Top Stories category, Page 108
NASA Acting Chief Duffy issues directive to speed up moon reactor plans
NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy plans to accelerate the construction of a nuclear reactor that could be used on the moon and alter the way NASA will partner with industry to replace the aging International Space Station. The plans, outlined in directives distributed inside NASA and seen by Bloomberg on...
Jeffrey Epstein victims express disgust, fear at handling of filesVideo
NEW YORK — A pair of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims blasted the Trump administration and the Justice Department for their attempts to unseal grand jury testimony in the criminal case against the late financier, saying government officials haven’t listened to the voices of people who were harmed by his actions. The...
Retrial begins in 2020 New Kensington fatal shooting
For the second time in 14 months, Westmoreland County prosecutors will attempt to convince a jury that Letresse Williams killed a suspected drug dealer during a botched robbery attempt. Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli said the Jan. 15, 2020, fatal shooting of Anthone Williams warrants a second-degree murder conviction. (Letresse...
Police arrest 2 in Stowe carjacking after chase shuts 31st Street Bridge
Two carjacking suspects were arrested Monday afternoon after crashing the vehicle police said they stole and trying to run from authorities — triggering a manhunt that shut down the 31st Street Bridge and snarled traffic on nearby Route 28. Stowe police reported a carjacking around 3 p.m. and called in...
Feds take down drug ring dealing meth in Western Pa.
Ten people from California, Michigan and Pennsylvania, including three from the Pittsburgh area, are charged in federal court with trafficking methamphetamine and other hard drugs in Western Pennsylvania. Christopher Love, 28, and Calil Francois-Moon, 20, both of Homestead, and Jonathan Toledo, 25, of Turtle Creek, were indicted last month on...
Judge says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs must stay in jail until he is sentenced
NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs can’t go home from jail to await sentencing on his prostitution-related conviction, a judge said Monday, denying the rap and style mogul’s latest bid for bail. Combs has been behind bars since his September arrest. He faced federal charges of coercing girlfriends into having...
Barrage of weekend violence not a bellwether for Pittsburgh or region, officials say
The first weekend in August was the most violent weekend of the summer in and around Pittsburgh thus far, a TribLive analysis found. There were six separate shootings: four in Pittsburgh, one in Scott and one in Monroeville. “Isolated incidents of violence are tragic, but do not define a neighborhood...
Probe into fatal East Hills fire that killed girl, 2, remains open
A 2-year-old girl killed when a December fire gutted a Pittsburgh apartment died from thermal injuries and breathing in carbon monoxide, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office announced Monday. Firefighters pulled Praise Lemons from the blaze that broke out at Maple Ridge Apartments in the city’s East Hills neighborhood around...
Man who killed cousin, terrorized North Braddock pastor, pleads guilty but mentally ill
Derek and Bernard Polite Jr. were cousins, but Derek always treated the younger man like a son, regularly welcoming Bernard into his North Braddock home when he needed a place to stay over the last 15 years. That, their family said on Monday, is what makes it so much harder...
Final member of trio charged in fatal Pittsburgh drug robbery heads to trial
Police say Sammie Lane Jr. executed Tayrod Ford in August 2022 during a drug robbery in Pittsburgh’s East End and then fled several hours later aboard a Greyhound bus. It would take nearly three years for authorities to track Lane down. They found him in March in a Lancaster County...
Botched bail hearing sparks memo to judges in wake of homicide
Allegheny County’s top judge has clamped down on a controversial legal maneuver that freed a violent crime defendant from jail, enabling him, authorities say, to walk away from an unsecured facility and kill a woman several months later. A judge in the court’s criminal division repeatedly denied bail for Isreal...
Girl, dog rescued from fire at Penn Township home
A young girl and a dog were rescued from a fire that extensively damaged a Penn Township home Monday afternoon. The juvenile female was unconscious when two Irwin firefighters and a Harrison City firefighter reached her in a second-floor room, said Irwin Deputy Fire Chief Shawn Stitely. “It was very...
NLRB approves union election by nurses at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital
UPMC must allow nurses working at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital to hold a union election, the regional National Labor Relations Board ruled Friday. Nurses at the Oakland hospital in May announced they wanted to unionize, calling for better staff-to-patient ratios, higher pay and more transparency from UPMC. About 1,000 nurses will...
Former Greensburg police chief pleads guilty to evidence tampering charges
Former Greensburg police chief Shawn Denning pleaded guilty Monday in Westmoreland County court to three misdemeanor counts of tampering with evidence. Denning, 44, of Delmont was sentenced to serve three concurrent one-year probation terms, which will run alongside the 15-month federal prison sentence he is serving after pleading guilty this...
South Buffalo bridge to remain closed for weeks as township plans informational meeting
A wooden bridge that provides one of only two access points to South Buffalo’s Clinton neighborhood is set to remain closed for at least a few weeks, according to a spokesman for the railroad that owns the structure. Last week, crews closed the 115-year-old bridge, which carries Clinton Road over...
Man grazed by shots fired in Brighton Heights
One man was grazed in the head by a bullet fired Monday morning in Brighton Heights, according to TribLive news partner WTAE. The shot was among 27 detected by two ShotSpotter alerts detected at the 600 block of Brighton Woods Road, according to WTAE. Jack Stack pool and playground are...
Fire damages North Huntingdon house
North Huntingdon firefighters were fighting a fire early Monday morning on a house in the western edge of the township, according to North Huntingdon fire dispatch. The fire was reported in the 200 block of Sherrick Drive around 7 a.m. This story will be updated....
Texas governor says Democrats have ‘forfeited’ their offices as they try to block GOP gerrymander
Texas Democrats on Monday prevented their state’s House of Representatives from moving forward, at least for now, with a redrawn congressional map sought by President Donald Trump to shore up Republicans’ 2026 midterm prospects as his political standing falters. After dozens of Democrats left the state, the Republican-dominated House was...
Domestic assault suspect shot by McKeesport resident after escape attempt, police say
Police are investigating an incident that they said led a McKeesport resident to shoot a man who was attempting to enter their apartment early Monday morning. According to Allegheny County Police, first responders arrived at the scene of a domestic incident at the 2300 block of Highland Avenue in McKeesport...
New Kensington bustling 5 years into revitalization plan
Mike Malcanas took the advice he got years ago at a business convention to heart. “Everybody — no matter where they were from — said the day a brewery came into town, the attitude started to change,” said Malcanas, operator of New Kensington’s Voodoo Brewing and founder of Olde Towne...
National Night Out events to be held this week and next
First responders in local communities will participate in the National Night Out events this week and next. The National Night Out campaign, launched in Philadelphia in 1984, focuses on fostering positive relationships between residents and first responders — including firefighters and police officers. The movement has spread throughout the country,...
Exchange of gunfire leads to standoff in Scott Township, 2 arrested
Two men were arrested after an exchange of gunfire led to a standoff in Scott Township Sunday morning, according to township police. Travis Coles, 30, and Ean Strimlan, 21, will be charged with three counts of simple assault and three counts of terroristic threats, Scott police said. Coles has an...
‘Rallying for Rescues’ in Lower Burrell brings financial support, awareness to animal rescues in the region
Sometimes, it’s those who do the saving that need the help. That’s the idea behind Rallying for Rescues, first held in 2024 and brought back for a second year Sunday at Derek Kotecki Memorial Park in Lower Burrell. Proceeds from this year’s event are benefiting 16 rescues, primarily for dogs...
Texas Democrats leave the state to block vote on redrawn House map backed by Trump
Texas Democrats are leaving the state in an attempt to prevent the state House from holding a vote Monday on new congressional maps that Republicans hope will net them several additional U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm elections. The dramatic move Sunday could expose Democrats to fines and other...
Pittsburgh police identify ‘person of interest’ in Downtown shooting
Pittsburgh police released photos Sunday of a person of interest in the Friday afternoon shooting in Downtown Pittsburgh. Two people were wounded in the incident, which took place on a busy section of Penn Avenue between Ninth and 10th streets. On social media, police said they are seeking the public’s...
