Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 934
Pittsburgh Public Schools: Masks required again for some buildings
Pittsburgh Public Schools said Thursday that all students, staff and visitors to some of its buildings will be required to wear masks for the next seven to 10 days because of a covid outbreak. Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts Magnet School in Downtown and the Colfax School in Squirrel Hill...
FBI, Pittsburgh police seek help identifying Brookline bank robber
The FBI and Pittsburgh police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man authorities said robbed a Community Bank earlier this week in Brookline. Police responded to the bank at 714 Brookline Blvd. around 2:20 p.m. on Monday. A robber handed a bank teller a note asking for...
Bernie Sanders stumps for Summer Lee at Pittsburgh rally
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders rallied in Downtown Pittsburgh on Thursday in support of congressional candidate Summer Lee, in an attempt to help her win what has become a contentious race in the final days before Tuesday’s primary election. Lee, a progressive state representative from Swissvale, is leading in polls for...
Lawsuit alleges Pittsburgh’s inclusionary zoning ordinance is unconstitutional
Just 10 days after Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey signed an inclusionary zoning bill into law, the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh filed a federal lawsuit against the city alleging it improperly shifts the burden to fund low- and moderate-incoming housing to residential real estate developers. The lawsuit alleges the ordinance...
Rand Paul stalls quick Senate OK of $40B Ukraine packageVideo
WASHINGTON — Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul defied leaders of both parties Thursday and single-handedly delayed until next week Senate approval of an additional $40 billion to help Ukraine and its allies withstand Russia’s three-month old invasion. With the Senate poised to debate and vote on the package of military...
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s transition team delivers recommendations to address key issues
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s transition team released a report Thursday outlining 69 recommendations to address pressing city issues in four key areas, ranging from immediately creating a new process for hiring the next police chief to offering paid internships for Pittsburgh students. “We want this document to be the roadmap...
Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Kevin McCarthy, 4 other GOP lawmakersVideo
WASHINGTON — A House panel issued subpoenas Thursday to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other GOP lawmakers in its probe into the violent Jan. 6 insurrection, an extraordinary step that has little precedent and is certain to further inflame partisan tensions over the 2021 attack. The panel is...
McKeesport teen gets 2 to 4 years for involuntary manslaughter in fatal shooting
A McKeesport teen accused of accidentally shooting and killing a friend last year will serve two to four years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter. Phillip Payne, 17, admitted to shooting Dontae McKenith, 18, at McKenith’s mom’s house on Soles Street in McKeesport on July 24, 2021....
Fallen Westmoreland County police officers recognized at park ceremony
The ultimate sacrifice of 27 law enforcement officers in Westmoreland County was recognized Thursday by their peers, families and friends. For Rosemarie Reed, it was especially welcome. “This means a lot to me,” she said. “Just knowing the fact that my husband is being recognized for his service.” St. Clair...
Parents swap, sell baby formula amid nationwide shortage
WASHINGTON — A baby formula shortage in the United States is driving parents to swap, sell and offer leftover supplies to each other, while President Joe Biden plans to speak with manufacturers and retailers Thursday about the plight facing families. The problem is the result of supply chain disruptions and...
Reports show fatal crashes increased in Pennsylvania in 2021
Traffic crashes in the U.S. are increasing at a record pace, according to the latest data estimates from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. NHTSA estimates of the first nine months of 2021 project that more than 31,700 people died in vehicle crashes from January to September 2021. That’s an...
Ukrainian refugee finds new home in Pittsburgh
When 2022 began for Daria Zhuravska, she was feeling good about her life in Ukraine. The 27-year-old Kyiv resident had landed a job as an office manager for an information technology company. She was living with her boyfriend, not far from her family and friends, and enjoyed taking dance and...
Jake Corman drops out of Pa. governor’s race, backs Barletta as primary nears
HARRISBURG — Jake Corman, Pennsylvania’s ranking state senator and a Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor said Thursday that he was ending his campaign and endorsing rival Lou Barletta, a move that comes as GOP leaders warn that leading candidate Doug Mastriano is too far right to win in a general...
Police: 2 Allegheny Valley Hospital patients attacked medical staff, hospital police
Two people who were patients at Allegheny Valley Hospital face multiple felony charges after police charged them with attacking medical staff during separate incidents. Lea Ashley Slusar, 28, of the 1400 block of Fifth Avenue in Arnold, was charged May 6 by Highmark Health Police with three felony counts of...
Richland man tells cops he stole car to deliver food
A Richland man accused of stealing a car told police that he took the vehicle so he could earn some money delivering food for restaurants. Robert Proehl, 38, of the 100 block of Chowning Court, was charged by Northern Regional Police with felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property....
Biden urges world to renew covid fight as U.S. nears 1M deaths
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden appealed to world leaders on Thursday for a renewed international commitment to attacking covid-19 as he led the U.S. in marking the approaching “tragic milestone” of 1 million deaths at home from the virus. He ordered flags lowered to half-staff and warned against “complacency” around...
Animal Friends of Westmoreland has new name, but its mission is the same
The sign on the door has changed, but the mission remains the same. Animal Friends of Westmoreland, a Youngwood-based, no-kill animal adoption and sanctuary organization, is now called Heal Animal Rescue. The name change had been under discussion for several years for several reasons, according to executive director Kelli Brisbane....
Arnold Palmer airport expansion plans unveiled
The Westmoreland County Airport Authority on Tuesday got its first formal views of the proposed expansion of the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport terminal in Unity that would double its size to about 90,000 square feet. “It really looks impressive,” authority Chairman Janice Smarto told Ethan J. Hine of KTH Architects...
Internet access funds could boost connections for low-income families
Mandy Zalich knows just how important internet service has become in Westmoreland County. For many low-income residents, the rising costs of the service has left them more than just disconnected. This week’s announcement from the Biden administration of a plan to provide $30 monthly subsidies for high-speed internet access is...
Westmoreland gets grant to buy mobile 911 dispatch units
Five mobile consoles will be purchased this year to serve as a temporary backup system for Westmoreland County 911 emergency dispatch operations, officials said. A $529,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice will pay for the mobile units that will be like the hardware used by dispatchers at the...
Public database significantly undercounts former drug labs in Pa.
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The only online federal database that allows people to see whether their home or property was contaminated with toxic...
Man released from hospital after falling into Hempfield mine shaft
A man who fell 25 feet into a mine shaft Wednesday was released from the hospital at 2 a.m. Thursday with only “bumps and bruises,” according to Crabtree fire Chief Bill Watkins. Rescue crews from four Westmoreland County fire companies helped rescue the man shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday in...
North Korea raises alarm after confirming 1st covid-19 case
North Korea announced its first coronavirus infection more than two years into the pandemic Thursday as leader Kim Jong Un called for raising covid-19 preventive measures to maximum levels. The Korean Central News Agency said tests from an unspecified number of people in the capital Pyongyang confirmed they were infected...
Police: 1 shot, 1 injured in Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood
A man was shot and a woman injured Wednesday evening in Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood, according to police. Police and EMS were called to Fifth Avenue and Seneca Street just after 6 p.m. for an initial report of two people who’d been shot. Officers located a man and a woman. The...
Police: West Allegheny High School student brought loaded AR-15 to school parking lot
An 18-year-old student at West Allegheny High School is facing charges after police say he brought a loaded AR-15 rifle when he drove to the school Tuesday morning. North Fayette police were initially called to the high school after a school resource officer was notified that the student, Ja’Shon Spencer,...
