Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1804
Youngwood mom blames daughter in assault of grandma during Steelers game
A Youngwood mother seeking to have her criminal charges dismissed has blamed her teenage daughter for the brutal attack of her grandmother as they watched a Pittsburgh Steelers preseason game on TV two years ago. In court documents filed this week, the lawyer for Delores Amorino, 42, said his client’s...
Pa. state police report 9 killed in crashes over 5-day Fourth of July holiday
The Pennsylvania State Police reported that nine people died in eight crashes over the Fourth of July holiday, the second deadliest Independence Day stretch in the last five years. Four of those roadway deaths happened in Western Pennsylvania, data for the state police’s five-day enforcement period shows. Three people died...
Driver escapes injury when saguaro cactus pierces windshield
An Arizona driver avoided a prickly situation when a cactus came through their car windshield. A saguaro cactus smashed through the front glass and came to rest in the passenger area of the black Infinity sports car Wednesday morning, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. ?Motor Vehicle Collision Involving...
Bolivar man wanted for Indiana hotel shooting in custody; mom also arrested
While a Bolivar man was surrendering Wednesday in Indiana County in connection with a July 1 shooting at a hotel, state troopers 22 miles away in his hometown were arresting his mother for allegedly assisting in his purported drug-selling operation. State police in Indiana announced David Lee McGinnis, 26, of...
Man survives unprotected plunge over Niagara Falls
A man has survived the drop over Niagara Falls without any protective gear. The Niagara Parks Police reported that a man “in crisis” was seen climbing over over a retaining wall into the river at around 4 a.m. on Tuesday. He was swept over the 188-foot-high Horseshoe Falls and later...
Presidential hopeful Kirsten Gillibrand to campaign in Pittsburgh
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will bring her presidential campaign to Pittsburgh on Thursday. Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2009, is scheduled to meet with health care workers to discuss the rising cost of prescription drugs, according to a statement from the...
New Orleans floods as Gulf Coast braces for torrential rains
NEW ORLEANS — A storm swamped streets in New Orleans and prompted a tornado warning near the city Wednesday as concerns grew that even worse weather is on the way to Louisiana and other states along the Gulf of Mexico. Garbage containers tilted on their sides and pieces of wood...
Scientists say rising seas will break flooding records
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Federal scientists predict 40 places in the U.S. will experience higher than normal rates of so-called sunny day flooding this year because of rising sea levels and an abnormal El Nino weather system. A report released Wednesday by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that...
Outer Banks lowers speed limits as tourists arrive
Speed limits on some roads have been reduced as tourist season begins in the Outer Banks. The North Carolina Department of Transportation on Tuesday announced a drop in posted speed limits on two roads. The National Park Service requested the slower traffic between Avon and Buxton and between Hatteras and...
Cops: $32K, cocaine, marijuana seized from speeder in Keystone State Park
A Latrobe man who attempted to flee after being stopped for speeding in Keystone State Park had nearly $32,000 cash, 7 ounces of cocaine and 4 ounces of marijuana in a backpack, according to court documents. Latrobe Police Detective Michael Wigand, a member of Westmoreland County’s drug task force, was...
Pittsburgh zoo mourns death of African lion
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium reported Wednesday that its 10-year-old African lion Razi died after suffering a grand mal seizure Sunday. Zoo officials said the seizure caused Razi to fall in his exhibit and fracture his jaw. The lion had suffered from idiopathic epilepsy for more than six years....
Woman struck, killed by truck in LigonierVideo
A 54-year-old woman was killed when she was hit and trapped underneath a FedEx truck in Ligonier on Wednesday morning, despite attempts from bystanders to free her, Ligonier Valley police Chief John Berger said. It appears to be an “unfortunate accident,” Berger said, adding that the driver of the truck...
Turnpike Route 66 in Westmoreland, plaza at Ohio border to go cashless
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is converting two more toll plazas — Gateway at the Ohio border and the Route 66 bypass in Westmoreland County — into cashless collection sites. According to the Turnpike’s cashless tolling website, the plazas will be converted by Oct. 27. The change is part of an...
Record rains cause concern for Westmoreland conservation group
Westmoreland County received 72 inches of precipitation in 2018 — nearly double the 40 inches the area normally receives. What happens to all that water? Some of it gets absorbed into the ground. Some of it evaporates with the help of plants and trees. And some of it just runs...
British ambassador to U.S. quits days after leaked cables on Trump
LONDON — Britain’s ambassador to the United States resigned Wednesday, just days after diplomatic cables criticizing President Donald Trump caused embarrassment to two countries that often celebrate having a “special relationship.” The resignation of Kim Darroch came a day after Trump lashed out at him on Twitter describing him as...
Pennsylvania ranks No. 2 in U.S. student debt
This is a list that Pennsylvania won’t be proud to be high on. The Commonwealth ranked No. 2 in the country in student debt, according to WalletHub research. The report looked at average student debt, unemployment rates for people ages 25 to 34, students with past-due loans and student work...
Former Clairton man gets 9 years for distributing fentanyl
A former Clairton man was sentenced to nine years in a federal prison Tuesday for distributing fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said in an announcement. Elliot Page, 38, was ordered to spend 10 years on supervised release after the prison term on his conviction of conspiring to distribute narcotics...
Pittsburgh police officer taken to hospital after Homewood crash
A Pittsburgh police officer was taken to a hospital Monday after a truck rear-ended a police cruiser in the city’s Homewood section. The incident was reported just after 3 p.m. on Frankstown Avenue near North Homewood Avenue, according to Cara Cruz, a public safety spokeswoman. When officers arrived, they found...
Emmy-winning actor Rip Torn has died at the age of 88
LAKEVILLE, Conn. — Rip Torn, the free-spirited Texan who overcame his quirky name to become a distinguished actor in theater, television and movies and win an Emmy in his 60s for his comedy turn on TV’s “The Larry Sanders Show,” has died. He was 88. Torn died Tuesday afternoon at...
Police say Latrobe man left 2 dogs in hot car at movie theater
State police plan to charge a Latrobe man after he allegedly left two dogs inside a car in hot weather on Sunday. Police said the incident happened around 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the AMC movie theater at the Westmoreland Mall in Hempfield, where the man left two medium-size, mixed-breed dogs...
Pittsburgh diocese alerts Vatican to alleged inappropriate child contact by North Hills deacon
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh sent to the Vatican the results of a preliminary investigation into a North Hills deacon accused of trying to kiss a child inappropriately three years ago, diocesan officials confirmed. John C. Miller — ordained eight years ago and previously affiliated with St. Teresa of...
Patients fear losing health insurance if Trump-backed lawsuit to gut ACA prevails
Janice Nathan’s chronic medical condition dates to nearly a decade before the Affordable Care Act protected her from being denied insurance coverage because of it. Nathan, 62, a speech-language pathologist from Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, received a kidney transplant in 2001 while on an employer-sponsored health insurance plan. Three years...
John Steigerwald: In listening to Kaepernick, Nike shows its values are misplaced
Colin Kaepernick lit a cherry bomb two days before Independence Day and disturbed what had been a pretty quiet beginning of the summer, if you don’t count the stupidity surrounding the U.S. women’s soccer team. Kaepernick, who apparently majored in revisionist history at Nevada, decided to be offended by Nike’s...
Detroit trials set for Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner, husband
Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner and her husband Khari Mosley told the Tribune-Review they are looking forward to their upcoming trials in Detroit courtrooms, claiming the allegations against them are false and retaliatory. Both face criminal charges after a March 6 confrontation with police at a Detroit hotel. Mosley’s trial...
Ross Perot’s ties to Western Pa. began with marriage to Greensburg native
A young Naval officer from Texas who came to Greensburg in 1956 to marry a local girl and went on to become a billionaire and two-time presidential candidate, is being remembered as a kind and thoughtful man who used some of his wealth to help make the region better. Lt....
