Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 935
Crews battle fire spread over multiple houses in Homestead
Fire crews spent hours on the scene of a three-alarm fire on West Street in Homestead after the blaze broke out Wednesday evening. A three-story structure was reportedly engulfed in fire, according to an Allegheny County 911 supervisor. The initial call came in at 6:30 p.m. for a building on...
Pa. GOP gubernatorial candidate Jake Corman to drop out of race, source says
Pennsylvania’s Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman is expected to announce Thursday that he is dropping out of the governor’s race and will be endorsing Lou Barletta to be the Republican gubernatorial nominee, according to a source familiar with the campaign. Corman, whose rankings in the polls have been lagging...
Man’s goatee leads to arrest during Greensburg traffic stop
A Greensburg police officer said he immediately knew the man sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle pulled over during a February traffic stop wasn’t who he claimed to be. Police said the man initially insisted he was an 11-year-old named Billy Irwin and gave multiple dates of birth....
Democrats’ effort to secure Roe v. Wade falls to filibusterVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate fell far short Wednesday in a rushed effort toward enshrining Roe v. Wade abortion access as federal law, blocked by a Republican filibuster in a blunt display of the nation’s partisan divide over the landmark court decision and the limits of legislative action. The almost party-line...
Lawyers in suit over Surfside collapse reveal staggering legal settlement: $997 million
MIAMI — In a surprise development, the class-action litigation over the collapse of Champlain Towers South has been settled, a federal judge was told Wednesday, with plaintiffs expected to receive just under $1 billion. The comprehensive settlement announced in Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman’s courtroom effectively closes the litigation...
Keystone Oaks music teacher accused of having child porn on his cellphone
A Keystone Oaks teacher accused of having child pornography on his cellphone turned himself in to police Wednesday morning, authorities said. Thomas Duxbury, 32, of Wilkins, is charged with four counts of child sex abuse after police said he possessed and disseminated child pornography. He also faces one count of...
Hempfield area road paving slated to begin
Hempfield crews are gearing up to start a $1.8 million paving program next week. The work is expected to start Monday, and will include streets in the township and Hempfield Park, as well as roads in neighboring Adamsburg. It comes months after supervisors approved a contract with Derry Construction. At...
Pittsburgh city government to provide support for this year’s Juneteenth festivities
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said Wednesday that the city will provide in-kind services to support Juneteenth celebrations hosted by Stop the Violence Pittsburgh. Stop the Violence Pittsburgh last month unveiled plans to celebrate the holiday from June 17 through June 19, with events including a parade, a music festival and...
Pittsburgh’s Colfax K-8 closed after covid-19 cases spike
Colfax K-8 in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill will be closed until Friday because of a spike in covid-19 cases, school district officials said. The school closed Tuesday after covid-19 cases exceeded the school’s 5% threshold for closing, disinfecting and masking. As of Monday, there were 33 cases among Colfax students and...
Corbet Street in Tarentum to be transformed by demolition
The heart of Tarentum’s Corbet Street business district will undergo a transformation to create parking spaces in a park-like setting in the middle of town. Borough officials voted to buy a two-story brick building at 215 Corbet, most recently home to J&G Corner Store. The property will be demolished to...
Police: Kittanning woman jailed in connection with meth sale during sting operation in Leechburg
State police accused a woman of being a drug dealer after police say an informant bought methamphetamine from her in Leechburg two years ago. Debbie Ann Russo, 44, of the 1000 block of Johnston Avenue in Kittanning, was charged with a felony count of possession of drugs with the intent...
Man accused of bribing troopers to ‘let him go free’ in Mt. Pleasant Township burglary
A man who authorities said broke into a Mt. Pleasant Township home Tuesday and slept in a bed tried to bribe troopers to let him go without arrest, according to state police. Christopher M. Sherrick, 35, is charged with burglary, criminal trespass, bribery and related offenses. He has addresses in...
New Kensington police accuse man of assaulting woman, holding her captive
A New Kensington man is accused of stripping a woman naked, pouring cold water all over her and forcing her to sit in front of an open window with fans blowing on her on a cold night. That was just one of several ways New Kensington police allege that Zachery...
U.S. inflation slows in April, strain on households remains
WASHINGTON — Inflation slowed in April after seven months of relentless gains, a tentative sign that price increases may be peaking while still imposing a financial strain on American households. Consumer prices jumped 8.3% last month from 12 months earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That was below the 8.5%...
U.S. casinos had best month ever in March, winning $5.3B
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Inflation may be soaring, supply chains remain snarled and the coronavirus just won’t go away, but America’s casinos are humming right along, recording the best month in their history in March. The American Gaming Association, the gambling industry’s national trade group, said Wednesday that U.S. commercial...
Lawrence County homicide suspect arrested after Route 28 police chase
State police arrested a New Castle man they say was wanted in connection with a homicide after an early-morning chase along Route 28 in Frazer, officials said. Shane McDevitt, 36, was taken into custody Wednesday after the high-speed police pursuit on Route 28 that ended when the Nissan Sentra he...
CDC: 2020 saw most firearm deaths since 1994
The first year of the covid-19 pandemic saw the highest firearm homicide rates since 1994, with substantial increases among Black and American Indian/Alaska Native males and young adults, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2019 to 2020, homicides involving firearms...
House approves $40B in Ukraine aid, beefing up Biden request
WASHINGTON — The House emphatically approved a fresh $40 billion Ukraine aid package Tuesday as lawmakers beefed up President Joe Biden’s initial request, signaling a magnified, bipartisan commitment to thwart Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bloody three-month-old invasion. The measure sailed to passage by a lopsided 368-57 margin, providing $7 billion...
John Fetterman brings bid for U.S. Senate to Greensburg as primary nears
John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor and a leading Democratic candidate for a U.S. Senate seat, made his ultimate goal clear when he spoke to an informal gathering of about 130 people Tuesday evening in Greensburg. During a meet-and-greet campaign stop on the patio of El Diablo Brewing Co. & Wood-Fired...
Westmoreland sheriff, commissioners battle over Trump rally staffing
Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert confirmed Tuesday he assigned eight deputies to work at last week’s political rally featuring former President Trump despite objections from county leaders. Albert said that in the hours leading up to Friday’s rally at the county fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township, he determined liability concerns...
West Mifflin man charged with Pleasant Hills burglary, arson
Allegheny County Police have arrested a West Mifflin man in connection with a burglary and subsequent fire at a Cerasi Drive apartment building on Tuesday. County detectives charged Kristopher Friedman, 24, of West Mifflin with burglary, receiving stolen property, arson endangering property and four counts of arson endangering persons. Emergency...
Allegheny County releases 2022 summer concert acts at Hartwood Acres, South Park
An eclectic lineup of pop, rock and classical music acts is set to take the stages of Hartwood Acres Park Amphitheater and South Park Amphitheater as part of Allegheny County’s free 2022 Summer Concert Series. Alternative rockers Soul Asylum will perform on Aug. 19 as one the highlights of the...
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey says he supports codifying abortion rights into federal law
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, long seen as a pro-life Democrat, on Tuesday said that he supports congressional efforts to codify abortion rights into federal law. In a statement, Casey said he chose to support the congressional efforts because of the leaked ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that, if enacted,...
New accusation leveled over favoritism shown to Westmoreland airport restaurateur
Although the Westmoreland County Airport Authority thought a new lease agreement a year ago put to rest accusations about alleged favoritism shown to DeNunzio’s Italian Chophouse, the authority heard from a new critic Tuesday. Ron Forkey, owner of Racer’s Sports Bar in Derry Township, complained that the airport’s vending consultant...
Construction of new Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park begins
Construction has started on the new Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park. A former bridge at the site collapsed more than three months ago, sending a Port Authority bus and other vehicles into a ravine below and injuring 10 people. PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said drilling at the site...
