Top Stories category, Page 251
‘I am so desperately sorry’: Sewickley man sentenced in fatal 2022 Christmas Eve crash
The statements read in court on Thursday ranged from regret to rage to profound sadness. A father’s torment for years and opportunities lost. A best friend’s longing for her soul mate. A mother’s unending ache. Camden Kiggins’ death in a car crash two years ago has upended all of their...
Fetterman, DeLuzio among Democrats who support bill for deporting immigrants
A bill that lowers the threshold for detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants accused of criminal activity will head to the U.S. Senate on Friday, with support from two Western Pennsylvania Democrats. Sen. John Fetterman was the lone Senate Democrat to co-sponsor the Laken Riley Act, named for a 22-year-old Augusta...
Mitch McConnell blasts Biden decision to block U.S. Steel-Nippon deal
By blocking the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, President Joe Biden sold out American industry, workers and national security to “Big Labor,” writes U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Wednesday. McConnell’s piece, titled “Nippon Steel Isn’t the Enemy,” criticizes Biden’s decision to...
Supreme Court rejects Trump’s bid to delay sentencing in his New York hush money case
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s bid to delay his sentencing in his hush money case in New York. The court’s 5-4 order clears the way for Judge Juan M. Merchan to impose a sentence Friday on Trump, who was convicted in what prosecutors...
Home for struggling women to rebuild, improve lives approved in Arnold
Arnold officials have approved a woman’s plan to turn a house in the city into a place where struggling women can be safe while rebuilding their lives. The three-member zoning hearing board attached several conditions to its approval of city resident Amanda Wheeler’s use of the house in the 1700...
New LA-area fire prompts more evacuations while over 10,000 structures lost to the 2 biggest blazes
LOS ANGELES — The two biggest wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area have burned at least 10,000 homes, buildings and other structures, officials said Thursday as they urged more people to heed evacuation orders after a new blaze ignited and quickly grew. The fast-moving Kenneth Fire started in the late...
TikTok’s fate arrives at Supreme Court in collision of free speech and national security
WASHINGTON — In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment...
Photos capture how wildfires are ravaging Southern California 3 days after igniting
BC-California Wildfires-Photo Gallery, 15th Ld-Writethru15th Ld-Writethru Major wildfires around Los Angeles raged on Thursday as firefighters struggled to put out blazes three days after they began with strong winds ripped through the mountains and foothills. Ongoing flames All around Los Angeles, scenes of flames were everywhere, as many areas continued...
Crash snarls traffic on Parkway West inbound
A multi-vehicle crash just before the Fort Pitt tunnel was snarling traffic Thursday morning for inbound motorists on the Parkway West. The 511pa traffic website reported the crash happened at 6:13 a.m. As of 6:30 a.m., TribLive news partner WTAE was estimating a 65-minute wait from Carnegie to the Fort...
Trump might still have sway in U.S. Steel-Nippon deal
President-elect Donald Trump’s comments Tuesday, touting a United Arab Emirates company’s planned $20 billion investment in U.S. data centers, could spark hope for the proposed takeover of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel. Though Trump previously said he was not in favor of a foreign company assuming ownership of the...
Free school lunches could be on the table again for all students beginning in the fall
A pair of state lawmakers are advocating to again provide universal free lunches to students in the coming school year, though nobody knows for sure how much it would cost. State Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-North Hills, and Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks, will reintroduce the Universal School Meals legislation, aimed at...
Astrobotic will shoot for the moon again this year
After Peregrine Mission One burned up in the atmosphere and broke apart over a remote part of the Pacific Ocean a year ago, Astrobotic has been prepping for a second attempted launch to the moon in 2025 — Griffin Mission One lunar lander. Peregrine was supposed to solidify the Pittsburgh-based...
Rivertowne Pub demolition bids submitted for review by North Huntingdon commissioners
The condemned former Rivertowne Pub & Grille on Route 30 in North Huntingdon — a piece of the defunct, bankrupt Rivertowne Brewing Co. — likely will be razed this spring, township officials said Wednesday. The North Huntingdon commissioners expect to vote on a demolition contract when the board meets Jan....
Jury finds Monessen man not guilty of rape, sex assault charges
A Monessen man was acquitted of sexual assault charges on Wednesday. After nearly two hours of deliberations by a Westmoreland County jury, Jerry Francis Griest, 63, was found not guilty of three charges in connection with allegations made by an autistic woman who claimed she was raped after she rejected...
Pittsburgh to settle 2 lawsuits over South Side bar brawl involving cops, PagansVideo
The City of Pittsburgh will pay $170,001 to settle two of four lawsuits against it stemming from a brawl at Kopy’s bar on the South Side six years ago between members of the Pagan motorcycle gang and several drunk, undercover police officers, according to an attorney. Two remaining plaintiffs will...
Defense claims Mt. Pleasant woman’s drinking not the cause of crash that injured pedestrians
Westmoreland County prosecutors contend a Mt. Pleasant woman was severely drunk when she drove her sports utility vehicle off the road and struck two pedestrians in early July 2020. Assistant District Attorney Theresa Miller-Sporrer told jurors on Wednesday that Elizabeth Sirianni’s decision to drive home after drinking at two local...
Former Pine-Richland trainer accused of filming boys in locker rooms
A former Pine-Richland School District athletic trainer has been charged with secretly filming male students in locker rooms and bathrooms, according to state police. Samuel Elliot Fischer, 34, faces child pornography charges for the allegations in connection with Pine-Richland and other school districts. He recorded boys in locker rooms in...
Phipps Conservatory’s cafe, catering workers fear for their jobs amid vendor switch
Meredith Raubaugh doesn’t know what she’ll do for work after her gig as a catering server and cafe cashier at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens ends next week. She and about 30 others who work in the the Pittsburgh conservatory’s cafe and catering departments are expected to lose their jobs...
Medical examiner IDs man found dead on Wilkinsburg sidewalk
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office Wednesday identified the man authorities found dead last weekend on a Wilkinsburg sidewalk as Dorrel Ferguson, 19. Police were dispatched at 8:25 p.m. Saturday to the 1000 block of Ross Avenue, where the unidentified man, later identified as Ferguson, was found dead on the...
Former Derry Area Aqua Club president accused of stealing $24K from organization
The former president of the Derry Area Aqua Club was jailed Wednesday on police accusations that she used money from the organization to pay for gambling and sports betting, according to court papers. Josie Faye Ruffner, 35, of Latrobe, is charged by Westmoreland County detectives with dealing in proceeds of...
Attorney for Jeannette officer seeks probationary program in case of false traffic stop reports
The attorney representing a Jeannette police officer accused of falsifying reports related to traffic stops said he hopes to get his client into a probationary program. Matthew S. Painter, 40, of Penn Township, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday on 18 misdemeanor counts. There was no agreement struck...
TV Talk: WPXI names new weekday evening anchor
As expected, WPXI announced morning anchor Gordon Loesch will succeed longtime Channel 11 anchor David Johnson, who retired last month. Loesch will anchor alongside Lisa Sylvester during the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. WPXI newscasts beginning Jan. 20. He’ll also co-anchor at 6:30 p.m. with Liz Kilmer and at 10...
‘He seems genuine’: Potential Allegheny County jail warden draws praise from skeptics
Trevor Wingard was serving as the superintendent at SCI Somerset in January 2017 when he learned his prison had been chosen by the state secretary for a two-day meeting of corrections leaders from across Pennsylvania. Although the training schedule was aggressive, Wingard was given a one-hour window to show off...
Justice Department says it plans to release only part of special counsel’s Trump report for now
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Wednesday that it will release special counsel Jack Smith’s findings on Donald Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election but will keep under wraps for now the rest of the report focused on the president-elect’s hoarding of classified documents at...
Sam DeMarco leaving Allegheny County Council for role in Sen. Dave McCormick’s office
Sam DeMarco is leaving his posts as an at-large Allegheny County councilman and chair of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County for a position in newly elected U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick’s office. DeMarco told TribLive he will serve as Southwest Regional director for McCormick’s office. In that position, DeMarco will...
