Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 956
Oklahoma state House approves bill to make abortion illegal
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma House gave final legislative approval on Tuesday to a bill that would make performing an abortion a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. With little discussion and no debate, the Republican-controlled House voted 70-14 to send the bill to Republican Gov. Kevin...
Pennsylvania court blocks governor’s carbon emissions plan
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania court on Tuesday blocked the centerpiece of Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight climate change, the latest challenge to the Democrat’s effort to make Pennsylvania the first major fossil fuel state to adopt a carbon pricing policy. Commonwealth Court, in a one-line unsigned order, said it...
Pittsburgh teen, 13, reported missing since Saturday
Pittsburgh Police are seeking the public’s help with locating a missing teen. Jordan Boyd, 13, was last seen in Observatory Hill around 6 p.m. Saturday. Authorities described the boy as standing 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds with brown eyes and black hair, and possibly wearing black clothing...
Martell Covington, Aerion Abney poised to replace Ed Gainey, Jake Wheatley in state legislature
Voters in two special election races Tuesday chose who would replace new Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and his chief of staff, Jake Wheatley, in the state legislature. Preliminary election results showed Aerion Abney and Martell Covington, both Democrats, with strong leads in the 19th and 24th legislative districts, respectively. Abney...
Sneakers, jacket and car trouble lead to charges in Fox Chapel, O’Hara burglaries
Police said they used a Squirrel Hill man’s distinctive Adidas shoes and North Face jacket to link him to a series of burglaries in Fox Chapel and O’Hara over the course of a year, according to charges filed Tuesday. Andrew Clinton, 20, faces more than a dozen charges, including burglary,...
Chester police: Gun handled by 2-year-old boy in car killed girl, 4
CHESTER — A 2-year-old boy was handling a gun in a parked vehicle at a gas station pump near Philadelphia when it discharged, killing a 4-year-old girl, police said. Chester police said the shooting happened shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Eagle Save Mart. Police said adults at the...
Kiski Area student found with bullets on school bus
Kiski Area School District officials and police are investigating after an elementary student was found with bullets on a morning bus route. Superintendent Misty Slavic alerted families in a letter, saying the student had two bullets but an initial investigation showed “no evidence to suggest malicious intent” and no evidence...
Pittsburgh region’s economy remains slow to recover from pandemic downturn
The Pittsburgh region’s economy continues to lag behind its pre-covid levels from 2020, when there were 64,000 more nonfarm jobs in the seven counties and 54,600 more people in the labor force, according to the February employment report released Tuesday. “It may take us years to get back to pre-pandemic...
Pa.’s broken ‘compassionate release’ law, by the numbers
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. In Pennsylvania prisons, thousands of people are aging behind bars, suffering from chronic health conditions, and requiring regular medical care that...
Former Westmoreland Coroner Ken Bacha hired as chief operations officer at Mutual Aid
Kenneth Bacha, who served as Westmoreland County’s coroner for 20 years until he was defeated in the 2021 election, has taken a new job with Mutual Aid Ambulance Service Inc. as its chief operations officer. Bacha, 60, of Greensburg, began his new job last week. “I’m really excited about it....
Irwin man accused of killing estranged wife’s boyfriend in North Versailles
A 40-year-old Irwin man is charged with homicide after police say he shot and killed a man in North Versailles last month before shooting himself in the head. Samuel Trusso, who police said is expected to survive, is charged with criminal homicide and firing a gun into an occupied structure...
Upcoming PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh season showcases powerful women
The 2022-23 PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh Series has a strong theme of female empowerment. “From ‘Six,’ which allows King Henry VIII’s wives to tell their stories, to the all-female creative team of ‘Hadestown,’ to iconic leading ladies like Elsa, Tina Turner and Tracy Turnblad, this season shines a light on...
Man accused in regional bail scam to stand trial on conspiracy charges for Hempfield case
After a Hempfield woman handed over $5,000 to a man she was led to believe was a bail bondsman, she wasn’t able to get in touch with a person who claimed to be her daughter’s attorney. Darlene Johnston, 60, testified Tuesday that she got a phone call on Feb. 28...
Mt. Pleasant man gets house arrest, probation for role in Capitol riot
Samuel Fox was inside the U.S. Capitol for only two minutes during the riot there on Jan. 6, 2021. He didn’t engage in any violence. He didn’t take anything. He had no weapons, no tactical gear and a barely charged cellphone. For those reasons, a judge ruled Tuesday, the Latrobe...
Repairs to Port Authority bridge in Pittsburgh to be done by end of May, officials say
Repairs to Port Authority of Allegheny County’s bridge over Saw Mill Run Boulevard in Pittsburgh should be finished by the end of May, officials said Tuesday. The bridge has been closed since early February when crews discovered that water coupled with the freeze and thaw cycle had caused part of...
Greenfield man charged after police say he tried to force way into Pittsburgh Public Schools offices
A man from Pittsburgh’s Greenfield neighborhood is accused of forcing his way into Pittsburgh Public Schools’ administrative building in Oakland on Monday. Kevin McSwiggen, 40, faces two counts of aggravated assault after police said he injured two school police officers during a scuffle in which the officers were trying to...
Ohio GOP lawmakers push sexual orientation discussion ban
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio educators would be banned from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, under newly introduced Republican legislation that mirrors a recently passed Florida law dubbed “Don’t say gay” by critics. The Ohio legislation also requires that teaching about sexual orientation or...
AG Josh Shapiro bans Martino Motors from selling cars
A Penn Hills used car dealership is banned from selling cars in Pennsylvania. Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced in a press release Monday that Martino Motors, 536 Rodi Road, violated an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) that the dealership entered into in 2014. “Martino Motors agreed to play by the...
Prayer vigil for Ukraine set for Saturday in Greensburg
A group of area religious leaders will lead a prayer vigil for the people of Ukraine from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Bononi & Bononi parking lot at the corner of South Main and East Third streets in Greensburg. “We want to present a unified message on Russia’s...
In fiery speech, Zelenskyy implores U.N. Security Council to hold Russia to accountVideo
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an impassioned address to the United Nations Security Council, on Tuesday likened Russian atrocities in his homeland to Nazi war crimes, calling for Nuremberg-style tribunals to hold Moscow accountable. “They shot and killed women outside their houses — they killed entire families,...
Police: Drug charges filed against West Deer man who said disturbance was reaction to attack by demons
A West Deer man faces a felony drug charge after telling police he woke his neighbors at 2 a.m. because he was being attacked by white demons with black eyes, authorities said. Donald A. Cowfer Jr., 34, of Tarentum-Culmerville Road was charged with felony possession of drugs with the intent...
PNC Park continues to rank among MLB’s top ballparks
Of all the baseball stadiums in all the towns in all the world … PNC Park is among the best. Regularly. Hold your head high, Pittsburgh. You’ve got one of the best Major League Baseball parks there is. And while the team that plays there has rarely been viable after...
Police: Ford City man faces felonies for hitting neighbor in head with baseball bat
A man told Ford City police that he was hit in the head with a baseball bat when he went to a neighbor’s house to retrieve items from his former girlfriend. Benjamin Peter Space, 45, of the 700 block of Fourth Avenue in Ford City, faces charges of aggravated assault...
New Twitter biggie Musk may have thoughts on edit button
Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO and power Twitter user who is now Twitter’s largest shareholder and newly appointed board member, may have thoughts on a long-standing request from users: Should there be an edit button? On Monday evening, Musk launched a Twitter poll about whether they want an edit...
Federal civil rights lawsuit filed against City of Pittsburgh in Jim Rogers’ death
The estate of a man who died in October a day after being tased by Pittsburgh police filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit Monday against the city and the officers on the scene that day. The complaint, filed by James Frierson, who is serving as the administrator of Jim Rogers’...
