Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1158
Parents sign petition against mask mandate at Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh schools
More than 2,000 people have signed a petition calling for the Diocese of Pittsburgh diocese to revoke a mask mandate in its Catholic schools. The online petition contends school-age children have “spent the summer enjoying activities with family and friends mask-free” and were “putting the hardships of last school year...
Pittsburgh Labor Day Parade canceled, other service events on
The annual Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh has been canceled. With the covid cases rising, organizers decided to wait until 2022, said Darrin Kelly, Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council president. “Our first commitment is to keep everyone safe,” said Kelly. “We want to protect our members and the community as a...
Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations continue slow, steady climb in region
Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations have continued a slow but steady climb in the region and throughout the state over the past two months. This week was no exception. In the past week, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, there were 1,343 additional covid-19 cases in Allegheny County, for a...
Attorneys for Tree of Life shooting suspect say prosecutors shouldn’t watch them review evidence
Attorneys for accused synagogue shooter Robert Bowers are asking a federal judge to ease some of the restrictions prosecutors have placed on the defense’s ability to review evidence in the case, including their requirement that the evidence review take place in full view of police and prosecutors. According to the...
Grad says West Jefferson Hills district officials ignored racial harassment
A 2020 Thomas Jefferson High School graduate who is biracial has filed a federal lawsuit alleging she was the target of repeated racial slurs and other harassment that the West Jefferson Hills School District failed to address. Destinie Bedard and her parents Frank and Jodi Stosic filed the lawsuit Aug....
Westmoreland Fair returns this weekend with more to see
There will be plenty of potential pandemic hobbies on display starting Friday as the Westmoreland Fair returns. Entry office secretary Leanna Landy said entries for inside exhibits — such as handmade goods and food items — have increased this year after the 2020 fair was canceled because of the coronavirus...
Historic Bell’s Mills Bridge set for closure for drainage work
Drains on both ends of the historic Bell’s Mills Bridge are set to be replaced next week. County engineer Vaughn Neill said the covered wooden span will be closed for about four days while crews work there. The drainage infrastructure that allows water to flow off the road and bridge...
U.S. health officials call for booster shots against covid-19Video
NEW YORK — U.S. health officials Wednesday announced plans to dispense covid-19 booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and signs that the vaccines’ effectiveness is slipping. The plan, as outlined by the chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
Unity’s Victory Brinker earns lone standing ovation on ‘America’s Got Talent’
Several things portend well for Victory Brinker’s chances to win Season 16 of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” The 9-year-old opera singer from Unity was the final competitor in Tuesday’s live quarterfinal round, perhaps illustrating the “save the best for last” principle. There was plenty of build-up to her appearance, too....
Official: 1 killed, 6 wounded as Taliban break up protest
KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan health official says at least one person was killed and six were wounded Wednesday when the Taliban violently dispersed a protest in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Dozens of people raised the national flag Wednesday and lowered the Taliban’s own flag the day before Afghanistan’s...
Suspect captured after stealing police car and leading officers on chase through Beaver area
A man who stole an Ambridge police vehicle and led officers on a chase before eluding capture for hours was taken into custody Tuesday, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI. BREAKING: Neighbors say this man is in their backyard and police are narrowing in @WPXI Amy Hudak (@amy_hudak) August...
Lower Burrell man accused of sexually assaulting 14-year-old girl
A Lower Burrell man is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl last summer behind a Sheetz store on the city’s Craigdell Road. Samuel Glendon Feroce, 21, faces charges including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person under 16 and statutory sexual assault in connection with the July 2020 incident....
Western Pa. groups prep for fleeing Afghans seeking to resettle in Pittsburgh
At least one Afghan family granted a special U.S. visa to flee their Taliban-toppled homeland is expected to resettle in Western Pennsylvania in the coming weeks. “We are ready for their arrival,” said Ivonne Smith-Tapia, director of refugee and immigrant services for the Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS), a...
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tests positive for covid-19, in ‘good health’
AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tested positive for covid-19 on Tuesday, according to his office, who said the Republican is in good health and experiencing no symptoms. Abbott, who was vaccinated in December and has refused calls to reinstate mask mandates as the highly contagious delta variant surges in...
U.S. appeals court revives lawsuit over Western Pa. gun club restrictions
HARRISBURG — A federal judge should not have thrown out a legal challenge to township zoning rules that restricted operations at a gun range in Western Pennsylvania and limited “sportsman’s clubs” to nonprofit entities, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the case and...
George Bush watches Afghan pullout with ‘deep sadness’ after warning of ‘unbelievably bad’ consequences
WASHINGTON — George W. Bush, who ordered the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan to dislodge the Taliban and hunt down al-Qaida terrorists behind the Sept. 11 attacks, has watched the religious fundamentalists’ abrupt return to power with “deep sadness.” And with the Taliban back in control, he wistfully lauded a generation...
Piece of Kennywood’s Phantom’s Revenge up for auction
For a few thousand dollars, you can own a piece of Kennywood’s Phantom’s Revenge steel roller coaster. A retired lead car from the Phantom’s Revenge is up for auction to benefit Florida-based Give Kids the World nonprofit. “Yesterday, we asked you to tell us your favorite Kennywood coaster,” read a...
Death toll from Haiti’s weekend earthquake rises to 1,941Video
LES CAYES, Haiti — Haitian officials raised the death toll from a deadly weekend earthquake by more than 500 on Tuesday after Tropical Storm Grace forced a temporary halt to search and rescue efforts, a delay that fed growing anger and frustration among thousands who were left homeless. Grace battered...
Artists to chalk portraits of passengers, crew of Flight 93 as part of 9/11 20th anniversary events
Ambassadors and park rangers tell visitors to the Flight 93 National Memorial repeatedly, “It’s all about the heroes of Flight 93.” Those would be the men and women aboard the United jetliner who made America’s first stand in the war on terror in the skies above Somerset County on Sept....
Pandemic pushed people to buy groceries online. How many will still get them delivered?
Jon Roesser, the general manager of Weavers Way Co-op, usually works with banks and suppliers to keep the grocery running, puts together the $34 million budget, or plans marketing promotions, like an upcoming sale on frozen shrimp. But as the demand for home deliveries exploded during the pandemic, Roesser became...
Tropical Storm Fred to bring steady rainfall to Western Pa.
Southwestern Pennsylvania should brace for rain and potential flooding as the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred are anticipated to bring heavy rainfall to the region Wednesday. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for much of the region — including Allegheny, Armstrong, Washington and Westmoreland counties —...
Greater Latrobe School District, former wrestling coaches sued in federal court over hazing allegations
A student and his parents sued the Greater Latrobe School District, two former wrestling coaches and two students, alleging that the boy was assaulted during practice. It is, at least, the second lawsuit filed stemming from allegations of hazing by members of the wrestling team that came to light in...
After fire in her cell, police add arson charges to Greensburg DUI suspect
A Greensburg woman charged with DUI early Tuesday now is charged with arson and risking a catastrophe after city police allege she set fire to toilet paper in a cell block. Elisha M. Darnell, 42, was ordered held in the county jail on $10,000 bond following her arraignment on charges...
Former Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez sentenced to up to 4 years in prison for sex assaultVideo
Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez was sentenced Tuesday to serve up to four years in prison for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl. Vazquez, 30, was convicted in May by a Westmoreland County jury of 15 offenses in connection with a sexual relationship he had with a Scottdale...
Harrison police charge woman with driving drunk, nearly hitting 2 while fleeing
Harrison police charged a 19-year-old woman with driving drunk, speeding through neighborhood streets and nearly hitting two people playing basketball in an alley Monday evening. Township police charged Nakeela T. Johnson, of Harrison, with a felony count of fleeing or eluding police, two misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person,...
