Top Stories category, Page 673
Highmark Health cuts 118 jobs
Highmark Health laid off 118 employees this week across the regional health insurer’s operations, the company said. The layoffs occurred across all departments and included a small number of management positions, said Lynn Seay, a Highmark Health spokeswoman. With the layoffs announced Wednesday, Highmark has eliminated 259 positions this year,...
Kinzua skywalk reopens after inspection prompted by high winds
The skywalk at Kinzua Bridge State Park has reopened after high winds prompted an emergency inspection and a temporary closure, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The McKean County structure was closed Wednesday and was inspected Thursday. The skywalk stretches 225 feet above the valley floor...
$8.8M in covid funds earmarked for water, sewer projects in Westmoreland
As many as 50 farms and other properties in East Huntingdon could have municipal water service this fall when water lines are extended to tap into the municipal system. It’s a project that might never have happened without funding from Westmoreland County, according to East Huntingdon Supervisor Joel Suter. “It’s...
The latest on Titan submersible tragedy and what’s next in recovery efforts
The desperate search to find the missing Titan submersible turned into a recovery effort Thursday after officials announced the vessel imploded sometime this week, killing all five aboard, near the Titanic shipwreck. Deep-sea robots will continue searching the sea floor for clues about what happened deep in the North Atlantic....
22 suspected drug dealers arrested in sweeping Western Pa. raid
Twenty-two of 24 men who federal prosecutors say sold cocaine and fentanyl in Western Pennsylvania have been arrested in a sweeping raid that began last month, according to court documents. Law enforcement began arresting suspects in late May following a nine-count federal indictment. They are accused of dealing 5 kilograms...
Morning roundup: Rostraver woman pleads guilty to credit union theft
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, June 23: Woman pleads guilty to $340,000 theft from credit union A Rostraver woman pleaded guilty this week to taking $340,200 from a Monessen-based federal credit union almost seven years ago, then staging a fire in the safe...
New affordable housing development to cater to seniors in Pittsburgh’s Fairywood
A new development will bring affordable housing for senior citizens to Pittsburgh’s Fairywood neighborhood. Officials broke ground Thursday on Cedarwood Homes, a 46-unit development at the former Fairywood School site. “We’re going to make sure the people who live here can age in place and they can do it with...
Fayette County Courthouse struck by bullet, judge’s chair hit
The Fayette County Courthouse was placed on lockdown Thursday after shots were fired and a bullet struck the building. Officials said a bullet went through a window and struck a judge’s chair while she was sitting in it. She was not injured, and there no reports of other injuries. The...
Judge blocks Wyoming’s 1st-in-the-nation abortion pill ban while court decides lawsuit
CHEYENNE — Abortion pills will remain legal in Wyoming for now, after a judge ruled Thursday that the state’s first-in-the-nation law to ban them won’t take effect July 1 as planned while a lawsuit proceeds. Attorneys for Wyoming failed to show that the ban wouldn’t harm the plaintiffs before their...
Paul Kengor: The absurdity of a $15 beer
I recently attended a Pirates game. As readers know, that’s no small step for me. I boycotted Major League Baseball after its ideological commissioner, Rob Manfred, needlessly thrust our beloved national pastime into the nastiness of partisan politics. Manfred and MLB boycotted the city of Atlanta in protest of Georgia’s...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: June 23-25
It’s the weekend. Here are some ways to spend it. Art appreciation The Ohringer gallery in Braddock will host an exhibition featuring the work of artist Cue Perry. It runs Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 640 Braddock Ave. It will be Perry’s first solo exhibition. The works...
Shadyside stabbing suspect’s bond revoked, judge orders him back to jail
A district judge on Thursday revoked a Shadyside man’s bond and ordered him back to Allegheny County Jail after the district attorney’s office said he presented a threat to the community. Jasper Jacob Hilliard, 21, faces charges including attempted homicide in connection with the stabbing of a 72-year-old man on...
Pennsylvania House lawmakers pass bill to recruit more educators by offering $10K stipends
HARRISBURG — Faced with a rising number of Pennsylvania teachers leaving the profession, state House lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill to recruit more educators by giving student teachers a stipend while they’re in the classroom. The legislation seeks to remove the barriers for prospective teachers, whose work in the...
Fetterman’s bill would free money to fix Pennsylvania streets
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman has proposed a bill to make streets safer, citing Harrisburg as once being home to the “deadliest road in America” and the traffic fallout of the Interstate 95 collapse in Philadelphia. “The recent disaster on I-95 and the subsequent detour to the already dangerous Roosevelt Boulevard...
Pride on display: Merchandise backlash concerns local LGBTQ community, some retailers
“Love wins” and “Love is love” are among the messages adorning apparel displayed in recognition of Pride Month at Rue 21, a chain clothing store at Westmoreland Mall. Not everyone is taking to heart such messages supporting the LGBTQIA community during June, as evidenced by recent backlash against some major...
West Deer approves Leto well pad; neighbors plan to appeal
West Deer supervisors approved conditional use and land development applications for the proposed Leto well pad, and neighbors say they plan to appeal that decision in court. The well pad, located off Oak Road behind a Dollar General store, was proposed by Olympus Energy of Cecil Township. Olympus plans to...
Pittsburgh woman says she stabbed husband in self-defense, doesn’t recall wrapping body in garbage bags
An attorney for Janet L. Winbush said the woman with a long and well-documented history of mental illness fatally stabbed her husband in self-defense in December 2020 after years of domestic abuse. Prosecutors argue that Winbush had planned to kill Deric Bryan Davis, 53, and then, after she did, she...
Pa. campus assault suspect eludes arrest for 2 years, after ‘So I raped you’ Facebook message
PHILADELPHIA — Two years after a former Gettysburg College student finally saw charges filed over her 2013 campus sexual assault, the man suspected of sending her a Facebook message that said, ” So I raped you,” remains on the run. Shannon Keeler, 28, and her attorneys question how Ian T....
Pittsburgh pools offer free swimming for city children 15 and younger
Pittsburgh children 15 and under will be able to swim for free at any of the city’s 15 open pools this summer. “It’s all about … giving them opportunities for a safe, fun summer,” Mayor Ed Gainey said. Pittsburgh children had needed to have a recreation center membership tag to...
Response to fiery Ohio derailment frustrated by poor communication and incomplete information
OMAHA, Neb. — Firefighters who responded to February’s fiery train derailment in Ohio struggled to immediately identify the hazardous chemicals the train was hauling due to a lack of communication from the railroad, officials said Thursday. During a public hearing in East Palestine — where thousands of residents had to...
The Westmoreland names Silvia Filippini-Fantoni as new director and CEO
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art has named Silvia Filippini-Fantoni as its new Richard M. Scaife Director/CEO, effective in August. Filippini-Fantoni comes to The Westmoreland from The Newark Museum of Art in New Jersey, where she is deputy director of learning and engagement. “I am dedicated to ensuring that this...
Property owner: Don’t rezone former Springdale power plant from industrial use
The owner of the former Cheswick Generating Station is repeating its stance on the property: Springdale should not rezone it from industrial use. No action was taken at borough council’s meeting this week — the matter wasn’t even on the agenda — but representatives from Cheswick Plant Environmental Redevelopment Group...
Hondurans see little hope for nation’s prisons as details of cold-blooded massacre emerge
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Authorities in Honduras began to hand over to relatives the hacked, burned corpses of 46 women killed in the worst riot at a women’s prison in recent memory. Some of the bodies were so badly burned they need genetic testing or dental studies to identify, said Yuri...
Moscow court rules U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich must stay in jail until late August
MOSCOW — A Moscow court on Thursday ruled that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich must remain in jail on espionage charges until at least late August, rejecting the American journalist’s appeal to be released. The 31-year-old U.S. citizen was arrested in late March while on a reporting trip. A...
A year after fall of Roe, 25 million women live in states with abortion bans or tighter restrictions
One year ago Saturday, the U.S. Supreme Court rescinded a five-decade-old right to abortion, prompting a seismic shift in debates about politics, values, freedom and fairness. Twenty-five million women of childbearing age now live in states where the law makes abortions harder to get than they were before the ruling....
