Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1831
Photos of travelers taken in data breach, Customs and Border Protection saysVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Monday that photos of travelers had been compromised as part of a “malicious cyberattack,” raising concerns over how federal officials’ expanding surveillance efforts could imperil Americans’ privacy. Customs officials said in a statement Monday that the images, which included photos of...
Driver sentenced up to 40 years in prison for fatal Christmas Eve crash in East Huntingdon
Jolene Cummins said Christmas was always a joyful day for her family. That changed on Christmas Eve 2016, when her husband of 25 years was killed as he ran that afternoon with his dog near the family’s home in East Huntingdon. Police say the man driving the car that hit...
2 people shot in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood
Two people were rushed to a local hospital after being shot in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood Monday afternoon. Police said they responded to a ShotSpotter notification of multiple gunshots around 4:30 p.m. along the 400 block of Larimer Avenue. Multiple calls to 911 for gunfire also were received. Police and EMS...
Bill calls for elimination of property taxes collected by Pa. school districts
Property taxes collected by school districts across the state could be a thing of the past if a new bill passes. Introduced by Rep. Pam Snyder (D-Fayette/Greene/Washington), along with state Reps. Marcia Hahn (R-Northampton) and Rosemary M. Brown (R-Monroe/Pike), the bill would enable districts to exclude up to 100% of...
Judge denies accused cop killer Rahmael Holt’s request for outside jury
Jury selection in the capital murder trial of Rahmael Sal Holt will begin in Westmoreland County, but could be moved to another county if finding impartial jurors proves to be too difficult, a judge ruled Monday. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway rejected a defense request to move...
John Dean calls Mueller report ‘road map’ for Trump investigationVideo
WASHINGTON — John Dean, a star witness during Watergate who helped bring down the Nixon presidency, testified Monday that special counsel Robert Mueller has provided Congress with a “road map” for investigating President Trump. He told the House Judiciary Committee he saw parallels between Mueller’s findings and those of congressional...
Animals stranded in broken trailer on Parkway East rescued by county officer
Animals bound for home north of Pittsburgh had to spend the night at stables in Allegheny County’s South Park after their trailer broke down on the Parkway East. The three miniature horses, four lambs and four goats were in a trailer headed to Franklin, about 85 miles north of Pittsburgh,...
5-county United Way sees growth in services, outreach in 2018
The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania continues to set records in the number of people it helps. An estimated 480,831 people received assistance in 2018 as a result of United Way programs or collaborations with other agencies, according to the recently released 2018 annual report. That number represents a 16%...
Leaning South Side home was condemned, should be demolished soon
A South Side house that appears to be tipping over should be demolished shortly, city officials said. The two-story structure was posted with a notice of imminent danger in February and charges were filed in March against Soroka Sales Inc., which owns the leaning building at 140 S. 25th St....
Cops: Sandwich wasn’t enough — inmate attacked for not giving up cookie, banana
Everybody knows that the cookie is always the best part of a bagged lunch. So, when one inmate wouldn’t give his up to another inmate, you can imagine what happened next. Or maybe you can’t. An Indiana County inmate, who had already handed over his sandwich, refused to part with...
AG Shapiro begins making case for blocking UPMC-Highmark split
HARRISBURG — Three types of patients never were supposed to be affected by the insurance network split of UPMC and Highmark — children, the poor and seniors, Jim Donahue of the Pennsylvania Attorney’s General Office said Monday in Commonwealth Court. State officials decided to intervene in the clash of Western...
Helicopter crashes on roof of Manhattan skyscraper; pilot killedVideo
NEW YORK — A helicopter crashed on the roof of a rain-shrouded midtown Manhattan skyscraper Monday, killing the pilot and briefly triggering memories of 9/11, after an erratic trip across some of the nation’s most restricted airspace. Authorities said they did not suspect terrorism. The crash near Times Square and...
Convicted Pa. sex offenders targeted in new telephone scam
Telephone scammers have found a new target in Pennsylvania: registered sex offenders. Pennsylvania State Police issued a warning Monday, saying there has been an increase in fraud reports throughout the state from individuals required to register as sex offenders. Police say the sex offenders are being conned into wiring immediate...
Largely unregulated, facial-recognition technology comes to airport gates
NEW YORK — You won’t need to pull out your ticket to board the flight to Cancun at JetBlue’s Gate 18 at John F. Kennedy Airport. Put away your passport, too. All this convenience costs is your face. You get only one of those, so I hope it’s worth it....
Cleveland area rocked by 4.0-magnitude earthquake
Residents in the Cleveland metro area got a jolt on Monday morning. The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 4.0 earthquake was registered at 10:55 a.m., centered in Lake Erie, just off the shore of Eastlake, Ohio. USGS The USGS received hundreds of reports from the surrounding area, and as...
Podcast part 4: Kevin Rabbitt discusses life after basketball
Kevin Rabbitt’s company, Harmar-based NEP Group, is behind the scenes of many sporting events you watch. But his post-athletic career started much differently. Rabbitt, an Overland Park, Kan., native, is chairman and CEO of NEP Group, a worldwide outsourced technical production partner that supports producers for live sports and entertainment....
National Aviary’s Andean Condor chick dies 2 days after hatching
A rare Andean Condor chick that hatched at the National Aviary Friday has died. The aviary said it determined the chick had not survived after observing “abnormal parenting behavior” by the male condor, Lurch, on Sunday morning, officials said in a statement. “It is normal parenting behavior for the male...
Cops: West Newton man awaiting trial accused of assaulting woman
A 38-year-old man awaiting trial for allegedly endangering his infant daughter by withholding medical treatment was arrested Saturday and charged with assaulting a woman and threatening her with a knife inside his West Newton home, according to court documents. Robert J. Aquilina is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment...
Security tightened after thefts at Three Rivers Arts Festival
Theft sometimes happens at art shows. And when it does, it always hurts, because it feels like the thief stole a piece of the artist along with the work, said Robert Walker, who was selling original oil and acrylic paintings Monday from a booth in Gateway Center at the Three...
Man paralyzed in Knoxville shooting dies 20 years later
A man shot and paralyzed 20 years ago in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood died Sunday, according to the medical examiner’s office. Omar Patterson was 15 when he was shot in the chest as he walked down Sylvania Way, an alley near his home, shortly before 6 p.m. on Feb. 11, 1999....
Seagull photobombs, steals woman’s lobster roll
Alicia Jessop knew Friday was going to be a memorable day, but she didn’t realize it would be one she’d never forget. The 34-year-old Pepperdine University professor planned to finally visit New England, hitting some of the last seven states she’d never been to, and try her first-ever lobster roll....
Canada to ban single-use plastics
TORONTO — Canada will ban single-use plastics as early as 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday. Trudeau said the specific items to be banned will be determined based on a science-based review, but the government is considering items such as water bottles, plastic bags and straws. “As early as...
Jury selection begins in Armstrong sex abuse case involving former fire chief
Jury selection was scheduled to start Monday in an Armstrong County courtroom for one of the men accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old mentally disabled boy in 2016. Mark Alan Feeney, 56, who was a former chief of the East Franklin Volunteer Fire Department, is accused of statutory sexual assault,...
Seniors more likely to work longer in big metropolitan areas
CHICAGO — Seniors in major metropolitan areas, especially in the Northeast and around Washington, D.C., are more likely to continue working past age 65 than those in other areas around the country, according to an analysis of Census data by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. “Those are...
Pennsylvania ranked as 8th most ‘fun’ state
Who isn’t up for a bit of fun? But what is fun? We all define fun differently, and that’s the point behind a new survey that ranks our great 50 states in order of their fun factor. WalletHub has crunched a lot of numbers — attractions, restaurants, golf courses, beaches,...
