Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1184
Electric scooter fleet launches Move PGH program to broaden city mobility
The City of Pittsburgh launched its Move PGH pilot program on Friday by promising to place 100 electric scooters across the neighborhood of Manchester in the near future. Move PGH is the beginning of the city’s efforts to jump-start its Universal Basic Mobility program. The initiative’s goal is to provide...
Developer linked to potential Amazon distribution center in Churchill withdraws bid for $10M in state aid
The developer proposing to build a large and controversial Amazon distribution center in Churchill has withdrawn its bid for $10 million in state aid. In a letter dated Friday, Hillwood Development withdrew its application for $10 million in state funds through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. Still, Churchill Borough Manager...
Former Beechview man who owned Chomp the alligator, other reptiles receives split verdict in neglect trialVideo
A former Beechview man who made his living selling exotic reptiles and more at expos will be barred from owning any animal for two years, an Allegheny County judge ruled Friday, finding that while he did neglect some of the mammals in his care, his reptiles were adequately cared for....
New Kensington controller listed neighbor’s home for sale, but the owner wasn’t selling
Frank Coscarelli was getting ready to leave for work one day in January when someone knocked at the door of his New Kensington home interested in buying it. When Coscarelli told him it wasn’t for sale, the man insisted he had found it on the online classified site Craigslist. Turns...
Who’s in the running to be Pennsylvania’s senator in 2023?
With Democrats narrowly in control of Congress, political observers are watching as races emerge in the 2022 midterm elections. Historically, the party out of power makes inroads in these races, leaving Republicans hopeful they’ll be able to limit President Joe Biden’s agenda in the years ahead. A key race will...
Ground broken for new War on Terror memorialVideo
It didn’t take long for Stephen Clark, superintendent of Flight 93 National Memorial, to see that Randy Musser had a great idea. Musser approached Clark several years ago with a plan to create a memorial honoring those who fought and died in the global war on terror. It would be...
State police take man into custody after domestic dispute, standoff in Unity
State police took a man into custody without incident early Friday evening in Unity, ending a standoff of more than six hours sparked by a domestic dispute, according to police. Officers were called to a home near the intersection of Pershing Circle, Gravel Hill Road and Arnold Palmer Drive at...
Highmark seeks to buy Gateway Health; deal looks to add 355K insurance members
Highmark Health’s insurance arm looks to grow by more than 350,000 members if state regulators approve a proposed deal to acquire sole ownership of Gateway Health. The acquisition instantly would expand Highmark’s insurance rolls from 6 million to 6.355 million members, a nearly 6% increase. For nearly three decades, Highmark...
FDA head calls for probe into Alzheimer’s drug review
WASHINGTON — The acting head of the Food and Drug Administration on Friday called for a government investigation into highly unusual contacts between some of her agency’s drug reviewers and the maker of a controversial new Alzheimer’s drug. Dr. Janet Woodcock announced the extraordinary step via Twitter. It’s the latest...
Driver in fatal Route 28 crash recovering, district attorney reviewing case
A 76-year-old man who was driving a Corvette involved in a fatal crash Monday on Route 28 is expected to survive, a state police spokesman said. Fred Fattman of Brackenridge was in stable condition Thursday, Trooper Joshua Black said. He had suffered serious injuries and was in critical condition when...
Pennsylvania to open dementia unit at Rockview prison
Acknowledging the challenge of a rapidly aging prison population, Pennsylvania will open its first unit devoted to inmates with dementia and associated memory loss diseases later this year, Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel said this week. Wetzel said the new neurocognitive care unit at the State Correctional Institution at Rockview,...
Vaccinated teachers, students don’t need masks, CDC says
NEW YORK — Vaccinated teachers and students don’t need to wear masks inside school buildings, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in relaxing its covid-19 guidelines. The changes come amid a national vaccination campaign in which children as young as 12 are eligible to get shots, as...
Biden set to sign competition order targeting big business
President Joe Biden is set to sign on Friday an executive order that the White House bills as an effort to target anticompetitive practices in tech, health care and other parts of the economy while boosting workers’ wages and consumer protections. The sweeping order includes 72 actions and recommendations that...
Lily’s restaurant in Allegheny Township closes for season, cites lack of staffing
A scenic eatery in Allegheny Township has closed for the summer and fall season. Lily’s, the renovated restaurant at River Forest Country Club overlooking the golf course, announced the closing on social media last week. Referring to the decision to close as “tough” in a Facebook post, Lily’s blamed the...
Controversial Carnegie Museum diorama back on full displayVideo
After spending a year hidden from view, the controversial diorama “Lion Attacking a Dromedary” is back on full display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland. The compelling scene depicts a violent encounter between two lions and a courier riding a dromedary — a one-humped camel. A ferocious...
Pittsburgh police arrest ‘violent offender’ accused of daylight assault of woman on North Shore
Pittsburgh police arrested a man they deemed a “violent offender” who is accused in the daylight assault of a woman along a North Shore trail after she rebuffed his advances. Ozell Austin, 58, is charged with strangulation, attempted rape, indecent assault and other misdemeanors in connection with the June 28...
Police: Man arrested after breaking in, showering at Bethel Park apartment then fighting with police
A Bethel Park woman woke early Wednesday morning to find a strange man in her shower, according to police. The man would later tell officers he was simply looking for a place to take a shower. The woman, who lives in an apartment complex on McMurray Road, told police she...
Husband of former Pittsburgh woman among victims of Miami condo collapse
The husband of a former Pittsburgh woman was among the dead found in the rubble of the Miami condo collapse. Ruslan Manashirov, 36, was one of five additional victims identified by the Miami-Dade Police Department on Thursday. That brings the total number of victims to 68, according to the department’s...
Gov. Tom Wolf calls election audit plan a ‘disgrace to democracy’
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday said it is a “disgrace to democracy” that a Republican state lawmaker is trying to launch what he calls a “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election, similar to what is happening in Arizona. Wolf, a Democrat, said on Twitter that the “sham...
Pfizer to seek OK for 3rd covid-19 vaccine dose
Pfizer is about to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its covid-19 vaccine, saying Thursday that another shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the latest worrisome coronavirus mutant. Research from multiple countries shows the Pfizer shot and other widely used covid-19...
ATI ‘outraged’ by picketer dressed as ‘Grim Reaper,’ carrying noose
Allegheny Technologies, Inc. is investigating an incident in which a striking employee was reportedly seen carrying a scythe and wearing a “Grim Reaper” mask and a noose around his neck outside of the company’s plate mill in Washington, Pa., a company spokeswoman said Thursday. Craig Smalls, 53, a replacement worker...
Owner of Chomp, Beechview’s wayward gator, dodges cruelty charge, still faces neglect charges
A judge acquitted the owner of a 5-foot alligator that escaped from his home in 2019 of one count of animal cruelty on Thursday, but the other 37 charges against him remain in play. Defense attorney Julia Gitelman on Friday intends to call several witnesses who she says will testify...
Investigators: 2 Florida men involved in Haitian President Moïse’s assassination
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Two Florida men have been arrested in connection with the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, the Miami Herald has learned. James Solages, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was identified as one of the assailants by Mathias Pierre, a minister in charge of Haitian elections. Pierre did not...
ATI investing millions in expansion of Vandergrift operations
A four-month strike by workers at ATI hasn’t impacted plans to upgrade and expand the company’s Vandergrift operations from moving forward. “We’ve been proceeding as planned throughout all of the strike activities,” said Danielle Carlini, Vandergrift’s ATI project manager for specialty rolled products. The expansion is set to happen over...
Cleanup continues after storms topple trees, knock out power in Western Pa.Video
The tiniest victims of Wednesday afternoon’s storms that toppled two towering trees along Harrison’s stately Carlisle Street may have been found by the steps to Tina Kahilainen’s porch. While Kahilainen’s home of seven years had damage to its roof and at least one bedroom, a robin’s nest — likely once...
