Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1844
Artwork on Downtown parking garage is a who’s who of famous Pittsburghers
Pittsburgh has collaborated with the owners of a Stanwix Street building to transform nine stories of the facade into a virtual who’s who of famous Pittsburghers. The public art piece dubbed “We Are Pittsburgh” consists of 20 banners with the pixelated images of well known personalities such as Andrew Carnegie,...
Man traveling from Colombia ingests 246 bags of cocaine, dies midflight
A passenger of Japanese origin died midflight from Colombia to Japan after ingesting hundreds of bags of cocaine, authorities said. The man, identified only as Udo N., 42, began suffering seizures Friday on the flight, prompting an emergency landing in Hermosillo, a city in Sonora, Mexico, authorities said. Upon landing,...
Pennsylvania starting to make moves on plastic bag bans
Regional grocery chains Giant Eagle and Shop ’n Save are starting to get their feet wet in the anti-plastic bag movement — an initiative Kroger recently took by storm after vowing to eliminate the single-use plastic from their stores by 2025. Each year, more than 380 billion plastic bags and...
Petition launched to bring back Heinz ketchup to Kennywood
Sometimes, you just have to take a stand. In an effort to get Heinz ketchup back at Kennywood Park, Will Koz — at least that’s the username — is doing just that. Koz launched a Change.org petition to restore the park’s condiment situation. “In the past few months Kennywood Park...
Tornado watch issued for most of Western Pa.
A line of storms moved through Western Pennsylvania on Tuesday, dropping rain and hail in some places and spurring a lookout for tornadoes in all but three counties. The National Weather Service issued warnings for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes until 4:30 p.m. in Armstrong and Indiana counties as the system...
3 people die in Pennsylvania ATV wrecks over holiday weekend
ALLENTOWN — Three people died in accidents involving all-terrain vehicles over the Memorial Day weekend in Pennsylvania. A 45-year-old North Wales man died early Monday when his ATV overturned on a road in Foster Township, Luzerne County. On Sunday, a 54-year-old man and a 52-year-old man died in Triumph Township,...
Report: Pennsylvania must do more to help Chesapeake Bay
NORFOLK, Va. — A nonprofit that tracks pollution in the Chesapeake Bay is once again lambasting Pennsylvania for not doing enough to protect the nation’s largest estuary. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation released a report Tuesday that says Pennsylvania’s plan to reduce pollution is “woefully inadequate.” States are tasked with keeping...
Commentary: UFOs exist, and everyone needs to adjust to that fact
The term “UFO” automatically triggers derision in most quarters of polite society. One of Christopher Buckley’s better satires, “Little Green Men,” is premised on a George F. Will-type pundit thinking that he has been abducted by aliens, with amusing results. UFOs have historically been associated with crackpot ideas like Big...
Is climate change to blame for booming tick population? Will diseases increase?
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the number of tick-borne diseases is increasing at a record pace while the geographic range of ticks continues to expand. Lyme disease is the most commonly-known tick-borne disease, but other diseases, such as ehrlichiosis and STARI, have been discovered and the...
Thousands of kindergartners unvaccinated without waivers
COLUMBUS, Ohio — States are heatedly debating whether to make it more difficult for students to avoid vaccinations for religious or philosophical reasons amid the worst measles outbreak in decades, but schoolchildren using such waivers are outnumbered in many states by those who give no excuse at all for lacking...
Cops: Somerset County meth lab discovered after explosion
An explosion which sent a suspected drug manufacturer to the hospital, brought investigators to his meth lab in Somerset County, according to state police. Zachary Maust, 33, of Berlin Township, allegedly was in his father’s garage in Brothersvalley Township on May 18, making meth using the “one-pot method,” which involves...
Trump wishes ‘happy Memorial Day’ to U.S., Japanese troops
ABOARD THE USS WASP — President Donald Trump on Tuesday wished “Happy Memorial Day” to U.S. service members aboard an American assault ship docked in Japan. They shouted “U.S.A. U.S.A.” Trump called them a “tough bunch of people” and dubbed them “daring and mighty warriors in the Pacific.” The president...
Overnight Ohio tornadoes leave trail of destruction
BROOKVILLE, Ohio — A rapid-fire line of apparent tornadoes tore across Indiana and Ohio overnight, packed so closely together that one crossed the path carved by another. There were no immediate reports of any deaths or serious injuries in the twisters, among 52 tornadoes that may have touched down Monday...
Man dead, teen injured in Pittsburgh Hill District shooting
One man is dead and a 15-year-old girl is injured after a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, according to the Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety. Police were called to the Bedford Dwellings apartment complex on Chauncey Drive just before 11 p.m. Monday for a report of shots fired. They found...
Benefit headliner Sheila E. says Pittsburghers are ‘so cordial’
When drummer Sheila E. was 15 years old, her father’s band needed a percussionist. One of the members was ill and not able to perform at the show in San Francisco, Calif. Sheila E. told her dad she could step in. “He wasn’t for that, but when my mom told...
Artist has left her mark all over Pittsburgh for decades
The Sarris Candies store in Canonsburg is artist Maria DeSimone Prascak’s Sistine Chapel. Over the years, she’s transformed the shop and adjoining ice cream parlor into a colorful candyland using paint, clay, papier-mache and crystal embellishments. Prascak’s brush has touched 450 feet of murals, two columns, three ceiling domes, five...
Cora Lee Cupcakes welcomes customers with desserts everyone can enjoyVideo
Editor’s note: Building the Valley tells stories of businesses big and small and the employees who make them special. If you know of any standout employees, bosses or companies with a great story to tell, contact reporter Madasyn Czebiniak at mczebiniak@tribweb.com Not all sweets are, well, sweet. Some can be...
Knife-wielding man attacks schoolgirls in Japan, killing 2
KAWASAKI, Japan — A man carrying a knife in each hand and screaming “I will kill you!” attacked a group of schoolgirls and adults as he walked toward a school bus parked at a bus stop just outside Tokyo on Tuesday, killing two and injuring 16 before killing himself, officials...
Frazer police: 1,029 THC cartridges worth nearly $61K in West Deer man’s car
A West Deer man faces drug charges after Frazer police said they found more than 1,000 highly potent THC cartridges with an estimated street value of nearly $62,000 in the back seat of his car during a traffic stop Monday afternoon. Police stopped a car driven by Adam Stephen Viale,...
WW II veteran, 101, throws Memorial Day party in Lower Burrell
Bill Tingle’s ears perked as his daughter called out, “Dad, look, there’s a kid waving to you.” “Thanks for your service!” shouted a young boy with a toothy grin from the backseat of a car driving by along Leechburg Road, minutes after the city’s annual Memorial Day parade came to...
Unity Army veteran: Talking helps war trauma survivorsVideo
Thomas Abraham knows intimately about the psychological costs of war. As a young man, the Unity veteran led even younger men, many still in their teens, while serving as a captain in the Army’s 173rd Airborne Battalion in Vietnam. After the West Point graduate was transferred within the battalion, “most...
New research shows Pittsburgh to be birthplace of pro hockey
A historical marker on Pittsburgh’s North Side denotes the spot of the first professional football game played, coming in 1892. If Perrysville native John Schalcosky has his way, a similar marker soon will be erected in Oakland, noting the city as the birthplace of professional hockey, as well. Schalcosky is...
Bill Buckner, forever known for error in 1986 World Series, dies at 69Video
BOSTON — Bill Buckner, a star hitter who became known for making one of the most infamous plays in major league history, died Monday. He was 69. He died after a long battle with Lewy body dementia, Buckner’s family said in a statement. The disease causes Alzheimer’s-like symptoms along with...
Officials: 2 tornadoes hit Saturday in Indiana County
Two tornadoes touched down in Indiana County over the weekend, damaging a home and uprooting trees, the National Weather Service confirmed Monday. Meteorologists said a tornado with a wind speed of up to 90 mph touched down just before 8:30 p.m. Saturday along High Rise Drive in Burrell Township. It...
Pa. lawmakers report $83K in travel on annual ethics disclosures
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania state lawmakers’ newly filed ethics forms show they accepted more than $83,000 in free trips last year and collected a variety of gifts, booze and free meals. That’s just the value that lawmakers reported, and they are not required to disclose everything they accept in a state...
