Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1634
Pittsburgh universities monitoring coronavirus reports and weighing travel considerations
Officials at Pittsburgh universities say they are closely monitoring news about coronavirus. The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, which enroll about 5,000 Chinese students at their Oakland campuses and have a variety of academic partnerships on the Chinese mainland, both have issued alerts about the mysterious respiratory virus...
Preliminary testing shows ‘probable Legionella’ in water at Westmoreland Manor
Preliminary testing indicated a finding of “probable Legionella” bacteria, which causes Legionnaires’ disease, in water at Westmoreland Manor, county officials said Wednesday. Additional testing is under way, the county reported in a statement. Final results are expected by early next week. “Westmoreland Manor was notified by the Pennsylvania Department of...
Foundation grant will provide academic coaches for Pittsburgh Promise studentsVideo
The Richard King Mellon Foundation will provide grants totaling $3.9 million to hire and train academic coaches for underachieving students at three Pittsburgh high schools, Community College of Allegheny County and Carlow University, officials announced Wednesday. Saleem Ghubril, executive director of the Pittsburgh Promise college scholarship program, said the organization...
Trump celebrates major rewrite of North American trade rulesVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed into law a major rewrite of the rules of trade with Canada and Mexico, celebrating the fulfillment of one of his top campaign promises while declining to share the moment with Democratic lawmakers whose support was essential to getting it over the...
Social Security scam is top fraud targeting seniors
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey took a break from President Trump’s impeachment trial long enough to attend a Senate hearing Wednesday on the latest telephone scam afflicting senior citizens. “For Americans who are worried about their loved ones … our efforts to stop con artists must be taken just as seriously...
Missing man found dead in Pittsburgh parking garage
A man reported missing in Pittsburgh last week was found dead Tuesday, authorities said. Mark Hall, 47, was reported missing Jan. 27, four days after he was last seen in the city’s West End. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office reported that Hall was pronounced dead about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday...
West Carson Street lane restrictions set for Thursday in Pittsburgh
Expect single-lane restrictions on West Carson Street (Route 837) in Pittsburgh on Thursday. PennDOT said there will be lane restrictions from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. between the West End Bridge and the Smithfield Street Bridge as crews install cameras in the area. Crews from Power Contracting will conduct the...
‘Value-added’ products a boon to small farms
For smaller farms in Southwestern Pennsylvania, growing commodity crops may not be enough to keep them afloat. The grain farmer may have to learn how to mill flour. The fruit farmer may have to learn how to produce jam. The dairy farmer may have to learn how to make cheese....
5 bartenders charged alongside owner of illegal Homewood speakeasy
The secret to Club Secrets was a couple $20 bills. Twenty dollars would get you onto the first floor of the illegal Homewood speakeasy busted this week by state liquor control agents. For $40, you could go to the second floor of the Kelly Street establishment. The secret, however, is...
Trump trial gets more pointed with Bolton book at the center
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial shifted to sharply pointed, back-and-forth questioning Wednesday as Republicans strained to contain the fallout over John Bolton’s forthcoming book, which threatens their hopes of ending the trial with a quick acquittal. The day started simply enough. Three Republican senators asked Trump’s legal team:...
Former Leechburg police chief Michael Diebold faces additional criminal chargesVideo
Additional criminal charges were filed this week against Michael Diebold, a former Leechburg police chief, alleging he did not comply with registration requirements for convicted sex offenders. State police charged Diebold, 42, in Armstrong County with a felony offense in connection with allegations he used the social media site FetLife.com...
Allegheny County flu death toll reaches 5, Health Department confirms
Two more Allegheny County residents have died from flu complications, bringing this flu season’s county death toll to five, according to the county’s Health Department. The latest deaths were people in their 30s who had underlying medical conditions, according to the Allegheny County Health Department. All of those who have...
$1M instant lottery ticket sold at Harrison supermarket
A regular customer of Community Supermarket in Harrison won $1 million on a $20 scratch-off lottery ticket. “I was thinking, ‘Please don’t cry because I’m going to cry with you,’ ” said office clerk Niki Dickey, who talked with the woman when she brought her winning ticket back to the...
Police: Arnold man had gun, drugs near child that he held when arrested
An Arnold man accused of selling heroin and cocaine is also accused of keeping a handgun in a child’s bedroom , police said. Elbert Lewis Thompson II, 30, of Leishman Avenue was arrested Monday after allegedly pushing a police officer on a porch, fleeing upstairs, and coming out holding a...
Inspector General charges 45 with welfare fraud
The state caught 45 suspected welfare fraudsters in December, who allegedly scammed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other programs out of more than $240,000, according to the Office of the State Inspector General. The office charged 35 people with felonies, the remaining 10 with misdemeanors. Three residents of Allegheny...
Firm says Wawa customers’ hacked credit card info being sold
PHILADELPHIA — Convenience store giant Wawa Inc. said Tuesday it is responding to reports that hacked information from its customers’ credit cards may be being sold on the dark web. The company said in a news release that customers who may be affected can obtain free credit monitoring and identity...
Lawmakers OK ending election of Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor
HARRISBURG — A measure to amend the constitution in Pennsylvania and let each political party’s gubernatorial nominee choose who will serve under them as lieutenant governor cleared a first hurdle Tuesday. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 46 to 2 for a constitutional amendment that would end the current practice, in which...
Western Pa. native, country singer Matt Westin keeps racking up international accolades
Country singer Matt Westin has fans in Singapore, Australia, South Africa, the U.K., Italy and Spain. In 2018, he was named the International Music and Entertainment Association’s Male Country Artist of the Year. His album “Legacy” has drawn favorable reviews around the world and placed singles on international charts. He’s...
3 dump trucks catch fire in Pittsburgh’s Hays neighborhood
Investigators are trying to figure out how three dump trucks caught fire in the city’s Hays neighborhood, according to the city Department of Public Safety. The fire started around 3:20 a.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of a construction company on Calera Street. Firefighters extinguished the blaze. No one was...
Natrona man puts his lifelong love of trains, hometown on display
Mike Stawinski was 8 years old when his father, Stanly, brought home a model train he found while working for Harrison in 1965. Stawinski, now 60, took his father’s find and built it into a lifelong hobby. A 6-by-12-foot HO-scale model train layout sits in his Natrona basement. The train...
Monroeville teen charged as an adult in Leslie Road shooting
A 16-year-old who police said shot an 18-year-old in Monroeville on Tuesday night has been charged as an adult. Rayshaun Jackson, 16, allegedly shot an 18-year-old man in the torso twice around 9:30 p.m. in front of a house along the 100 block of Leslie Road and then fled to...
Changes to Pennsylvania’s deer season and more appear likelyVideo
Another Saturday opener, the Sunday following and two weeks of concurrent buck and doe hunting. Those are just a few of the highlights that could define Pennsylvania’s statewide firearms deer season this fall. And that’s not all. Additional changes could be coming to bear, archery deer, turkey, raccoon and squirrel...
Verona fires police officer accused of corruption of a minor
A Verona police officer accused of having child porn and corrupting a teenage boy has been fired. Council unanimously voted to terminate terminated the employment of part-time patrolman Anthony Ogline Tuesday night. He was suspended without pay Jan. 17 after borough officials were informed of an investigation involving Ogline, 34,...
Pittsburgh man accused of illegally selling booze at Homewood ‘speakeasy’
A Pittsburgh man is accused of running a “speakeasy” that sold liquor and beer without a license in the city’s Homewood neighborhood. Sean Reese, 34, is accused of owning and operating an illegal operation called “Club Secrets,” state police said Tuesday in a news release. Investigators filed the charges against...
Pentagon: 50 troops suffered brain injuries from Iran strikeVideo
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Tuesday raised to 50 the number of U.S. service members who suffered traumatic brain injuries in Iran’s missile strike earlier this month on an Iraqi air base, the third time the number of injuries has been increased. The new casualty total belies President Donald Trump’s...
