Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 867
Developer floats idea of diverting taxes to pay for road improvements in Hempfield housing project
A developer planning to build more than 260 homes at the former Valley Green Golf & Country Club is gauging if Hempfield Township, Hempfield Area School District and Westmoreland County would approve using a tax diversion program to pay for road improvements. “This is not a tax break,” said Michael...
National sheep judge impressed by Westmoreland Fair lamb show contestants
Brian Barkley has judged sheep shows throughout the United States and Canada. He called the youth participants in the Westmoreland Fair’s market lamb show “exceptionally good.” “I was really pleased with how good they were,” said Barkley, from Bedford County. Dozens of spectators filled the fair’s Small Arena on Tuesday...
Submerged pickup at Bridgeport Dam was stolen, police say, but details murky
A Chevrolet pickup truck that was pulled out of a reservoir at Bridgeport Dam earlier this month was reported stolen in 2004, according to Westmoreland County Park Police Chief Henry Fontana. But any other details about the theft remain a mystery. Fontana said police were able to get a VIN...
Biden’s student loan plan: What we know — and don’t
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that many Americans can have up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt forgiven. That amount increases to $20,000 if they qualified for Pell grants. Here’s what we know so far and what it means for people with outstanding student loans: Who...
Biden announces big student loan forgiveness planVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced detailed plans to deliver on a campaign promise to provide $10,000 in student debt cancellation for millions of Americans — and up to $10,000 more for those with the greatest financial need — along with measures to lower the burden of repayment...
Highlands looks to combat poor student attendance with rewards, repercussions
Highlands High School Principal Laura Burns said students find greater success in the classroom when they attend school regularly. But getting kids to school appears to be a problem. Administrators are fighting to buoy dismal attendance rates at the high school, as data show that only about 70% of the...
Ukrainian refugee and her daughter find a home in Sewickley
When Russia began its war with Ukraine six months ago, Katerina Boyko thought it would be over in three days. She could not have imagined that the war would still be raging half a year later, and that she and her 13-year-old daughter Alexa would end up living half a...
U.S. says airstrikes in Syria intended to send message to Iran
WASHINGTON — U.S. military airstrikes in eastern Syria were a message to Iran and Tehran-backed militias that targeted American troops this month and several other times over the past year, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters that the U.S. airstrikes overnight on...
Pittsburgh firefighter treated for heat exhaustion at house fire in Allegheny West
A Pittsburgh firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion after battling a fire that broke out early Wednesday at a home in Allegheny West, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. Fire crews responded shortly after 12:40 a.m. to the 900 block of Western Avenue, according to Allegheny County emergency dispatchers. The...
Investigation continues for car pulled from Allegheny River in Oakmont
Oakmont police are trying to find out who owns an old model Pontiac Firebird — and how it got into the Allegheny River. The submerged sports car was discovered upside down Tuesday afternoon by kayaker Ian Simmers, 13, of Verona. Ian said he was out on the river with his...
Florida Democrats choose Rep. Crist to challenge DeSantis
MIAMI — U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist won the Democratic nomination for governor in Florida on Tuesday, putting him in position to challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis this fall in a campaign that the Republican incumbent is eyeing as the first step toward a potential White House run. U.S. Rep. Val Demings...
Fetterman addresses union supporters at Pittsburgh rally, but avoids media questions
Hundreds of union members held a rally Tuesday at the United Steelworkers headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh to support Democrats that the union endorsed, including congressional candidate Chris DeLuzio, state House candidate Dr. Arvind Venkat and U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman. It was one of Fetterman’s first public appearances in Pittsburgh...
After delay, Biden readies student loan help, payment pause
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday is set to announce his long-delayed move to forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loans for many Americans and extend a pause on payments to January, according to three people familiar with the plan. Biden has faced pressure from liberals to provide...
U.S. senators request State Department declare Oakmont man jailed in Russia ‘wrongfully detained’
A bipartisan group of 10 U.S. senators, including both of Pennsylvania’s, signed on to a letter Tuesday requesting Secretary of State Antony Blinken designate Oakmont native Marc Fogel as being “wrongfully detained” under federal law. The Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act is named in honor of former...
More than 100 classified Trump docs recovered back in January
WASHINGTON — The National Archives and Records Administration recovered more than 100 documents bearing classified markings, totaling more than 700 pages, from an initial batch of 15 boxes retrieved from Mar-a-Lago earlier this year, according to newly public government correspondence with the Trump legal team. The numbers make clear the...
Meta reveals future of realistic avatars at offices in Pittsburgh
The future of ultra-realistic human avatars has started, and technology for it is being developed in Pittsburgh. Meta, the Menlo Park, Calif.- based global tech company that operates Facebook, Oculus and other tech firms, provided a media tour of its Strip District offices on Tuesday. The company moved into the...
Ex-Shaler substitute teacher convicted in Capitol riots
The former Shaler substitute teacher accused of attacking a police line during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection was convicted by a federal judge Tuesday on several felony charges. Robert Morss, 29, of Glenshaw; Geoffrey William Sills, 31, of Mechanicsville, Va.; and David Lee Judd, 36, of Carrollton, Texas — were...
Man gets 3 to 6 years for fatal shooting over marijuana in Stowe
Peyton Wiser’s defense attorney described his client as a kind, gentle teen who took in injured animals and homeless friends when they needed help. But the prosecution said Wiser also sold marijuana and, when confronted for selling bad product, chose to shoot a man twice in the head instead of...
Parkway East billboard features faces of people killed by fentanyl to raise awareness about drug’s danger
A billboard along the Parkway East a few miles east of Pittsburgh shows the faces of 92 people with a tragic connection. All of them died of fentanyl poisoning. “The fentanyl crisis is only getting worse in our country, and it’s not getting the coverage it needs to educate people,...
Pittsburgh eyes homelessness solutions, including tiny houses
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday introduced legislation in an attempt to find immediate solutions to Pittsburgh’s homelessness issues, including a proposal to build tiny houses on city-owned land. The measure, sponsored by Council President Theresa Kail-Smith and Councilwoman Deb Gross, classified homelessness in the city as a “public health emergency”...
Doctor accused UPMC surgeon of drug use and ‘compromised patient care’
The attorney for the doctor who filed a whistleblower complaint against the head of UPMC cardiothoracic surgery published his client’s original anonymous complaint in court on Tuesday. Written in all capital letters and displayed on the projection screen, the complaint was filed by Dr. Jonathan D’Cunha against Dr. James Luketich...
2 men convicted in plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A jury on Tuesday convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, delivering swift verdicts in a plot that was broken up by the FBI and described as a rallying cry for a U.S. civil war by anti-government extremists. The result...
Nursing homes in Lower Burrell, North Huntingdon among 24 statewide set to strike
Employees of nursing homes in Lower Burrell and North Huntingdon are among those at 24 long-term care facilities in the state who voted to strike, claiming unfair labor practices and a lack of accountability, according to union officials. Four of the nursing homes are owned by Comprehensive Healthcare, which operates...
Top UPMC surgeon testifies about suboxone use
A secretly recorded conversation between the head of UPMC’s department of cardiothoracic surgery and the doctor treating him with suboxone for a previous problem with prescription narcotics is at the center of a hearing in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Dr. James Luketich, who is the subject of a federal...
Freezing state officials’ pay this year ‘is the right thing to do,’ Pa. lawmaker says
Pennsylvania’s rank-and-file lawmakers could see their salaries rise above $100,000 in December, but some members are seeking legislation to freeze or eliminate the automatic pay raises they receive. House State Government Committee Chairman Seth Grove, R-York County, said he supports a pay freeze to ensure — at least this year...
