Top Stories category, Page 465

Maternal deaths across the U.S. more than doubled over the course of two decades, and the tragedy unfolded unequally. Black mothers died at the nation’s highest rates, while the largest increases in deaths were found in American Indian and Native Alaskan mothers. And some states — and racial or ethnic...

The man who killed 11 people in a Squirrel Hill synagogue has an IQ in the top 10% but has deficits in some areas of cognitive function, including his brain’s processing speed, recognizing faces and social cues. Those characteristics, a defense expert said Monday, can be consistent with schizophrenia, a...

Jeannette EMS announced that the ambulance service was shutting down Monday night after 63 years. The department ceased operations at 7 p.m., citing poor reimbursement rates from insurance companies, according to a Facebook post on the service’s page. The post added that Jeannette EMS is “sadly not the first service...

Local leaders are raising money to restore a World War I memorial outside Obama Academy in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood. The memorial features a more than 6-foot-tall bronze sculpture by Pittsburgh sculptor Frank Vittor. It depicts several figures, including a statue of Columbia, a mother and son, a returned soldier...

Drug overdose deaths in Allegheny County dropped 5% last year compared to the year before, according to data released by the medical examiner’s officer. Overdoses killed 689 people in 2022, down from 719 in 2021, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Karl Williams said. Deaths in 2020 also totaled 689, the county...

More than 2 pounds of suspected fentanyl was found hidden Thursday in the front bumper of a minivan traveling on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Mt. Pleasant Township, according to court papers. Ernesto A. Lantigua-Arias, 39, of Massachusetts, is being held at the Westmoreland County Prison on $250,000 bail. He is...

Transportation Security Administration officers at Pittsburgh International Airport stopped an Ohio man from bringing a loaded handgun onto a flight Friday, a record-setting day as travelers flew ahead of the Independence Day holiday. Officers at the Findlay-based airport detected the 9mm handgun in the Lima, Ohio, man’s carry-on backpack as...

It’s not unusual for owner Linda Wilson to sell scratch-off lottery tickets to customers at Willy’s Beer and Beverage in Harmar. What is unusual? Having a million-dollar winner. That’s exactly what happened June 22, when one of Wilson’s regulars scratched off a “$1 Million? Seriously” ticket at the store. “I...

Ligonier Valley Police were responding to a domestic disturbance Sunday afternoon when they fatally shot a machete-wielding man at a Ligonier Township home, according to Westmoreland County detectives. Robbie Thomas Saunders, 59, was armed with a machete when officers arrived just before 4 p.m. at a Gravel Hill Road home....

An Oakmont woman was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder in the starvation death of her partner’s child. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Bruce R. Beemer also found Laura Ramriez, 31, guilty of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child, unlawful restraint and conspiracy to commit homicide in connection...

Two people died Monday morning after a two-alarm fire in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover neighborhood. Firefighters responded to a residential fire around 5:40 a.m. in the 400 block of Cedarhurst Street, Pittsburgh Public Safety said. The first crews arrived within four minutes to find “an active fire with possible entrapment,” officials said....

WASHINGTON — Seeking a valid U.S. passport for that 2023 trip? Buckle up, wishful traveler, for a very different journey before you step anywhere near an airport. A much-feared backup of U.S passport applications has smashed into a wall of government bureaucracy as worldwide travel rebounds toward record pre-pandemic levels...

A Pennsylvania State Police trooper shot and killed a Center Township man following a miles-long car chase through Indiana County Sunday night, state police said in a press statement. At about 11:55 p.m., police said the trooper initiated a traffic stop near Yankeetown and Lockard avenues in Center Township, Indiana...

One person was hospitalized early Monday after Pittsburgh police said a vehicle they were pursuing crashed into a house in Beltzhoover. Police from Zone 3 said they tried to pull over a car around 3 a.m. but the driver of the car refused to stop. The driver of the car...

Greg Forejt Jr., owner and operator of Windy Heights Farm in East Huntingdon, was determined to get an early jump on sweet corn season this year. He and his team began in the early spring by planting about 140,000 seeds in a greenhouse on his property. As the stalks began...

For decades, backyard fireworks enthusiasts in Western Pennsylvania had two choices: trek across state lines to purchase fancy pyrotechnics or settle for some sparklers in Pennsylvania. Rob Kuhns of Hempfield spends around $500 a year on fireworks for the Fourth of July and would cross the border to Ohio every...

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel Thursday to Beijing as part of an ongoing Biden administration effort to thaw U.S.-China relations, a senior Treasury official said Sunday. Yellen, who has called the notion of an economic decoupling from China “disastrous,” has frequently said in the past year that...

A Ligonier Valley police officer shot and killed an unidentified man Sunday at a township residence, authorities said. Police responded to a Gravel Hill Road home about 3:50 p.m., which led to the shooting, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli said in a news release. She did not elaborate...

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter owner Elon Musk has limited the number of tweets that users can view each day — restrictions he described as an attempt to prevent unauthorized scraping of potentially valuable data from the social media platform. The site is now requiring people to log on to view...

A Penn Township man who owns a Pittsburgh bar that was padlocked Friday was arrested over the weekend after authorities said he hired a locksmith and entered the building, according to court papers. Derrick Hemby, 60, was released on his own recognizance Sunday on felony charges of trespass and solicitation....

It was a smell that invoked a memory. Both for Emily Kuchlbauer in North Carolina and Ryan Bomba in Chicago. It was smoke from wildfires, the odor of an increasingly hot and occasionally on-fire world. Kuchlbauer had flashbacks to the surprise of soot coating her car three years ago when...

An enormous medical bill can trigger a wave of panic, but try to resist. That startling invoice that arrived in the mail may not be what you wind up paying. Errors or slow insurance payments may have inflated the total. Even if it’s accurate, financial aid or other assistance might...

An arrest warrant was issued for a man who reportedly led state troopers on a chase and then crashed in Moon. Police said Ryan Chapman, 30, of Pittsburgh, was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries. Chapman fled from police in a Chevrolet Camaro on Ewing Road and Business...