Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1818
JCPenney to remain open during Century III Mall demolition
Century III mall’s lone tenant, JCPenney, said it would remain “for many years to come” despite the mall owner’s plans to demolish the mall and redevelop the property. “While we don’t provide specific details about our real estate activities, I can tell you that JCPenney is committed to keeping our...
First lady’s spokeswoman to be White House press secretary
WASHINGTON — Melania Trump has announced that her spokeswoman will be the new White House press secretary. Stephanie Grisham, who has been with the Trumps since 2015, will also take on the role of White House communications director. The first lady tweeted Tuesday that she “can think of no better...
Jeannette man arrested on arson charge in connection with April fire
Jeannette police Tuesday arrested a city man they charged last month with arson and related counts in connection with an April 2 fire. Jason Anthony John, 40, was being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on $250,000 bail. Authorities accuse John of setting an abandoned North Third Street home on...
Winning Cash 5 ticket worth $400K sold in Pittsburgh
A jackpot-winning Cash 5 ticket for Monday’s drawing was sold at a Downtown Pittsburgh business. The winner will receive $400,000. The ticket was sold at Faber Coe & Gregg, 500 Grant St. The business will receive $500 for selling the winning ticket. The ticket matched all five balls drawn, 09-10-13-35-36....
Philadelphia police must use transgender person’s chosen name, new policy says
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police must use a person’s chosen name and pronoun when interacting with transgender people, regardless of what is listed on their government-issued identification card. The change is part of a new police department policy announced Tuesday that addresses how police should interact with transgender and non-binary people....
Pittsburgh using autonomous vehicle data to track parking trends in Strip District
Aaron Morris’ first car was a 1987 Pontiac Firebird that he started driving in high school. Now he’s using it to map the congested parking situation in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Morris and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Monday announced that the city will use parking data supplied by Allvision, a...
Officials OK deal with Cincinnati-based developer for Hempfield industrial park
County officials this week approved the potential sale of 13 acres at the Westmoreland Technology Park II in Hempfield to a Cincinnati-based commercial real estate development and design firm. Acting as the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp., county commissioners signed off on the deal to option the property to AI....
Pa. woman uses shovel to kill cobra slithering on her patio
FALLS, Pa. — A Pennsylvania woman used a shovel to kill a cobra she saw slithering on the patio of her apartment. Kathy Kehoe says the squawking of some blue jays outside her unit caught her attention Monday. When she looked outside, she saw a 4 to 5-foot-long serpent. Kehoe,...
Owners of banned fraternity house sue Penn State
More than two years after the February 2017 death of Timothy Piazza, a Penn State student who died of injuries he sustained during an alcohol-fueled fraternity pledge event, the lawsuits just keep coming. The Associated Press is reporting the fraternity corporation that owns the shuttered Beta Theta Pi fraternity house...
Pittsburgh ranks among top 20 places to celebrate Fourth of July
Pittsburghers get ready — the city made the Top 20 list of best places to celebrate the Fourth of July out of 100 United States cities. According to WalletHub, a personal credit tech site, Pittsburgh ranked 20th, coming in behind Orlando and before Minneapolis. The site uses a list of...
Rivers Casino launches online sportsbook
Think the Steelers will bring home the Vince Lombardi trophy this year? You can place your bet online now. Western Pennsylvania’s first online sportsbook — BetRivers.com — launched Tuesday through Rivers Casino and sports betting provider Rush Street Interactive. Fans can now bet on the go, with all the features...
Authorities: Pa. man built bomb to warn about alien threat
MYERSTOWN — Authorities say a man who allegedly put a bomb in a parking lot behind a Pennsylvania hotel told them he did it to warn police about aliens bent on destroying the planet. State troopers responded to the Bahney House in Myerstown on Sunday. They discovered a suspicious package...
Pittsburgh closes sections of sidewalk along scenic Mt. Washington
Pittsburgh has closed several sections of cantilevered sidewalk as a safety precaution along scenic Grandview Avenue in Mt. Washington and expects to spend up to $1 million this year on repairs. Grandview’s four observation decks remain open. Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith of Westwood, who represents Mt. Washington, said structural pillars underneath...
Police: Man shot and killed trying to force way into Crescent house
A Crescent Township resident shot and killed a man who forced his way into a home overnight, Allegheny County police said. The victim is Corey Laguardia, 22, of Hopewell, according to the medical examiner’s office. Homicide detectives responded to the call just after midnight from a home in the 1000...
Podcast part 2: Chris Long recalls ‘shenanigans’ as a kid, college recruiting
Recently retired NFL veteran Chris Long talks about the “shenanigans” he got into with friends while growing up, the value of hard work as a three-sport athlete in high school and getting recruited before settling on Virginia during Part 2 of this week’s “Huddle Up with Gus” podcast. Long, son...
Trump: Woman who accused him of sexual assault not his ‘type’Video
WASHINGTON — President Trump said Monday that a New York-based advice columnist who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in a New York City department store in the mid-1990s is not his “type.” “I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never...
2 Harmar juvenile bald eagles test their wings around Route 28
The tree line and rock face along Route 28 in Harmar have become eagle central as two juvenile eagles fresh out of the nest above the busy highway flit about with their parents. The birds officially graduated, flying for the first time on Saturday, according to the Audubon Society of...
Vandals deface memorial to slain Pittsburgh officer Paul Sciullo II at parents’ home
Vandals defaced a memorial plaque outside the home of Sue and Max Sciullo, parents of slain Pittsburgh police officer Paul Sciullo II, authorities said Monday. The plaque memorializing their son, killed alongside two fellow officers in an ambush in Stanton Heights in 2009, is affixed to a railing on the...
Trump order pushes for disclosure of secret health care pricesVideo
WASHINGTON — President Trump called for hospitals to disclose to patients up front how much they charge for tests, surgeries and other procedures, in an executive order he signed Monday. The federal regulations Trump is calling for push forward a relatively simple idea: that patients should know how much hospitals...
Peduto ‘concerned’ about narcotics, vice squads in wake of South Side bar brawl
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police had no written policy for drinking on the job by undercover detectives, but immediately enacted guidelines following a brawl in a South Side bar between officers and members of the Pagans motorcycle gang, a city official said Monday. Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said an...
Greensburg Salem to pay $140,000 in secret settlement with unnamed former employee
The Greensburg Salem School District will pay $140,000 to a former employee in a legal settlement that’s being kept under wraps. The school board approved the settlement and the employee’s resignation at last week’s meeting. The employee was not named, and details of the settlement were not publicized. Officials said...
Trump signs order imposing new sanctions on Iran, warns U.S. restraint is limitedVideo
President Trump, warning that U.S. “restraint” has limits, signed an executive order Monday imposing additional economic sanctions on Iran in apparent retaliation for the downing of a U.S. drone last week. Trump said the new “hard-hitting” sanctions will deny Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other top officials access...
Editorial: UPMC, Highmark still need permanent solution
Break out the champagne. The crisis has been averted. No, not the tensions surrounding U.S. and Iranian relations. No, not North Korea. It’s not the war on drugs or the war on terror or even the war on Christmas. The peace treaty on the table is between Highmark and UPMC....
Many patients celebrate UPMC-Highmark agreement, but some remain skeptical
Thousands of patients across Western Pennsylvania breathed a unified sigh of relief after hearing news of a deal being struck between UPMC and Highmark. Kathy and Jack Swanger watched Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s news conference live on television from their home in New Kensington. “In some ways, it’s like...
Pa. adds Tree-of-Heaven to noxious weeds list, bans sales to combat spotted lanternfly
Members of the Pennsylvania Noxious Weeds Committee are hoping that adding a new species to its list will help address another invasive issue: the spotted lanternfly. The committee has added Tree-of-Heaven to the state’s Class B noxious weeds list. “Class B includes species that are so widespread, it would be...
