Top Stories category, Page 128
Supreme Court clears way for Trump’s plans to downsize federal workforce
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s plans to downsize the federal workforce despite warnings that critical government services will be lost and hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be out of their jobs. The justices overrode lower court orders that temporarily...
Texas governor says more than 160 people are still missing after deadly floodsVideo
KERRVILLE, Texas — More than 160 people are believed to be missing in Texas in the aftermath of the flash floods that killed more than 100 over the July Fourth weekend, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday. Abbot said many of those who are not accounted for were staying in state’s...
Pittsburgh boosts protections for LGBTQ+ people, pares prostitution penalty
Last month, Pittsburgh Councilwoman Barb Warwick said she hoped a package of bills she was introducing would spark a larger conversation about supporting LGBTQ+ people and signal that everyone is welcome at a Pittsburgh, even as the Trump administration put vulnerable communities “under attack.” On Tuesday, Warwick claimed a victory...
Trump’s scheduled summit at Carnegie Mellon meets backlash
Carrie McDonough was appalled upon learning that President Donald Trump would appear at a summit hosted by Carnegie Mellon University. She immediately began formulating an open letter to the administration, condemning what she saw as a dangerous legitimization of the Trump administration’s values. “Trump is a harmful person,” said McDonough,...
No penalty sought over Pittsburgh cop’s call for backup at heated council meeting
Pittsburgh City Council President R. Daniel Lavelle on Tuesday said he was not seeking any punishment for the sergeant at arms who called for backup during a heated council meeting last week despite issuing a public statement calling for an investigation into the incident. John Svitek, a uniformed Pittsburgh police...
Pittsburgh council rejects 1 of 2 competing zoning reform bills
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday struck down one of two competing zoning proposals that have sparked controversy and outlined different paths to creating more affordable housing. Inclusionary zoning — which mandates that a percentage of housing units in large new developments be designated as affordable for low-income people — already...
Pittsburgh council strengthens oversight of $15M Stop the Violence fund
Oversight will increase for a multimillion-dollar fund to combat violence in Pittsburgh amid City Council concerns that supervision was weak. Council voted unanimously to add reporting requirements and other safeguards to the Stop the Violence fund, which has around $15 million in taxpayer money that is allocated to numerous grassroots...
1 killed, another injured in North Huntingdon construction accident
A construction worker was killed Tuesday after he was run over by a vehicle at a Route 993 bridge rehabilitation project in North Huntingdon, according to police Chief Robert Rizzo. Brian Keefer, 53, of Indian Head, Fayette County, was identified by police as the worker who was killed. A second...
Former Penn Hills police officer charged in alleged road rage incident
A former Penn Hills police officer has been accused of intentionally spinning out another driver and later resisting arrest in Plum. Dennis Pape, 49, faces misdemeanor charges of recklessly endangering another person, obstructing administration of law or other government and resisting arrest in addition to some summary charges. According to...
Get ready to pass through airport security checkpoints with your shoes on your feet
For the first time in almost 20 years, travelers may no longer be required to take off their shoes during security screenings at U.S. airports. The Transportation Security Administration is looking to abandon the additional security step that has for years bedeviled anyone passing through U.S airports, according to media...
Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize. What happens next?
U.S. President Donald Trump has been nominated again for the Nobel Peace Prize. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump on Monday that he recommended him for the prestigious award, handing the American leader the letter he said he sent the Nobel committee. Trump has been nominated several times by...
UPMC ended trans care for kids, teens after letter from Dr. Oz seeking data
UPMC was among several hospitals that were sent a letter by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services before ending gender-affirming care for patients under 19. The letter, dated May 28 and signed by Dr. Mehmet Oz, the agency’s administrator, warned of “significant issues concerning quality standards and specific...
Effort to find abandoned, orphaned wells coming to Ross, Shaler
An effort to find abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells so that they can be plugged will make its way this summer to Ross and Shaler. After metal-detecting drones found 250 such wells in eight square miles of rural Clarion and McKean counties last fall, the coalition of government...
Ticky business: How Pitt researchers track the 8-legged bloodsuckers
There’s nothing fancy about tick hunting. When University of Pittsburgh professor Danielle Tufts and her team of public health students go out, they bring just a few things: A white jumpsuit, a pair of tweezers, some tiny vials to store specimens and a meter-long piece of white corduroy. The cloth...
Mt. Pleasant man convicted of sexual assault of child
A Westmoreland County jury on Tuesday convicted a Mt. Pleasant man of the repeated sexual abuse of a teen about a decade ago. Following a brief trial that started Monday and included testimony from the alleged victim and their mother, the jury deliberated more than four hours before reaching its...
Police investigating deadly shooting in Penn Hills
Allegheny County Police are investigating a deadly shooting in Penn Hills that left one man dead just after 6 p.m. Monday. At the 11000 block of Frankstown Road, police said they found one adult male shot, who was later pronounced dead at an area hospital. Preliminary investigations indicate that the...
Trump says U.S. to send more weapons to Ukraine, days after ordering pause in deliveries
President Donald Trump said Monday the U.S. will have to send more weapons to Ukraine, just days after ordering a pause in critical weapons deliveries to Kyiv. The comments by Trump appeared to be an abrupt change in posture after the Pentagon announced last week that it would hold back...
Riders rally to save Pittsburgh Regional Transit from drastic cuts
Nicolas Penailillo, 33, danced and cheered on the corner of West Liberty and Biltmore Avenue as red Pittsburgh Regional Transit buses rolled by. A Dormont resident of two years, he called public transit one of his favorite parts of Pittsburgh — but said that could soon change. “I just love...
McGrew out as Westmoreland’s chief public defender
Westmoreland County’s longtime chief public defender, Wayne McGrew, resigned late last week. “His last day officially was last Friday,” said Commissioner Ted Kopas. “I believe his resignation is in the best interest of the office.” It was not clear what prompted the resignation. McGrew did not return a phone call...
Pittsburgh police union head labels South Side a ‘disaster’ after attack on officers with fireworksVideo
As chaos disrupted Pittsburgh’s busiest entertainment corridor for the third consecutive week over the Fourth of July weekend, several people tossed firecrackers, bottle rockets and M80s into the crowd and at police, leaving three officers with minor injuries. Shortly before bars and clubs closed Saturday at 2 a.m., multiple people...
Doctors, public health organizations sue Kennedy over vaccine policy change
NEW YORK — A coalition of doctors’ groups and public health organizations sued the U.S. government on Monday over the decision to stop recommending covid-19 vaccinations for most children and pregnant women. The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association and four other groups — along with an unnamed...
Trump sets 25% tariffs on Japan and South Korea, and new import taxes on 12 other nations
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday set a 25% tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, as well as new tariff rates on a dozen other nations that would go into effect on Aug. 1. Trump provided notice by posting letters on Truth Social that were addressed...
Earlier bar time? More police horses? Pittsburgh councilman spitballs how to tame South Side chaos
A Pittsburgh councilman whose district includes the troublesome East Carson Street entertainment district is mulling strategies to curb unruly crowds there, from asking bars to voluntarily close earlier to using horse-mounted police more frequently. Councilman Bob Charland, D-South Side, acknowledged that violent incidents in the area over the past few...
Death toll from Texas flooding over July Fourth weekend surpasses 100Video
KERRVILLE, Texas — The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas over the July Fourth weekend surpassed 100 on Monday as search-and-rescue teams continued to wade into swollen rivers and use heavy equipment to untangle trees as part of the massive search for missing people. Authorities overseeing the search for...
‘Overkill is OK’ when it comes to heeding flood warnings, McCandless father says
After about 100 Girl Scouts were evacuated June 17 from a North Park cabin, some people made light of the move. “Water was ankle deep. Get real people,” wrote a South Greensburg man, commenting on the TribLive story about the incident posted on Facebook. It spurred other commenters to marvel...
