Top Stories category, Page 844
Ramp from Highland Park Bridge to southbound Route 28 closing Tuesday
A long-term closure of the ramp from the northbound Highland Park Bridge to southbound Route 28 in Sharpsburg will start Tuesday, weather permitting, PennDOT has announced. According to PennDOT, the ramp will close at about 7 a.m. Tuesday and remain closed to traffic around-the-clock through mid-December. Crews will be doing...
$10K reward offered for information on burned Pittsburgh Police vehicles
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a $10,000 reward for information surrounding the arson of three Pittsburgh Police vehicles. ATF investigators arrived on scene early Wednesday at the academy at 900 N. Lincoln Ave. in Pittsburgh’s North Side neighborhood. The three cars were parked in the...
Photos: Ian brings widespread devastation to Florida
Hurricane Ian destroyed a cross-section of Florida and brought torrential rains that continued to fall on Thursday. The destruction began to come into focus a day after Ian made landfall in Florida as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit to the U.S. The storm flooded homes on both...
Greenfield man, who claimed sleepwalking, sentenced for killing infant son
Luca Neidert would now be 2 years, 9 months and 6 days old. He would be walking, starting to potty train and talking in full sentences, his grandmother said. His imagination would be developing. He would be able to sing and dance. He would be alive. Instead, Luca was killed...
Explainer: How do we know when a recession has begun?
WASHINGTON — The economy shrank in the first half of this year, the government confirmed in a report Thursday, underscoring fears of a broad-based slowdown that could lead to a recession. At the same time, the number of people seeking unemployment benefits — a figure that often reflects the pace...
Pittsburgh school employee assaulted by student, officials say
A student was taken into police custody after assaulting a school employee at Thursday morning at Oliver Citywide Academy, officials said. Pittsburgh Public Schools spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said the employee was taken to a hospital after the 8:57 a.m. incident. A condition was not available. “As an added precaution, the...
Rich Engler documentary looks back at a storied concert career
Anyone who grew up going to rock concerts in the Pittsburgh area after 1970 probably has some idea who Rich Engler is. Engler — on his own and also as a member of the powerhouse promotions duo DiCesare Engler Productions with partner Pat DiCesare — promoted most of the major...
Franklin Regional puts new spin on homecoming vote
Franklin Regional officials have introduced an additional round of homecoming voting this year to recognize student achievement. “We chose four categories — academics, arts, athletics and citizenship — and asked students to first nominate classmates for those categories, explaining their reasoning,” FR communications director Tina Gillen said. “Senior students were...
Westmoreland eyes construction of county gun range
Westmoreland County has targeted the end of the year to open its new shooting range. Ground was broken this week on a $30,000 project to construct an outdoor facility behind the Westmoreland County Prison in Hempfield. “Any county agency can use it,” county park police Chief Henry Fontana, said. Staff...
Giorgio Coraluppi, Pittsburgh inventor of tech for video calls, lauded as pioneer
People who rely on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, FaceTime, WhatsApp and other instant messaging platforms have Giorgio Coraluppi to thank. The longtime Pittsburgh resident and businessman, known as “Dr. C,” invented the technology for the digital teleconference call from which those apps were derived. Following his death Wednesday, Sept. 28, at...
Many trapped in Florida as Ian heads toward South Carolina
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Rescue crews piloted boats and waded through flooded streets Thursday to save thousands of Floridians trapped after Hurricane Ian destroyed homes and businesses and left millions in the dark. Hours after weakening to a tropical depression while crossing the Florida peninsula, Ian regained hurricane strength Thursday...
Oz campaign places billboard in Braddock attacking Fetterman for being ‘soft on crime’
The race for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat has been filled with antics and media stunts from Democratic candidate John Fetterman. Now, Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz is getting into the mix by placing an attack billboard in Fetterman’s hometown of Braddock, calling the lieutenant governor and former Braddock mayor “soft...
Kremlin set to annex 4 regions of Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia confirmed on Thursday it will formally annex parts of Ukraine where occupied areas held Kremlin-orchestrated “referendums” on living under Moscow’s rule that the Ukrainian government and the West denounced as illegal and rigged. Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a ceremony on Friday in the Kremlin...
Kings Family Restaurant in Plum closes to make way for new Sheetz
After 48 years in business, another Pittsburgh-area Kings Family Restaurant has closed. Kings district manager George Brown confirmed that the Kings in Presque Isle Plaza in Plum’s Holiday Park neighborhood closed its doors Monday. “The plaza has been sold, and the new owner had different plans,” Brown said. “We’re still...
St. Ladislaus group lobbies for shrine designation at Natrona church
Longtime Natrona resident Conrad Zylinski attended the former St. Ladislaus Elementary School in the 1960s and served as an altar boy at the magnificent domed church on Spruce Street. He no longer attends Mass every week but said he sees the significance of the 118-year-old church to the community. Zylinski...
Mehmet Oz picks up key endorsement from national business organization for his ‘pro-growth’ views
When it comes to who should be a voice for Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate for the next six years, the world’s largest business organization has chosen Republican candidate Mehmet Oz. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday announced it was endorsing Oz in the hotly contested race against Democrat...
Monessen-born rapper Coolio dies at age 59
LOS ANGELES — Coolio, the rapper who was among hip-hop’s biggest names of the 1990s with hits including “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage,” died Wednesday at age 59, his manager said. Coolio, whose legal name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., died at the Los Angeles home of a friend, longtime...
Doug Mastriano said in 2019 that women who violate an abortion ban should be charged with murder
Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor, suggested in 2019 that women who violate an abortion ban he proposed should be charged with murder, a position considered far outside the political mainstream. In a radio interview with WITF, Mastriano — then a state senator — was asked about legislation...
Three sentenced in $87 million Medicaid fraud scheme
Three people who were part of a sophisticated, $87 million health care fraud scheme were sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Pittsburgh. The three were among a total of 16 people charged for billing Pennsylvania Medicaid for in-home health care for services that were never performed. Fifteen of those people...
Republican commissioners remove ballot drop box from Westmoreland courthouse
Westmoreland County’s Republican commissioners Wednesday refused to vote on a plan to install one drop box for mail-in ballots at the courthouse. Commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew said the box that had been in place for years in the courthouse’s lobby and last spring at the rear entrance of...
Hempfield man, 62, suffers medical issue, dies following East Huntingdon crash
A Hempfield man who suffered a medical emergency while driving Wednesday morning died of injuries from the resulting crash, Westmoreland Coroner Tim Carson said. James A. Shifko, 62, of Broadway Avenue was headed south on Westec Drive shortly before 7 a.m. State police said he was believed to have suffered...
$1.4B terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport takes shape
A $1.4 billion project to build a new terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport is on pace to be completed on schedule by early 2025, officials said Wednesday during a tour of the bustling construction site. Eleven large cranes rose above the site Wednesday, and the first structures are going up....
Death penalty trial in slaying of off-duty Pittsburgh officer postponed until February
The trial for a man accused in 2019 of killing an off-duty Pittsburgh police officer has been postponed until Feb. 27. Jury selection in the capital case against Christian Bey was supposed to begin on Monday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski. However, according to a motion...
Holocaust survivor, Tree of Life witness Judah Samet dies at 84
Judah Samet referred to himself as “a professional survivor.” He survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after the Nazis forced him and his family from their home in Hungary when he was 7 years old. Four years ago at age 80, Samet also survived the October 2018 mass shooting at the...
Kennywood to add chaperone policy, security protocols after shooting
Kennywood Park officials said Wednesday they will add new security protocols and a chaperone policy before reopening this weekend after a triple shooting inside the park. The chaperone policy requires anyone under 17 to be accompanied by an adult 21 or older at all times. Masks are banned after 6...
