Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1463
Allegheny County judge adds protections to moratorium on evictions
Allegheny County Commons Pleas President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark issued an order Friday protecting renters from eviction for the rest of the month. The temporary order covers county residents not protected by Gov. Tom Wolf’s moratorium on evictions during the covid-19 pandemic. The governor’s executive order does not impact evictions...
Georgia school district lifts suspensions of 2 students after photos of crowded hallway went viral
ATLANTA — A student suspended this week after posting a now-viral photo of a packed hallway at her school had her punishment lifted Friday, and so did another student. The Paulding County School District made the announcement Friday afternoon, acknowledging the “significant national interest” in what it called “the issue”...
Jerry Falwell Jr. steps away as Liberty University president after his social media post
Jerry Falwell Jr., son of Moral Majority co-founder Jerry Falwell and ardent supporter of President Trump, is taking an “indefinite leave of absence” as president and chancellor of Liberty University days after posting a photo of himself on social media with his gut exposed and his pants unbuttoned. Also appearing...
Prosecutors investigating police who handcuffed Black girls
DENVER — Prosecutors are investigating whether suburban Denver police officers should face criminal charges for putting four Black girls on the ground and handcuffing two of them after mistakenly suspecting they were riding in a stolen car, a district attorney said Friday. The incident Sunday attracted national attention after a...
Hempfield plans to play fall sports despite state recommendation
Hempfield plans to proceed with fall sports despite Gov. Tom Wolf’s recommendation they be delayed until 2021. In a letter posted on the district’s website, Superintendent Tammy Wolicki wrote school officials plan to move forward with their athletic health and safety plan passed by the board in June. The plan...
Shaw memorial motorcycle run rides again; scholarship awarded to Lower Burrell man
The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t hampered interest in a fundraiser that preserves the legacy of a New Kensington police officer who was killed in the line of duty. The third Officer Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship Ride and Event, set for Aug. 16, is sold out, with ride slots still open for...
Allegheny County prosecutor continues coronavirus recovery, denied workers’ comp claim
Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Ted Dutkowski has been home from the hospital nearly twice as long as he was in. He still cannot walk a flight of stairs — up or down — without struggling to breathe. His oxygen saturation rate regularly drops, even with the slightest exertion. Dutkowski,...
Jail Oversight Board to review housing policies for transgender inmates
For years, the Allegheny County Jail has been subject to criticism for how it houses transgender inmates, and it currently is defending a lawsuit filed over the issue in 2017. On Thursday, members of the Jail Oversight Board agreed to begin a review of the facility’s classification process for transgender...
PIAA decision to postpone sports by 2 weeks met with excitement, concerns
Jody Brockett nervously awaited the PIAA’s announcement Friday as to whether high school athletics would proceed in the fall. Her daughter Leah, a freshman, plays soccer at Burrell. She feared the season would be canceled. She worried about her daughter, who has been having a hard time coping with the...
Pandemic won’t stop West Leechburg boy from raising money for Alzheimer’s research
When life hands you a pandemic, you still make lemonade — to find a cure. “Even though there is a virus, Alzheimer’s is still out there and I want to make my ‘Joe Joe’ happy and not make anyone else suffer from this,” said Brody Toy, 8, of West Leechburg....
Canada’s last intact ice shelf collapses due to warming
Much of Canada’s remaining intact ice shelf has broken apart into hulking iceberg islands thanks to a hot summer and global warming, scientists said. Canada’s 4,000-year-old Milne Ice Shelf on the northwestern edge of Ellesmere Island had been the country’s last intact ice shelf until the end of July when...
Wolf to distribute $10.5 million in grants to career and technology centers
Gov. Tom Wolf announced Thursday that $10.5 million in CTC Equity grants will be dedicated to the state’s Career and Technical Education Centers. The money is to help the centers implement health and safety plans and resume operations. “Our communities depend on having these highly skilled students complete their education...
Dick’s Sporting Goods bucks trend, will open 11 brick-and-mortar locations in 9 states
Pittsburgh-based Dick’s Sporting Goods will open 11 stores in nine states, including five of its recently unveiled warehouse and outlet stores, the company announced Friday. Two of the traditional stores will be in Massachusetts, along with one in New Jersey and another in Texas. The sports and outdoors retailer also...
Steelers and U.S. Steel donate to Mon Valley school districts
Clairton, South Allegheny, West Mifflin and Woodland Hills School Districts will each receive a $3,600 donation from a partnership between U.S. Steel and Pittsburgh Steelers. The donations will go toward funding technology needs for remote learning in each of the Mon Valley districts. “Of the many challenges brought on by...
U.S.: Border tunnel appears to be ‘most sophisticated’
PHOENIX — An incomplete tunnel found stretching from Mexico to Arizona appears to be “the most sophisticated tunnel in U.S. history,” authorities said. The tunnel intended for smuggling ran from a neighborhood in San Luis Río Colorado, Mexico, to San Luis, Arizona, where it stopped short of reaching the surface....
Report: State hotline fielding more calls about student suicide, self-harm concerns
Reports of suicidal or self-harming thoughts by Pennsylvania students reported to the state’s Safe2Say Something tip line increased after schools shut down in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an analysis by Attorney General Josh Shapiro. Between July 2019 and March 13, 17% of all tips received by...
Chef Kevin Sousa makes house calls with fancy meals
Many people slogging through the pandemic deeply miss going out to a fancy restaurant. While some are open at reduced capacity, the fine-dining establishment Superior Motors in Braddock is among those closed for the foreseeable future. So Superior Motors’ chef Kevin Sousa has decided if people can’t come to the...
U.S. officials: Russia denigrating Biden ahead of election; China against Trump
WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence officials believe that Russia is using a variety of measures to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ahead of the November election and that individuals linked to the Kremlin are boosting President Donald Trump’s reelection bid, the country’s counterintelligence chief said Friday. U.S. officials also believe...
Jury quickly convicts man in 2019 Ligonier Township arson case
It took a Westmoreland County jury an hour Friday to convict a man of burning his Ligonier Township home last year. Brian W. McVicker, 55, of Laughlintown was found guilty of felony arson as well as risking catastrophe and criminal mischief in connection with a fire at a home he...
Pennsylvania adds 758 new covid-19 cases
Pennsylvania added 758 new covid-19 cases Friday, according to the state Department of Health. The new coronavirus cases, which bring the state’s total to 117,279, show a trend where new reported cases have ranged between 700 and 850 each day the past four days. The state reported 15 new deaths...
Union says Port Authority mask message policy violates Free SpeechVideo
A union for transportation workers has accused Port Authority of Allegheny County of violating the Free Speech rights of its employees, after the entity updated its dress code policy to prohibit masks that contain a political or social protest message. The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 85 sent a letter...
Lawsuit against Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh accuses priest of rape
A man who immigrated to the United States at age 13 from Italy is suing the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, alleging that he was sexually assaulted by a priest at Immaculate Conception Parish in Bloomfield twice in 1967. The lawsuit, filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, also names as...
Answering the Call: Adrean Allen brightens days for UPMC patients with his voiceVideo
Adrean Allen, born in the Jamaican city of Spanish Town, is employed in the housekeeping department at UPMC Mercy Hospital. He works hard to support his family, which includes two young daughters. A musician, Allen has a recording studio in his home where he produces songs that he writes and...
Allegheny County reports 97 new covid-19 cases, 6 more deaths
The Allegheny County Health Department reported 97 new coronavirus cases Friday, bringing the seven-day average for new cases below 100. Six new covid-19 deaths and eight new hospitalizations were also announced. New coronavirus patients range in age from 1 to 86, with a median age of 33. Positive tests ranged...
All lanes of I-79 in Butler County open after scene of multi-vehicle crash cleared
All lanes of Interstate 79 have been reopened near Zelienople, Butler County, after a multi-vehicle crash with injuries shut the roadway down in both directions early Friday morning, according to state police. The wreck occurred in the northbound lanes shortly before 6 a.m. between the Zelienople and Portersville/Prospect exits, according...
