last week wants the district to consider instituting training programs for racial sensitivity and diversity inclusion. LaSchalle Armstrong of North Huntingdon asked school officials Monday to consider having the racial sensitivity training for the staff, who are...
Another person sues Westmoreland County, claiming injuries from Giant Slide in Mammoth Park
A woman claims she broke her nose and multiple ribs as well as suffered a concussion along with multiple abrasions and bruises more than a year ago when she became airborne and wiped out after hurtling down a metal racing slide in Mammoth Park. Michelle D. Lynch, who only lists...
Sun Country Airlines to add nonstop service between Pittsburgh International, Minneapolis
Pittsburgh International Airport will add another budget airline to its stable of carriers beginning next year when Sun Country Airlines adds a nonstop flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul, airport officials announced this week. “We’re thrilled to have Sun Country’s low-cost service for Pittsburgh travelers heading to the Twin Cities,” said Bryan...
Jury to begin deliberating fatal shooting at Club Erotica in McKees Rocks
Seth McDermit wouldn’t be dead if Charles Becher and his relatives had let McDermit and his friends leave a McKees Rocks strip club early Jan. 29, a prosecutor told an Allegheny County jury Tuesday. Instead, Becher, 24, and the two women he was with escalated the situation, Assistant District Attorney...
New Kensington mother of 4 grateful family was not home when car crashed into house
Renata Diaz calls the living room of her New Kensington home her “bright place.” But Diaz was grateful that she and her four young children — ranging from her newborn daughter to her 10-year-old son — weren’t there Monday morning. On Tuesday, Diaz said that because her 3-year-old daughter wanted...
Pittsburgh City Council approves appointments in Mayor Peduto’s waning days in office
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved more than a dozen appointments and reappointments to city boards and commissions, despite concern from at least one council member that Mayor Bill Peduto has only a few months left in office. Council approved four new appointments and 14 reappointments to several boards, including...
Johnstown man, Tyrone woman killed in head-on crash in Indiana County
A man from Johnstown and a woman from Tyrone were killed when the vehicles they were driving collided head-on early Tuesday in Indiana County, according to authorities. Dorian Caton, 22, of Johnstown, and Cassandra Lee Jones, 33, of Tyrone, each died of blunt force trauma in the crash that happened...
Rachel Levine becomes 1st openly transgender official to be named 4-star admiral
Dr. Rachel Levine is making more history. Levine, the former Pennsylvania health secretary, was ceremonially sworn in Tuesday as a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps. Levine becomes the nation’s first openly transgender four-star officer across any of the uniformed services of the United States....
Covid-19 and pregnancy: Women regret not getting the vaccine
PHENIX CITY, Ala. — Sometimes when she’s feeding her infant daughter, Amanda Harrison is overcome with emotion and has to wipe away tears of gratitude. She is lucky to be here, holding her baby. Harrison was 29 weeks pregnant and unvaccinated when she got sick with covid-19 in August. Her...
Section of I-79 in Kennedy reopens after morning crash
Authorities on Tuesday afternoon reopened a section of Interstate 79 in Kennedy that closed after a multiple-vehicle crash in the morning. The crash involving a tractor-trailer, dump truck and van happened around 9 a.m. at the Crafton/Route 60 exit. The tractor-trailer overturned and the dump truck ended up through a...
State Rep. Summer Lee launches campaign for Congress
Second-term state Rep. Summer Lee launched her campaign for Congress on Tuesday, a day after longtime U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle said he wouldn’t seek reelection in the district representing Pittsburgh and suburbs in eastern and southern Allegheny County. “For too long, communities like mine have suffered and been left behind...
McKeesport man sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on drug, weapons violations
A McKeesport man was sentenced Monday to 14 years in a federal prison in connection with drug and weapons offenses. Derrick Walker, 31, was arrested after prosecutors said he sold stamp bags of fentanyl marked “Pray for Death” to a man on June 15, 2019. That man was found dead...
