Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1317
Seth Meyers calls Ted Cruz a ‘jagoff’ after Pittsburgh vs. Paris commentsVideo
Yinz are gonna love this. Late-night host Seth Meyers — whose father is a Pittsburgh native — took time on Thursday’s “Late Night” show on NBC to deliver a Pittsburgh-centric clap back at Sen. Ted Cruz’s recent comments. Cruz said that by rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, President Biden is...
Santa lookalike from Robinson vies for prizes on ‘Let’s Make a Deal’
Check out the Santa Claus lookalike on the Jan. 29 episode of “Let’s Make a Deal.” That’s Michael Murray of Robinson, vying for big prizes on the long-running game show, airing at 10 a.m. on CBS. Murray teaches health and physical education to Pittsburgh Public Schools students from kindergarten through...
10 movie favorites starring PittsburghVideo
What makes Pittsburgh such an attractive movie location? Tax credits for film companies are just the beginning, says Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office. “We have such a diversity of locations. Pittsburgh can look like any place in the world,” she says. “The only things we don’t have...
Pittsburgh company Astrobotic one step closer to 2021 moon missionVideo
For the first time since the last Apollo mission in 1972, the U.S. is going back to the moon this year. The Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic is an integral part of the mission. Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lander is carrying NASA payloads to the moon. The company recently completed successful testing with NASA’s...
Wine mystery boxes offered through Pennsylvania-owned Fine Wine and Good Spirits website
After a year of heightened liquor sales because of the coronavirus pandemic, state officials are offering a package that could help switch up those go-to quarantine drinks. Boxes of wine are available for purchase on the Fine Wine and Good Spirits website, which promotes the sale as “uncork a new...
Peduto challenger Ed Gainey: Fewer words, more action needed from next mayor of Pittsburgh
Ed Gainey says all the words a Pittsburgh mayoral candidate is expected to say. If elected, he’d like to engage with people who live in each of the city’s neighborhoods, increase affordable housing opportunities, enact meaningful police reform and improve the way Blacks and other minorities are treated in the...
Dr. Fauci feeling free to ‘let the science speak’Video
Dr. Anthony Fauci looks as if he got his groove back. Fauci, head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, came out of his shell Thursday during a press conference, his first under the Biden administration. “I can tell you, I take no pleasure at all in being...
Japanese government: Tokyo Olympics on thin ice because of covidVideo
Japan’s government has privately agreed that the Tokyo Olympics will have to be canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, The (London) Times reported on Friday, citing an unnamed senior member of the ruling coalition. The government’s focus is now securing the Games for Tokyo in the next available spot, 2032,...
Man alleges disability discrimination against Ryan Homes
A man who relies on a wheelchair to get around filed a federal class-action lawsuit on Wednesday against Ryan Homes for failing to make its local sales offices accessible to people with limited mobility. John Egan, of Shaler, alleges in the complaint that the company is violating the federal Americans...
Pa. Secretary of State Boockvar implores state lawmakers to ‘stop the lies’ about the election
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar implored lawmakers in Harrisburg to “stop perpetuating lies” about the Nov. 3 election as members of a House Committee relentlessly grilled her Thursday in what they billed as the first of 14 hearings on the matter. Although President Biden’s victory of more than 80,000...
McConnell seeks to push impeachment trial to FebruaryVideo
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is proposing to push back the start of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial by a week or more to give the former president time to review the case. House Democrats who voted to impeach Trump last week for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riots...
Pittsburgh literary voices praise Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem
President Biden welcomed the youngest inaugural poet in history, 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, who earned widespread praise for her performance. Gorman, a Black woman from California, received rave reviews from local literary voices as well as celebrities such as Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and “Hamilton” playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda — for the...
Fatal stabbing victim in Clairton identified
Authorities have identified the victim of Thursday’s fatal stabbing in Clairton. Anthony Koontz, 55, died after being stabbed multiple times, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. Emergency dispatchers were called shortly after 1:30 p.m. to the 400 block of Mendelssohn Avenue, according to the Allegheny County Police Department. Medics...
Vandals damage Biden, Black Lives Matter signs in GreensburgVideo
Barbara Mabry pulled back the curtain in the front window of her Greensburg home after a car stopped early Thursday and watched as someone vandalized a Black Lives Matter sign in her yard. The person used orange spray paint to mark Xs on both sides of the sign that has...
Congress poised for quick action on Biden’s Pentagon nominee Lloyd Austin
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled Congress easily passed legislation Thursday required to confirm retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as President Joe Biden’s secretary of defense, brushing aside concerns that his retirement occurred inside the seven-year window that safeguards civilian leadership of the military. It would be the first measure to be signed...
Biden signs burst of coronavirus orders, vows ‘Help is on the way’Video
WASHINGTON — With a burst of executive orders, President Joe Biden served notice Thursday that America’s war on covid-19 is under new command, promising an anxious nation progress to reduce infections and lift the siege it has endured for nearly a year. At the same time, he tried to manage...
Police in Pa. investigate shots fired into Democratic Party office
NORRISTOWN — Police are investigating after gunshots were apparently fired through the front window of a Democratic Party office in a suburban Philadelphia county, officials said. No one was reported injured. The city of Norristown said the executive director of the Montgomery County Democratic Party discovered the bullet holes in...
Pittsburgh’s Peduto among mayors asking new administration for financial relief
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is among the more than 280 mayors calling on congressional leaders to “take immediate action” on coronavirus relief legislation proposed by President Joe Biden. The legislation, called the American Rescue Plan, would provide $350 billion to state and local governments. “Providing direct, flexible aid to cities...
New Kensington police say man seen driving stolen car threatened to kill officers, their families
A man from Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood was sent to Westmoreland County Prison without bail Wednesday because police said he threatened to kill police officers and their families as soon as he gets out of jail. New Kensington police said they arrested Daevar Lamont Stevens, 21, about 7 p.m. Tuesday after...
Pennsylvania tops 20,000 covid deaths
Pennsylvania on Thursday added 260 coronavirus deaths, bringing its total number of deaths to 20,128 since the pandemic began in March. The state becomes the seventh to top 20,000 deaths. California has the most covid deaths (34,433), followed by New York (33,415), Texas (32,844), Florida (24,965), New Jersey (20,664) and...
Westmoreland County adds 107 covid cases, 4 deaths
Westmoreland County on Thursday added 107 additional covid cases and four deaths, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported. The newly-reported deaths now bring the county’s death toll to 557. There have been 134 deaths attributed to the disease reported this month in the county. The total number of cases in...
Wendy Bell headed back to radio on WJAS Pittsburgh
Wendy Bell, the radio host let go by KDKA last fall, is joining WJAS Pittsburgh. She announced her new position in a Facebook post Wednesday. “America needs common-sense conservatism,” she wrote. JD Turco, senior vice president at St. Barnabas Broadcasting, which bought WJAS in November, confirmed Thursday that Bell will...
As covid crisis deepens, opioid crisis continues in the background
As President Joe Biden settles into office amid the coronavirus pandemic, nonprofits and organizations battling drug addiction are urging the new administration not to lose sight of the national opioid crisis that predates covid-19 and has not slowed. “At the same time the coronavirus death toll grows, there is another...
Shapiro: Stimulus payments delayed for those who used tax preparation companies
Pennsylvania residents who had their federal income tax returns prepared by a company may see a delay in receiving their stimulus checks. Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Thursday that when companies like H&R Block and Intuit prepare a person’s taxes, they use temporary bank accounts. This caused a problem in...
Bernie Sanders memes take over the internet during, after inauguration
Bernie Sanders may not have stolen the show during Wednesday’s presidential inauguration. But he clearly won the internet. At President Joe Biden’s inauguration, a few moments stood out among the festivities: the poem recited by 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, the collage of colorful coats worn by all the women involved in...
