Top Stories category, Page 516

Two victims died after five people were shot during an altercation at a late-night cockfight Friday in Honolulu, police said. Honolulu police responded to a call about shots fired just past midnight Friday and were searching Saturday for a suspect believed to be in his 20s who allegedly shot the...

Michele Malkowiak loves being called a loser. The Buffalo Township grandmother and homemaker shed more than 100 pounds over a two-year period during the pandemic. As a result, she is Pennsylvania’s reigning 2021-22 Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) queen. “I was blindsided,” said Malkowiak, 56. “I found out the day...

Ryan Perry and his co-workers know there is no other choice but to take on extra shifts to ensure the Westmoreland County Prison has enough guards on duty each day. Along with that mandatory overtime comes a financial windfall — but also a struggle to maintain a work-life balance. “It’s...

The historic Troy Hill Fire House is slated to house a taproom and farm-to-table community market. Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority board on Thursday unanimously voted to sell the Ley Street site to QGE Holdings LLC for $300,000, contingent on a cooperation agreement with the URA and the city. A renovation...

Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority board on Thursday approved plans to sell an Uptown site to a developer that is aiming to bring commercial space and food trucks. The board unanimously approved plans to sell the property at 23 Miltenberger St. for $60,000 plus costs to Pittsburgh-based Epic Development LLC. Plans...

Left behind: Families that suffer a police death walk a unique path, one marked by an overwhelming loss that often is abrupt, violent and public Each year, roughly 150 law enforcement officers across the country die in the line of duty. They lose their lives in any number of ways....

Each year, roughly 150 law enforcement officers across the country die in the line of duty. They lose their lives in any number of ways. Some are shot, stabbed or beaten; others are killed in vehicle crashes; still others are felled by heart attacks linked to work stress or other...

Sidney Crosby detests free time. He abhors it almost as much as a clingy opposing third-line center hassling him for a puck or yapping personal insults. So, given the Pittsburgh Penguins’ failure to qualify for the NHL’s postseason that begins Monday, this won’t be an enjoyable summer for the team’s...

The inbound Fort Pitt Bridge and tunnel, previously expected to be closed overnight Saturday, will be open to traffic Saturday night, PennDOT announced. They were expected to be closed overnight Friday and Saturday, from 9 p.m. to 10 a.m., while crews replaced pavement markings on the upper deck of the...

A state trooper working with the DEA task force was assaulted in Harmar on Wednesday by a Miami man who was being investigated by the federal agency, according to authorities. Jhon Darwyn Canizales Soto, 30, was charged by state police with a felony count of aggravated assault along with resisting...

A new in-house digital forensics laboratory may speed investigations and solve crimes more quickly, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said. The lab, paid for through a $497,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, is expected to be available later this year. Local investigators can use the...

About 100 University of Pittsburgh students laid down outside the Cathedral of Learning on Friday afternoon to stage a “die-in” to protest the university’s delay in notifying campus about active shooter threats Monday night. The incident reported at Hillman Library proved to be a hoax. But students who laid down...

A man from Pittsburgh’s Elliott neighborhood faces charges in connection with the fentanyl-poisoning death of a 7-month-old Penn Hills girl. Allegheny County Police on Friday charged David Dwayne Poindexter, 58, with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. Police said Poindexter, a boyfriend of the baby’s grandmother, was being held in Allegheny...

Swissvale police said no one was injured in a shooting incident that sent a bullet through a school bus Friday afternoon. Around 3 p.m., two vehicles exchanged gunfire in an incident that started in the Edgewood Towne Center, Swissvale police said. The incident then extended into Swissvale, police said, where...

Chris Hunsicker has done environmental cleanup work for 30 years, but he said he’s never been involved in a project as extensive as the one that began after the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine in early February. “This is a very unique event and a very significant event,”...

More than six decades after its church was displaced to clear the way for construction of the former Civic Arena, Bethel AME Church will once again get land in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District. The church is set to develop a 1.5-acre site at the corner of Crawford and Bedford avenues,...

PennWest University will consolidate its six academic colleges into three and rename them as the year-old university — itself created through a merger — seeks to cut costs while reversing enrollment losses. The university’s Council of Trustees approved the measure Thursday. Officials gave few details afterward about the reorganization, but...

Pennsylvania State Police are seeking the owner of several valuable items found Monday at an Indiana County Sheetz. Several antique coins, including U.S. Indian Head pennies, and pieces of jewelry, including a diamond ring, were among contents of a camera case found in the men’s restroom of a Sheetz gas...

At the beginning, it was almost absurd. Comical, even. One of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ greatest villains became their general manager. In the end, he became vilified for completely different reasons few could laugh at (outside Philadelphia). On Friday, Ron Hextall’s tenure as the 11th general manager in the history of...

A Florida man pleaded guilty this week to his role in a multi-state theft ring from a local clothing retailer. Yan Roynell Duquesne Martinez, 31, was charged in December with theft of clothing and other items from multiple Ross Dress for Less stores in Westmoreland, Allegheny, Blair and Cambria counties....

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, giving the Republican a major conservative policy victory as he prepares to launch an expected presidential candidacy. DeSantis signed the measure late Thursday night in a private ceremony without fanfare, hours...

BOSTON — Billing records of an internet social media platform helped the FBI identify a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman in the leak of highly classified military documents, according to court records unsealed Friday. The new details came as Jack Teixeira appeared in court to face charges of unauthorized removal and...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Friday it was temporarily keeping in place federal rules for use of an abortion drug, while it takes time to more fully consider the issues raised in a court challenge. In an order signed by Justice Samuel Alito, the court asked both sides to...

WASHINGTON — Americans cut their spending at retail stores in March for the second straight month, a sign consumers are becoming more cautious after a burst of spending in January. Retail sales dropped 1% in March from February, a sharper decline than the 0.2% fall in the previous month. Sales...