Top Stories category, Page 270
Notre Dame hosts first Mass since 2019 fire
PARIS — Notre Dame Cathedral, its air thick with the smell of incense, on Sunday hosted its first Mass since the catastrophic fire of 2019, a moment that transcends religious significance to become a powerful symbol of Paris’ resilience. Beneath the glow of traditional chandeliers and modern spotlights, which illuminated...
Trump is welcomed by Macron to Paris with presidential pomp and joined by Zelenskyy for their talks
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Donald Trump to Paris on Saturday with a full a dose of presidential pomp as the two held a hastily arranged meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy before celebrating the grand reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. On a day that mixed pageantry with...
New Kensington celebrates the holiday season with its annual Christmas parade
Hundreds of people lined the streets of New Kensington on Saturday to enjoy the city’s annual Christmas parade. The parade featured fire trucks, the Valley High School Marching Band, children and adults parading on foot or riding on floats from a slew of Alle-Kiski social organizations and businesses that decked...
Is there a future for TikTok in the U.S.?
The future of the popular social media app TikTok is growing murkier. A court ruling Friday indicates TikTok will be banned next year in the United States unless it’s sold before then — which is unlikely, according to experts. Jessica Ghilani, associate professor of communication and Cyber Institute Affiliate Scholar...
Upper Burrell considers injection well rules
Upper Burrell officials don’t want their township to become an attractive site for drilling companies looking to dispose of waste fluids. With between 100 and 200 abandoned gas or oil wells in the township, according to supervisors Chairman Ross G. Walker III, township officials want stricter rules for using those...
Penn State trustees pass almost 85% of measures without a single dissenting vote
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from north-central PA, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. When...
First defendant in Jordan Brown civil trial takes the stand
The day Kenzie Houk was killed, her ex-boyfriend, who, her family said, had once thrown her down a set of stairs and repeatedly threatened to kill her, offered to take a polygraph exam. But the state police investigating the shotgun murder didn’t take him up on it. “That determination is...
Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor to run for Pittsburgh mayor
Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor will announce next week that he is running for mayor of Pittsburgh, looking to unseat Mayor Ed Gainey after his first term. “I’m really excited,” O’Connor told TribLive on Friday. “I took the holiday to talk the decision out with family and friends, and we...
USDA orders nationwide testing of milk for bird flu to halt the virus
The U.S. government on Friday ordered testing of the nation’s milk supply for bird flu to better monitor the spread of the virus in dairy cows. Raw or unpasteurized milk from dairy farms and processors nationwide must be tested on request starting Dec. 16, the Agriculture Department said. Testing will...
Pittsburgh home of famed photographer Charles ‘Teenie’ Harris to be preserved
The home of famed Pittsburgh photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris will be preserved after the Pittsburgh Land Bank purchased the property this week. The goal is for the Homewood house to be restored and converted into a museum and educational space, said Matthew Falcone, who heads Preservation Pittsburgh, which has been...
Robert Smith: Steel City’s steel saga continues
Pittsburgh was truly the Steel City. Coke plants, tar plants, steel mills, glass manufacturers and other ancillary heavy industry lined the banks of the rivers, producing the raw products of the country’s industrial revolution. A remnant of these days are the current U.S. Steel facilities still occupying their locations in...
Zappala won’t charge cops who killed Upper St. Clair man amid mental health crisis
After a nearly yearlong review, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. announced Friday he will not charge the South Hills police officers who in January fatally shot an Upper St. Clair man wielding a knife while in the throes of a mental health crisis. The DA, however, criticized...
‘Part of history going down’ as tower at former Fort Pitt Brewery razed in West JeannetteVideo
Colleen Ott stepped into the cold from her West Jeannette home Friday morning to get a good look at history happening on her street. She raised her cellphone to take a picture of an eight-story brick tower at the former Fort Pitt Brewery site being torn to pieces. She’s been...
Federal appeals court upholds law requiring sale or ban of TikTok in the U.S.
A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the...
Plum homeowner accused of trying to blow up his house with natural gas
A Plum man’s apparent change of heart might have saved the borough from another house explosion, according to court documents. Neil Andrew Yetsko, 39, is charged with risking a catastrophe by creating a natural gas leak in his home then leaving town with two candles burning inside the home, police...
Is it legal to pass a working snow plow in Pennsylvania? Here’s what state guidelines say
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spends roughly $171 million preparing major roads for winter weather each season, and plows play a large role in keeping the commonwealth’s bridges and highways clear of snow and ice. According to agency estimates, PennDOT used 2,238 plow trucks, 396 rental trucks and 235 anti-icing...
Japan’s Nippon Steel sets sights on a growing overseas market in its bid to acquire U.S. Steel
KASHIMA, Japan — The signs at Nippon Steel read: “The world through steel,” underlining why Japan’s top steelmaker is pursuing its $15 billion bid to acquire U.S. Steel. “We can’t expect demand in Japan to grow as the population is declining. We need to invest in production that leads to...
Police believe gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO has left New York City
NEW YORK — The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer may have fled the city on a bus, New York City police officials told CNN on Friday. Video of the gunman leaving the scene of Wednesday’s shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson showed him riding...
Grief, relief felt as Unity woman’s remains recovered from sinkholeVideo
Feelings of defeat and doubt creeping into the minds of first responders were replaced with relief Friday morning after a Unity woman who disappeared into a sinkhole was found about 80 hours after the search for her began. The body of Elizabeth Pollard, 64, was found about 12 feet southwest...
Here are 5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Dec. 6-8
Hopefully, the weather outside won’t be quite as frightful this weekend — the city should be thawing a little after a frigid week. Enjoy it while it lasts! Dance, shop, eat and even parade with these events in Pittsburgh this weekend. Saturday in Mellon Square Featuring the awe-inspiring Aurora light...
1 killed, 1 wounded in Penn Hills shooting
One man was killed and another is in stable condition following a shooting late Thursday night in Penn Hills, police said. First responders were called to the 200 block of Universal Road shortly before midnight and arrived to find Vanderlee Stevenson, 21, of Penn Hills with multiple gunshot wounds, according...
‘Foreign adversary’ is likely behind some Havana syndrome incidents, House report says
A foreign adversary of the United States is likely behind some of the reported Havana syndrome incidents, a House congressional inquiry has concluded, adding a scathing critique of the U.S. intelligence community for “attempting to thwart” the investigation and producing an earlier “dubious or misleading” assessment dismissing the incidents. U.S....
Testimony in 2nd day of Jordan Brown civil case recounts crime scene, police interviews
When state trooper Harry Gustafson arrived at the Lawrence County farmhouse early Feb. 20, 2009, he spotted a 4-year-old girl standing in the front doorway, crying. “I bent down to her, and she said, ‘My mommy’s dead. My mommy’s dead.’” Gustafson picked her up, put her on the couch in...
Man hospitalized after being shot in the face in Clairton
A man was recovering Thursday after being shot in the face in Clairton. Allegheny County Police said officers were dispatched around 1:35 p.m. to the 300 block of New York Avenue for a shooting at the City of Prayer. First responders found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to...
House rejects Democratic efforts to force release of Matt Gaetz ethics report
WASHINGTON — The House shut down Democrats’ efforts Thursday to release the long-awaited ethics report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, pushing the fate of any resolution to the yearslong investigation of sexual misconduct allegations into further uncertainty. The nearly party-line votes came after Democrats had been pressing for the findings...
