Top Stories category, Page 56
Favorite foods, hunt for gifts, history on display draw crowds to Fort Ligonier Days
There’s too much going on during Fort Ligonier Days for the Kuhns family of Derry Township to take it all in during one visit. Ian and Amber Kuhns and Ian’s mother, Stacey Kuhns of Greensburg, focused on browsing among the 200 vendors to purchase gifts and sample food Friday, the...
White House lays off thousands of U.S. government workers, blaming shutdown
President Donald Trump on Friday blamed Democrats for his decision to lay off thousands of workers across the U.S. government as he followed through on his threat to cut the federal workforce during the government shutdown. Job cuts were under way at the Treasury Department, the U.S. health agency, the...
Washington County man found not guilty in baby’s death
A Washington County man who was facing a potential death sentence if convicted of killing his infant son was instead, on Thursday, found not guilty. Joshua George, 35, left the courthouse a free man after the jury deliberated for less than 90 minutes. The verdict, some say, bolsters the claims...
Giant Eagle wades into pharmacy benefit management, promising transparency
As Giant Eagle expands its pharmacy business by absorbing customers from the failed Rite-Aid chain, it quietly has been making a bigger push into a more obscure sector of the industry: pharmacy benefit management. After dabbling for at least a decade in pharmacy benefit management, serving as the go-between among...
Feds say UPMC subpoena is part of broad probe into gender-affirming care for minors
Subpoenas for records of minors seeking gender-affirming care at hospitals across the country, including UPMC, are part of a nationwide investigation into off-label drug use and fraudulent billing, the federal government revealed last week in a court filing. Filed in response to a motion to quash a subpoena at UPMC...
Trump ratchets up U.S.-China trade war, promising new tariffs
President Donald Trump revived the trade war against Beijing on Friday, ending an uneasy truce between the two largest economies with promises to sharply hike tariffs in a reprisal against China curbing its critical mineral exports. The president unveiled additional levies of 100% on China’s U.S.-bound exports, along with new...
Wall Street selloff raises worries about market downturn
NEW YORK — Investor worries Wall Street’s record stock rally would soon fizzle loomed large after tariffs re-emerged as a market risk. U.S. equity markets, fresh off midweek record highs, performed an about-face Friday after President Donald Trump revived threats to hike tariffs against China, triggering worries that a possible...
Fort Ligonier Days festival provides economic boost for the town and beyond
Fort Ligonier Days is one of the most successful annual festivals in Westmoreland County. It’s also a powerful economic engine. “The foot traffic into our store is tenfold, maybe even more,” said Jan Mikan, owner of The Cat’s Meow gift boutique and Hidden Valley Antiques on Ligonier’s West Main Street....
White House budget chief says government job cuts have begun
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s administration has begun laying off federal workers on Friday during the government shutdown, with a White House budget office spokesperson characterizing the layoffs as “substantial” in number. The U.S. health agency confirmed that some of its workers have received layoff notices. “The RIFs have begun,”...
Trump sees no reason to meet China’s Xi, threatens tariffs in new rift
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on Chinese exports and cancel a meeting with President Xi Jinping, in a broadside against Beijing on Friday that sent markets and relations between the world’s largest economies into a spiral. Trump, due to meet Xi in about three weeks in...
Greensburg Salem hires energy savings company to draft middle, high school improvement plans
As Greensburg Salem prepares to make its final debt service payment in January, the district is working with an energy savings company to create long-term improvement plans for its middle and high school buildings. The school board voted unanimously to hire TEN, The Efficiency Network, to complete conceptual design plans...
Community Supermarket begins final sale as closing looms in Harrison
Friday marked the beginning of the end for Harrison’s sole independent grocer. Shoppers meandered their way through a picked over Community Supermarket as its final sale began — 25% off all items — ahead of the store’s closure later this month. Many of the store’s perishable items, such as meat,...
ICE protest arrests spark 1st Amendment lawsuits against Ambridge police
Two people arrested by Ambridge police for protesting during an immigration raid over the summer are suing the Beaver County borough and its officers in federal court. Two separate complaints alleging malicious prosecution and violations of First Amendment rights were filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on Wednesday by...
Age 62, 67 or 70? Here’s the best time to claim Social Security
Some older Americans, staring down potential Social Security benefit cuts, might look to access the program as soon as possible. Experts say that could be a mistake. Instead, potential beneficiaries should consider their health and life expectancy, what buckets of money they can pull from, if they’re done working for...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ prehistoric approach of 7 offensive linemen worked but has its flaws
The Pittsburgh Steelers were founded in 1933. Right now, they’re using an approach fit for 1933. Coach Mike Tomlin has become enamored with deploying, for all intents and purposes, seven offensive linemen. What’s next, the single wing? Spencer Anderson serves as an extra tackle. He played 19 snaps in the...
White House says Nobel Committee places ‘politics over peace’
The White House responded to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Venezuelan opposition activist María Corina Machado by saying the prize committee was playing politics by not giving it to President Donald Trump. “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace,” White House Communications Director Steven...
Federal government shutdown: White House says mass layoffs of federal workers have begun
WASHINGTON – The federal government shutdown rolled on to Day 10 on Friday after senators the day before voted down dueling funding bills for the seventh time. With both sides not budging from their positions, it appears increasingly likely the shutdown will crash into the weekend and the next week....
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Venezuela’s opposition leader Machado
OSLO — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for promoting democratic rights and fighting dictatorship, receiving the award despite President Donald Trump’s repeated statements he deserved it. Machado, a 58-year-old industrial engineer who lives in hiding, was blocked in 2024 by Venezuela’s courts...
‘There’s a blend there’: Penguins’ mix of youth and veterans showing instant success, not just symbolism
On Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, new Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Muse rolled out an opening night starting lineup of veterans Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, along with rookies Harrison Brunicke and Ben Kindel. The symbolism wasn’t lost on anyone. The torch wasn’t ready to be passed, but...
Redesign in the works for office, retail space along Route 28 in Harrison
A mixed-use development that could bring offices, restaurants and retail along Route 28 in Harrison is back on the drawing board. The project, known as Harrison Point, is moving forward despite sitting dormant for 11 years, according to Richard Gasperini Jr. of Genfor Real Estate. His group is soliciting development...
Westmoreland man, woman killed in crash near Washington, D.C.
A Westmoreland County couple who loved music were coming home after attending a concert in Washington, D.C., when they were killed Sunday in an accident near the nation’s capital. Alyssa Samantha-Dee Caldarelli, 22, of Adamsburg, and Ryan Dean, 26, of Murrysville were fatally injured in a crash along the George...
U.S. judge blocks Trump’s deployment of National Guard in Illinois
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s deployment of hundreds of National Guard soldiers in Illinois, five days after another U.S. judge blocked a similar deployment in Portland, Oregon. U.S. District Judge April Perry said that permitting Guard troops in the state would...
Gainey’s affordable housing reform in jeopardy as talks break down with Pittsburgh council
In September 2024, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey set out to tackle a critical priority of his administration, what he called the “affordable housing crisis.” Unveiling a set of sweeping reforms, Gainey wanted developers across the city to set aside a portion of new construction for poor people to rent at...
Judge to decide appeal for ex-state trooper in 20-year-old Blairsville dentist’s murder
An appeal filed by a former state trooper in the murder of a Blairsville dentist is 10 years too late, state Deputy Attorney General William Stoycos argued Thursday. Plus, evidence the defense claims it recently obtained wouldn’t have any impact on the trial jury’s decision to convict Kevin J. Foley...
‘I’m cautiously optimistic’: Palestinians, Jews in Western Pa. share mixed emotions about peace deal
When Karim Alshurafa heard Thursday’s news of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, he felt conflicted. Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, which could be the first step toward ending a 2-year-old war that has roiled the Middle East. Alshurafa, 42,...
