Top Stories category, Page 330

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — After Texas fenced off a park along the U.S.-Mexico border and began turning away Border Patrol agents, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott explained why at campaign stop near Houston. “We are not allowing Border Patrol on that property anymore,” Abbott said Friday, drawing applause from supporters at a...

ELOY, Ariz. — Four people were killed and another critically injured after a hot air balloon crash Sunday morning near Eloy, Arizona, authorities said. Eloy police said the crash occurred about 7:50 a.m. Sunday in a rural desert area about 60 miles south of Phoenix. The victims’ names are being...

That hole the Pittsburgh Steelers figuratively dug themselves out of to qualify for the playoffs? That’s nothing compared to the literal shoveling necessary to facilitate playable enough conditions for the team to take part in their playoff opener in Orchard Park, N.Y. There was more than a foot of snow...

ATLANTA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Sunday defended the qualifications of a special prosecutor she hired for her case against Donald Trump and others over efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia after a defense lawyer accused Willis of professional impropriety. In her first public remarks...

Damontae Kazee’s locker is two stalls over from Levi Wallace’s at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Kazee seemingly was minding his own business while a five-minute interview was being conducted between Wallace and a pair of media members after the final practice of this past week. There was no reason to...

Subfreezing temperatures across much of the U.S. left millions of Americans facing dangerous cold over the weekend as Arctic storms knocked out electricity to tens of thousands in the Northwest, brought snow to the South, and walloped the Northeast with blizzard conditions that forced the postponement of an NFL game....

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 — Pennsylvania will need to spend at least $5.4 billion to close the gap between rich and poor school districts, according to a long-awaited...

A Freeport native has opened her first business — in her hometown. Jamie Bieranowski opened Bier Beauty on Jan. 4 at 227 Fifth St. The salon offers complete hair, nail and waxing services, with an emphasis on brides, color and haircuts. “The salon is co-ed and all ages are welcome,”...

Stephanie Taylor’s path to sobriety was more well-worn than winding. She was first arrested in 2015, at age 25, after selling cocaine to a police informant out of her mother’s Vandergrift home. Taylor went to jail, rehab and a halfway house — what she calls an “insane cycle” — three...

Fentanyl arrived right on time for Stephanie Taylor. “My tolerance was so high, it was taking more and more (heroin) to get my fix, to get me to that feel-good feeling I was searching for,” she said. Taylor, 35, a Vandergrift native who today is more than four years into...

Hannah Kunkel lived knowing full well that her life could be cut short at any moment. At age 5, she was diagnosed with a rare, ruthless type of brain cancer that killed every child who ever got it. Doctors at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh told her parents that Hannah would...

WASHINGTON — John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy on climate, is stepping down from the Biden administration in the coming weeks, according to two people familiar with his plans. Kerry, a longtime senator and secretary of state, was tapped shortly after Joe Biden’s November 2020 election to take on the...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The U.S. Homeland Security Department said Saturday that Texas denied federal agents access to a stretch of border when they were trying to rescue three migrants who drowned. The federal government’s account came hours after U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar said the Texas Military Department and Texas National...

BOSTON — A bill making its way through the Massachusetts legislature would block efforts to ban books from school and public libraries. Lawmakers of the Joint Committee on Education heard testimony from advocates and opponents of “An Act regarding free expression,” which would prevent the removal of books from school...

WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders are preparing a stopgap bill to keep the federal government running into March and avoid a partial shutdown next week. The temporary measure will run to March 1 for some federal agencies whose approved funds are set to run out Friday and extend the remainder of...

Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic on Saturday said its lunar lander is likely to come back toward Earth and is expected to burn up in the atmosphere. The North Side space company on Monday saw its Peregrine lunar lander launch into space with lofty goals for a soft landing on the moon. Problems...

It is not Mason Rudolph’s intention to bring some credibility to the 2018 quarterback class of which he is a mid-round member. His sole objective Monday afternoon is to help the Pittsburgh Steelers win a playoff game for the first time in seven seasons. Still, if he’s able to lead...

For Rick Porrado of Murrysville, the Steelers playoff game shifting to Monday afternoon means a lot more than just a change in his viewing schedule. Porrado owns Rick’s Sports Bar in Murrysville — and he usually isn’t even open on Monday nights. By early Saturday afternoon, he was beginning to...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden can make an increasingly strong case that he’s helped fix inflation — if only he can get voters to believe him. Figures issued this past week reflected a historic level of progress on battling high prices, hinting that inflation could be near the Federal Reserve’s...

This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. BELLEFONTE — Pennsylvania’s poorest districts won’t receive $100 million in new money to help fill vacancies and reduce funding deficits after lawmakers diverted those dollars...

A Pittsburgh man who was shot and killed Friday night was one of three people who police said broke into an Arnold home just before the shooting took place. Allen L. Austin Jr., 29, was pronounced dead after being found about 6 p.m. Friday in the 1600 block of Cherry...

The crowd that packed a Point Breeze bookshop Friday to celebrate a book release by Pittsburgh-bred photographer Erik Bauer could’ve been pulled right out of a 1981 punk show at Oakland’s now-shuttered Electric Banana. Or cheering on The Bats, a local post-punk outfit led in May ‘84 by Pulitzer Prize-winning...

With a winter storm expected to hit the Buffalo area Saturday and Sunday, New York officials and the NFL decided to move the Steelers-Bills AFC wild-card game to 4:30 p.m. Monday. The game was scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday. Due to public safety concerns in light of the ongoing weather emergency...

O’FALLON, Mo. — Icy winter weather blanketed the U.S. on Saturday as a wave of Arctic storms threatened to break low-temperature records in the heartland, spread cold and snow from coast to coast and cast a chill over everything from football playoffs to presidential campaigns. As the three-day Martin Luther...