Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1933
GOP congressman Matt Gaetz taunts Michael Cohen ahead of public hearing
WASHINGTON — A House Republican taunted former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen ahead of a congressional hearing, suggesting in a tweet that the public appearance will expose damaging personal information about Cohen. Florida Republican Matt Gaetz tweeted, without offering any evidence Tuesday, that the world is “about to learn a lot”...
Gilpin supervisors ask Diebold to resign as constable
Gilpin supervisors want former Leechburg police Chief Michael Diebold to resign as the township’s constable. “This is due to his felony status. We don’t feel he is fit for constable,” said Supervisors Chairman Charles Stull. Diebold, 41, was sentenced to nine to 23 months in jail after pleading guilty in...
Western Pennsylvania weighs in as Methodists uphold church LGBTQ bans
United Methodists from Western Pennsylvania were split on the idea of their church embracing homosexuality — about as split as the vote that struck down the idea Tuesday. During a special session of the church’s General Conference, members, by a 374-449 vote, rejected a proposal that would have allowed local...
Eat’n Park expands its fish and Lent optionsVideo
Eat’n Park is gearing up for fish season and Lent. “Going out for fish during Lent is a family tradition,” Kevin O’Connell, Eat’n Park’s chief marketing officer said at a news conference Tuesday at the Waterfront in Homestead. “There are over 100 other choices for fried fish, so we added...
United Methodist delegates defeat bid to ease LGBT bans
ST. LOUIS — The United Methodist Church, America’s second-largest Protestant denomination, faces a likely surge in defections and acts of defiance as a result of delegates at a crucial conference Tuesday rejected a move to ease the faith’s ban on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBT clergy. Some supporters of...
Sex assault trial begins Wednesday against former Pittsburgh restaurateur
Testimony is scheduled to begin Wednesday in the trial against a Pittsburgh restaurateur accused of breaking in to a woman’s South Side Slopes home and sexually assaulting her in her bed. Adnan Pehlivan, who owned Regent Square’s now-shuttered Istanbul Sofra restaurant, is accused of following the woman home from a...
U.S. disrupted Internet access of Russian troll factory on day of 2018 midterms
The U.S. military blocked Internet access to an infamous Russian entity seeking to sow discord among Americans during the 2018 midterms, several U.S. officials said, a warning that the group’s operations against the United States are not cost-free. The strike on the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, a company...
Man rescued from elevator shaft in Mt. Washington
Pittsburgh emergency responders rescued a man Tuesday from the bottom of a four-story elevator shaft at a house under construction in Mt. Washington, according to the city’s Public Safety Department. Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri said police, firefighters and paramedics responded to a report that the man, who was not...
‘The Sopranos’ creators look back at a TV show that slayed
NEW YORK — Back in 1997, then-up-and-coming actor Michael Imperioli was mulling two work offers: a cable TV show pilot and a small role in a Woody Allen film. The script for the TV show didn’t initially seem so special to him. “I was not blown away by the pilot,”...
Senators draw on own experiences to chastise drug companies
WASHINGTON — Drawing from their personal experiences, senators on Tuesday chastised drug company executives over the high cost of prescription drugs, as the company officials cautioned that heavy-handed congressional action could jeopardize medical breakthroughs going forward. Tuesday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing marked the first time lawmakers have called the industry’s...
Stocks inch up on conflicting U.S. economic data, Fed remarks
U.S. stock indexes edged higher in afternoon trading Tuesday as investors weighed conflicting reports on how the U.S. economy is doing and remarks by the head of the Federal Reserve. Gains in technology and communications companies helped lift the market after a mid-afternoon slide, outweighing losses in health care and...
Pittsburgh ordinance would expand protection for pregnancy discrimination
Pittsburgh would expand existing protections against pregnancy discrimination to include women and their partners before and during pregnancy and after childbirth under legislation introduced Tuesday by City Council. Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, who introduced the bill, said Pittsburgh would become one of the first cities nationwide to offer protections for partners...
Ham products recalled for possible plastic contamination
You might want to check that ham in your refrigerator because it could be contaminated with plastic. Sahlen Packing Company, based in Buffalo, is recalling approximately 13,224 pounds of ready-to-eat deli ham products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically plastic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and...
United Auto Workers sues GM to stop 3 plant closings, including Lordstown
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The United Auto Workers has sued General Motors in federal court to stop the closing of plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland, claiming the company is forbidden from idling plants under its current contract. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Youngstown, Ohio. The plants at which the...
Fiat Chrysler to add 6,500 jobs in Detroit area with $4.5B investment
DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler on Tuesday announced a $4.5 billion investment plan it said would increase its workforce in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs by about 6,500 jobs to build all-new or next-generation SUVs. Under the plan, the company said it would reopen a shuttered engine plant in the city...
Herminie man accused by troopers of injuring infant girl
A 20-year-old Herminie man was arraigned Tuesday on multiple criminal charges for allegedly assaulting an 8-month-old girl he was babysitting last November. Shane M. Morrison was arraigned before Hempfield District Judge Mark Mansour on charges of aggravated assault on a child less than 13 years old, simple assault and reckless...
$500K winning Cash 5 ticket sold in Ambridge
Someone who stopped at a Beaver County convenience store and bought a lottery ticket is $500,000 richer. A winning Pennsylvania Lottery Cash 5 ticket was sold at the Circle K on Duss Avenue in Ambridge. The ticket matched the all five winning numbers that were drawn on Friday — 02-33-37-41-43...
Kingfly Spirits, a distillery in the Strip District, takes flightVideo
Pittsburgh’s newest craft distillery pays homage to the monarch butterfly in the form of a signature logo. “The monarch butterfly is the paramount perfect image of transformation,” said Kingfly co-owner Blake Ragghianti. “And what we are doing here is about transformation on every level from the spirits we make to...
Mother and daughter charged in ‘atrocious’ killing of five family membersVideo
MORRISVILLE — No one answered when a social worker knocked on the door. Not Shana Decree or her three children. Not her sister or her three children. All was quiet inside unit S-7 at Robert Morris Apartments — because most of the people who lived there were dead. It’s not...
Allegheny River Boulevard reopens after crash
Allegheny River Boulevard reopened to traffic around 8 a.m. Tuesday following a crash that caused it to be closed in both directions between Nadine Road and Washington Boulevard, an Allegheny County 911 dispatcher confirmed Tuesday morning. The single-vehicle crash was reported around 5:30 a.m. A utility pole and wires were...
Driver in South Side crash told police he didn’t know how he got there
A man who allegedly drove into a South Side Slopes house told police he’d snorted Xanax prior to the crash, and he wasn’t sure where he was or how he got there, according to charges filed against him. The crash happened about 12:45 a.m. when Douglas Dietz, 32, of Baldwin...
Thousands remain without power in wake of high winds
Power outages caused by Sunday’s high winds continued into Tuesday. As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, Duquesne Light was reporting just under 11,000 customers without electricity. West Penn Power was reporting a little more than 9,800 customers affected in Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties. Duquesne Light was reporting the...
Fetterman: Pennsylvanians mixed on legalizing recreational potVideo
Pennsylvanians have differing opinions on legalizing recreational marijuana, but Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said Monday he’s heard no opposition to the state legalizing medical marijuana. “I have gone down to many different counties and have had hundreds of conversations with Pennsylvanians all across this great commonwealth, and I have not...
5 things to know about this year’s flu season
As influenza season trudges on, public health officials report fewer cases than last year’s severe and deadly season. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released recently shows a more effective vaccine compared with the previous two seasons and called this season a low-severity year so far for influenza...
Sled tracks lead Erie police to burglary suspect
Erie police said sled tracks left in the snow led officers to items stolen in a burglary at a westside residence on Monday morning. Matthew S. McClure, 28, was arraigned late Monday night on charges including burglary, criminal trespass, theft and receiving stolen property in the burglary at a residence...
