Top Stories category, Page 328
Hempfield man pleads guilty to murder-for-hire plot against sister
A Hempfield man faces up to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to hire a hitman to kill his sister. Police said Peter Cute, 64, met with undercover detectives and offered to pay them $1,000 to murder his estranged sister, who he claimed prevented him...
Highland Park restaurant to close
Park Bruges on Bryant Street in Highland Park will close its doors for good in the coming months. The announcement was posted on the French-inspired bistro restaurant’s Facebook page Monday, saying a new restaurant concept will take its place. “While a hard decision for us, it was made easier by...
Costco salmon, chicken street tacos recalled due to listeria concerns
Issues with listeria contaminating consumer foods continue. Costco is the latest retailer affected. It issued a recall on its Kirkland Signature Smoked Salmon, and the Food and Drug Administration recalled selected Sprouts Farmers Market Chicken Street Taco kits, which are sold at Costco. Costco customers were informed of the salmon...
Judge sentences Munhall man to 25-50 years in toddler fentanyl death
Help was as close as a phone call, an internet search or just stopping by a police station or hospital. But, the judge told James Kraft, he chose none of those. Instead, Kraft remained trapped in his addiction, living in a Munhall apartment strewn with thousands of empty stamp bags...
Mark Madden: Plenty of scapegoats for the Penguins’ 5-year collapse
The Penguins are already in deep trouble. Not just because they’re 3-6-1 after losing four straight games in Western Canada. But because they look utterly impotent and disorganized, with the same old problems cropping up game after game: Blowing leads, conceding goals in quick succession, giving goals right back, allowing...
U.S. voters concerned about post-election violence and efforts to overturn the results: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — American voters are approaching the presidential election with deep unease about what could follow, including the potential for political violence, attempts to overturn the election results and its broader implications for democracy, according to a new poll. The findings of the survey, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center...
Man dead following South Huntingdon tractor trailer crash
A South Huntingdon man died early Monday morning following a two-vehicle collision along Route 981 in the township. Steven J. Fryman, 30, collided head-on with a tractor trailer around 4:40 a.m., said Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Kalee Barnhart. In a news release, troopers said the tractor-trailer left its eastbound lane...
Community, worshippers continue to ‘heal together’ on anniversary of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
If kindness can counteract one incalculable act of hate, that spirit was alive in Pittsburgh’s Jewish community Sunday, six years after the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history claimed 11 people in a Squirrel Hill synagogue. Even before an evening ceremony honoring victims of the Tree of Life mass shooting...
Harris rallies Philadelphia voters at church, barbershop, bookstore, restaurant and basketball courtVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Kamala Harris said Sunday that “no one can sit on the sidelines” in this year’s presidential election, capping a day of campaigning across the largest city in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania. “We are focused on the future and we are focused on the needs of the...
Trump’s Madison Square Garden event overshadowed by crude and racist insults
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump hosted a rally featuring crude and racist insults at New York’s Madison Square Garden, turning what his campaign had dubbed as the event where he would deliver his closing message into an illustration of what turns off his critics. With just over a...
Biden marks anniversary of Tree of Life synagogue attack that killed 11
PITTSBURGH — President Joe Biden on Saturday marked the sixth anniversary of a gunman’s deadly attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue and called out what he called an “appalling surge of antisemitism” amid the war in Gaza. The 2018 attack claimed the lives of 11 worshippers from Dor Hadash, New Light...
Oakmont Bakery parking lot moves to next phase for consideration
The Oakmont Bakery’s proposed parking lot is steadily making its way to reality. Oakmont’s planning commission recommended to council that it approve a conditional use of the property at 815 Allegheny Ave. The parking lot plans have been a popular discussion among community members. Borough Manager Scot Fodi said the...
Where are some notable Western Pennsylvanians buried?
Walking among graves on a rainy day, an eerie silence hung, broken only by a steady drip of water on tombstones and mausoleums. Cemeteries dating back hundreds of years are evident by weathered stones with some names illegible. The stories of those laid to rest or entombed invoke vivid memories...
State Sen. Kim Ward, a breast cancer survivor, crusades to get patients treatment they need
Kim Ward didn’t want anyone to know. When the state Senate majority leader from Hempfield was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2020, she told almost no one. Not her staff. Not her friends. Not even her mom. When she went for chemotherapy at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in...
Casey, McCormick make final pitches as Senate race reaches stretch run
The most expensive Senate race in America is coming down to the wire in Pennsylvania. Three-term Democratic incumbent Bob Casey is attempting to fend off a challenge from Republican businessman David McCormick in a race that could tip control of the chamber. With just days until the Nov. 5 election, the...
Coverage for breast cancer early detection varies
Nearly 400,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, according to the American Cancer Society, with women at a 1-in-8 risk of developing the disease. Advocacy groups are continuing to push for early detection and treatment, which save lives and money. Experts say...
Historic Hanna’s Town cemeteries: some history revealed, some buried forever
To Madeline Irwin of Acme, the chance to take a cemetery tour Saturday afternoon at Historic Hanna’s Town in Hempfield was an opportunity she did not want to miss, even if it meant pushing her double stroller up hilly terrain through the woods. “It’s such a great family experience. I...
3 people displaced by fire at Taylor Avenue home in Arnold
A basement fire Saturday in a home on Taylor Avenue in Arnold displaced three residents but caused no injuries, Arnold fire Chief Eric Gartley said. Firefighters responded about 12:30 p.m. to a single-family house at 1419 Taylor Ave. when smoke was seen. Alerted to the fire by a neighbor, a...
Mark Cuban stumps for Kamala Harris’ economic agenda, says Trump’s will increase inflation
Billionaire and Pittsburgh native Mark Cuban knows a bit about starting and growing businesses, but he first learned about being broke, eating condiment sandwiches and scraping by to keep a fledgling enterprise going. Speaking to a room of small business owners and entrepreneurs Saturday in East Liberty, Cuban, 66, used...
Biden rallies Pittsburgh’s union base to support Harris
President Joe Biden returned to Pittsburgh on Saturday, rallying and canvassing with building trades workers, selling Vice President Kamala Harris as a continuation of his pro-labor policies and the best hope to improve wages and union rights into the future. Biden rallied Saturday afternoon with about 100 members of the...
New limits, oversight for Pa.’s medical marijuana doctors proposed in response to Spotlight PA investigation
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 Pennsylvania Department of Health would be empowered to impose new limits on doctors who want to practice in the state’s medical marijuana...
Trump leaves Michigan rallygoers waiting for hours to tape Joe Rogan podcast
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Many of Donald Trump’s supporters left a Michigan rally before he arrived after the former president kept them waiting for three hours to tape a popular podcast interview. Those who remained at the outdoor rally on an airport tarmac huddled in the cold Friday night as...
Harris and Beyoncé ignite a Houston rally with a double-barreled argument against Trump
HOUSTON — Kamala Harris and Beyoncé ignited a Houston rally with a double-barreled argument against Donald Trump on Friday, with the superstar telling the Democratic nominee’s biggest crowd ever that it was “time to sing a new song” as Harris warned that her GOP opponent was dead set on further...
Pitt graduate student workers to vote next month on whether to unionize
Graduate student workers at the University of Pittsburgh will vote in a state-supervised election next month on whether to join the United Steelworkers, the union already representing faulty and staff there. The election Nov. 18, 19 and 21 involves 2,000 teaching, research and other graduate assistants. It will be overseen...
Elon Musk continues to announce $1 million daily winners
After a few days of non-activity, the website for Elon Musk’s PAC is again announcing $1 million daily winners. A letter from the U.S. Department of Justice to America PAC warned that its giveaway in battleground states to swing voters could be illegal. The letter indicated the prize money could...
