Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1897
Cheswick approves police merger with Springdale Township
The proposed Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department took another step toward reality Thursday night. Cheswick Council voted unanimously to approve a merger of police services with neighboring Springdale Township. Soon, Springdale Township will take a similar vote that, if it passes, would make the merger happen. The combined force could...
Trump tweets video mocking Biden over contact with women
One day after Joe Biden posted a video acknowledging that his past behavior had made women uncomfortable, President Donald Trump tweeted out a parody video Thursday in which a second Biden approaches the former vice president from behind, puts his hands on his shoulders and appears to sniff his hair....
Firefighter saves woman in New Kensington fire, 2nd woman jumps from window
Several New Kensington residents were left homeless, a woman was hurt and a dog died when fire broke out Thursday afternoon at an apartment house along Seventh Street. One of the residents credits a firefighter who, by chance, was driving by with saving her life. The fire broke out in...
TSA: Irwin man had loaded gun in carry-on bag at Pittsburgh airport
Federal security officers on Thursday said they stopped an Irwin man from bringing a loaded handgun onto a plane at Pittsburgh International Airport. It is the eighth gun found at the airport this year, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The .380-caliber handgun, loaded with six bullets, was in the...
Derry woman accused of filming sex acts with 4-year-old boy
A 32-year-old Derry woman was arraigned Thursday on child pornography charges after state police alleged her cellphone contained videos of her in sexually explicit positions with a 4-year-old boy. Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Department deputies located Tiffany M. Beeman at a drug rehabilitation facility in Greensburg, where she was arrested. Troopers...
Westmoreland pays $75K for fall at nursing home
Westmoreland County agreed Thursday to pay nearly $75,000 in state and federal fines imposed after a resident was injured last year at the county-owned nursing home. Those fines were issued following a state inspection last May at Westmoreland Manor, which revealed a nurse’s aide improperly attempted to lift a patient...
Vandergrift man charged in wreck that seriously injured a Leechburg woman
Allegheny Township police are accusing a Vandergrift man of causing a wreck that seriously injured a Leechburg woman. Brett William Mego, 23, of Sherman Avenue is charged with aggravated assault by vehicle and 13 related offenses in connection with a March 22 wreck along South Leechburg Hill Road in which,...
Homicide charge filed after woman dies in McKees Rocks Bridge crash
A McKees Rocks man has been charged with homicide after a woman injured in a crash police say he caused two months ago died this week. Allegheny County police filed charges Thursday against Christopher Vuckovich, 39. Police said Vuckovich was driving eastbound on the bridge at 62 mph in a...
Luke Skywalker put on ‘trial’ for murders in Death Star destruction
It may well be the trial of the millennium. A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Luke Skywalker is accused of 5,999 counts of murder — when on May 25, 1977, and during innumerable repeats thereafter — he destroyed the Death Star in “Star Wars.” The...
Man claims Pittsburgh K-9 attacked him, witness says it was his fault
Pittsburgh would pay a North Side man $5,400 to settle a federal lawsuit alleging a city police dog attacked and injured him after he reported a 2016 break-in at an auto shop. The shop owner, however, said the man — not the dog — was at fault for being bitten....
California shoplifter stuffs chain saw down his pantsVideo
A man stretched the limits of shoplifting, and his waistband, when he slid a chainsaw down his pants in a California store. Jeff Bennett of RG Equipment in Fresno told the Fresno Bee his security camera caught the suspect Wednesday stuffing the chainsaw blade in his pants and then covering...
Ozzy Osbourne injury delays 2019 Pittsburgh show
First Mick Jagger, now Ozzy Osbourne. Another septuagenarian British rock star has had to postpone a tour due to health reasons. Osbourne announced Thursday he is postponing all of his 2019 tour dates in North America and Europe, including a June 13 appearance at Key Bank Pavilion in Burgettstown, because...
Pittsburgh gun bills have little chance in courts, legal experts say
Legal experts gave Pittsburgh good marks for creativity in crafting ordinances aimed at regulating firearms in the city but said the bills have little chance of surviving the legal challenges that are sure to come. The courts might uphold some provisions in the package of bills, but the city would...
U.S. Steel: Equipment damaged in Clairton Coke Works fire repairedVideo
Desulfurization equipment at the Clairton Coke Works facility is back online and operational after over three months of repairs, U.S. Steel announced Thursday. The equipment has been down since a Dec. 24 fire at the facility caused significant damage and hindered the plant’s ability to clean coke oven gas, a...
Judge rejects lawsuit over Pennsylvania turnpike toll hikes
HARRISBURG — A federal judge is dismissing a lawsuit over Pennsylvania Turnpike toll increases that are financing payments to help fund transit agencies. U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane ruled Thursday that a truckers’ organization didn’t adequately argue that the scheme violates the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution or the...
No bail for Pittsburgh man accused of beating grandson with belt
A judge Thursday denied bail for a Pittsburgh man who police say beat his grandson with a belt inside a school classroom after the boy misbehaved. Police said Harold Coates, 52, beat the boy in front of teachers in a Propel School classroom in the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood. Coates told...
California woman fired from job after MAGA hat flap
A California woman who berated a man wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and encouraged others to “get this guy!” has been fired from her job. The confrontation began Monday at a Starbucks, according to the man who identified himself to NBC Bay Area as Victor. “This woman comes...
PNC Park apparently drops the ball, runs out of hot dog buns on ‘Buc Night’
PNC Park staged a hot promotion Wednesday to lure fans back after the Pirates dropped their Home Opener on Monday. Admission to the game on Buc Night was $1. Hot dogs were $1. Fountain drinks were $1 off. What more could a fan want? Buns. Organizers apparently miscalculated and ran...
Mt. Pleasant Twp. man KISSes $375 goodbye in concert ticket scam
A Mt. Pleasant Township man who wanted to attend the KISS Farewell Tour concert Saturday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh said goodbye to $375 in an online ticket scam, according to state police. The victim, who was not identified, bought three tickets for $125 each through someone who posted...
‘It hurts 10 years later’: Officers killed in Stanton Heights ambush honoredVideo
A decade of blue carnations and moments of silence, of “Taps” and bagpipes and of the same somber final roll call each year around 7:03 a.m. hasn’t lessened the pain. Hundreds of Pittsburgh police officers gathered Thursday at the city’s Zone 5 station — the “fightin’ fifth,” the sign out...
Arrest revives security concerns at Trump’s Florida estate
PALM BEACH, Fla. — As palm trees swayed in the ocean breeze, Yujing Zhang approached Secret Service agents in the Mar-a-Lago parking lot. She said she was going to the swimming pool at the Palm Beach presidential estate and presented agents with two Chinese passports in her name. That raised...
Bethel Park police looking for man accused of trying to lure children with candy
Bethel Park police are investigating a report of a man attempting to lure children toward his car with candy. Police said between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the man approached several children in an apartment complex on Highfield Court. The suspect is described as a white male in his...
Woman dies after vehicle crashes into two homes in Fayette County
A 31-year-old Hopwood woman died early Thursday when her vehicle crashed into two houses in South Union Township, state police said. The woman was identified as Tiffany Minerd by Trooper Lauren Vernail. The crash occurred about 1:20 a.m. at 564 East Main Street. We're Following the CLOSURE of East Main...
Police: Fire at vacant Jeannette home intentionally set
State police have determined that a fire at a vacant home in Jeannette Tuesday afternoon was intentionally set. Firefighters were called to 133 N. Third St. just before 1 p.m. and found heavy fire in the back of the second floor that had moved into the attic, fire Chief Bill...
Penn State podcast: Bracket busters, Beaver Stadium memories and Blue-White preview
On this week’s show, Kevin helps teach the cast what a $250 bottle of beer tastes like (spoiler: not worth $250!), and the guys dig into a bracket-busting upsets in the Penn State Creamery’s Flavor Madness Tournament. Bracket-themed contests abound, as Champs in downtown State College battles to be named...
