Regional category, Page 315
Western Pa. libraries struggle with changing e-book rules
It’s never been easier to borrow an e-book from the library, but it’s getting harder for libraries to pay to make those books available. When a library buys a physical book, it often does so at a discount. Buying e-books, which can be read on digital devices like the Kindle...
Officials in Pa. exhume body of man found frozen in cave in 1970s to test DNA
HAMBURG, Pa. — Investigators in Pennsylvania have exhumed the body of an unidentified man who was found frozen in a cave along the Appalachian Trail about four decades ago. Officials in Berks County say the man’s dental records recently were matched to missing men from Florida and Illinois. Berks County...
Trump reschedules visit to Beaver County cracker plant
The White House said Thursday that President Trump has rescheduled his visit to a $6 billion ethane cracker plant being built in Beaver County for Tuesday. The president canceled a trip to the Potter Township site this week after two mass shootings over the weekend left 31 dead and dozens...
Uniontown nuns to host 85th annual pilgrimage Labor Day weekend
The 85th annual pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help will be held at Mount St. Macrina, Uniontown, Aug. 31-Sept. 1. This year’s theme is “Mary, Cause of Our Joy.” The Labor Day weekend event is the oldest and largest Byzantine Catholic pilgrimage in the country. A focal...
Sandusky to be resentenced next month in molestation case
Jerry Sandusky will be taken from prison to a central Pennsylvania courtroom next month for resentencing on his 45-count child sexual abuse conviction, six months after a state appeals court ruled mandatory minimums had been improperly applied. Judge John Foradora filed an order Wednesday scheduling the proceeding for Sept. 23...
3 killed when small plane crashes in backyard of Pa. home
A small plane has crashed in the backyard of an eastern Pennsylvania home, killing three people aboard the aircraft. The single-engine plane went down around 6:20 a.m. Thursday in Willow Grove, shortly after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. It wasn’t immediately known where it was headed. Upper Moreland Police...
Erie woman pleads guilty to setting woman on fire
A 59-year-old woman faces up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to using rubbing alcohol to set another woman on fire at an east Erie residence in December. Mary E. Hull of Erie pleaded guilty to first-degree felony counts of aggravated assault and arson. Erie County Judge...
Services set for Nick Cumer, grad student killed in Ohio
LORETTO — Services are set for a Pennsylvania graduate student killed in a shooting rampage in an Ohio nightclub district. Nicholas Cumer was a graduate student in the master of cancer care program at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa. The 25-year-old was in Dayton as part of his internship...
Inmate charged with attempted murder of state troopers during Indiana County transport
An inmate at Indiana County’s Pine Grove state prison is charged with attempting to kill two state troopers when he seized a gun from one of the troopers and fired it twice as they were driving him back to the prison from a district court hearing. In addition to two...
Census takers identifying hard-to-reach populations across Western Pa., country
Disconnected doubters, wary skeptics, eager engagers and head nodders — these are all ways Census Bureau officials describe people living in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Released in late June, the 2020 Census Predictive Models and Audience Segmentation report is helping officials create a plan for the once-a-decade survey that determines the amount...
Pa. mother sentenced to 25 to 50 years in child’s poisoning death
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A suburban Philadelphia mother has been sentenced to 25 to 50 years in the alleged poisoning death of her 2-year-old son a year ago. Forty-three-year-old Jennifer Clarey pleaded no contest Tuesday to third-degree murder and child endangerment. Bucks County prosecutors alleged that she poisoned Mazikeen Clarey using...
Trucker gets 28½ to 78 years in I-83 crash that killed 3
A Mississippi truck driver has been sentenced to 28½ to 78 years in prison in an alcohol-related crash on a Pennsylvania interstate that killed three people, including a toddler. PennLive.com reports that a Dauphin County judge imposed the sentence Tuesday on 29-year-old Jack Satterfield III. Satterfield pleaded guilty in June...
W.Va. man sentenced to 2nd life term in I-81 slaying
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — A West Virginia man has been sentenced to a second life term in the shooting death of a motorist on Interstate 81 in central Pennsylvania more than 5½ years ago. Forty-two-year-old John Strawser Jr. of Terra Alta was convicted of first-degree murder Tuesday. Authorities in Franklin County...
Westmoreland Diversity Coalition to host former skinhead as keynote speaker
The Westmoreland Diversity Coalition is joining Saint Vincent College, the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, Adelphoi and the YWCA to sponsor a keynote speech this month by former white supremacist Arno Michaelis. Michaelis, author of “My Life After Hate,” will speak on his experience at 9:15 a.m. Aug. 29 at...
Nick Cumer, Dayton shooting victim from Western Pa., was ‘someone we all could look up to’
Nick Cumer spent many long days and nights at Washington High School polishing his craft on the trombone. But, when he enrolled as a freshman at Saint Francis University, Cumer was told that the Cambria County school’s newly forming band had enough trombone players. What they needed was someone who...
What you do when a shooter strikes could save or cost you your life
The median police response time to an active shooting incident is three minutes, according to FBI statistics. While fast by law enforcement standards, potential victims are essentially on their own in those first critical minutes. “Most of the violence is over in less than five minutes,” said J. Pete Blair,...
State fines Uniontown mayor for votes to promote himself, daughter to public positions
Uniontown Mayor Ed Fike has been cited for a conflict of interest violation stemming from his appointment as mayor in January 2018, the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission said Monday. Fike must reimburse the city $2,446.04 and pay $500 to the state ethics commission for violating the Public Official and Employee...
Safe2Say fields tips, puts focus on mental health services for students
Between Westmoreland and Allegheny counties, almost 3,240 calls were reported through Pennsylvania’s Safe2Say Something Program, a 24-hour tipline that allows students, parents and teachers to anonymously report something suspicious online or from a person who poses a threat to themselves or others. According to a report released by Pennsylvania Attorney...
Prices at the pump fall in Pittsburgh, nationally
Average gas prices in the Pittsburgh region dropped 1.5 cents per gallon in the past week to $2.94 on Monday, according to the price-tracking website GasBuddy.com. That’s 1.4 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, and 19.8 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average is...
Trump postpones Beaver County visit in wake of mass shootings
President Trump has postponed this week’s planned visit to an ethane cracker plant under contruction in Beaver County in the wake of this weekend’s mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, the White House and county officials confirmed Monday. Trump had been slated to visit the plant site Thursday. “In...
How to get a Real ID driver’s license (it’s not that hard)
Here is what you need to know to get a Real ID driver’s license. First, be aware that “Real ID” is a process, not a specific identification. There are various types of Real IDs, such as a U.S. passport or card, permanent resident card and federally recognized tribal-issued photo ID,...
Allegheny County leading in number of Real ID cards
More than 28,000 Allegheny County residents applied for and received a federally enhanced driver’s license and ID card in the first three months of Real ID in Pennsylvania, state transportation data shows. No other county had more. The roughly 7,600 cards issued in Westmoreland County placed it in the top...
Washington High School grad among dead in Dayton shooting
A Washington High School graduate was among the nine killed in a mass shooting at a Dayton, Ohio, bar early Sunday. Nicholas Cumer, 25, graduated from the Washington school in 2012, his family said. “We are heartbroken by the loss of our Nicholas in this senseless act on August 4,”...
Phillies sue to block Phanatic from becoming ‘free agent’
The Philadelphia Phillies have sued the New York company that created the Phanatic mascot to prevent the green furry fan favorite from becoming a free agent. In a complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the team alleged Harrison/Erickson threatened to terminate the Phillies’ rights to the Phanatic...
Sprint car flips over fence after crash, kills spectator at Williams Grove Speedway
Authorities say a car flipped over the infield fence at a central Pennsylvania speedway and struck a track volunteer, killing him. The Cumberland County coroner’s office said two Sprint car drivers crashed into each other while rounding a turn at Williams Grove Speedway just before 9:30 p.m. Friday. Coroner Charles...
