Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1810
Pittsburgh lifts traffic restrictions on busy Grant Street
Pittsburgh on Wednesday lifted traffic restrictions on Grant Street, Downtown, following the completion of a brick pavement restoration project that began in May. The city on May 6 limited traffic to one lane in each direction between Seventh Street and Liberty Avenue for replacement of brick pavers and repairs to...
Professional fireworks shows still plentiful despite federal figures to the contrary
Business for display fireworks companies is booming, industry experts say, despite figures showing a dud when it comes to pounds of pyrotechnic goods sold over the past two decades. Between 2000 and 2018, there was a 31.5 million pound decrease in the number of display fireworks used in the United...
Driver guilty in Plum crash that killed junior firefighter, woman
A Saltsburg man will serve at least six years in prison for causing a crash in Plum that killed a junior firefighter from Tarentum and his girlfriend’s mother. Edward Leonard Cass III, 27, was convicted on all charges, including two counts of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence....
Suspicious substance mailed to Boston Straight Pride planners was glitter
Three letters sent to organizers of Boston’s Straight Pride Parade raised red flags with their recipients. Boston.com reports Massachusetts police responded to the homes of the men — John Hugo, Mark Sahady, and Samson Racioppi. The letters contained no return address and, according to Racioppi, something inside that rattled. “I...
100 mph chase on Route 28 ends with crash near Fox Chapel
A Pittsburgh man wanted on a warrant was jailed early Wednesday after state police say he led them on a more than 100 mph chase down Route 28 in a stolen vehicle. Jozsef “Joe Ball” Harangozo, 36, was suspected of being “under the influence of controlled substances” as he fled...
Trump touts July 4 military ‘salute’; critics see politics
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is marshaling tanks, bombers and other machinery of war for a Fourth of July celebration that traditionally is light on military might, while critics accused him of using America’s military as a political prop. Under White House direction, the Pentagon was scrambling to arrange for...
Head-on collision on Route 28 in Armstrong County claims 2 lives
Two people are dead following a head-on crash of two pick-up trucks Wednesday morning along Route 28 in Mahoning Township, Armstrong County. State police identified the victims as Tyler Zeigler, 28, of Butler, and Mark Kirkpatrick, 59, of Summerville, Clarion County. The head-on crash happened on Routes 28/66 near Wadding...
Peter Frampton bids heartfelt farewell to Pittsburgh
Farewell tours are all the rage in the pop music world these days as aging rock musicians try to squeeze every dollar they can from new audiences excited about their music, or old ones who have never tired of it. Kiss, The Who (both of whom played PPG Paints Arena...
Cops: Jeannette man rammed police cars in attempt to escape arrest in Pittsburgh
A suspected drug dealer rammed his car into two police vehicles as he tried to escape arrest Tuesday, according to Pittsburgh police. Edwin Wylie-Biggs, 38, of Jeannette was wanted on a warrant for allegedly assaulting a woman, police said. Several undercover police cars surrounded Wylie-Biggs’ car on Merritt Avenue near...
Pets can be frightened of fireworks, storms, but help is available
The booms and sparkles of fireworks may delight the huddled masses of humanity who celebrate America’s Independence Day this week, but they can befuddle and terrify their four-legged counterparts. “They just get spooked,” said Gwen Snyder, manager of Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley, a New Kensington-based animal shelter. This is...
Fire rips through Derry home, ignites fireworksVideo
No one was injured when fire tore through a Derry home Tuesday night, igniting fireworks contained inside. Firefighters responded after a fire was reported after 9:30 p.m. at 144 N. Ruby St. They knocked down the blaze in about 20 minutes, despite the fireworks going off and a hydrant that...
Lee Iacocca, father of the Ford Mustang who later rescued Chrysler, dies at 94
Lee A. Iacocca, an ambitious immigrant’s son and salesman extraordinaire whose blunt and swaggering persona dominated the automobile industry like nobody since Henry Ford, died Tuesday. He was 94. Iacocca, who spent his last years living in Los Angeles, hacked out a spectacular career, punctuated by his role as father...
Penn Hills man vows to chain himself to White House to bring attention to school district
A Penn Hills man, the son of the Penn Hills School Board president, has caught the eye of the U.S. Secret Service, with an online petition to have federal authorities help bail out his financially strapped school district. Phil Vecchio posted his plea to Change.org in June. He said he...
Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher acquitted of murder in killing of captive in Iraq
SAN DIEGO — A decorated Navy SEAL was acquitted Tuesday of murder in the killing of a wounded Islamic State captive under his care in Iraq in 2017. The verdict was met with an outpouring of emotion as the military jury also cleared Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher of attempted...
Judge blocks Trump policy keeping asylum-seekers locked up
SEATTLE — A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday blocked a Trump administration policy that would keep thousands of asylum-seekers locked up while they pursue their cases, saying the Constitution demands that such migrants have a chance to be released from custody. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled Tuesday that...
Gov. Tom Wolf signs law that protects regional DUI checkpoints
Small police departments across Pennsylvania are celebrating freshly inked legislation that protects their right to collaborate with other agencies to run DUI checkpoints, weeks after a state Supreme Court decision put such enforcement efforts in jeopardy. Gov. Tom Wolf signed House Bill 1614 into law Tuesday afternoon. “It will save...
Family of flesh-eating bacteria victim urges caution in the water
Former Charleroi resident Carolyn “Lynn” Fleming liked to read, play word games and take trips to the beach. Unfortunately, a June 14 visit to Coquina Beach near Bradenton, Fla., with family members visiting from Pennsylvania, proved fatal when she stumbled, fell in the water and suffered a cut on her...
Route 28 to be reduced to one lane early Wednesday morning
Route 28 will be reduced to a single lane in Springdale and Harmar townships early Wednesday morning. Crews will be conducting demolition work on the Hite Road Bridge, near exit 12, causing single-lane restrictions in both directions. The southbound lanes will be restricted to one lane from 3 a.m. to...
Trump administration abruptly gives up fight over census citizenship question
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration, abruptly switching course, has decided to give up its fight to add a question about citizenship to next year’s census. Word of the decision to give up the fight came initially in an email from a Justice Department attorney to the lawyers who had challenged...
Pittsburgh police charge ‘Chomp’ alligator owner with neglect, animal cruelty
Pittsburgh police on Tuesday charged a Beechview man, who admitted he owned a five-foot alligator who escaped from his home, with 33 counts of neglect. As police probed the case surrounding the rogue reptile named Chomp, they learned that Mark A. McGowan, 44, who lives on Rutherford Avenue, kept reptiles...
UPMC: Visitor brought in bacteria to Children’s Hospital ICU
A visitor to the neonatal intensive care unit at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is believed to have brought in the antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria that spread to six babies and six staff members, a hospital official said Tuesday. The hospital began testing the NICU infants and staff Thursday afternoon after...
‘Walking Dead’ comic series ending with latest issue
The end has finally come for “The Walking Dead.” And no one saw it coming. Entertainment Weekly reports writer Robert Kirkman broke the news on the last page of the latest issue — No. 193 — of the long-running horror comic. “This is the end of The Walking Dead,” Kirkman...
Pa. Senate Republicans issue letter to Lt. Gov. Fetterman over Senate floor chaos
State Senate Republicans issued a letter to Lt. Gov. John Fetterman Tuesday expressing “grave concerns” over what they described as his “dereliction of duty and defiance as the presiding officer of the Senate.” Signed by all 28 Republicans in the state Senate, the letter refers to chaos — shouting, name...
Police investigating bank robbery in Downtown Pittsburgh
One man is in custody and another is being sought after the Tuesday morning robbery of a Downtown bank, Pittsburgh police said. The robbery was reported to police at 10:43 a.m. at the PNC branch in the 200 block of Fifth Avenue. A man approached a teller and passed a...
House committee files lawsuit for Trump tax returns
WASHINGTON — A House committee sued the Trump administration in federal court Tuesday for access to President Donald Trump’s tax returns, setting up a legal showdown over the records. The House Ways and Means Committee said it needs the documents for an investigation into tax law compliance by the president,...
