Top Stories category, Page 267
Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The commutations announced Thursday...
Minnesota fugitive arrested in East Liberty
A Minnesota man wanted by federal law enforcement officials was apprehended in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood Wednesday, according to the U.S. Marshals. Theodore Jaymes was charged with second degree attempted murder in connection to a shooting on a light rail train in St. Paul, Minn. A woman on that train...
22-car crash in Pittsburgh sends 5 to hospital amid icy road conditions
A massive crash involving 22 vehicles occurred at 6:30 a.m. on the Boulevard of the Allies/Forbes Avenue off ramp coming off of Interstate 376, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety officials. Five people were transported to hospitals with minor injuries from the crash in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, officials said. A number...
Greensburg approves $13M budget that includes 3.3% property tax hike
Property tax bills will increase 3.3% to fund a 2025 Greensburg budget that was approved this week by a divided city council. Aside from a 1-mill tax approved by voters in 2017 that is designated for the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library and a 1-mill charge that since 2022 is designated...
Kansas closes 50th anniversary tour in Pittsburgh with several special guestsVideo
In a night of history and looking back, Kansas wrapped up their Another Fork in the Road 50th Anniversary tour Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. Founded in the early 1970s, the progressive rock band originally broke big in Pittsburgh, with their first show here in 1975, fittingly at the same venue,...
Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing could return to New York on a governor’s warrant
PHILADELPHIA — The suspect in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO plans to fight extradition to New York to face murder charges, but officials hope to get him back with what’s called a governor’s warrant. The process could happen quickly or take more than a month. New York Gov. Kathy...
Zappala sues over troubled Allegheny County pension fund
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala, Jr. is suing the county pension board and has asked a judge to force county officials to adequately fund a retirement system slated to run out of money in 15 years. In the 43-page lawsuit, filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court’s civil...
Lawyer says attempted murder charges against East Huntingdon man a result of police cover-up
The lawyer for an East Huntingdon man wounded in a shootout with police said Wednesday attempted murder charges filed against her client are nothing more than an attempt by officers to cover up what she called a botched investigation. Defense attorney Jill Devine said James R. Miller Jr., 62, rejected...
Mariah Carey’s PPG Paints Arena concert canceled Wednesday night
Just hours before showtime Wednesday night, “Queen of Christmas” Mariah Carey canceled her “Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time” tour set for PPG Paints Arena. “Pittsburgh, I am sorry to say, I’ve come down with the flu. It breaks my heart that I unfortunately have to cancel tonight’s show. I love you...
Police charge teen with plotting hit from Allegheny County Jail cell
A McKeesport teen awaiting trial for homicide orchestrated a hit on a police informant from an Allegheny County Jail cell, using code words like “lottery numbers” and “taco shells” to instruct another teen to carry out the crime, police said Wednesday. Allegheny County Police have charged both teens — Daemond...
Arguments over whether Luigi Mangione is a ‘hero’ offer a glimpse into an unusual American moment
Is he a hero? A killer? Both? About the same time the #FreeLuigi memes featuring the mustachioed plumber from “Super Mario Brothers” mushroomed online this week, commenters shared memes showing Tony Soprano pronouncing Luigi Mangione, the man charged with murdering the UnitedHealthcare CEO in Manhattan, a hero. There were the...
FBI Director Wray says he intends to resign at end of Biden’s term in January
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Christopher Wray told bureau workers Wednesday that he plans to resign at the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January, an announcement that came a week and a half after President-elect Donald Trump said he would nominate loyalist Kash Patel for the job. Wray said...
Fetterman joins Truth Social and says a pardon is ‘appropriate’ for Trump’s hush money case
Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) joined Truth Social, President-elect Donald Trump’s social media platform, on Tuesday and his first order of business on the site was to call for a pardon for Trump in his New York hush money case. “The Trump hush money and Hunter Biden cases were both...
Allegheny Township budget status bleak but fixable; 3% tax hike proposed
Allegheny Township is barreling toward serious financial woes without some major changes, according to financial documents. That’s why Township Manager Dan Miller proposed a 3% tax increase to help offset $4.2 million in expenses, but the modest hike is just the start of what likely will need to be an...
Pirates announce 2025 home game times, promotional schedule
The Pittsburgh Pirates announced their 2025 promotional schedule and home game times Wednesday afternoon. The New York Yankees will be the Pirates’ first opponent at PNC Park, with the two clubs set for a 4:12 p.m. first pitch April 4, 2025, which will be the Pirates’ home opener. That marks...
U.S. warns Russia may be ready to use new lethal missile against Ukraine again in ‘coming days’
WASHINGTON — A U.S. intelligence assessment has concluded that Russia may use its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine again soon, two U.S. officials said Wednesday. The Oreshnik missile, which was used for the first time last month, is seen more as an attempt at intimidation than as a...
More shelter beds allow officials to be proactive in shutting Pittsburgh homeless camps
Often when officials decide to tear down Pittsburgh homeless camps, it’s because serious problems have cropped up. Sometimes it’s the presence of violent crime. In other cases, the location proved to be dangerous, or officials discovered major drug problems. But when city and county leaders recently decided to tear down...
Lawyers give closing arguments to jury in Jordan Brown civil trial
It’s not about whether it was a perfect investigation. It’s not about guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or determining who actually killed Kenzie Houk and her unborn baby on Feb. 20, 2009, inside a Lawrence County farmhouse. Instead, the attorney representing the Pennsylvania State Police said Wednesday morning, all the...
Proposed Bon Air reconfiguration is ‘using the building space better,’ Burrell superintendent says
Bon Air Elementary School can accommodate Burrell School District’s fourth grade students without any additional classrooms when Stewart Elementary closes next year. And, according to Superintendent Shannon Wagner’s proposal, all six kindergarten classes could be located on the basement floor of Bon Air, as well as a speech classroom, for...
Gun found on suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO matches shell casings at scene, police say
ALTOONA — The gun found on the suspect in the killing of United Healthcare’s CEO matched shell casings found at the site of the shooting, New York City’s police commissioner said Wednesday. Suspect Luigi Mangione ‘s fingerprints also matched a water bottle and a snack bar wrapper that police found...
Medical examiner: Deaths of Mt. Lebanon woman, daughter found dead in South Park ruled murder-suicide
The deaths of a Mt. Lebanon woman and her daughter who were found dead in their car in June has been ruled a murder-suicide. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office released the findings late Tuesday into its investigation into the deaths of 43-year-old Serena Guan and her 10-year-old daughter, Abigail...
Biden set to block U.S. Steel-Nippon sale, say reports
President Joe Biden is on the verge of blocking a proposed $14.9 billion sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel Co., according to reports from multiple outlets. Bloomberg and Reuters reported Tuesday evening the president plans to kill the deal because of national security concerns. A Financial Times story,...
Pie in the sky: Mineo’s Pizza House to open at Pittsburgh International Airport
Mineo’s Pizza House will soon cut a fourth slice of their pie. And this one will most likely reach higher than the other three. The family business is expanding to the Pittsburgh International Airport. Construction begins in early 2025. The fourth shop will be located at the food court in...
Pittsburgh council gives preliminary OK to Gainey’s 2025 budget
Over the past several weeks, Pittsburgh City Council has questioned whether Mayor Ed Gainey is setting aside too little money in his 2025 proposed budget for major expenses like police overtime. Members have worried about how Gainey is addressing projected declines in the city’s vital reserve fund. And they’re not...
‘To observe and report’: Radio hams play key role for National Weather Service
Steve Fazekas and Eddie Misiewicz are self-proclaimed weather geeks and have the stories to prove it. In 1977, Misiewicz, then a volunteer firefighter in Dawson, Fayette County, went to Johnstown to respond to the devastation from a flood. He remembered picking bodies out of trees. Fazekas, of Winfield, recalled the...
