Top Stories category, Page 519
Groundhog Day’s biggest star is Phil, but the holiday’s deep roots extend well beyond Punxsutawney
KUTZTOWN — The spotlight will be on Gobbler’s Knob in Western Pennsylvania early Friday morning, when handlers of a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil will announce whether he saw his own shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter or an early spring. Thousands are expected to attend the annual event...
Man accused of beheading his father in suburban Philadelphia home, posting gruesome video onlineVideo
LEVITTOWN — A man accused of beheading his father in suburban Philadelphia and posting a gruesome video on social media that shows him holding up the severed head has been charged with first-degree murder and abusing a corpse, authorities said Wednesday. Justin Mohn was armed and had jumped a fence...
Biden will visit East Palestine which was devastated by a fiery train derailment a year ago
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will visit the eastern Ohio community that was devastated by a fiery train derailment in February 2023 that displaced thousands of residents and left many fearing potential health effects from the toxic chemicals that spilled when a Norfolk Southern train went off the tracks. A...
Westmoreland woman dead after crash in Somerset
A Westmoreland County woman was killed in a Somerset County crash Tuesday, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The Somerset County Coroner’s Office identified her as Kaitlynn Beatty, 20. She had addresses in Irwin and Mt. Pleasant, according to authorities. Troopers said Beatty was involved in a three-vehicle collision at 7:15...
Morning Roundup: SWAT team searches Magee; police chase ends when driver runs out of gas
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, Jan. 31: SWAT team searches, finds no gunman around Magee Hospital Upon a report of a man with gun, Pittsburgh police SWAT operators searched a parking garage and apartment building near Magee Hospital late Tuesday night into early...
1 person killed in motorcycle crash in North Fayette
A man is dead after a motorcycle crash Tuesday afternoon in North Fayette Township, Allegheny County. Erik Ronald Huart, 33, from North Fayette Township, was found dead at the scene, according to North Fayette Police Department chief Donald J. Cokus Jr. The crash took place on Bateman Road near Lutz...
1 dead, 1 injured in Hill District shooting
A 30-year-old man died and another man was injured early Wednesday morning in a shooting in the Hill District, according to Pittsburgh police. Derrick Eggleton of Pittsburgh was taken to the emergency room at UPMC Mercy Hospital in critical condition after being shot in the abdomen. He was pronounced dead...
Iconic Volkswagen ‘bug on a pole’ will remain at new Murrysville Auto Sales location
Michael Pampena of Murrysville still uses the Volkswagen “bug on a pole” on Route 66 in Salem to navigate and give directions. Now, it marks the new entrance to his business. Pampena and his wife, Tia, relocated Murrysville Auto Sales to the former Excel Auto Body on Route 66, and...
Harrison EMT struck by car is on the mend, determined to return to job
Citizens Hose EMT Kelly Jackson calls herself a walking miracle. The Tarentum woman was critically injured Jan. 6 while working traffic control on Harrison’s Burtner Road during a snowstorm. A vehicle lost control and struck Jackson, throwing her about 30 yards. Jackson suffered a brain bleed, torn aorta, broken bones...
Homestead woman, 44, ID’d as West End bridge hit-and-run victim
The woman killed in a hit-and-run crash Saturday on the West End bridge is Faye McCoy, 44, of Homestead, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. Police were still looking for the driver of the car involved in the crash, believe to be a dark-colored sedan with silver wheels....
House GOP takes party-line vote toward Mayorkas impeachment as border becomes 2024 campaign issueVideo
WASHINGTON — House Republicans voted along party lines after midnight Wednesday to move toward impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a “willful and systematic” refusal to enforce immigration laws as border security becomes a top 2024 election issue. The Homeland Security Committee debated all day Tuesday and well into...
Raises rejected for retired Westmoreland County employees
For the first time in 13 years, Westmoreland County’s 1,400 retired government employees will not receive cost-of-living increases. “This is a very difficult budget, and one where we couldn’t afford to do a COLA this year. Difficult decisions had to be made,” Commissioner Ted Kopas said. Retirees received 8.1% cost-of-living...
Some ‘choosing to live outside’ after flooded Mon Wharf homeless encampment cleared, official says
Many of the homeless people who were living in an encampment wiped out by flooding on the Mon Wharf opted to move to other encampments instead of accepting repeated offers of shelter, Pittsburgh officials said. “These are people who are choosing to live outside. They won’t necessarily take shelter,” said...
NYPD officers will have to record race of people they question after council overrides mayor’s veto
New York City police officers will be required to record the apparent race, gender and ages of most people they stop for questioning under a law passed by the City Council, which overrode a veto by Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday. The issue was thrust into the national spotlight in...
Latrobe social worker pleads guilty to sex crimes against teen clients
Victims and their supporters stood and cheered Tuesday as a former Latrobe social worker was led out of a Westmoreland County courtroom in handcuffs. Gregory P. Miscik, 63, pleaded guilty to 13 charges stemming from seven separate cases involving 10 victims. The charges involved sex crimes against teenage clients dating...
Pitt graduate workers request union recognition
Graduate workers at Pitt are asking for voluntary recognition of their union, claiming majority support for collective bargaining. Hundreds of graduate workers, United Steelworkers organizers and unaffiliated supporters gathered on the first floor of the Cathedral of Learning Tuesday to deliver a letter to Chancellor Joan Gabel with a request....
Jim Rogers Taser case did not merit homicide charge, Zappala says
A Pittsburgh police officer was “wrong” but didn’t commit homicide when he repeatedly shocked a homeless man with a Taser, which preceded the man’s death, the officer’s termination, and a $8 million civil lawsuit settlement with the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said Tuesday....
10th Street Bypass reopens after flooding in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh’s 10th Street Bypass reopened Tuesday after it had closed due to flooding, according to PennDOT. The 10th Street Bypass between Fort Duquesne Boulevard and the Fort Duquesne Bridge and I-279 had closed after Downtown Pittsburgh’s riverfront began to flood Sunday. The flooding spurred road closures at the bypass and...
Bloomfield community group joins appeal to revive housing, grocery store development
A large development proposal for Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood that stalled out last year is gaining an ally in a local community group. The Bloomfield Development Corporation joined in this week on the appeal of a zoning rejection for a plan to build a large housing and grocery store development at...
DA files criminal charges against Century III, calls former mall a ‘monument to blight’
The owners of the blighted Century III Mall were charged Tuesday in a move by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala to seize ownership and demolish the once-mighty 1.3-million-square-foot building in West Mifflin. The district attorney’s office charged Century III Mall Pa. LLC with causing or risking a catastrophe, a...
Viral ‘sleepy girl mocktail’ promises improved night’s rest. Does it work?
If you’re having trouble falling asleep, some TikTok users argue there’s an elixir called the “sleepy girl mocktail” that could provide a solution. The drink is a combination of tart cherry juice, magnesium powder and a fizzy drink like sparkling water or prebiotic soda that allegedly promises a better night’s...
Report highlights ongoing racism at 10 Pa. State System universities
More than one Black university student recalled being compared to an animal. Another found a Confederate flag on his dormitory door. Others spoke of white peers saying, “I hate Black people.” And there was this anecdote which, like the others, was shared with a Pennsylvania senator traveling the State System...
Morning Roundup: Fayette man shot in moving vehicle during fight with wife
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Jan. 30: Fayette man shot in moving vehicle during fight with wife A man was shot twice in the thigh in a moving vehicle Monday morning in a domestic dispute with his pregnant wife in Fayette County, according...
Leechburg minister to co-pastor churches from different denominations
A Leechburg pastor is prepping for double ministerial duty at Protestant churches that cross denominational lines. With The Rev. Sue Washburn preparing to leave her post as interim pastor of Leechburg’s Cross Roads Community Presbyterian Church in mid-February, church leaders on Sunday approved naming the Rev. James Arter as part-time...
Amelia Earhart plane wreckage may have been found in PacificVideo
A South Carolina exploratory team claims it may have found the plane Amelia Earhart was flying when she disappeared in July 1937. Robotic company Deep Sea Vision (DSV) said in a press release that a sonar image it recorded “in a swath of the Pacific untouched by known wrecks” could...
