Top Stories category, Page 134
Republican Senate tax bill would add $3.3 trillion to the U.S. debt load, CBO says
WASHINGTON — The changes made to President Donald Trump’s big tax bill in the Senate would pile trillions onto the nation’s debt load while resulting in even steeper losses in health care coverage, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a new analysis, adding to the challenges for Republicans as...
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina won’t run in 2026 after opposing Trump’s billVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Sunday he will not seek reelection next year, an abrupt announcement that came one day after he staked out his opposition to President Donald Trump’s tax breaks and spending cuts package because of its reductions to health care programs. His...
Woman, 39, dies after golf cart crash in Bell Township
A 39-year-old woman died after a golf cart crash Saturday night in Westmoreland County, according to authorities. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner identified the woman as Nicole L. Brooke. Her place of residence was not provided. The crash happened in Bell Township, a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher said. It happened...
Driver taken into custody after breaching barricades, striking pedestrian during OpenStreetsPGH event
Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies took a woman from Duquesne into custody after she plowed her car through barricades at Sunday’s OpenStreetsPGH, an event that allows pedestrians and bicyclists free rein on certain roads. The sheriff’s office filed charges, including first-degree aggravated assault and assault of a law enforcement officer, against...
It took 16 hours to read Trump’s 940-page, foot-high bill aloud. Now the long debate beginsVideo
WASHINGTON — Hours before a tumultuous nearing-midnight vote on President Donald Trump’s package of tax breaks, spending cuts and increased deportation money, a Republican senator stood on the chamber floor and implored the plan’s critics, “Read the bill.” After the dramatic 51-49 roll call late Saturday, Senate Democrats did exactly...
Property’s future scrutinized as Pittsburgh Mills mall is up for sale
News that the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer could be for sale was met with reactions ranging from resignation to optimism, but all with a common question: What’s next for the Mills? The news comes in the midst of legal woes, including hundreds of township-issued citations, criminal charges and a...
Editorial: Public participation shouldn’t just happen when convenient for government
We talk a lot about transparency. The free flow of information is important. We want government to be accountable to the people for their actions, their spending and their process. When government does things without telling people what’s happening is when things go wrong. We have critiqued municipalities, school districts,...
Pa. lawmakers to miss budget deadline, but don’t expect lengthy impasse
Pennsylvania’s state government is expected to start the new fiscal year Tuesday without a spending plan in place. That’s not unusual. The state budget has been adopted by the statutory June 30 deadline just eight times in the past 21 years. Legislative leaders say they are confident this budget impasse...
Route 30 crash hot spots a concern for motorists, property owners, police, PennDOT
A note left on the door of their new Hempfield home 21 years ago was the first sign of trouble for Kristie Harvey’s family. It was from a young driver, admitting to having hit a perimeter wall on Harvey’s lot just off the Cedar Street exit of Route 30. It...
Upper Burrell man, 74, dies in utility tractor accident
A 74-year-old Upper Burrell man died Saturday in an accident involving a farm tractor, Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson said. Dennis A. Praniewicz was pronounced dead at the scene about 3:35 p.m., Carson said. The incident happened shortly after 2 p.m. on Fawn Hill Lane, a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher...
Homestead man arrested after high speed chase that ended with wreck of stolen car, Shaler police say
An 18-year-old Homestead man was arrested after a police pursuit in Shaler that began after a township officer identified the car he was driving as stolen, according to a criminal complaint. Sehven Rule was apprehended along with four others in the car after officers used spike strips and one used...
100th family reunion held in West Deer, but their roots came from Scotland — so did the clan’s leader
It’s in the Scottish nature to want to get together and meet up, says Madam Pauline Hunter, the 30th clan chief of Clan Hunter. Often that sees members of the clan, now scattered around the globe, returning to their roots and visiting Hunterston Castle, which is located southwest of Glasgow,...
Pirates great Dave Parker dies at 74, a month before his induction into baseball Hall of Fame
A rocket-armed right fielder and five-tool star who brought a big bat and a smooth swagger to the 1979 World Series champions, Dave Parker became a larger-than-life figure for the “We Are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates lost a member of the family when Parker died Saturday at 74, just...
Biden, Harris and Walz attend funeral for former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman
MINNEAPOLIS — Democratic former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman was honored for her legislative accomplishments and her humanity during a funeral Saturday where former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris joined more than 1,000 mourners. Hortman was shot to death in a pair of attacks two weeks...
Many forget the damage done by diseases like whooping cough, measles and rubella. Not these families
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — In the time before widespread vaccination, death often came early. Devastating infectious diseases ran rampant in America, killing millions of children and leaving others with lifelong health problems. These illnesses were the main reason why nearly one in five children in 1900 never made it to...
Cars, motorcycles, tattoos on tap at inaugural Whiskey Throttle Fair
Joe Fidanzato loves to flaunt his shiny, silver 1981 GMC Caballero Diablo any chance he can get. Fidanzato, 75, of Monongahela polished the wheels after parking the car Saturday morning off a dusty road at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township for the Whiskey Throttle Fair. The fair featured...
Senators prep for a weekend of work to meet Trump’s deadline for passing his tax and spending cuts
WASHINGTON — The Senate is expected to grind through a rare weekend session as Republicans race to pass President Donald Trump’s package of tax breaks and spending cuts by his July Fourth deadline. Republicans are using their majorities in Congress to push aside Democratic opposition, but they have run into...
Farmers market nutrition programs receive federal funding cuts, delays
Federal funding used to pay for food for low-income families and seniors has been cut by half and delayed, with fewer vouchers available, officials say. The cuts affect vouchers given to those eligible for the Women, Infants and Children Farmers Market Nutrition Program for low-income families and the Senior Farmers...
Bicycle sales hang on despite post-covid sales decline
At the height of the covid-19 pandemic, Chris MacTaggart and his friends had no problem following federal guidelines for outdoor recreation. In May 2020, he and two other cyclists started riding around Pittsburgh to get coffee once or twice a week. It was typical of covid-era social distancing in many...
Trump says he’s ending trade talks with Canada over ‘egregious’ tax on technology firms
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday he’s suspending trade talks with Canada over its plans to continue with its tax on technology firms, which he called “a direct and blatant attack on our country.” Trump, in a post on his social media network, said Canada had just informed the...
Senate, helped by Fetterman, rejects effort to restrain Trump on Iran
WASHINGTON — Democratic efforts in the Senate to prevent President Donald Trump from further escalating with Iran fell short Friday, with Republicans blocking a resolution that marked Congress’ first attempt to reassert its war powers following U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. The resolution, authored by Sen. Tim Kaine of...
18th-century artifacts get room with a view at Fort Ligonier Museum
A place for everything and everything in its place applies equally to spontoons and shards. Thanks to a new climate-controlled collections storage room in the basement of Fort Ligonier Museum, Meghan Budinger will have separate compartments to safely archive the former iron and brass weapon — a type of personal...
Former Monessen man resentenced to life in prison for children’s murder in 1973
Susan Worlton only knew her sisters from her mother’s stories and the few pictures that remain. In a courtroom Friday, Worlton told a Westmoreland County judge how the violent murders of her sisters five decades earlier have impacted her family. She and her mother were among the witnesses at the...
Trump administration ends legal protections for half-million Haitians who now face deportations
MIAMI — The Department of Homeland Security said Friday it is terminating legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, setting them up for potential deportation. DHS said conditions in Haiti have improved and Haitians no longer meet the conditions for the temporary legal protections. The termination of temporary protected...
Off-duty nurse pulls Route 30 crash victim from car, administers CPR in Southwest Greensburg
Dawn Hritz wasn’t even supposed to be driving on Route 30 at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. But she was. A forgotten karate uniform for her son and earlier-than-expected ride home turned into a lifesaving feat for the Hempfield woman who joined forces with Sophia Sikora and Kayla Borland, EMTs with Mutual...
