Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1635
Social Security numbers exposed on Allegheny County website
Hundreds of Social Security numbers could be contained in unredacted documents housed on the Allegheny County Civil Courts public website. The Tribune-Review located federal tax lien documents filed each year from 1997 to 2010 that display unredacted tax identification numbers. In many cases, they are an individual’s Social Security number....
2 killed in Fayette County crash
Two people were killed in a head-on collision in Fayette County Tuesday afternoon, according to state police. John Snyder, 68, of Scottdale, and Tiler Guth, 24, of Vanderbilt, were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Officers responded to the incident shortly before 2:45 p.m. Tuesday along Route 201 in...
Pennsylvania senators pass bill to toughen penalties for repeat DUI drivers
HARRISBURG — The state Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed legislation to substantially increase penalties for motorists who have multiple DUI convictions to end what the bill’s sponsor called Pennsylvania’s “revolving door system” for the most serious drunk drivers. The bill passed, 43-6, and goes to the House of Representatives for...
Trump team wraps impeachment defense with an elephant in the Senate: John BoltonVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s defense team ended its arguments in his Senate trial Tuesday by broadly dismissing the elephant in the room: a leaked firsthand account from John Bolton, the former national security adviser, that the president directly tied aid to Ukraine to his demands for the country to...
Pittsburgh audit turns up problems with fund used to pay for umpires in city parks
Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb has placed a hold on a money going into an account that pays for umpires and other officials and expenses during city sports league games. Lamb said the Parks and Recreation Department in 2019 had an informal agreement with the Pittsburgh Sports Officials, an organization that...
Pennsylvania reports 9 new flu-related deaths
After a two-week respite, Pennsylvania reported an increase in flu-related deaths in the past week, according to the state Department of Health. As of the week ending Jan. 25, a total of 33 flu-related deaths have been reported this flu season, which started Sept. 29. That’s up by nine from...
Judge could nix key witness testimony in Wilkinsburg mass shooting
The judge presiding over the 2016 Wilkinsburg mass shooting case said Tuesday he’s considering suppressing testimony of a jailhouse witness who, along with offering information in the Wilkinsburg case, offered information in a dozen other crimes. The death-penalty trial for Cheron Shelton and Robert Thomas — both of whom face...
Liberty Tunnel in Pittsburgh reopened after crash
A multi-vehicle crash that closed the inbound (northbound) Liberty Tunnel has been cleared, according to PennDOT. The crash occurred at about 3:19 p.m. Tuesday and was cleared by 3:57. Emergency personnel were on the scene. TRAFFIC REMAINS STOPPED at the Inbound a Liberty Tunnel due to a multi- vehicle accident....
PETA wants Punxsutawney Phil to retire; Groundhog Club president responds
PETA is suggesting Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog call it a career. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Punxsutawney Groundhog Club president Bill Deeley on Tuesday morning and asked for Punxsutawney Phil to retire “to a reputable sanctuary and start using a cutting-edge animatronic groundhog...
Powerful earthquake hits between Cuba and JamaicaVideo
HAVANA — A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck in the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and eastern Cuba on Tuesday, shaking a vast area from Mexico to Florida and beyond, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or heavy damage. The quake was centered 86 miles northwest of Montego Bay,...
Close call between orbiting space junk expected above Pittsburgh
What happens if a space telescope weighing more than a ton collides with a 10-pound experimental satellite about 600 miles above Pittsburgh? “You probably wouldn’t see anything here at all,” National Weather Service meteorologist Lee Hendricks said. The gloomy, overcast cloud cover is expected to continue through 6:39 p.m. Wednesday,...
412 Food Rescue expands mission in Westmoreland, other Western Pa. counties
A Pittsburgh nonprofit that “rescues” good food from going to landfills is expanding its services to surrounding counties through a smartphone app and a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant. 412 Food Rescue, founded in 2015, redirects surplus food from local waste streams to nonprofits that serve people in need. In...
Donations pour in for New Alexandria teen struggling to recover from medical emergency
A New Alexandria teen who earned three livestock ribbons at the 2019 Pennsylvania Farm Show is struggling to recover after undergoing cardiac arrest and hemorrhagic shock. In early January, Autumn Zundel, 13, was diagnosed with an anterior mediastinal mass between her heart and lungs, after going to UPMC Children’s Hospital...
Loss for words: Conversations missing from some Sweethearts candy
Sometimes it’s hard to get the message across about your feelings for someone. Just ask the distributors for Sweethearts conversation hearts. After missing Valentine’s Day altogether last year, the candy manufactured for Spangler Candy Co. in Bryan, Ohio, has had issues getting the wording right on this year’s candy hearts....
Judge rejects Sandusky’s latest request for shorter sentence
BELLEFONTE — A judge flatly rejected Jerry Sandusky’s latest request to have his 30- to 60-year child molestation sentence reduced during a brief hearing Tuesday. Judge Maureen Skerda said she purposely fashioned the prison term to have an impact on the former Penn State assistant football coach and noted Sandusky...
Tim Benz: Different melody, same lyrics from Pirates after Starling Marte trade
Ask someone more social media savvy than me. You know, one of “these kids today.” But I think now that Ben Cherington has made his first significant trade as Pirates general manager, this would be an appropriate time to go with the Spider-Man meme that I see on Twitter all...
North Huntingdon apartment building sold for $1.05 million
A Greensburg area property management firm paid just more than $1 million for a North Huntingdon apartment complex off Route 30, according to Westmoreland County real estate records. MAC Realty Management, based in Mt. Lebanon, sold the 22-unity apartment complex at 409 Bethel Road, to Scalzitti Properties of Van Avenue,...
GOP defends Trump as John Bolton’s book adds pressure for witnessesVideo
WASHINGTON — Senators faced mounting pressure Monday to summon John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial even as Trump’s lawyers mostly brushed past extraordinary new allegations from the former national security adviser and focused instead on corruption in Ukraine and historical arguments for acquittal. Outside the Senate...
Man in critical condition after Pittsburgh shooting
A man was hospitalized in critical condition after being shot in Pittsburgh’s North Side. City police said they responded to a ShotSpotter notification of gunfire near the intersection of Brighton Road and Woods Run Avenue around 7:30 p.m. Monday. The responding officer did not find a victim nor a suspect,...
Plum Borough School District classes to resume after threat to high school
Plum Borough School District classes are expected to resume Tuesday as borough police continue to investigate a threat against the high school. Schools were closed Monday after someone threatened to shoot up the high school. District officials announced that evening they would be returning to a normal schedule following a...
Arnold Palmer airport security guard fails alcohol test
A security guard was sent home Friday night after failing an alcohol test at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Westmoreland County Airport Authority Executive Director Gabe Monzo said the guard failed an alcohol breath test he was administered after one of two other guards who were on duty noticed indications of...
Westmoreland Manor water system being tested after complaint filed with state
Residents and staff at Westmoreland Manor have relied on bottled and boiled water since Friday as officials conduct tests to determine if the county nursing home’s water system was compromised. A complaint forwarded by the state’s Department of Health resulted in required testing of the Hempfield facility’s water distribution network,...
Leechburg Area Pool in Gilpin needs help from public to stay afloat
The future of the Leechburg Area Pool could be in jeopardy if it can’t recruit new board members, officials said Monday. The six-decade-old pool in Gilpin could potentially dissolve, which is akin to a form of bankruptcy, the pool’s board told members in a letter posted to Facebook. “We need...
Bar Louie gastrobar chain files for bankruptcy
Bar Louie, a national gastrobar chain with two locations in the Pittsburgh area, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company announced Monday. The two local Bar Louie locations are at The Waterfront in Homestead and on the North Shore between PNC Park and Heinz Field. Both of those locations,...
Carnegie Mellon tuition among the highest in nation, inching higher
No one said it would be cheap or easy to get through college, but annual costs at Carnegie Mellon University are edging toward a six-figure sticker price. Officials at the Pittsburgh research university recently approved a 3.2% tuition increase for the 2020-21 school year. Parents of incoming freshmen may be...
