Top Stories category, Page 461
Biden marks Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal solar power grants
TRIANGLE, Virginia — President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving 900,000-plus households in low- and middle-income communities — while criticizing Republicans who want to gut his policies to address climate change. The Democrat seeking reelection this year took aim...
‘It means everything to me’: Penn-Trafford track athlete raises money for elementary school playground
After breaking Penn-Trafford’s discus record and placing third in the state last year, Matthew Sarnowski returns to the throwing circle this track and field season with lofty goals. But that is not Sarnwoski’s only reason for throwing well this spring. The Penn-Trafford senior’s performance is driving a fundraiser for his...
Terry Anderson, AP reporter abducted in Lebanon and held captive for years, dies at 76
LOS ANGELES — Terry Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, has died at 76. Anderson, who chronicled his abduction and torturous imprisonment by Islamic militants...
Earth Day: How a grocery shopper takes steps to avoid ‘pointless plastic’
ALBANY, N.Y. — Nature wraps bananas and oranges in peels. But in some modern supermarkets, they’re bagged or wrapped in plastic too. For Judith Enck, that’s the epitome of pointless plastic. The baby food aisle is similarly distressing for her, with its rows and rows of blended fruits, vegetables and...
Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial shifts to opening statements Monday, followed by the start of witness testimony. A jury of seven men and five women, plus six alternates, was picked last week. The trial centers on allegations the former president falsified his company’s internal records to...
Building the Valley: Frankie’s on 2nd finds niche in Leechburg, expands hours, days
Frankie Failla of Springdale Township is retired, but he goes to work every day. Failla owns Frankie’s on 2nd in downtown Leechburg, a classic American diner serving up hearty, homemade breakfast, lunch and dinner specialties. Some of the specialties are from the Italian-influenced Failla, who grew up learning the food...
Teenage boy killed in McKees Rocks shooting identified
A teenage boy who was killed by gunfire in McKees Rocks on Saturday has been identified. The victim was Ahsan Edwards, 15, of McKees Rocks, according to the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office. He was a student at the Sto-Rox School District. Edwards died from a gunshot would to the chest,...
Sensory accessibility: Theaters create a welcoming space for guests
When Amy Hart caught a glimpse of daughter Sophie jumping up and down in her seat in the theater, she began to tear up. Artists from the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” were dancing on stage in a sensory-friendly performance in 2021, and 14-year-old Sophie and her friend were smiling...
Guaranteed doe licenses in most hunting areas expected to thwart repeat of 2023 system shutdown
Luke Wasilowski isn’t looking forward to June — when state hunting licenses go on sale. At least, he isn’t looking forward to a repeat of last year, when the state’s computer system ground to a halt on the first day of sales, leaving hunters waiting in lines, sometimes for hours....
Voting precincts remain inaccessible to some disabled voters in Westmoreland County
Adam Halfill’s job description doesn’t include heavy lifting. But when Halfill reports to work Tuesday as the judge of elections at Greensburg Hose Company No. 3, he understands the job could involve the use of a little muscle. “Voters have to come down four or five steps to get into...
GOP reverses course, says mail-in ballots key to 2024 success
Local Republican leaders are pushing voters to get in the game when it comes to mail-in ballots, even if the most prominent voice in the party still is resistant. “It is important because we’re already starting each election with a deficit,” said Westmoreland GOP Committee Chairman Bill Bretz. “Many Democratic...
United Methodists will vote on the church’s future at upcoming General Conference
Hundreds of United Methodists will gather in Charlotte, N.C., in the next two weeks to make big decisions on the religious denomination’s policies, finances, inclusiveness and future. The international conference, referred to as the 2020 General Conference because the original event was postponed during the pandemic, comes after years of...
‘If not me, then who?’: Greensburg helicopter restoration project honors Vietnam War veterans
Stephanie Redovan was walking in Lynch Field Park in Greensburg and she noticed the Army helicopter dedicated to a Vietnam War veteran needed some TLC. “The thing that kept echoing in my head was, ‘If I don’t do this, who’s going to do it?’ ” said Redovan, 34, of Jeannette....
Evolution Grille in Buffalo Township set to close
A Buffalo Township restaurant known for its farm-fresh entrees and bold flavors has announced plans to close. Evolution Grille along Route 356 posted to social media Friday, saying it is extending heartfelt gratitude to diners who have showered the restaurant with love. “Life, my friends, is a fickle sous-chef,” the...
House passes billions in aid for Ukraine and Israel after months of struggle. Next is the Senate
WASHINGTON — The House swiftly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of political turmoil over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion. With overwhelming support, the $61 billion in aid...
Missing 12-year-old girl near the city’s East End was found
Pittsburgh police said they have located a 12-year-old girl who went missing on Friday. Akiyah Willie went missing about 11 a.m. after an argument with her mom, police said. “Thank you to everyone who shared the information,” police said in the update. She is known to frequent the area near...
Police investigate 2 shootings within minutes in Sharpsburg, Etna
Allegheny County Police are investigating two shootings that occurred within 15 minutes Friday in Sharpsburg and Etna, communities that sit less than a mile apart. Police were called at 11:45 p.m. to the 300 block of Linden Avenue in Sharpsburg after a woman was shot in the leg. She was...
32nd District Democrats to get first full chance at naming late Rep. DeLuca’s successor
For the first time since 1982, the Democrat ballot for Pennsylvania’s 32nd House District won’t feature Tony DeLuca. The late lawmaker of 40 years died in October 2022, one month before the general election and too late to print new ballots. He won nonetheless, triggering a special election. Joe McAndrew...
Police say couple set up woman to be stabbed in Point State Park
A man and a woman are in the Allegheny County Jail after police said they duped a woman into going to Point State Park on Friday where the man stabbed her in the neck and attempted to drag her into the river. Cody Linders-Heck, 23, no address available, and Janelle...
North Huntingdon aiming to rewrite backyard chicken rules after flap over fowl
North Huntingdon officials plan to create new rules for keeping backyard chickens in an attempt to balance the rights of those who want them against those who cry foul over the fowl. Township commissioners this week voted to repeal an ordinance that allowed chickens to be kept in residential neighborhoods...
Defense lawyers cry foul over lack of investigation into murder weapon in Wilkinsburg homicide trial
Allegheny County homicide detectives never followed up on information they received more than 2½ years ago that a gun seized in a traffic stop matched one used to kill a teenager in Wilkinsburg four months earlier. The gun’s existence was a surprising piece of evidence that suddenly appeared this week...
Local Holocaust survivors’ stories counter rising trend in antisemitism
Voices from the past that keep alive the horrors of the 20th century Holocaust carry an urgency today. Those voices are demanding increased attention through programs based in Southwestern Pennsylvania and New York, even as the current tragedies of the Israel-Hamas conflict reverberate around the world and antisemitic incidents continue...
Former Pittsburgh radio host Larry O’Brien, known via ‘O’Brien & Garry’ show, dies at 81
Pittsburgh radio host Larry O’Brien, who comprised half of the popular morning duo “O’Brien & Garry” for 20 years, has died. “He was a funny, bright man, and he kept up on Pittsburgh sports until the very end,” his wife, Winkie O’Brien, said from their home in Hilton Head, S.C....
State court sends Christopher Columbus statue removal debate back to Allegheny County Court, advocates react
The fate of the Christopher Columbus statue in Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park must once again be debated before an Allegheny County judge. A Commonwealth Court ruling last week, in its primary effect, reversed an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA)...
Man lights self on fire outside Trump trial courthouse in NYC
NEW YORK — A Florida man set himself on fire in a park across from Manhattan Criminal Court Friday where former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial continues, according to a report. Court officers and cops monitoring the press outside raced over to help put out the fire, which erupted...
