Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 986
Resident twin felines earn their keep at garden center in Allegheny Township
Two cats are earning their keep in Allegheny Township. Mary-Kate and Ashley are 15-year-old twins living permanently at the Kiski Garden Center. The cats originally were brought to a former New Kensington store, Arnold Feed and Garden, by store manager Linda Ban when they were 6 weeks old. Ban brought...
Kmart is down to its last 4 stores in the country
AVENEL, N.J. — On a busy stretch of Route 35 near Rahway, N.J., one of the nation’s last Kmart stores looks like a relic from the past. Its big red K is faded and cracked. Inside this most American of retail stores, popular for K Cafe luncheonettes and Bluelight Specials,...
Dispatcher: 2 firefighters injured while battling garage fire in North Huntingdon
Two firefighters were injured while battling a garage fire Monday in North Huntingdon, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The fire was reported at about 7:20 p.m. at 2005 Tomco Lane. According to the dispatcher, a firefighter from Circleville Volunteer Fire Department was taken to the hospital with chest pains....
Pittsburgh City Council looks to allocate $12.8M to Bus Rapid Transit Project
Pittsburgh City Council appears poised to allocate $12.8 million for Port Authority of Allegheny County’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit project, though at least one council member has said the city should investigate whether that cash could be spent on other infrastructure needs. Port Authority has touted the Bus Rapid Transit...
1 person hit by vehicle in Tarentum, taken to hospital by medical helicopter
A pedestrian who was hit be a vehicle Monday afternoon in Tarentum was flown by medical helicopter to a hospital, authorities said. Emergency crews were called about 3 p.m. to the 100 block of East Seventh Avenue for the single-vehicle crash in which a pedestrian was struck, according to an...
Pittsburgh Diocese: Bishop David Zubik surgery successful, injury worse than thought
Bishop David Zubik underwent successful shoulder surgery Monday, but Diocese of Pittsburgh officials said the bishop’s injury was worse than initially thought. The surgery to repair a “significant tear” in Zubik’s left shoulder took two hours, said diocesan spokesperson Jennifer Antkowiak. The surgeon at UPMC Mercy found the damage more...
Fire destroys duplex in Tarentum; firefighter injuredVideo
Two families lost their homes to fire in Tarentum on Monday, and a volunteer firefighter responding to the blaze was injured. The fire that destroyed a duplex at 205-207 W. 11th Ave. was reported to 911 shortly before noon. It sent a thick plume of smoke into the air that...
Some Pa. cannabis companies use misleading statements to promote marijuana for addiction treatment
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 — Some Pennsylvania cannabis companies are using incomplete or misleading claims to promote marijuana as a treatment for opioid addiction,...
Firefighters rescue deer stuck in icy waters in Fayette County
As far as rescues go, Bullskin Township firefighters had a first of its kind for the department when they received a report over the weekend of three deer trapped in the icy water at the Greenlick Dam Reservoir in Fayette County. “We’ve had rescues before involving wildlife, but nothing like...
House fire in Parks Township sends woman to hospital
Three occupants escaped from an early-morning house fire Monday on Lincoln Street in the North Vandergrift section of Parks. Joel Brown, chief of the Parks Township Volunteer Fire Department, confirmed there were no life-threatening injuries in the blaze that was reported at 7:51 a.m. Brown said one woman was flown...
Russia orders troops into eastern Ukraine, fear of war growsVideo
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the specter of war on Monday by ordering troops into separatist areas of eastern Ukraine in his most dangerous provocation yet with Washington over the fate of a nation that could redraw the map of Eastern Europe and upset the decadeslong security architecture...
Pittsburgh region’s balmy temperatures, sunshine won’t last
The official start of spring is just less than a month away, but in the Pittsburgh region it will feel as though it’s come early. Until Wednesday, that is. A high of 57 degrees and clear skies are expected Monday, and temperatures are expected to reach 60 degrees on Tuesday....
Westmoreland transit authority sees signs of rebound after years of pandemic-related declines
After months of declines in ridership during the coronavirus pandemic, Westmoreland County Transit Authority buses appear to have turned a corner. Transit officials said last week the agency’s fixed-route bus service, which operates 18 weekday and six Saturday routes throughout Westmoreland County and commuter service to Pittsburgh, has seen marginal...
Sidewalk closed on Penn Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh after bricks fall from building
A portion of the sidewalk on Penn Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh was closed Sunday after police noticed bricks falling from a building. Police spotted the falling bricks around 4:15 p.m. in the 900 block of Penn Avenue. They called the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire for assistance, as well as the...
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack: Some price increases are the result of businesses ‘taking advantage’
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said some recent price increases were the result of businesses “taking advantage” of the coronavirus pandemic and supply chain disruptions to push up food costs. Food prices have soared globally in the past year as economies recover from the pandemic and amid a jump in...
Penn State Thon raises more than $13 million in its 50th yearVideo
STATE COLLEGE — Thon 2022 raised $13,756,374.50, the organizers of the 46-hour dance marathon announced on Sunday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center. Thon, which was celebrating its 50th year at Penn State this weekend, has now raised more than $200 million for childhood cancer research and expenses for families...
Pittsburgh market has seen the most ads in high-stakes Senate race
The Pittsburgh television market has been flooded with more campaign ads in Pennsylvania’s high-stakes U.S. Senate race than any other place in the state, according to data obtained by the Tribune-Review. So far, all of the ads are from Republicans. Advertising data shows the Pittsburgh market received 18,074 Gross Rating...
Bishop David Zubik set to undergo shoulder surgery Monday
Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik announced Sunday that he is set to undergo shoulder surgery. The surgery is slated for Monday at UPMC Mercy, Zubik said, and will repair a significant tear in his left shoulder. “I have full confidence in my well-respected surgeon and his very capable...
Rents reach ‘insane’ levels across U.S. with no end in sight
Krystal Guerra’s Miami apartment has a tiny kitchen, cracked tiles, warped cabinets, no dishwasher and hardly any storage space. But Guerra was fine with the apartment’s shortcomings. It was all part of being a 32-year-old graduate student in South Florida, she reasoned, and she was happy to live there for...
Canada’s protests settle down, but could echo in politics
TORONTO — The streets around the Canadian Parliament are quiet now. The Ottawa protesters who vowed never to give up are largely gone, chased away by police in riot gear. The relentless blare of truckers’ horns has gone silent. But the trucker protest, which grew until it closed a handful...
U.S.: Russia closer to invading Ukraine, agrees to meeting
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia on Sunday rescinded earlier pledges to pull tens of thousands of its troops back from Ukraine’s northern border, a move that U.S. leaders said put Russia another step closer to what they said was the planned invasion of Ukraine. Residents of Ukraine’s capital filled a gold-domed...
Quality Inn in New Kensington damaged by fire after car severs natural gas line, crashes into building
Quick action by firefighters early Sunday prevented a blaze from spreading through a New Kensington hotel when a car slammed into the building and sheared off a natural gas supply line that fed the flames, a New Kensington fire official said. “We averted a disaster,” New Kensington fire Chief Ed...
Not for ‘another 100’: Hope held that pandemic fades in Year 3, becomes part of normal cycle
Amy Ranker needed to restock her pantry, so she headed to her local Giant Eagle in Hempfield. She picked a Tuesday afternoon, when the supermarket is usually less crowded. She took her time wheeling a full cart through the produce department. Taking care with her shopping selections, she used a...
‘Hamilton’ performer to conduct class with Valley High School drama club
A member of the touring company that will be performing the musical “Hamilton” at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh is scheduled to speak Wednesday to students at Valley High School in New Kensington. Nikisha Williams, a singer and actress, will conduct a class with students in the New Kensington-Arnold school’s...
Serving up smiles: Whitehall Eat’n Park employee celebrates 50 years and counting
Carol Kusan was working as a server at a bar/restaurant. She explained that if her infant son was sick, she would need to call off. Her boss told Kusan she was required to be there Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights for her shifts. “I left, and applied for a job...
