Top Stories category, Page 291
Culinary couple embrace their restaurant roots in Point Breeze
A neighborhood eatery housed in a historic building that once hosted Sammy Davis Jr. is set to celebrate its 20th anniversary in Point Breeze. Point Brugge Cafe will celebrate 20 years in business in 2025 as its cousin restaurant, Park Bruges in Highland Park, is set to close its doors...
Kia, Hyundai vehicles targeted by thieves in New Kensington’s Mount Vernon area
A New Kensington restaurant owner whose car was stolen from in front of her home said she worries about what the theft says not only about her neighborhood but the entire city. Jillian Ludwiczak, who owns Jillian’s Restaurant with her husband, Phillip Call, said her 2014 Kia Optima was taken...
Body identified that was found in woods in Shaler the day after Christmas
Allegheny County detectives are treating the body found in Shaler on Thursday as a homicide because the victim had an apparent gunshot wound to the head. The victim was identified Saturday as 45-year-old Andre Wallace of Millvale by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. Few other details have surfaced since...
The year in review: Influential people who died in 2024
It was a murder case almost everyone had an opinion on. O.J. Simpson’s “trial of the century” over the 1994 killings of his ex-wife and her friend bared divisions over race and law enforcement in America and brought an intersection of sports, crime, entertainment and class that was hard to...
Pittsburgh police kill man during standoff in Allentown
Pittsburgh police fatally shot a 45-year-old man early Friday morning after he fired at police during a standoff along East Warrington Avenue in the city’s Allentown neighborhood, Allegheny County Police said. The victim was identified as Mark Coleman by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner Office. Allegheny County Police homicide detectives...
Another jackpot surpasses $1 billion. Is this the new normal?
Remember this moment because it probably won’t last: A U.S. lottery jackpot is projected to soar above $1 billion, and that’s still a big deal. Friday’s Mega Millions drawing is worth an estimated $1.15 billion, evoking headlines and likely luring more people to convenience stores with dreams of private spacewalks...
Extending a life story: Westmoreland coroner’s office joins effort to encourage organ donation
Even though her father isn’t a phone call away anymore, Cassidy Gamble knows his kind nature is still making an impact on others. James Forish became a tissue donor after his Aug. 1 death, allowing his life to continue on in a different sort of way, helping to heal others....
Duck hunting alive and well for some in Western Pennsylvania
Fat off stale bread and hip to locations of warm sewage outflows, ducks are plentiful on the Allegheny River. “We saw hundreds of ducks today,” said hunter Tyler Bressler of Irwin as he and his family transferred their gear from a jon boat to a pickup at a Harmar boat...
Scrutiny, secrecy defined Pa. debates over how to spend opioid settlement billions in 2024
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — This was a crucial year for opioid settlement money in Pennsylvania. For the first time, counties across the state faced serious accountability from...
Strong business community, ‘entertailing’ help downtown Irwin thrive
When Irwin native Camille Kovach was looking to move her bookstore from its location in Murrysville this year, she said she never considered moving anywhere but downtown Irwin. Such was her desire to place Completely Booked in downtown Irwin that Kovach leased a storefront on Western Avenue at the bottom...
Marc Fogel receives ‘wrongfully detained’ status from U.S. government
For Marc Fogel’s family, the excitement over the U.S. government finally declaring the Oakmont history teacher wrongfully detained by Russia is tempered by the reality that he’s still not home. In mid-October, President Joe Biden called Fogel’s wife to tell her his administration was still working to obtain Fogel’s release...
Body discovered in wooded area in Shaler
Shaler and Allegheny County police are investigating after a body was found in the woods there Thursday afternoon. Shaler Police Chief Sean Frank said officers were called to Hahn Road around 2:30 p.m. The body was discovered by a passerby, according to police....
What is known about a plane crash in Kazakhstan as experts suspect Russian air defense fireVideo
A day after an Azerbaijani airliner’s crashed in Kazakhstan, aviation experts say the plane most likely went down after being hit by Russian air defense systems. Here are some things to know about the crash that killed 38 out of the 67 people on board: How did the plane crash?...
School district telethons raise more than $200K for charities
Telethons at three Pittsburgh-area school districts raised more than $200,000 for charities this Christmas season. Make-A-Wish was the beneficiary of Plum School District’s long-running telethon and a newer one organized by Penn-Trafford. Penn-Trafford raised about $67,400, while Plum collected about $53,700, according to their teacher organizers. Fox Chapel raised $90,228...
Prayers and tears mark 20 years since the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — People gathered in prayer and visited mass graves in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Thursday to mark 20 years since the massive Indian Ocean tsunami hit the region in one of modern history’s worst natural disasters. Many wept as they placed flowers at a mass grave in...
AI is a game changer for students with disabilities. Schools are still learning to harness it
For Makenzie Gilkison, spelling is such a struggle that a word like rhinoceros might come out as “rineanswsaurs” or sarcastic as “srkastik.” The 14-year-old from suburban Indianapolis can sound out words, but her dyslexia makes the process so draining that she often struggles with comprehension. “I just assumed I was...
Trump has pressed for voting changes. GOP majorities in Congress will try to make that happen
ATLANTA — Republicans plan to move quickly in their effort to overhaul the nation’s voting procedures, seeing an opportunity with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress to push through long-sought changes that include voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements. They say the measures are needed to restore...
Steelers vs. Chiefs: What they’re saying in Kansas City after winVideo
Well, that certainly was ugly. The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t just drop a lump of coal in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ stocking, they backed up a dump truck of it. And the drubbing is being talked about among those in Kansas City media in the appropriate manner. “The Chiefs destroyed the...
From triumph to tragedy: What a year it was in Westmoreland County
The happenings of the last 12 months in Westmoreland County will be relegated to history and some of them are touchstones that will be long remembered. About 60 miles northwest of Greensburg in Butler County, soon-to-be President Donald J. Trump was grazed by a bullet at the start of a...
Editorial: The hope and light of Hanukkah
The symbol of Hanukkah is not what you might think it is. For many, the Jewish festival of lights is most identified with a menorah — a branch of flames atop candles or cups of oil. But what the uninitiated might mistake for a menorah is really a hanukkiah. A...
Year-in-review: Alle-Kiski Valley residents among victims at Trump rally assassination attempt
As 2024 draws to a close, Alle-Kiski Valley area residents may be looking forward to the uncertainty of the year to come while reflecting on what has passed. And while the region always has its mix of news — big and small, widespread and personal — it found itself thrust,...
Good Samaritan finds strength in optimism as he recovers from August shooting in PittsburghVideo
Paul Werder never imagined a simple gesture of kindness could unravel so many lives. The retired banker was driving to his investment property on Pittsburgh’s North Side in August when he passed a man lying on his side. His body lay slung across the sidewalk, his head in a patch...
Pa. lawmakers passed fewer laws than in recent sessions, but leaders say quality is better than quantity
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — The divided Pennsylvania legislature passed fewer laws and held fewer voting days over the past two years than in most sessions in recent...
New York taxi driver hits 6 pedestrians, 3 taken to hospital, police sayVideo
NEW YORK — A taxicab hit six pedestrians Wednesday in midtown Manhattan, police said, with three people — including a 9-year-old boy — transported to hospitals for their injuries. A New York Police Department spokesperson said the taxi driver may have suffered a medical episode, but that the investigation had...
Airing of Grievances: Poor pass protection, rotten start, shoddy defense doom Steelers on Christmas DayVideo
The Steelers’ Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs went as well as the holiday dinner in the movie “Christmas Vacation.” The offense was about as dry as the Griswold’s turkey. The defense got fried like the family cat, and Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes caused as much chaos...
