Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1697
Pittsburgh ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant falls to high school physics teacher in Tournament of Champions
Fans hoping to root on a Western Pennsylvanian contestant in this week’s “Jeopardy!” mega-competition had their hopes dashed Wednesday night. Lindsey Shultz, a Connellsville native who works as a physician and health care analyst in Pittsburgh, was knocked out of the popular game show’s 10-day Tournament of Champions in the...
Comedian Joe Bartnick returns home to Pittsburgh for birthday celebration
Legendary funnyman Joe Bartnick returns home to Pittsburgh on Friday for an event five decades in the making. The best-selling author will take the stage at Club Cafe for a birthday bash. Doors open at 10 p.m. with the show starting at 10:30 at 56 S. 12th St. in the...
Washington County woman pleads guilty to violating federal gun, drug charges
A Washington County woman has pleaded guilty to violating federal drug and gun charges. Alyssa Ashley Adkins, 30, of Houston, entered the plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court at Pittsburgh to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 40 grams or more of fentanyl; a similar...
Jeannette shuts down hemp drying facility
A controversial hemp drying facility in Jeannette must stop operations immediately, according to an order from the city. Fire Chief Bill Frye delivered the cease and desist notice to the Thomas Avenue warehouse late Wednesday afternoon. Frye said Colorado-based Patriot Shield Security opened the facility in September without taking any...
Greene County native Pete Putila emerges as Pirates GM candidate
Pete Putila grew up in Greene County rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He might wind up in charge of their baseball operations or, possibly, at least playing a major role. Putila, a Houston Astros assistant general manager, has emerged as a candidate for the Pirates’ GM job. The Carmichaels graduate’s...
Man in critical condition after being struck by car near Carnegie Mellon campus
A man was in critical condition after being struck by a car Wednesday afternoon while walking near Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. Pittsburgh and university police responded to the crash near Fifth and Morewood avenues about 3:15 p. m., Pittsburgh public safety spokesman Maurice Matthews II said. Medics...
Diplomats describe Trump’s effort to hijack Ukraine policy for his political benefitVideo
WASHINGTON — Career U.S. diplomats delivered solemn testimony Wednesday about the Trump administration’s alleged misconduct in Ukraine — including a previously undisclosed cellphone call in which President Donald Trump appeared to personally press a senior State Department official to pressure the Eastern European nation. As the historic public impeachment proceedings...
Newborns sport cardigans to honor Mister Rogers at Pittsburgh hospitalVideo
Newborns at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh sported crocheted cardigans and sneakers during a visit Wednesday from Joanne Rogers, wife of the late Fred Rogers. “They’re so polite,” Joanne Rogers said while greeting the newborns styled after Mister Rogers. Wednesday is being recognized as World Kindness Day. Caitlin Pechin, a...
URA to vote on $1.6 million purchase of former Hill District grocery property
The Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority is moving to acquire a former grocery store complex on Centre Avenue in the Hill District. URA directors are scheduled to vote Thursday on purchasing the 2.6-acre property from Dollar Bank for $1.6 million. The complex previously housed a Shop ’n Save. The Hill House...
NBC lays off entire ‘Days of our Lives’ castVideo
Like sands through the hourglass … so goes the cast of “Days of our Lives.” But it looks like the hourglass has been busted. By NBC. Every actor on the show, one of television’s last remaining soap operas, has been released from their contract, TVLine reports. The site said the...
Officer Brian Shaw’s mother to Rahmael Holt: ‘I will never forgive you’Video
Lisa Shaw says she is still waiting to wake up from the nightmare of losing her son, New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw. “All he wanted to do was make a difference in the community,” Shaw told jurors Wednesday on the first day of the sentencing hearing of Rahmael Holt,...
Costco warns customers $75 ‘coupon’ is a scam
Usually when something seems too good to be true … You know how the rest of the saying goes, and Costco is here to warn its customers just that. The wholesale company posted Tuesday on Facebook that they are “NOT giving away $75 coupons. “While we love our fans and...
FBI investigating Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration over Mariner East pipeline permits
HARRISBURG — The FBI has begun a corruption investigation into how Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration came to issue permits for construction on a multibillion-dollar pipeline project to carry highly volatile natural gas liquids across Pennsylvania, The Associated Press has learned. FBI agents have interviewed current or former state employees in...
B.E. Taylor Christmas concert series to end with this year’s showsVideo
A Western Pennsylvania Christmas tradition will come to an end this year, with the final series of B.E. Taylor Christmas concerts. Taylor’s son, B.C. Taylor, has announced that five “Feel the Love: Celebrating a B.E. Taylor Christmas” concerts will bring an end to the annual tradition started in 1995 by...
Feds: Pittsburgh area brothers tried to evade immigration laws with fake marriage
Two Indian brothers living in the Pittsburgh area have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to marriage fraud in order to evade immigration laws, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh announced Tuesday. Makhan Singh, 53, of Monroeville paid a woman to marry his brother, Rajinder Singh,...
Watch live: Diplomats testify on Trump impeachmentVideo
WASHINGTON — For the first time a top diplomat testified Wednesday that President Donald Trump was overheard asking about “the investigations” he wanted Ukraine to pursue that are central to the impeachment inquiry. William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, revealed the new information as the House Intelligence Committee...
Blair County mother reported missing arrested on drug, child endangerment charges
Charges were filed Tuesday against a Blair County woman who, along with her two children, was reported missing and possibly in danger with her father-in-law, but were later found safe in Indiana County. Trooper Cliff Greenfield said Alicia Rose Brumbaugh, 31, of Imler, is charged with child endangerment, drug possession...
Pittsburgh breaks record low as cold snap hits region
It’s official. The bone-chilling temperatures in the Pittsburgh region Wednesday morning broke a 108-year-old record-low for Nov. 13. Just before 7 a.m., temperatures dropped to 12 degrees, edging past the record previously set in 1911. As of 6:59 am this morning, the low temperature at Pittsburgh International hit 12 degrees,...
Trump to face limits of his power in public impeachment hearingsVideo
NEW YORK — For three years, Donald Trump has unapologetically defied the conventions of the American presidency. On Wednesday, he comes face to face with the limits of his power, confronting an impeachment process enshrined in the Constitution that will play out in public and help shape how the president...
SWAT officers called to McKeesport
Police continue to investigate along a McKeesport street early Wednesday after SWAT officers spent five hours there Tuesday night, WPXI reported. Details of the incident were not clear but police were called at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday to Locust Street. Neighbors reportedly heard gunshots, with one man saying he hid...
Report: Former Pirates manager Clint Hurdle to retire from baseball
Former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle is retiring from baseball, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Hurdle, who coached the Pirates nine years, was fired this season after going 69-92. It was the worst season Pittsburgh had since 2010. Former Pirates manager Clint Hurdle retires from baseball,...
DACA in doubt as Supreme Court conservatives question its legalityVideo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s conservative justices sounded skeptical Tuesday about the legality of an Obama-era policy that has allowed 700,000 young immigrants to live and work in the United States, suggesting they may clear the way for President Donald Trump to end the program. Chief Justice John G. Roberts...
Winghart’s owners seek former Rivertowne spot in North Huntingdon
A shuttered tavern along Route 30 in North Huntingdon could gain new life next year with a liquor license transfer from Hempfield. North Huntingdon commissioners will hold a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on a request by Smithfield Holdings Inc. of Mt. Lebanon to transfer the liquor license held...
Trump’s impeachment messenger meets with Republicans on eve of public hearing
WASHINGTON — On the eve of a public hearing in the House impeachment inquiry, at least one member of President Donald Trump’s new two-person messaging team has met with senior House Republican communicators on Capitol Hill. The team of Pam Bondi and Tony Sayegh, political allies of the president hired...
Union: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette lays off over 30 Teamsters
More than 30 Teamsters were laid off from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sunday, officials from the Teamsters Local Union No. 211 said Tuesday in a news release. Union officials said the layoffs included three pressmen who were offered six weeks of severance pay. The union responded by filing a complaint...
