Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1636
Westmoreland lockup cashing in with online books, movies
Westmoreland County collected more than $161,000 last year from jail inmates who rented movies and books and made phone calls on tablet computers. Warden John Walton said the money from the first year of the program, which allows inmates recreational use of the tablets from the privacy of their cells,...
Longtime Lower Burrell bartender mixes up a variety of drinks, flavors
Editor’s note: Building the Valley tells stories of businesses big and small and the employees who make them special. If you know of any standout employees, bosses or companies with a great story to tell, contact Senior News Editor Tom Fontaine at tfontaine@tribweb.com. Amber Adda can’t remember how she landed...
Peduto pitches gondola connecting the Strip, Hill District, Oakland
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he plans to transform the city’s Parking Authority into a “mobility authority” that would promote and invest in all modes of transportation, including gondolas, marinas and autonomous vehicles within the city’s borders. Peduto, who appeared Monday on a panel of experts discussing Pittsburgh’s potential for...
Pirates trade Starling Marte to Diamondbacks for pair of prospects
Starling Marte’s days with the Pittsburgh Pirates were numbered from the time Ben Cherington became general manager Nov. 18. Cherington saw the center fielder as his best trade option in his attempt to restructure — the Pirates still won’t use the term “rebuild” — the roster. The 31-year-old Marte is...
Supreme Court allows enforcement of new green card rule
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to put in place a policy connecting the use of public benefits with whether immigrants could become permanent residents. The new policy can be used to deny green cards to immigrants over their use of public benefits including...
Community mourns Penn-Trafford grad’s death in auto accident
Maclean “Mac” Maund was a typical teenager who liked to have fun. But he knew when he stepped up to the pitching mound, it was time to get serious. Maund was an elite talent in his senior year in 2019 at Penn-Trafford High School, where he was a pitcher and...
Police: East Huntingdon woman abandoned kids, locked them out in cold, rain
An East Huntingdon woman remained in the county jail Monday after state police accused her of abandoning her children for hours Friday before returning home “intoxicated” and then locking them outside in the cold and rain. Donna Louise DeAugustine, 37, is charged with multiple child endangerment and corruption charges. Murrysville...
$2.39 million Match 6 ticket sold in Butler County
A Match 6 ticket worth $2.39 million was sold in Middlesex, Butler County. The ticket correctly matched all six winning numbers, 01-06-19-25-34-42. It was sold in Saturday’s drawing at the CoGo’s at 1370 Pittsburgh Road. The store will earn a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. The Lottery said...
State police looking for Hempfield hit-and-run driver
State police are looking for the driver of a blue Honda car that was involved in a hit-and-run this month in Hempfield. The Honda rear-ended another vehicle at 4 p.m. Jan. 16 in the westbound lanes of Route 30 at Millersdale Road, according to troopers. The drivers discussed pulling into...
New clouded leopard cubs at Pittsburgh Zoo get names
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium has given names to its new clouded leopard cubs. Zoo officials announced Monday that the cubs were named Gale and Lynn. The names were chosen by the daughter of a longtime zoo docent, Gail Noden. “In honor of my mother, who loved the zoo...
Police: Mt. Pleasant Township man out on bail in domestic case tries to kill accuser
A Mt. Pleasant Township man who was freed Saturday on domestic violence charges is accused of going to the woman’s home that day and trying to kill her, according to state police. Troopers said John Michael Pisula Jr., 30, held a rifle to the woman’s head and apparently pulled the...
Pittsburgh man wanted in Homewood double homicide arrested in Philadelphia
A 22-year-old Pittsburgh man wanted for a November double homicide in the city’s Homewood neighborhood was arrested Monday in Philadelphia, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Darryl Barnett was taken into custody at 7:30 a.m. by the marshals of the Philadelphia Violent Offender Task Force after an extensive investigation involving...
Pittsburgh ranks as top city for football fans
It’s at least one thing Pittsburghers can hold over New England: Our football fans are the best. In WalletHub’s 2020 edition of its annual survey of Best & Worst Cities for Football Fans, the home of the Black and Gold is unmatched. Out of 245 U.S. cities, Pittsburgh — with...
Taliban say mystery crash in Afghanistan was U.S. aircraftVideo
KABUL, Afghanistan — An American military aircraft crashed in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. military said, adding that there were no indications so far it’d been brought down by enemy fire. The spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Col. Sonny Leggett, said that the military plane, a Bombardier E-11A,...
Threat to shoot up high school closes Plum Borough School District
All Plum Borough School District schools were closed Monday because of a threat against the high school, the district announced on its website. Police chief Lanny Conley said it was a “generalized threat to shoot up the school.” “We couldn’t say with 100% certainty that the threat was eliminated or...
2 injured in head-on crash in Pittsburgh
Two people were injured in a head-on collision in Pittsburgh’s New Homestead neighborhood Sunday evening, according to the city’s Department of Public Safety. The crash happened just before 8 p.m. near the corner of Mifflin Road at Lebanon Road. The drives from each car, a man and a woman, were...
Westmoreland’s political future could hinge on outcome of 58th District special election
A harbinger of Westmoreland County’s political future, with the 2020 presidential election looming, could be the March special election to fill Justin Walsh’s former House seat. The outcome of the race to replace Walsh, a Rostraver Republican who now is a county judge, might be a predictor of local Republican...
Pennsylvania watches as Supreme Court considers public support for parochial schools
Pennsylvanians on both sides of the school choice debate watched the U.S. Supreme Court last week for hints of how it could rule in a pivotal case that has implications for the way K-12 education is funded across the nation. Justices heard arguments in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue,...
A woman’s touch makes Aspinwall’s business district shine bright
Stroll, sip and shop your way around Aspinwall, a tiny historic borough that’s big on supporting its thriving small business district, which encompasses several blocks on two main avenues: Brilliant and Commercial. Aspinwall Chamber of Commerce President Giuseppe Francioni says the “ ‘Wall” is more than just a neighborhood. “We’re...
Billie Eilish tops Grammys in historic, somber nightVideo
LOS ANGELES — Singer Billie Eilish, who gave voice to young people struggling with depression on a do-it-yourself album she made at home with her older brother, is atop the music world. The 18-year-old made history at the Grammy Awards Sunday. Not only did she become the youngest person to...
Report: John Bolton says Trump tied Ukraine funds to Biden probe
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump told his national security adviser he wanted to maintain a freeze on military assistance to Ukraine until it launched political investigations into his Democratic rivals, according to a report in The New York Times on Sunday. The newspaper said John Bolton’s description of his exchange...
Kevin Gorman: Kobe Bryant’s death brings back Pittsburgh memories of his ‘Mamba Mentality’Video
Rick Bell is a hoops junkie, so he was watching the Maryland-Indiana college basketball game when he received a text message from his son, RJ, a junior guard at Geneva. Did you hear about Kobe? No, Bell replied, asking what happened. He was killed in a helicopter crash. That was...
Former Penn-Trafford baseball star who died in Penn Township crash remembered
A star baseball player died Saturday as a result of injuries he suffered when his car collided with a pickup in Penn Township, authorities said. Maclean Peter “Mac” Maund, 18, of Harrison City died at Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, where he had been taken for treatment, according to his obituary....
Bowling fundraiser raises $9K for St. Joseph student battling Ewing’s sarcomaVideo
Bowling is one team that St. Joseph High School senior Eli Swierczewski doesn’t play on. But that didn’t stop the 18-year-old from getting a strike at least once Sunday during a bowling fundraiser to help raise money for his cancer treatment at Wildlife Lanes in Lower Burrell. “I’m having a...
Fire heavily damages house under construction on Bagdad Road, Allegheny Township
Fire caused extensive damage to a house under construction in Allegheny Township on Sunday afternoon. The fire at 1241 Bagdad Road was reported shortly after 1 p.m., a Westmoreland County emergency dispatcher said. Volunteer firefighters from seven or eight departments from the Alle-Kiski Valley responded. No one was in the...
