Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1203
After G-7, Biden says he’s reestablishing U.S. credibility
NEWQUAY, England — President Joe Biden on Sunday said the United States had restored its presence on the world stage as he used his first overseas trip since taking office to connect with a new generation of leaders from some of the world’s most powerful countries and more closely unite...
Schools across U.S. brace for surge of kindergartners in fall
School districts across the United States are hiring additional teachers in anticipation of what will be one of the largest kindergarten classes ever as enrollment rebounds following the coronavirus pandemic. As they await the arrival next fall of students who sat out the current school year, educators are also bracing...
Pandemic wreaks havoc on school food service, transportation budgets
As school leaders across the region debated the best way to keep students safe during the covid-19 pandemic, budgets for food and transportation services largely went bust as both districts and outside companies were left with fewer bodies queuing through cafeteria lines or riding buses. With schools bringing students back...
Man in stable condition following Perry South shooting
A man was transported to a hospital in stable condition after being shot Saturday night in Pittsburgh’s Perry South neighborhood, according to police. Zone 1 officers responded around 9:35 p.m. to the 500 block of Chautauqua Street for a report of a male shot. They arrived to find a man...
More storms pelt Pittsburgh area with rain, wind, hail
A line of thunderstorms clogged roadway drains, downed trees and left standing water on roadways throughout the region Sunday. The weather cleared for much of the day until about 6 p.m., when more storms blew through, bringing with them more rain, wind and hail that pelted Pittsburgh and its northern...
As Principal Tom Rocchi retires, Hunt Elementary staff praise his impact and leadership
Even after 60 years in education, Thomas Rocchi sometimes wonders if he made a difference. The answer came in hugs at the door of Roy A. Hunt Elementary School in Arnold on Monday, where Rocchi, the school’s principal, welcomed back members of Valley High School’s graduating Class of 2021. Dressed...
Audubon opens nature center and park in Buffalo TownshipVideo
About 12 years in the making, the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania opened its Babcock Nature Center and Buffalo Creek Nature Park on Saturday in Buffalo Township. The six-acre site at 154 Monroe Road is nestled between Little Buffalo Creek and the Butler-Freeport Community Trail. The parcel is owned by...
3 dead, others injured, after vehicle crashes into plasma clinic in Pittsburgh
Three people are dead after a vehicle crashed into a plasma clinic in Pittsburgh’s Manchester neighborhood Saturday morning. Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich confirmed three people died, including one person in the vehicle. Another person was transported in critical condition to a nearby hospital and another was treated at...
Police: Attacker wounds 13 in Austin shooting, escapes
AUSTIN, Texas — Someone opened fire in a busy entertainment district in downtown Austin early Saturday, wounding 13 people, including two critically, before getting away, authorities said. Investigators were looking into what sparked the shooting and weren’t able to get a detailed description of the shooter, but they believe it...
Personal data from Pa. contact tracing calls still online despite assurances it had been secured
SpotlightPA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and WITF Public Media. HARRISBURG — Personal information collected during coronavirus contact tracing calls in Pennsylvania is still available online in a document accessible to anyone with a link, Spotlight PA has...
Police respond to 2 Friday-night shootings in Hazelwood
Pittsburgh Police responded to two shootings within a mile of one another Friday night in the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood. Police and EMS were called to the intersection of Second and Flowers avenues around 11:40 p.m., arriving to find a woman who had been shot Police said she was alert. While...
Giant Eagle employees honored for saving Buffalo Township shopper’s life
Eileen Harvey was running errands at the Giant Eagle in Buffalo Plaza around 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 13. She was buying dog treats and a TV dinner. Then she collapsed in the checkout line. “Apparently, I got to the register and I paid for it, but I never got any...
Freeport Area bus driver honored for 50 years behind the wheel
Terry Bergbigler doesn’t like meetings, but the one he was summoned to Tuesday morning will probably go down as one of his favorites. Bergbigler’s colleagues at W.L. Roenigk successfully surprised him with an event to commemorate his 50 years as a school bus driver with the company. With the drivers...
‘Tunch & Wolf’ walk raises money for Light of Life
Former Pittsburgh Steelers lineman Craig “Wolf” Wolfley recalled a Thanksgiving Day in the 1980s. His friend and teammate Tunch Ilkin invited Wolfley to serve turkey and all the trimmings at Light of Life Rescue Mission on Pittsburgh’s North Side. “There were plenty of parties and galas with fancy dinners I...
Greensburg Salem grad’s robotic farmhand keeps cattle fedVideo
If Brad Carr has his way, the time-consuming chore of feeding farm animals will be a thing of the past. For his recent senior project, the 2021 Greensburg Salem High School graduate created and programmed a prototype robot to automatically handle that task twice a day at his grandparents’ Lone...
Pennsylvania hosts state’s 1st national mountain rescue conference at Seven Springs
The national Mountain Rescue Association spring conference, in its 61st year, is making its first appearance in Pennsylvania this weekend — only its third venture east of the Mississippi River. Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Somerset County welcomed about 200 guests from across the country and world for the three-day...
Erie Republican lawmaker eyes a run for Pa. governor — with a pitch that breaks from Trump
PHILADELPHIA — Republican state Sen. Dan Laughlin is moving toward a run for governor, presenting himself as a “center-right” conservative who can appeal to swing voters and avoid divisive cultural feuds — and drawing an implicit contrast with other Republicans trying to follow in the footsteps of former President Donald...
PennDOT: Man killed crossing Parkway West to catch Uber
A 32-year-old Forest County man was killed Friday afternoon when he was hit by a vehicle as he attempted to cross the eastbound lanes of the Parkway West near the Fort Pitt Tunnels, Pennsylvania State Police told Tribune-Review partner WPXI. Joshua A. Knowlton of Clarington, was pronounced dead at the...
Troopers charge Allegheny County pair after $1 million cocaine, heroin bust in New Stanton
Something seemed suspicious as a special Pennsylvania State Police drug unit on Thursday watched a woman tuck a red suitcase into the trunk of a waiting white Chevrolet Malibu moments after it arrived outside a New Stanton motel. Troopers had the property under routine surveillance as the car pulled away...
Fan picks up breakfast tab for The Clarks’ Scott Blasey at Eat’n Park
Scott Blasey, lead vocalist for the Pittsburgh-based rock band The Clarks, was having the Breakfast Smile and an orange juice in a booth at the Eat’n Park in Kirwan Heights on Wednesday. “It’s my favorite meal at Eat’n Park,” said Blasey, who lives in Peters. As he finished his meal,...
Fight, gunfire outside Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh sparked by child’s shooting hours earlier
A fight between two sides of a child’s family over her shooting led to another shooting Thursday night in front of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, according to police. The fight was sparked by a shooting hours earlier in the city’s Homewood section, investigators said. In that incident, a 6-year-old...
What the world wants China to disclose in Wuhan lab leak probe
The U.S. push for a new inquiry to determine the origins of the coronavirus — including whether it leaked from a Wuhan lab — raises a key question: What has China failed to disclose? The Group of Seven leaders this weekend are set to call for a fresh, transparent, World...
Wolf again vows to veto any bills that limit abortion access in Pa.
SpotlightPA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and WITF Public Media. HARRISBURG — As Republican lawmakers advance bills to limit access to abortion in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf has once again vowed to veto any such legislation that comes...
Nearby getaways popular for Pennsylvania travelers this summer
After the pandemic forced many to scrap vacation plans last summer, a gaggle of travelers are gearing up for a getaway. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, 63% of people plan to leave their homes for more than two days to enjoy a summer getaway, according...
Mississippi Jane Doe found in 1991 identified as Mercer County woman
PASCAGOULA, Miss. — A woman whose body was found 30 years ago in Mississippi has finally been identified thanks to DNA and the persistence of cold case investigators. Authorities found the woman’s body on Feb. 1, 1991, in a swampy area of Ward Bayou in Vancleave in Mississippi’s Jackson County....
