Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1912
Trump keeps a sharp focus on Ohio for 2020 campaign
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is returning to the state that foretold his 2016 victory and serves as the linchpin of his re-election effort. Trump’s visit to Ohio on Wednesday marks his first trip to the state since last year’s midterm election campaign , when the state was a rare...
Shifting hopes as Republicans and Democrats await Mueller
WASHINGTON — It’s a witch hunt, a vendetta, the worst presidential harassment in history. That’s what President Donald Trump has shouted for two years about the special counsel’s Russia probe. Now, barring an eleventh-hour surprise, Trump and his allies are starting to see it as something potentially very different: a...
California man, 96, found in home with hundreds of rats
OJAI, Calif. — A Southern California woman is in custody after deputies discovered her 96-year-old father and multiple pets living in a home stinking of feces and infested with up to 700 rats, authorities said Tuesday. Catherine Ann Vandermaesen, 65, was arrested on suspicion of felony elder abuse and misdemeanor...
4 DUI arrests on St. Patrick’s Day weekend reported by Laurel Highlands task force
Members of the Laurel Highlands DUI Task Force made four driving under the influence arrests during St. Patrick’s Day weekend, according to a post on Latrobe Police Department’s Facebook page. The task force did roving patrols from Friday to Sunday and stopped 92 vehicles. They issued five citations for underage...
Disney closes $71B deal for Fox entertainment assets
Disney has closed its $71 billion acquisition of Fox’s entertainment business, putting “Cinderella,” ”The Simpsons,” ”Star Wars” and “Dr. Strange” under one corporate roof. The deal is likely to shake up the media landscape. Among other things, it paves the way for Disney to launch its streaming service, Disney Plus,...
Multi-car crash snarls Parkway West in Carnegie
A multi-vehicle crash briefly closed one lane of the Parkway West in Carnegie Wednesday morning. ACCIDENT: Parkway West Outbound at Carnegie. Left lane blocked. LIVE look at @WPXI at 6:09 AM. @JenniferTomazic pic.twitter.com/xExJoc15cn— WPXI Traffic (@WPXITraffic) March 20, 2019 It is unknown if there were any injuries in the crash,...
Cops: Burglars break into Hempfield convenience store
State police are looking for two burglars who in broke into a Hempfield convenience store through the front window. According to police, the unknown men broke through the window of the Speedy Mart on West Point Drive around 11 p.m. March 2. The men made off with unspecified merchandise. Anyone...
Testimony concludes on Day 2 of Rosfeld trial; prosecution could rest Thursday
The homicide trial of former East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld is continuing Wednesday. Proceedings got underway around 9 a.m. in Room 313 of the Allegheny County Courthouse. Rosfeld is accused of shooting Antwon Rose II three times as he ran from a June 19 traffic stop in East Pittsburgh....
Police in Penn Hills detain man in connection with East Hills shooting
Police have detained a man in Penn Hills in connection with the shooting of a man in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood Wednesday afternoon. Shortly after 4 p.m., police responded to a report of a shooting in a residential area on Wilner Drive north of Robinson Boulevard, Department of Public Safety...
Floodwaters threaten millions in crop and livestock losses
DES MOINES — Farmer Jeff Jorgenson looks out over 750 acres of cropland submerged beneath the swollen Missouri River, and he knows he probably won’t plant this year. But that’s not his biggest worry. He and other farmers have worked until midnight for days to move grain, equipment and fuel...
Pittsburgh man pleads guilty to buying thousands of Xanax pills via ‘Darknet’
A Pittsburgh man admitted to buying more than 10,000 doses of Xanax on the so-called “dark web” and plotting to sell the drug to addicts for a $10,000 profit, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. James Robert Czachowski, 22, faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine up...
Day 1 of Rosfeld trial concludes with testimony from witnesses to Rose shooting
It was Michael Rosfeld’s tone that caught Lashaun Livingston’s attention. She said it was difficult to hear what then-Officer Rosfeld said to the driver and two passengers of the 2014 gold Chevy Cruise he’d stopped on East Pittsburgh’s Grandview Avenue, but the tone rang through. It was harsh and angry,...
New turn restrictions in effect near Riverview High School, Oakmont Bakery
Oakmont police and Riverview School District officials said new turning restrictions along Hulton Road by the high school are making a positive impact on traffic. “It’s been much better,” police Chief Michael Ford said Tuesday. “The school is happy with all enforcement efforts.” Westbound motorists on Hulton Road who are...
Jury: Roundup weed killer major factor in man’s cancer
SAN FRANCISCO — Roundup weed killer was a substantial factor in a California man’s cancer, a jury determined Tuesday in the first phase of a trial that attorneys said could help determine the fate of hundreds of similar lawsuits. The unanimous verdict by the six-person jury in federal court in...
Judge orders Winghart’s out of Westmoreland Mall for failing to pay back rent
Winghart’s Burger Beer & Whiskey Bar must “immediately vacate” its space behind Westmoreland Mall in Hempfield because it owes the mall about $91,150 in rent and costs dating back two years, a Westmoreland County judge ruled. Judge Chris Scherer last week granted mall owner CBL/Westmoreland L.P. the right to take...
Construction of Odin View Apartments in Hempfield expected to begin this spring
Westmoreland County Housing Authority officials have the additional $1 million needed to build a low-income senior citizen housing complex in Hempfield. Construction of the proposed Odin View Apartments is expected to begin this spring now that the last portion of funding needed for the $13.1 million project has been secured....
Plum man charged with raping child, 11
A Plum man has been charged with raping an 11-year-old girl. Isaac P. Parker, 27, is accused of first raping the girl in 2016 and continuing to do so five times that year, according a criminal complaint filed against him in January. Plum police were first contacted by a friend...
Rep. Devin Nunes sues for $250 million over parody Twitter accountVideo
WASHINGTON — A parody Twitter account purporting to be owned by an unhappy cow living on one of Rep. Devin Nunes’ Iowa farms attacked the California Republican as a “treasonous cowpoke” and “udder-ly worthless” during the 2018 campaign. Now Nunes wants $250 million in damages from Twitter for failing to...
19-year-old killed in Parkway West crash identified
The 19-year-old woman who died after a chain-reaction crash on the Parkway West Tuesday afternoon has been identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office. Victoria Elizabeth Brandt, of South Park, died at the hospital after being thrown from a Honda Sedan. The sedan’s driver, an 18-year-old-man, fled on foot...
Judge considers extra time for discovery in Tree of Life murder case
A judge overseeing the federal prosecution of accused Tree of Life gunman Robert Bowers on Tuesday agreed to consider granting attorneys an additional 120 days to trade evidence. Bowers, 46, who is being held without bond, did not appear for the short status conference in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh’s...
Sheriff’s deputies seize $1,700, heroin while serving arrest warrant
A New Derry woman is facing drug charges after Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies seized $1,750 and heroin from her Monday, according to court papers. Deputies were picking up Rachel Carol Johns, 37, at a Unity home on an arrest warrant when they noticed a needle and other drug paraphernalia in...
Online fundraiser collecting money for Rosfeld defense as trial starts
An online fundraiser established to help former East Pittsburgh police Officer Michael Rosfeld pay for his defense raised at least $400 during the first morning of his trial Tuesday. The fundraiser on the site Funded Justice appears to have been started by Rosfeld’s wife, Michelle. “Since Michael is no longer...
Passengers restrain woman who tried to open plane door during flight
ROMULUS, Mich. — Officials say fellow passengers restrained a woman after she allegedly tried to open an exit during a flight from Indianapolis to Detroit. Detroit Metropolitan Airport spokeswoman Erica Donerson says the woman may have been suffering from a medical issue. Donerson says the woman was restrained until the...
Ford shifting 550 jobs to boost SUV production in Kentucky
Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will shift 550 jobs to its Kentucky Truck Plant to boost production of its Expedition and Lincoln Navigator vehicles to meet growing demand for its large SUVs. Growing sales for the Expedition and Navigator are driving a 20 percent production boost at the Louisville...
West Virginia lawsuit accuses diocese of knowingly employing pedophilesVideo
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey sued the Catholic diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and its former bishop Michael Bransfield on Tuesday, charging that they “knowingly employed pedophiles and failed to conduct adequate background checks” for people working in Catholic schools and camps, a news release from Morrisey’s office says. The lawsuit,...
