Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1217
Justice Department appeals judge’s order on Russia probe memo
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Monday that it would appeal a judge’s order directing it to release a legal memo on whether President Donald Trump had obstructed justice during the Russia investigation. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson earlier this month had ordered the Justice Department to release the...
Hempfield to lift emergency declaration next month
After more than a year under an emergency declaration put in place in response to the covid-19 pandemic, Hempfield supervisors voted to lift the order starting next month. The declaration first went into effect March 16, 2020, as some of the first coronavirus cases were being reported in the state....
Police: Teen’s body found outside abandoned Penn Hills home
A young man was found shot to death Monday evening outside an abandoned Penn Hills home. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner identified the victim as Jason Hubert Jackson Jr., 17, of Pittsburgh. Police Chief Howard Burton said residents along Gibson Street reported hearing multiple gunshots around 7:15 p.m. Responding officers...
Pittsburgh woman pleads guilty to lying about wanted husband’s whereabouts
A former Allegheny County 911 dispatcher pleaded on Monday guilty to lying about her husband’s whereabouts as federal agents searched for him in connection with a murder-for-hire plot. Janine Lanese, 47, of Pittsburgh’s Overbrook neighborhood, will be sentenced on the misdemeanor count by U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon on Sept....
Tarentum Bridge to close for improvements, affecting thousands of motorists
Motorists who use the Tarentum Bridge will need to find another way across the Allegheny River for roughly half of June. PennDOT said a 16-day closure of the bridge will begin at 7 a.m. June 9 and continue until late in the day June 25. About 30,000 vehicles use the...
State Department warns against all travel to Japan as Olympics loom
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials and the State Department on Monday warned Americans against travel to Japan because of a surge in coronavirus cases in the country, which is preparing to host the Olympics in just two months. The twin alerts don’t ban U.S. citizens from visiting the country, but...
Vaccine passport bill takes 1st step in Pennsylvania
Republicans in Pennsylvania’s state Senate began advancing legislation Monday to prohibit governments and school districts from requiring a covid-19 vaccination for any sort of access. The Republican-penned bill passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee along party lines, 6-4, with Democrats opposing it. The prohibition on so-called vaccine passports...
Pa. to resume job search requirement for unemployment benefits
Beginning July 18, Pennsylvania’s unemployed workers again will have to prove they applied for two jobs per week to continue to receive jobless benefits, a state labor official said Monday. Unemployed workers also must register for job search services with the PA CareerLink offices. The requirements were suspended last year...
After loss, Peduto touts progressive movement that propelled Ed Gainey to victoryVideo
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto views his loss in last week’s Democratic primary to be a big win for the city’s progressive movement that he helped start. The loss doesn’t mean his work as mayor is finished, Peduto said Monday. “Our mission is the same. Our list just became a lot...
Man pleads to federal charges stemming from 2020 Pittsburgh riot
A man charged with setting fire to a Pittsburgh police car and assaulting a television camera operator during last year’s protests and riot over the death of George Floyd pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday. Christopher West, 36, who has previous addresses in Brookline and Mount Oliver, will be...
Tarentum Dunkin’ shut down after health inspectors discover sewage leak
The Allegheny County Health Department shut down the Dunkin’ on East 10th Avenue in Tarentum after inspectors discovered what they said was sewage leaking from a grease trap and covering part of the floor. The May 21 inspection led inspectors to deem the coffee and doughnut shop an “imminent hazard,”...
Pennsylvania woman’s wedding dress made from German parachute goes to museum
YORK — Deany Keith had her hair curled and teased on a recent morning for her media appearances, an “it” girl at 93 years old. Tucked into a neat little apartment in Country Meadows retirement community, she’s the hottest name in York County at the moment, her story just published...
Pennsylvania inches near Gov. Wolf’s 70% vaccination target for lifting mask mandate
Gov. Tom Wolf’s goal of having 70% of adult Pennsylvanians fully vaccinated against covid-19 may well be within reach in a month’s time. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pennsylvania is just a half a percentage point shy of hitting 70% of adults with at...
Pittsburgh author Damon Young wins 2020 Thurber Prize for American Humor
Two years after the release of his book “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker,” the accolades keep coming for Damon Young. The Pittsburgh author has won the 2020 Thurber Prize for American Humor. The Thurber Prize is a coveted national award named for writer and humorist James Thurber that...
North Hills roads reopened after being shut down because of flooding from morning rain storms
Several roads in the North Hills that were shut down this morning because of flooding from heavy, isolated rains howers have been reopened to traffic, PennDOT announced. The reopened roads are: • Union Avenue (Route 4023) in Bellevue • Seavey Road (Route 4004) in Shaler • Rochester Road (Route 4011)...
George Floyd’s family holds rally, march in brother’s memory
MINNEAPOLIS — Members of George Floyd’s family, and others who lost loved ones to police encounters, joined activists and citizens in Minneapolis for a march that was one of several events planned nationwide to mark the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death. Hundreds of people gathered for the rally Sunday in...
Man ordered to jail on $250K bond after police standoff in Mt. Pleasant
State police said a Mt. Pleasant man told troopers he snorted cocaine and drank “five beers” prior to his arrest Monday on charges of shooting toward three municipal police officers responding to his house for a report of a home invasion, according to court records. Richard W. Teeters, 49, was...
TV Talk: Stacy Smith prepares to sign off from KDKA-TV on his terms
For KDKA-TV news anchor Stacy Smith, the decision to retire was less about his age, 72, than about hitting a milestone. Now in his 50th year as a full-time broadcaster, Smith reached his five-decade goal. “I really feel like I could go on another five or 10 years,” Smith said...
Eastbound Pa. turnpike reopens at Somerset after truck crash cleaned up
A tractor-trailer driver was flown to a hospital after his rig overturned on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Somerset County early Monday, according to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and state police. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, which happened around 12:40 a.m. on eastbound Interstate 70/76 in Allegheny Township,...
Teen found fatally shot in Wilkinsburg
A teen was found shot to death in Wilkinsburg Sunday night. According to Allegheny County Police, the shooting in the 2100 block of Vantine Street was reported to 911 shortly after 10:30 p.m. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner identified the victim as Darin Hobdy, 17, of Penn Hills. First responders...
Horses and healing: Equine-assisted psychotherapy business helps people deal with depression
They stand in a group mingling with horses of various colors and personalities. They are people coping with anxiety, depression and trauma. And on this warm Friday evening, they’ve come for the kind of healing that animals, particularly horses, can provide. They spoke to the Tribune-Review on the condition only...
Leaving home: West Virginia population drop is largest in the U.S.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After her company told employees in 2017 to start working remotely, customer service representative Haley Miller decided to break from her lifelong home of West Virginia. The beaches of St. Petersburg, Fla., provide a far different view than the mountains of her native state. There are palm...
Gateway School District officials, teachers union reach deal and avoid strike
Gateway School District and teachers union officials reached an agreement Sunday and avoided a strike. The announcement was made on the district’s website and Facebook page. The deal comes after more than 16 combined hours of talks Friday through Sunday between the district and Gateway Education Association officials. “Both sides...
Search for missing man in Allegheny River ends with no results
A search for a missing man along the Allegheny River near several campsites in Gilpin ended with no results Sunday. Multiple organizations including state police Kittanning barracks, police and firefighters from Gilpin, firefighters from Leechburg, Vandergrift and North Apollo along with Greensburg bloodhounds were out from 1 p.m. to 7:30...
Covid testing’s value shrinks as vaccines beat back virus
WASHINGTON — Federal health officials’ new, more relaxed recommendations on masks have all but eclipsed another major change in guidance from the government: Fully vaccinated Americans can largely skip getting tested for the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that most people who have received...
