Regional category, Page 318
Game Commission continues investigating after bear bites staffer at Nemacolin
The Pennsylvania Game Commission continued its investigation Monday into a Nemacolin Woodlands Resort employee being bitten by a Himalayan Bear over the weekend during a “Safari Tour.” The agency’s Southwestern Pennsylvania office near Ligonier confirmed a game commission officer has been assigned the case. Attempts to reach the officer for...
Uniontown police looking for donations to reinstate K9 unit
The Uniontown City Police Department is hoping to add new members to its force, and these ones will have four paws and a tail. Originally implemented in 2008, the department’s K9 unit lasted until its last two dogs — Leonidas and Xavier — both died earlier this year. “Once we...
Gas prices drift lower, but Iran tensions could cause impacts, analyst says
Gas prices have come down slightly in Pittsburgh, with a bigger decrease nationally. In Pittsburgh, prices are down 0.9 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.97, according to GasBuddy. That’s 7.5 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, but 11.2 cents per gallon lower than a year...
Police: Antique bathtub reported missing in Elizabeth
A bathtub is missing in Elizabeth Borough, according to police. A 1920s antique cast iron bathtub with four claw feet and a brass soap dish was taken from Seventh Avenue sometime overnight between Saturday and Sunday by a person in a pickup truck, borough police said in a Facebook post....
Back-to-back storms pound Allegheny County, prompt emergency rescues
Heavy rain storms that pounded the region Sunday through Monday afternoon caused widespread flooding and damage, and emergency responders in several communities had to use boats to rescue residents from vehicles and homes. Eastern suburbs, including Penn Hills and Plum, appeared to be among the hardest-hit communities in storms that...
DirecTV drops KDKA due to contract stalemate with CBS
DirecTV customers across the region on Saturday found KDKA-TV, the CBS local affiliate, was no longer available through their subscription service. They were among some 6.5 million DirecTV subscribers across the nation affected by the blackout, the result of a stalemate in talks between CBS and AT&T over the cost...
Bear bites staffer during safari tour at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort
A guided safari tour through Nemacolin Woodlands Resort took a dangerous turn Saturday morning when a Himalayan bear reached through a wire fence and bit a Nemacolin employee’s arm. A spokesman for Nemacolin said resort associates had to engage the bear to get it to release the employee’s arm. The...
Man charged in apparent drive-by shooting that wounded Reading boy
Authorities say a man has been arrested in an apparent drive-by shooting that wounded an 11-year-old boy sitting in a car in eastern Pennsylvania. Reading police say the boy was sitting in a parked car at about 3 p.m. Friday when shots were fired into the car from another vehicle....
50 years after moon landing, Western Pennsylvania sets sight on return to space
Like many American baby boomers, Randa Relich Milliron has vivid memories of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. The Belle Vernon native was in her early teens as she sat glued to a television set throughout the day and well into the night that culminated in the...
Keep pets cool during heat wave, vet says
With the heat index expected to top 100 degrees Saturday, keeping the family’s four-legged companion cool is as important as keep the two-legged humans from boiling in the summer sun. “You don’t ever want to get them overheated. The only way dogs have to remove heat is by panting,” said...
Man wanted in Pennsylvania drug case arrested in Connecticut
VERNON, Conn. — Police in Vernon say they’ve arrested a man wanted in Pennsylvania for allegedly distributing drugs that led to the death of a child last year. Vernon Police and the East Central Narcotics Task Force arrested Thomas Keogh, of Vernon, Friday and charged him as a fugitive from...
Blairsville karate instructor welcomes martial arts master from Japan
Tetsuhiro Hokama, known to his students as “Hokama Sensei,” using the Japanese honorific for “teacher,” has taught old-style Okinawan karate in his home country of Japan as well as Europe, Africa and South America. Last week, Hokama Sensei was in Blairsville, Indiana County, supervising trainees at Matt Kohler’s Torii Dojo...
Authorities to discuss whether charges will be filed in toddlers’ drowning deaths, funds being raised
A Uniontown police investigator plans to meet with the Fayette County District Attorney next week to review the results of his investigation to determine whether any charges will be filed in connection with the death of two young boys who drowned in their family’s swimming pool this week. Lt. Thomas...
Stabbings at Lancaster home leave 1 dead, 2 hospitalized
Authorities say stabbings at a Lancaster home have left one person dead and two others wounded. But it wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the stabbings, which were reported around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. Police responded to a High Street residence and found one person dead in the home. The two wounded...
No relief from blistering heat until next week
Dangerous heat will hit Southwestern Pennsylvania on Friday and Saturday. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory that starts at noon Friday and runs through 8 p.m. Saturday. It’s been seven years since the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh has issued a warning for excessive heat. That was...
Police: Vandal targets Moniteau High School, principal’s home
A vandal targeted a Butler County high school — and the home front lawn of its principal, police said. According to state police, someone in a side-by-side utility vehicle rammed a fence at Moniteau High School in Cherry Township around 2 a.m. on Tuesday. A side-by-side is a small two-to-six...
Beaver Falls man gets 5 years in prison for New Brighton bank robbery
A Beaver County man was sentenced by a federal judge in Pittsburgh to more than five years in prison after pleading guilty to robbing a New Brighton bank 11 months ago. Ernest Dewayne Taylor, 50, of Beaver Falls, was sentenced the Aug. 17, 2018 robbery of Huntington Bank in New...
Looking to take a dip in the rivers? Swim at your own risk
With oppressive heat in the forecast, swimsuit-clad crowds are expected to not only hit local pools but area rivers and lakes where funky things can happen if swimmers don’t take a few precautions, according to experts. The good news is Southwestern Pennsylvania does not have flesh-eating bacteria and the rash...
GoFundMe page launched in memory of Ambridge electrical worker
A GoFundMe page was launched in memory of an Ambridge man who may have been electrocuted at an Ambridge pipe plant. The page for David Bupp, 46, surpassed its $30,000 goal by about $1,300 Thursday evening. More than 360 people donated. The funds will be used for funeral expenses and...
Science group predicts hotter weather for Pennsylvania, elsewhere in decades to come
If you think it is too hot and muggy in Western Pennsylvania these days, just wait until it gets worse in a few decades, according to a science advocacy organization that is warning about the dangers of climate change. The state will experience an average of 40 days a year...
Community mourns drowning deaths of Uniontown children
Uniontown families and neighbors Thursday mourned the loss of two young brothers who drowned in a swimming pool a night earlier. Hunter George Smith, 3, and Hayden Lewis Smith, 1, were pulled out of the pool in the backyard of their family’s home on Whiteman Avenue around 7:20 p.m. Wednesday...
3 facing charges in suspected meth manufacturing in Indiana Co.
Charges were pending against three people who were found Monday at an Indiana County home where authorities believe methamphetamine was being manufactured, according to state police. The three suspects — a 27-year-old man from Smicksburg, a 33-year-old man from Home and a 30-year-old woman from Penn Run — are under...
Excessive heat watch issued for Pittsburgh region
Dangerously hot temperatures are expected to blanket Southwestern Pennsylvania beginning Friday afternoon as part of a heat wave stretching from the Great Plains to the East Coast. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat watch for the Pittsburgh region through Saturday evening, meaning a prolonged period of heat and...
Man killed in Washington County ATV crash
A man was killed Wednesday evening when he was thrown off his ATV and struck by another vehicle in Marianna, Washington County, according to state police. Tyler Raymond Markoff, 21, of Marianna, was driving his ATV on Rosewood Avenue just after 5 p.m., police said. The ATV overturned when Markoff...
Periodical cicadas perform ‘natural pruning’ on trees across Western Pennsylvania
Drive through nearly any part of rural Western Pennsylvania and it won’t take long to notice: little clumps of dead leaves at the ends of certain tree branches. Fall hasn’t arrived early. The phenomenon is called “flagging” and is the work of the periodical cicadas from Brood VIII, who emerged...
