Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1689
Wilmerding man charged in connection with shooting at his home
Allegheny County Police have charged a Wilmerding man in connection with a shooting at his home that left another man injured Friday morning. Officers were dispatched to the 100 block of Watkins Avenue shortly before 9 a.m. for a 28-year-old man shot on the front porch of a residence. Police...
Cancer victims compel state to fund $3 million studies seeking link to gas wellsVideo
An impassioned confrontation by pediatric cancer patients and their families in Harrisburg this week led Gov. Tom Wolf to announce a pair of studies into potential health issues caused by natural gas drilling, the governor said Friday. “It hit me in the heart and it also hit me in the...
Families sue Beaver County home for disabled, alleging repeated abuse of residentsVideo
Four families on Friday sued McGuire Memorial Home in Beaver County, alleging two of its former employees physically and sexually abused 17 disabled residents between 2017 and 2018, causing the deaths of at least two of them. The lawsuits contend Zachary Lee Dinell and Tyler James Smith, both former caretakers...
Florida man admits Western Pa. massage parlors fronted prostitution
A Florida man who operated five Asian massage parlors in Western Pennsylvania and others in Florida and Virginia could be sentenced to more than 30 years in prison early next year after pleading guilty to racketeering, money laundering, transporting women for prostitution and harboring illegal aliens for commercial purposes. U.S....
Thanksgiving Pennsylvania Turnpike travel to be busiest of the year
If you’re traveling by car during Thanksgiving week, expect to see the heaviest traffic of the year on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission estimates 3.6 million cars and trucks will be driven on the turnpike during the six-day period, beginning Tuesday and ending Dec. 1. The most heavily...
State police arrest 5, find 14 kilos of cocaine in Pittsburgh-area bust
An unnamed informant tipped state police about a cocaine operation in the Pittsburgh area that resulted in the arrests of five people at a parking garage in the area, according to a complaint filed in federal court. Authorities found 14 kilogram-sized bricks of suspected cocaine in hidden compartments in the...
Stay warm, see holiday lights at Lumaze Pittsburgh, a new indoor festivalVideo
Run through sparking icicles. Take a seat in an illuminated horse’s carriage. Walk under a tunnel of lights. Enter a castle of bright bulbs. Pose for a photo next to a gigantic glass slipper. These are a few of the experiences at Lumaze Pittsburgh, a new indoor holiday festival, which...
2 buildings condemned after fire in Pittsburgh’s Market SquareVideo
Market Square restaurant owner Sergio Muto had been looking forward to one of the busiest days of the year — Light Up Night, when droves of people fill Downtown Pittsburgh. Instead of cooking Friday morning, Muto was inside his condemned restaurant, La Gondola Pizzeria, lamenting Thursday’s lunchtime fire at neighboring...
Mark Madden: Myles Garrett’s unproven racism accusation will follow Steelers QB Mason Rudolph forever
Cleveland’s Myles Garrett accused the Steelers’ Mason Rudolph of using a racial slur in the moments preceding Garrett swinging Rudolph’s helmet at Rudolph’s head. Garrett’s indefinite suspension nonetheless was upheld. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league investigated Garrett’s claim and “found no such evidence” it’s true. But that doesn’t...
It’s not Metallica vs. Neil Diamond, but Pitt-Virginia Tech worth watching
Virginia Tech has Metallica’s high-intensity “Enter Sandman.” Pitt has the Neil Diamond ballad, “Sweet Caroline.” Before you make a rush to judgment, their music choices at games is no comment on the two football programs that clash Saturday in Blacksburg, Va. Both teams are among the best in the ACC...
34th gun caught at security in Pittsburgh airport, matching 2018 total
An Altoona man was caught with a handgun in his backpack at a security checkpoint Thursday at Pittsburgh International Airport, the Transportation Security Agency announced. It was the 34th firearm caught at the checkpoint this year, matching the 2018 total. The unidentified man had the 9 mm handgun in his...
Cops: Derry Township man said burglary was ‘misunderstanding’
State police say a Derry Township man told them it “was a misunderstanding,” when they found him ransacking a Millwood man’s gun cabinet Wednesday. Tylar A. Lyons, 27, of New Derry, told police that a friend asked him to remove the firearms from a relative’s home as a favor, “but...
Review: Tom Hanks a perfect fit in lovely Mister Rogers tale for adults
Director Marielle Heller frames “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” as if it were an episode of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” with miniature sets of cars and bridges to illustrate New York and Pittsburgh. Mister Rogers, played with clear-eyed purpose by Tom Hanks, introduces the audience to the film’s protagonist, journalist...
Blawnox staple Norman Nardini still rocking as he approaches 70
It’s a Friday night at the Starlite Lounge, a cozy club and restaurant on Freeport Road in Blawnox. On a tiny stage in a tiny room packed with middle-aged patrons looking to shed their working week blues, Norman Nardini is holding court. He greets everyone who walks through the door...
Witness in New Kensington cop killer’s case transferred amid safety concerns
A key witness in the trial of convicted New Kensington cop killer Rahmael Holt has been transferred out of the Westmoreland County Prison, the District Attorney’s Office said Friday . Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar said Tavon Harper is being held in Washington County “for his protection.” Harper, 29, was...
Week in review: Market Square fire, Pirates’ Felipe Vazquez charged, ‘A Beautiful Day’ premiereVideo
The past week in Western Pennsylvania featured a fire in Market Square, child porn charges filed against suspended Pirates’ relief pitcher Felipe Vazquez and the debut of the Mister Rogers movie. Here’s a look back at some of the top stories of the week. Hemp-drying facility reopens A hemp-drying facility...
Tesla edges into pickup truck market with electric modelVideo
Tesla is aiming for the heart of the auto industry’s profit machine with its own version of the heavy pickup truck. Rolling onstage before a wall of lasers and flame at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the introduction of Tesla’s sharp-angled, stainless-steel “cybertruck” was not a quiet one. Nor was...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Nov. 22-24
The unofficial start to the holiday season begins this weekend with the annual Light Up Night. It’s one of many fun choices this weekend in Pittsburgh Shining bright Friday is your chance to see national recording artist and recent Queen frontman Adam Lambert as he leads the entertainment at the...
5 things to do in Westmoreland: Nov. 22-24
It’s that time again, the weekend is here and we’re all looking for something fun to do. Options are more numerous than usual this time of year, as the holiday season quickly approaches. Looking for unique gifts? Wreaths Across America — North Huntingdon will hold its second annual craft and...
Jerry Sandusky expected in court for new sentencing in abuse case
BELLEFONTE — Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is expected in a Pennsylvania courtroom to be resentenced after an appeals court said mandatory minimum sentences had been improperly applied against him. The 75-year-old Sandusky will be resentenced Friday by Judge Maureen Skerda at the county courthouse in Bellefonte....
Joanne Rogers, Pittsburgh’s ‘luckiest widow’ savors seeing, appearing in Mister Rogers movieVideo
Joanne Rogers calls herself the luckiest widow in Pittsburgh. The presence of her late husband, Fred Rogers, is everywhere. “He is just there,” she said of Mister Rogers. “I don’t have to give up all of him. And, you know, thank goodness. I’m just fortunate.” The movie “A Beautiful Day...
Body of missing Bethel Park woman identified 7 weeks after being found in Nevada desert
Authorities in Nevada have confirmed that the body of a woman found in the desert is that of a missing Bethel Park woman. Jaime Feden’s remains were identified Thursday through dental records, according to Lincoln County (Nevada) Sheriff Kerry D. Lee. Feden, 33, was found Oct. 5 in a southern...
One of four suspects charged with killing a Pittsburgh cab driver found guilty
A Pittsburgh man will spend the rest of his life in jail for his role in the 2017 fatal beating of a cab driver in the city’s Beltzhoover neighborhood. Daniel Russell, 22, was found guilty Thursday of second-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy. He was one of four charged in connection...
WPIAL championship Saturday football facts and figures, Class 5A/2A edition
Four WPIAL football championships are in the books from last week with two more set for Saturday at Norwin HS. This marks the first year since 1985 that a high school venue will host multiple WPIAL football championship games. That year, the Class AAAA and AAA championship games were played...
Pennsylvania moves to raise cigarettes, e-cigs, other tobacco products to age to 21
The General Assembly Thursday put Pennsylvania on a track to become the 19th state in America to raise the minimum age for purchase of tobacco products to age 21, effective next July 1. The bill passed both the House, 135-49, and Senate, 44-5, and now heads to Gov. Tom Wolf’s...
