Top Stories category, Page 270
Trump order aims to end federal support for gender transitions for those under 19
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at cutting federal support for gender transitions for people under age 19, his latest move to roll back protections for transgender people across the country. “It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund,...
Police: Clairton man charged after raid reaps massive amounts of drugs, guns, cash
A young child is being helped by social services after a Clairton man was arrested on drug crimes and firearms violations following a raid at his home earlier this month, law enforcement officials announced Tuesday. Ismail A. Hamlin, 28, was denied bail and remains lodged in the Allegheny County Jail,...
West Mifflin man sent to federal prison for 16 years on drug, gun charges
A West Mifflin man prohibited from having guns because of a past aggravated assault conviction will serve at least 16 years in federal prison. Giante Hilliard, 32, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan on drug and gun counts from three incidents in spring 2023. He pleaded...
Trump offering federal workers buyouts with about 8 months’ pay in effort to shrink governmentVideo
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is offering buyouts to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by next week — an unprecedented move to shrink the U.S. government at breakneck speed. A memo from the Office of Personnel Management, the government’s human resources agency,...
Conservative group objects to Slippery Rock University STEM program’s minority recruitment
A conservative nonprofit is asking the U.S. Department of Education to investigate Slippery Rock University and three other state schools, alleging that their participation in a national program to recruit minority students into science majors is discriminatory against white and Asian students. The Equal Protection Project, an offshoot of the...
Western Pa. leaders react to federal funding freeze
Residents of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties could be hurt by a move to halt the federal funding stream to state and local governments, especially those who rely on social service programs and public housing, some of the area’s elected officials said. Others defended President Donald Trump’s directive Tuesday to pause...
Hempfield man to serve prison sentence for woman’s assault
A Hempfield man was ordered to serve up to eight years in prison for a brutal attack against a woman nearly three years ago. Cody J. Mattei, 34, pleaded guilty in November to felony counts of strangulation, aggravated assault, victim intimidation and a weapons offense in connection with 2022 incident...
Pittsburgh pays $200K to man hurt by police during 2020 George Floyd protests
The City of Pittsburgh agreed in September to pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit by a man who said police knocked out two of his teeth with a projectile while quashing the May 30, 2020, George Floyd protests Downtown. City Council unanimously approved the payment at its meeting Dec. 10....
Pittsburgh, police review board probe 2 use-of-force incidents
Pittsburgh’s Office of Municipal Investigations and the independent Citizen Police Review Board are scrutinizing two unrelated incidents last month in which city police used force to make arrests. The arrests have elicited concerns among the NAACP’s Pittsburgh branch and other leaders in the city’s Black community, who have a meeting...
Spirit plans for return of daily flights to Myrtle Beach from Arnold Palmer Regional
Spirit Airlines plans to resume daily flights from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity to Myrtle Beach, S.C., in May, an airport official said Tuesday. The daily flights from the county airport to Myrtle Beach International Airport will resume May 7, said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County...
Pittsburgh council mulls referendum to bar sale of water, sewer systems to private entities
Pittsburgh voters may be asked to vote in May on whether the city should be restricted from leasing or selling its water and sewer systems to private entities. Legislation introduced Tuesday to City Council would pose the question to voters as a ballot referendum, which a majority would need to...
$4,000 murder-for-hire scheme sends Mt. Lebanon killer to prison for up to 36 years
A Mt. Lebanon man who was paid $4,000 in drugs and cash to kill a McKees Rocks woman in 2022 will serve at least 18 years in prison. Alec Stefanovits, 30, told the judge on Tuesday that he was in a drug-fueled craze when he killed Ashley Roberts on Jan....
Super Bowl Sunday FanFest at Acrisure Stadium reaches maximum capacity
The first Super Bowl FanFest in Pittsburgh, a free event, is at capacity. Verizon is bringing a Super Bowl LIX experience to 30 NFL cities across the country, including 20 NFL stadiums. Acrisure Stadium is one of them. Fans will have access to the UPMC Club Level and FedEx Great...
Google to change map names for Gulf of Mexico and Denali when U.S. updates them based on Trump order
Google says it will take its cue from the U.S. government if it has to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali on its maps. The company said Monday that it will only make changes when the government updates its official listings for the body of water...
Egg prices are soaring. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon
OMAHA, Neb. — Bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S. egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023. And it appears there may be no relief in sight, given the surge in demand as Easter approaches. The average...
Norfolk Southern and East Palestine announce $22 million settlement after 2023 derailment
East Palestine and Norfolk Southern have announced a $22 million settlement resolving all of the village’s claims arising from the disastrous 2023 train derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border that prompted a national reckoning on railroad safety. The settlement is to be used for priorities the village identifies in connection with...
Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration freeze on federal grants, loansVideo
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a push from President Donald Trump to pause federal funding while his administration conducts an across-the-board ideological review to uproot progressive initiatives. The Trump administration plan plunged the U.S. government into panic and confusion and set the stage for a constitutional...
Tim Benz: Forget Mike Tomlin ‘living in his fears,’ it’s Art Rooney II we should be talking about
One of Mike Tomlin’s favorite catchphrases is, “We don’t live in our fears.” The Pittsburgh Steelers coach says it all the time when he feels like using some old-fashioned football coach machismo to justify a roll of the dice on a fourth down play call, a long field goal attempt,...
Allegheny River ice raises concerns over safety and flooding
No matter how tempting, people should not walk or play on the area’s frozen-over rivers. Especially because things will be warming up soon. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service expect temperatures to be above freezing Thursday through Sunday, said Alicia Miller, a hydrologist with the weather service. “That, in addition...
Coffee lovers likely to pay more in wake of jump in bean prices
The cost of a cup of joe is on the rise at coffee shops. If the price of her $3.25 cup of Americano coffee goes up too much, Piper Anke of Derry is among those who say they would consider drinking less. Anke, 18, is a student at Seton Hill...
Pa.’s 1st avian flu case reported at Lehigh County farm, agriculture department says
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture on Monday announced this year’s first positive case in the state of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in domestic poultry. The positive samples were detected in a 50,000-bird layer chicken flock on a commercial poultry farm in Lehigh County, the department said. The farm and commercial...
‘Take it out on Bella’: Prosecution rests case in Oakmont child’s starvation death
A video taken on April 22, 2020, showed one of Bella Seachrist’s stepbrothers smacking her. Another taken less than a month later, showed the girl, nearly 4, sitting facing a corner as two other children in the Oakmont house hit her. A photograph taken five days after that showed one...
Hundreds of U.S. visa appointments canceled in Colombia after spat with Trump over deportationsVideo
BOGOTA, Colombia — Visa appointments at the U.S. Embassy in Colombia were canceled Monday following a dispute between President Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro over deportation flights from the U.S. that nearly turned into a costly trade war between the two countries. Dozens of Colombians arrived at...
Trump Justice Department says it has fired employees involved in prosecutions of the president
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said that it had fired more than a dozen employees who worked on criminal prosecutions of President Donald Trump, moving rapidly to pursue retribution against lawyers involved in the investigations and signaling an early willingness to take action favorable to the president’s personal interests. The...
Seton Hill University shutters student newspaper indefinitely
Seth Stevens was disturbed after learning the student newspaper at Seton Hill University, The Setonian, would be put on an indefinite hiatus. “It was very sad,” said Stevens, 21, of Greensburg. “I was very much looking forward to writing.” This spring was to be his first official semester as a...
