Top Stories category, Page 227
Homer City site: Large gas-fired power plant to support data center
The site of the former Homer City power station will be transformed into a natural gas-fired plant, generating electricity for the transmission grid and what is being called the state’s largest data center campus, it was announced Wednesday. Developers called it a $10 billion project for the future. “It is...
Morning Roundup: 3 charged in $250,000 copper theft; man recognized for saving flag; bear spotted in backyard
Here are a few morning news items from across the region for Wednesday, April 2, 2025: 3 charged with theft Three men are behind bars after state police said they stole more than $250,000 worth of copper wiring from a Somerset County plant, according to a news release issued this...
Small egg farms avoid shortages, keep prices stable
Art King knows egg prices nationally have been on a roller coaster ride. They still cost an average of almost three times what they did in July 2023, but not at his farm market. As co-owner of Harvest Valley Farms in West Deer, King has been selling eggs for about...
3 candidates nixed from Gilpin supervisor ballot after court ruling
Editor’s note: This story was changed to reflect that former candidate Thomas Rupert is a Democrat. The list of candidates for Gilpin supervisor in the primary is significantly shorter after a court ruling knocked three of six candidates from the May ballot. Armstrong County Common Pleas Judge Chase McClister ruled...
‘We’re praying’: Riders fear proposed Pittsburgh Regional Transit cuts
Monroeville resident Shane Beachy does not want to quit his job as a cook at Trafford restaurant Veronica’s On Cavitt. But, if Pittsburgh Regional Transit follows through on a proposal to eliminate service to the borough, Beachy, 49, may have no choice. The transit agency is weighing a 25-cent fare...
Val Kilmer, ‘Top Gun’ and Batman star with an intense approach, dies at 65
LOS ANGELES — Val Kilmer, the brooding, versatile actor who played fan favorite Iceman in “Top Gun,” donned a voluminous cape as Batman in “Batman Forever” and portrayed Jim Morrison in “The Doors,” has died. He was 65. Kilmer died Tuesday night in Los Angeles, surrounded by family and friends,...
Democratic-backed Susan Crawford wins Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, cementing liberal majority
MADISON, Wis. — The Democratic-backed candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court defeated a challenger endorsed by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday, cementing a liberal majority for at least three more years. Susan Crawford, a Dane County judge who led legal fights to protect union power and abortion...
Storms could unleash deadly floods, strong tornadoes in large part of U.S. in coming daysVideo
Forecasters are warning of potentially deadly flash flooding and strong tornadoes as more rounds of thunderstorms are poised to strike parts of the Midwest and South. The potent storm system will bring the threat of “significant, life-threatening flash flooding” starting Wednesday, according to the Weather Prediction Center, a part of...
First draft of Burrell School District budget proposes roughly 4% tax increase
Burrell School District’s draft budget for next school year has just under a 4% real estate tax increase for property owners. The draft budget totals close to $37.7 million, which is a 3% increase from this school year’s budget, said Business Manager Jennifer Callahan. The real estate tax increase included...
Republicans win Florida special elections in Trump strongholds by narrower margins than in 2024
ORMOND BEACH, Fla. — Republicans Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine won special elections Tuesday in two Florida congressional districts, bolstered by President Donald Trump’s endorsement to fill vacant seats in reliably Republican strongholds. Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer, fended off a challenge from Democrat Gay Valimont even though she...
Men plead guilty to killing roofer in front of young son
Ted Jones was supposed to be going to karaoke. The evening of Nov. 7, 2020, he had planned to drop his son off at his sister’s to enjoy a night out. Instead, as he arrived at his North Braddock home that afternoon, Jones, 52, was shot and killed during a...
East Huntingdon solar farm ordinance faces court challenge from Erie-based company
An Erie-based energy company is suing East Huntingdon, claiming a new ordinance effectively bans solar farms in the township. GreenKey Development Inc. says in its lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County court that East Huntingdon supervisors hastily and improperly adopted an ordinance in February to set specific and strict requirements for...
Expert: Social Security not meant to be one’s only retirement income, but often becomes that
Not everyone is going to have a viral social media video and a runaway crowdfunding campaign to pay for retirement. An 81-year-old waitress at an Eat’n Park in Ross, known only as Betty, will be able to work and worry less thanks to both of those, brought about by a...
Letter calls on Carnegie Mellon to denounce higher-ed actions by Trump administration
A letter signed by more than 150 Carnegie Mellon University faculty, staff, alumni and students calls on the university to denounce what it calls the Trump administration’s “punitive withholding of federal funding and detainment and deportation of international scholars.” The letter also asks Carnegie Mellon not to comply with federal...
Mass firing of federal health workers includes Pittsburgh region
More than 200 federal employees who work at the Bruceton Research Center, a research facility south of Pittsburgh, will lose their jobs by June 30, they were told this week. They work at the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the...
Gainey blasts Trump administration for targeting East Liberty Social Security office
More than two dozen people joined Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey in East Liberty on Tuesday to rally in support of the neighborhood’s Social Security office, which had been targeted for possible closure by President Donald Trump’s administration. The office — along with the Greensburg Social Security Administration buildings and the...
House Speaker Johnson fails to squash a proxy voting effort from new moms in CongressVideo
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson exercised his power of the gavel Tuesday in an unusually aggressive effort to squash a proposal for new parents in Congress to able to vote by proxy, rather than in person, as they care for newborns. His plan failed, 206-222. In an unprecedented move,...
‘Miscarriage of justice’: Mom pans prison terms for son’s murderers as too short
Monica Reifman’s teenage son was shot 17 times in broad daylight. Two other people were wounded. That, she told a judge on Tuesday, is certainly worth a longer sentence than the 15 to 30 years in prison the prosecution offered to the two men pleading guilty. “That they could be...
Federal prosecutors to seek death penalty for Luigi Mangione in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing
NEW YORK — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that she has directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, following through on the president’s campaign promise to vigorously pursue capital punishment. It is the first time the Justice...
Businesses to stay open as Market Square upgrade, traffic shifts begin
A yearlong renovation to Market Square in Downtown Pittsburgh scheduled to begin Tuesday will cause a shift in traffic patterns. Construction will start in the north half of the square, including McMasters, Market and Graeme streets. One-way traffic heading toward Downtown on Forbes Avenue from Wood Street to Stanwix Street...
Editorial: Local cops use radar in Pa.! April Fool’s!
April Fool’s Day is rife with old jokes. It’s a date brimming with fake pregnancy announcements, weird product ad campaigns and classics like switching sugar for salt. Do the tricks catch people? Sometimes. For those that see them coming, however, April Fool’s pranks tend to prompt rolled eyes and heavy...
Man fatally shot outside vehicle in Homewood North
Two men have been charged with homicide in connection with a fatal shooting early Tuesday in Homewood North. Shawn Collins, 54, of Pittsburgh, and Lavelle Johnson, 33, of Braddock, are awaiting arraignment in connection with the death of Johnny Ray Wilson. His age was not listed in court papers. Wilson...
Allergies hitting you already? You’re not alone
Sneezing earlier than normal? Congested? Eyes watery? You’re not alone or imagining it. Allergy specialists in Western Pennsylvania say allergy seasons are getting longer and intensifying. Patients with allergy symptoms started visiting Allegheny Health Network allergist and immunologist Dr. Ali Ayyash in mid-February. “Typically, the spring pollen season starts towards...
Decision on 2nd injection well in Plum to come in June, zoning board says
Plum’s zoning hearing board says it will have a final decision on the development of a second injection well along Old Leechburg Road by June. The board heard testimony from three people Monday night during the third in a series of hearings. Local environmental advocacy group Protect PT (Penn-Trafford) and...
Pa. Senate passes bill requiring prosecutors to report noncitizens to ICE
The Pennsylvania Senate passed a bill Monday requiring prosecutors in the commonwealth to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they believe a defendant is not a U.S. citizen, with critics voicing concern that the measure would entangle local law enforcement in some of the Trump administration’s recent excesses. The...
