Top Stories category, Page 417
Working conditions are driver of national teacher shortage, federal education deputy says at Pittsburgh conference
When people ask Cindy Marten what she does for a living, she does not tell them she is the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. After 34 years as an educator and school administrator, she tells them she is a teacher. “I was born, literally, to be a...
Mt. Lebanon native, other local swimmers to dive into Mon to fight pancreatic cancer
The covid pandemic put an end to many athletic competitions and uprooted the lives of most everyone around the world. For 63-year-old Judy Caves of Mt. Lebanon, it was the start of something special. “During covid, when all of us couldn’t swim in pools, we started swimming in rivers,” Caves...
Unity firefighters set 6-month trial for paid daytime crews
The seven volunteer departments in the Unity Township Fire Bureau are investing in their personnel to ensure they have crews available to respond to emergencies. Beginning July 1, the departments are launching a duty crew program for a six-month trial. Their aim each weekday is to have one fire truck...
Pittsburgh airport advises travelers to arrive up to 3 hours before flights
Passengers could see long security screening waits at the Pittsburgh International Airport this summer, and airport officials are advising travelers to get there extra early, especially for early morning flights. Airport officials issued a travel alert Monday, advising passengers to get to the airport between two-and-half and three hours early...
Westmoreland increases capacity at reopened juvenile detention center
The Westmoreland County juvenile detention center in Hempfield has hired enough staff to double its capacity three months after a limited reopening in March, officials announced Monday. The detention facility that makes up half of the Regional Youth Services Center was temporarily shuttered last year amid a series of negative...
After a ‘rough’ start, Sen. John Fetterman opens up about his mental health journey
ASPEN, Colo. — It wasn’t the 2022 election that nearly killed Sen. John Fetterman. By his own account, it was the aftermath. The Pennsylvania Democrat has been candid about his personal experience with depression and self-harm, shining a spotlight on what can still be a taboo subject for many Americans....
Kids 15 and younger need adult supervision at Highland Park pool
Children ages 15 and younger will need to be accompanied by an adult to enter Pittsburgh’s Highland Park pool this summer, a city spokesperson said Monday. The rule that kids must be supervised by someone who is at least 21 years old is not in effect at any other city...
Lawsuit challenges new Louisiana law requiring classrooms to display the Ten Commandments
BATON ROUGE — Civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit Monday to block Louisiana’s new law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, a measure they contend is unconstitutional. Opponents of the legislation signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry last week had long...
Prosecutors in classified files case to urge judge to bar Trump from inflammatory comments about FBI
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A federal prosecutor in the classified documents case of Donald Trump clashed with the judge Monday as he faced skeptical questioning over a request to bar the former president from making threatening comments about law enforcement agents involved in the investigation. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team...
Dali cargo ship leaves Baltimore for Virginia, nearly 3 months after bridge collapse
The cargo ship Dali headed out of Baltimore for Virginia on Monday, nearly three months after it lost power and crashed into one of the Francis Scott Key bridge’s supporting columns and caused the bridge to collapse. The 984-foot Dali started moving shortly before 8:30 a.m. with four tugboats. The...
Dr. Iulia Vann nominated as new Allegheny County health director
Allegheny County could soon have a new health director after a six-month search. Dr. Iulia Vann was nominated by the Allegheny County Board of Health Monday in an unanimous vote from the nine-member board. Vann, a Romanian native, has served as public health director for Guilford County, N.C., since 2020....
IUP inks deal with Punxsutawney Area Hospital for medical school
Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Monday signed an affiliation agreement with Punxsutawney Area Hospital to provide clinical training to students of IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine. Having access to clinical settings is among the requirements to be accredited by the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation. The...
Eaglet takes 1st flight from nest at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Plant
A bald eagle was fortunate enough Sunday morning to take flight for the first time from the nest at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Plant in West Mifflin. It happened at 7:24 a.m., to be exact. The No. 7 has followed the eaglet, fittingly dubbed Lucky, through its young life, according to...
Mark Madden: Pirates need bats to contend, but expect ownership to kick can down the road
They say the standings never lie. But sometimes they do. In the National League, nine teams are within four games of each other in the race for the second and third wild-card spots. One of those teams is over .500, another at .500. The rest have losing records. All of...
Supreme Court will take up state bans on gender-affirming care for minors
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday jumped into the fight over transgender rights, agreeing to hear an appeal from the Biden administration seeking to block state bans on gender-affirming care. The justices’ action comes as Republican-led states have enacted a variety of restrictions on health care for transgender people,...
5 injured in Schenley Park stabbing
Five people were injured in a stabbing Sunday night at a Schenley Park soccer field, Pittsburgh police said. Two men arrived at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, each with stab wounds, shortly before 11 p.m., police said. Paramedics transferred one of the men to a local trauma center in serious but stable...
Marshall couple identified in apparent murder-suicide
A Marshall couple in their early 80s were found dead late Sunday in what Allegheny County Police are calling a murder-suicide in Marshall. Allegheny County Medical Examiner has identified them as Carole, 80, and Roger Smith, 81. Police said emergency responders were notified a little after 9 p.m. Sunday of...
Robert Morris rower dies in Washington County crash
An 18-year-old woman was killed in a crash Sunday morning in Washington County. The crash happened just after 3 a.m. along Interstate 70 near the West Virginia state line. The Washington County coroner said Kaylee Ogea of Shawboro, N.C., lost control of her vehicle, which then rolled over. She was...
Morning Roundup: No injuries reported in Brackenridge boat fire
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, June 24: No injuries reported in Brackenridge boat fire Emergency services were called to a boat fire in Brackenridge on Sunday night. Allegheny County 911 said services were dispatched at 8:46 p.m. to Brackenridge Park. There were no...
‘Not a fun experience’ for boards considering school closure
As a public hearing looms for the proposed closure of Stewart Elementary School in Lower Burrell, experts say boards should consider numerous factors before closing a building. While school closures can be difficult, district leaders shouldn’t delay or avoid the issue, said Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab at...
Abortion rights take center stage as first lady Jill Biden campaigns in Millvale
First lady Jill Biden, in her second campaign appearance this month in the Pittsburgh region, attacked Republicans and former President Donald Trump, saying this fall’s election could put abortion access and women’s rights at risk in Pennsylvania and throughout the country. Speaking to several hundred invited supporters at Mr. Smalls...
Millions swelter as temperatures soar across the country, while deadly floodwaters inundate the MidwestVideo
Millions of Americans sweated through yet another scorching day as temperatures soared Sunday across the U.S., while deadly floodwaters inundated parts of the Midwest, including a town in Iowa whose own water-level gauge was submerged. From the mid-Atlantic to Maine, across the Great Lakes region, and throughout the West to...
Here’s a look at Trump’s VP shortlist and why each contender may get picked or fall short
NEW YORK — Donald Trump has narrowed his vice presidential shortlist to a handful of contenders as he prepares to announce his pick in the days before — or perhaps even at — next month’s Republican National Convention. He told reporters Saturday that he already has made his decision and...
New museum focused on American antisemitism breaks ground at Tree of Life site in Squirrel Hill
Pittsburgh took another important step toward healing Sunday as ground was broken on a new structure at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill that will house a memorial and museum to combat American antisemitism. Emotions ran high 2,066 days after a gunman broke into the Tree of Life...
Building the Valley: Sia Center fills need for indoor children’s entertainment in Vandergrift
Intricate stained glass and jungle gyms don’t usually go side by side. Sia Fouse is working on removing the stained glass, but she keeps filling the Sia Center, an indoor playground and event space in Vandergrift, with even more toys and equipment. She bought the former St. Paul Lutheran Church...
