Top Stories category, Page 332
Area’s unseasonably warm temperatures just shy of record
Temperatures reached an unofficial high of 82 degrees Tuesday at two area airports, about 20 degrees above the normal high but just shy of breaking the record. The 82-degree mark was recorded at both Pittsburgh International Airport and at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity, according to Jason Frazier, a...
Walking pneumonia cases up sharply among children
ATLANTA — Cases of “walking pneumonia” have been rising sharply in the United States since the spring, especially among young children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said it’s closely tracking the recent surge of these infections to better understand any changes in the illnesses...
‘We set the bar’: Allegheny County expects prompt vote count on Election Day
No county in Pennsylvania counts its votes as efficiently as Allegheny, and officials expect it to stay that way for the general election on Nov. 5. At Tuesday’s Board of Elections meeting, officials said they were on track to count mail-in ballots by 8 p.m. on Election Day, the time...
Deadly E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders sickens dozens in 10 states
E. coli food poisoning linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states, including one person who died and 10 who were hospitalized, federal health officials said Tuesday. The death was reported in an older person in Colorado, and one child has been hospitalized...
Raises doled out to Westmoreland retirees as pension fund nears record high
Westmoreland County government retirees will receive a 3.4% cost-of-living raise in 2025. The county’s retirement board on Tuesday approved the increased benefit for the 1,400 former employees who in 2024, for the first time in 13 years, were denied raises. “We’re not supposed to give raises out every year, but...
Rudy Giuliani ordered to turn over NYC apartment, 26 watches to Georgia election workersVideo
Rudy Giuliani must turn over a variety of his assets to two Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against him, including his New York City apartment, more than two dozen watches, sports memorabilia and a 1980 Mercedes, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. But U.S. District Judge...
DA won’t seek death penalty for man charged in Homewood triple homicide
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office on Monday said it would no longer seek the death penalty for a man charged in a Pittsburgh triple killing. Ronald Steave, 32, had been facing the possibility of capital punishment if found guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend Nandi Fitzgerald, 28; her son, Denzel...
Wanted: Buyer for Pittsburgh Municipal Courts Building with costly maintenance, jail views
Pittsburgh will try to sell the Downtown Municipal Courts Building, described by City Council as a money-sucking facility that will cost more than $1 million to maintain. But whether anyone wants to buy the building, and for how much, remain open questions. Council voted Tuesday to send legislation authorizing the...
McKees Rocks woman gets $1M from Elon Musk PAC
A McKees Rocks woman received $1 million from billionaire Elon Musk’s political action committee — all for signing a petition. Musk, the founder of Tesla and Space X who’s gone all-in on Republican Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy, has already committed at least $70 million to help the former president. Now,...
Motorists should be on the lookout for deer as rutting season peaks, Pa. Game Commission says
Steve Boeser has been a busy man since June. Boeser is contracted by the Municipality of Murrysville to collect and dispose of dead deer that have been struck by cars. His contract starts in June, and he’s usually well into January before he reaches 100 calls. As of Oct. 22,...
Pittsburgh to implement new garbage citation system
Pittsburgh officials will more easily be able to cite people who leave garbage on their property, improperly store trash cans or leave their cans at the curb too long before and after trash pickup. City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation that will allow inspectors to issue quality-of-life tickets to...
Police charge homeless man with breaking South Side woman’s back, pelvis in rape attempt
Pittsburgh police on Monday charged a homeless man they say broke a woman’s back and pelvis by shoving her to the ground while trying to rape her two months ago in the city’s South Side neighborhood. William Hercules, 27, pushed the woman, who uses a walker, to the ground around...
Pittsburgh councilman demands answers on police Chief Scirotto’s part-time refereeing gig
A Pittsburgh councilman called Tuesday for public answers about the police chief’s decision to referee NCAA college basketball games while running the 751-member force. Chief Larry Scirotto last week announced he would resume refereeing part time, something he had given up when he was named chief last year. “We need...
Halloween not here yet, but the PPG Plaza Christmas tree is up
Christmas in October? The giant Christmas tree is up and towering over Pittsburgh’s PPG Plaza. For those who were wondering, the 60-foot, 11,939-pound tree is indeed fake. It has 540 pre-lit branches and was installed on Oct. 4 this year, according to Anthony Battistella, marketing manager at JLL property management....
Innamorato defends property tax hike proposal, asks council to suggest cuts
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato on Tuesday defended her proposed property tax increase as necessary to combat the county’s ballooning budget deficit, pay for public safety and infrastructure repairs, and address homelessness. Speaking at a news conference in Downtown Pittsburgh, Innamorato also challenged County Council to work with her on...
Man pleads guilty in New Year’s Eve stabbing death on North Side
A Pittsburgh man Monday pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for fatally stabbing his roommate after a New Year’s Eve drinking session escalated into a fight. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Flaherty sentenced Martin Lopez Hernandez, 33, of East Allegheny, to time already served in the Allegheny County Jail —...
AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Pennsylvania on Election Day
WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania voters are almost sure to play a pivotal role in the Nov. 5 general election, with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress and the state Legislature in the balance. With its 19 electoral votes, the commonwealth is the largest prize among the battleground...
Roundup: 3 stabbed in Mellon Park; Car crashes into New Kensington Denny’s
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Oct. 22: 3 people stabbed in Mellon Park Two men are in critical condition after being stabbed in the chest near Pittsburgh’s Mellon Park playground, authorities said. Police were called at about 12:45 a.m. to the park along...
Inflation Explained: Pandemic disruptions work their way out of the car industry
Editor’s note: This is the seventh story in an occasional series on the causes and impact of inflation. Car buyers who haven’t been in the market for a while might be in for some sticker shock. In the past five years, the average price paid for a new vehicle has...
Montour Trail stabbing victim was Pa. Liquor Control Enforcement agent
A 44-year-old man found fatally stabbed Monday afternoon along the Montour Trail in Moon was a liquor control enforcement agent with the Pennsylvania State Police. Benjamin Brallier of Coraopolis was pronounced dead at Heritage Valley Sewickley hospital just before 4 p.m. Brallier, who had stab wounds to his back, upper...
5 dead in shooting at Washington state home with juvenile in custody, police sayVideo
FALL CITY, WASH. — Law enforcement officials found five people killed in a shooting inside a home southeast of Seattle on Monday morning and took a teenager into custody, police said. Several people called 911 around 5 a.m. to report a shooting in Fall City, Washington, King County Sheriff’s Office...
Pennsylvania revenue secretary must appear before Senate or risk going to jail
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s revenue secretary is headed for a rare showdown on Tuesday in the Pennsylvania Senate that could potentially end with him going to jail. Revenue Secretary Pat Browne lost his quest to get the state Supreme Court to block the Senate Republicans’ effort to compel him to come...
Philly man accused of threatening to kill Western Pennsylvania political party worker over poll watching duties
A Philadelphia man is accused of threatening to kill and skin alive a state political party employee from Western Pennsylvania if the political worker did not respond to his request that he serve as a poll watcher in the upcoming presidential election. The suspect, John C. Pollard, 62, is accused...
Trial opens for man charged with gunning down North Hills honors student
A Pittsburgh man whose homicide trial opened Monday killed a restaurant’s teenage cook just 15 minutes after being thrown out of the Strip District establishment, a prosecutor told jurors. Howard Hawkins, 49, was kicked out of Preeti’s Pitt on Penn Avenue in the Strip District at 8:55 p.m. on Feb....
DA files felony charge against Mon View Heights owner
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. has charged the owners of the Mon View Heights subsidized housing complex in West Mifflin with a felony amid allegations of failing water systems, rodent and insect infestations, mold growth and a child falling through the floor. The felony count of causing...
