Top Stories category, Page 259
AI is a game changer for students with disabilities. Schools are still learning to harness it
For Makenzie Gilkison, spelling is such a struggle that a word like rhinoceros might come out as “rineanswsaurs” or sarcastic as “srkastik.” The 14-year-old from suburban Indianapolis can sound out words, but her dyslexia makes the process so draining that she often struggles with comprehension. “I just assumed I was...
Trump has pressed for voting changes. GOP majorities in Congress will try to make that happen
ATLANTA — Republicans plan to move quickly in their effort to overhaul the nation’s voting procedures, seeing an opportunity with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress to push through long-sought changes that include voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements. They say the measures are needed to restore...
Steelers vs. Chiefs: What they’re saying in Kansas City after winVideo
Well, that certainly was ugly. The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t just drop a lump of coal in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ stocking, they backed up a dump truck of it. And the drubbing is being talked about among those in Kansas City media in the appropriate manner. “The Chiefs destroyed the...
From triumph to tragedy: What a year it was in Westmoreland County
The happenings of the last 12 months in Westmoreland County will be relegated to history and some of them are touchstones that will be long remembered. About 60 miles northwest of Greensburg in Butler County, soon-to-be President Donald J. Trump was grazed by a bullet at the start of a...
Editorial: The hope and light of Hanukkah
The symbol of Hanukkah is not what you might think it is. For many, the Jewish festival of lights is most identified with a menorah — a branch of flames atop candles or cups of oil. But what the uninitiated might mistake for a menorah is really a hanukkiah. A...
Year-in-review: Alle-Kiski Valley residents among victims at Trump rally assassination attempt
As 2024 draws to a close, Alle-Kiski Valley area residents may be looking forward to the uncertainty of the year to come while reflecting on what has passed. And while the region always has its mix of news — big and small, widespread and personal — it found itself thrust,...
Good Samaritan finds strength in optimism as he recovers from August shooting in PittsburghVideo
Paul Werder never imagined a simple gesture of kindness could unravel so many lives. The retired banker was driving to his investment property on Pittsburgh’s North Side in August when he passed a man lying on his side. His body lay slung across the sidewalk, his head in a patch...
Pa. lawmakers passed fewer laws than in recent sessions, but leaders say quality is better than quantity
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — The divided Pennsylvania legislature passed fewer laws and held fewer voting days over the past two years than in most sessions in recent...
New York taxi driver hits 6 pedestrians, 3 taken to hospital, police sayVideo
NEW YORK — A taxicab hit six pedestrians Wednesday in midtown Manhattan, police said, with three people — including a 9-year-old boy — transported to hospitals for their injuries. A New York Police Department spokesperson said the taxi driver may have suffered a medical episode, but that the investigation had...
Airing of Grievances: Poor pass protection, rotten start, shoddy defense doom Steelers on Christmas DayVideo
The Steelers’ Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs went as well as the holiday dinner in the movie “Christmas Vacation.” The offense was about as dry as the Griswold’s turkey. The defense got fried like the family cat, and Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes caused as much chaos...
Patrick Mahomes dissects defense for 3 TDs as Chiefs hand Steelers 3rd straight loss
If the Pittsburgh Steelers were looking for a gift from a jolly fellow wearing red and white, the Kansas City Chiefs were dressed for the occasion. Chiefs coach Andy Reid even arrived at Acrisure Stadium in a Santa Claus suit. But the trouble following their Christmas Day defeat has less...
Azerbaijani airliner crashes in Kazakhstan, killing 38 with 29 survivors, officials sayVideo
An Azerbaijani airliner with 67 people onboard crashed Wednesday near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, killing 38 people and leaving 29 survivors, a Kazakh official said. Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbaev disclosed the figures while meeting with Azerbaijani officials, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. The Embraer 190 was en...
‘Time of our lives’: Steelers, Chiefs fans celebrate holiday with tailgating before Chiefs stole Christmas
A giant, inflatable Santa Claus nursing a fake Yuengling beer bottle perched Wednesday morning above a sea of tailgaters on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Scores of football fans wore red and white Santa Claus caps. Others meandered through parking lots while donning holiday-themed pajamas. And at least one man dressed up,...
Greensburg church volunteers dish out, deliver hundreds of Christmas meals to those in need
Lisa Reynolds didn’t think twice when asked by a family friends to give up her Christmas morning make sure those in need had a holiday meal. Reynolds, of Bell Township, was among the dozens of volunteers at the First Presbyterian Church in Greensburg who cooked the food, packed boxes and...
Fate of Trump’s Cabinet picks unclear as Republicans prepare to take power in Senate
WASHINGTON — The fate of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet is still unclear after Republican senators spent much of December carefully dodging questions about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s views on vaccines, accusations of sexual misconduct against Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard’s 2017 meeting with then-President Bashar Assad of Syria. While...
NFL on Netflix: Christmas Day games are a 1st for streaming giant
Netflix will have one of its biggest days Wednesday since the site launched in 1998 when it airs two NFL games for the first time. “NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix” begins with a two-hour pregame show at 11 a.m., before Pittsburgh hosts Kansas City. Baltimore faces Houston in the second...
Fueled by anger and caffeine, 200 Starbucks workers strike in Pittsburgh area
In Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood on Tuesday, the sound of holiday songs filled the air outside the closed Starbucks at Forbes Avenue and Atwood Street. But the carolers weren’t fueled by holiday cheer. They were actually striking baristas from various stores in the Pittsburgh area demanding a union contract alongside their...
Police, coroner say weekend deaths of Manor couple was murder-suicide
A husband and wife died Sunday evening in a murder-suicide in Manor, police said. The wife, Theresa Day, 51, was found dead inside her Frederick Drive residence around 6:20 p.m. as a result of a gunshot wound and her husband, Jeffrey Day, 62, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, said...
Former FedEx driver charged with theft after Greensburg-area deliveries go missing
A Greensburg man is charged with stealing a phone that he was supposed to deliver while working for FedEx. State police filed theft-related misdemeanor charges against 29-year-old Mohammad Hat Alshamasin following a sting operation they set up after several Greensburg-area residents reported they didn’t receive electronics Alshamasin was expected to...
Bill Clinton is out of the hospital after being treated for the flu
WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton was discharged from a Washington hospital on Tuesday and will be home for Christmas after he was admitted the day before with a fever. Clinton is being treated for the flu, Angel Urena, Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, said in a statement about his...
Pedestrian, 2 state troopers injured in back-to-back crashes on Parkway North
After a pedestrian was struck on Interstate 279 early Tuesday morning, a passing vehicle struck the state police car that responded to the initial call, sending two troopers to the hospital, police said. State police were initially called out just after midnight to I-279 near the East Street exit at...
Westmoreland DA doles out drug forfeiture cash for enforcement efforts
Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli announced Friday that her office has allocated $82,700 to bolster education, training and enforcement of drug laws. Those funds were forfeited to the District Attorney’s Office as a result of criminal prosecutions of drug offenses. “By allocating this money back into the hands of...
Bethlehem marks a second subdued Christmas Eve during the war in Gaza
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Bethlehem marked another somber Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza. The excitement and cheer that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week were nowhere to be found. The festive lights and giant tree...
Heavy travel day starts with brief grounding of all American Airlines flights
WASHINGTON — American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Government regulators cleared American flights to get airborne about an hour after the...
As Christmas, Hanukkah overlap, interfaith couples celebrate with trees and menorahs
Early in their relationship, Danielle Rupright talked with her boyfriend, Shawn West, who was brought up Methodist, about how much she valued her Jewish faith and culture. “I said, ‘It’s important to me that I raise my kids as Jews,’ ” she recalled. “And he responded, ‘It’s important to me...
