Top Stories category, Page 62
Heritage, heart — and a good offer — lead folks back to family homesteads
Editor’s note: This is the second in an occasional series on real estate market trends in Western Pennsylvania. Across Western Pennsylvania, families are finding their way back to houses that once belonged to parents and grandparents, drawn by a mix of nostalgia, practicality and economics. Whether it’s the comfort of...
Morning Roundup: Police say man set fire in Waterworks Giant Eagle; pedestrian hit by car succumbs to injuries
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Oct. 3: Man faces arson charges over Giant Eagle fire A man was arrested Thursday after allegedly sparking a fire in the Giant Eagle Market District at the Waterworks in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood. Police said Russell Weleski, 33,...
Latrobe woman, 2 dogs staying with family after fire ravaged her home
A woman and her two German Shepherds are staying with relatives after a fire nearly destroyed her Latrobe home Thursday evening. Firefighters responded to the blaze shortly after 7 p.m. at 315 Chambers St. Fire Chief John Brasile said initial investigation indicates it started from a grill on a porch...
Man dies after being found shot in Pittsburgh’s Hill District
A man was shot and killed Thursday night in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood. Public Safety officials said officers were dispatched at 6:53 p.m. to the 600 block of Perry Street. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner on Friday identified the victim as Gerald L. Bogan III, 23, of East Liberty. Responders...
White House pushes colleges to commit to Trump agenda to boost access to federal fundsVideo
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is encouraging leaders at nine universities to sign a compact committing their schools to adopt President Donald Trump’s policy agenda for higher education in exchange for preferential access to federal funds. Administrators at nine prominent universities, both private and public institutions, received an Oct. 1...
Experts say ‘partisan’ government agency messages on shutdown could violate federal law
The bright red box on the U.S. Housing and Urban Development website minces no words. “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government,” it reads. A message in the rust-colored box at the top of the U.S. Department of Agriculture website is much the same. “Due to the Radical...
Trump determines U.S. is at war with drug cartels, document to Congress explains
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has determined the United States is engaged in “a non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, according to a document notifying Congress of its legal justification for deadly U.S. strikes on boats off Venezuela. The text of the document, which was reviewed by Reuters on Thursday,...
Jerry Sandusky claims prosecutors gained financially from his sex abuse case
In a new appeal, convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky alleges the lead prosecutors in his case gained financially from a post-conviction relationship with one of the eight victims who testified at trial. The once-lionized Penn State football coach also presents a sworn statement from a second victim who, according to...
Pa. attorney general charges Pine woman for alleged forged signatures for school board election
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced charges against a Pine woman on Thursday for allegedly forging at least four signatures on primary nomination paperwork for a Pine-Richland School Board candidate. Kayla Van Blargan, 36, is charged with forgery, perjury and several other related offenses. According to the Attorney General’s Office,...
Conservatives furious as FDA approves new generic abortion pill
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new generic version of the abortion drug mifepristone, as conservatives slammed the decision as a stab in the back to the anti-abortion movement. The new generic mifepristone is manufactured by Evita Solutions, which says its mission is to “normalize abortion” and make...
Trump eyes cuts to ‘Democrat Agencies’ in government shutdown
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he will meet with his budget director Russell Vought on Thursday to determine which “Democrat Agencies” to cut, as he looks to inflict pain on his political opposition in the second day of a government shutdown. “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave...
Upper Burrell data center to be live by end of year
The TECfusions data center in Upper Burrell will be live by the end of this year, according to founder Simon Tusha. Part of the 1,395-acre site, located at the former Alcoa Research Center, already has been built out to accommodate some tenants, Tusha said. The Florida-based company is working through...
Missing pilot found dead with crashed ultralight aircraft after search in Indiana County
A Blair County man was found dead Thursday morning after an ultralight aircraft he was piloting crashed in an Indiana County corn field. The body of David Edward Wittmer, 75, of Logan Township and his aircraft were found after 10:30 a.m. Indiana County Coroner Jerry L. Overman Jr. said the...
Meijer eyes Cranberry for superstore, gas station
Midwestern grocery chain Meijer is eyeing Cranberry as it pushes into Western Pennsylvania. A proposed development would give Meijer a 159,000-square-foot supercenter in the township, according to Ron Henshaw, Cranberry’s director of planning and development services. The store would offer groceries, apparel, garden supplies, drive-through pharmacy service and curbside pickup,...
West View man charged with igniting Ross ATM as anti-government act
A West View man turned himself in connection with the firebombing of an ATM in Ross early Wednesday, telling police he wanted to make a “statement” against the federal government. Keith J. Coyne, Jr., 46, is charged with arson and criminal mischief. Police say Coyne confessed to lighting a Chase...
Man who fell at PNC Park charged with prowling at ex’s house
The man who recently made a triumphant return to PNC Park after suffering serious injuries from a 21-foot fall there in April has been charged with prowling at his ex-girlfriend’s house. Kavan Markwood, 21, of McKeesport faces a misdemeanor charge of loitering and prowling at nighttime. Markwood’s ex-girlfriend, who has...
2 dead in attack at U.K. synagogue on Yom Kippur, suspect fatally shotVideo
MANCHESTER, England — Two men were killed on Thursday when a man drove a car into pedestrians and stabbed a security guard in an attack at a synagogue where worshippers were marking Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, British police said. Greater Manchester Police said the man...
Morning Roundup: Police arrest man accused of armed robbery in Hazelwood
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Oct. 2: Man arrested, accused of armed robbery Pittsburgh police arrested a man suspected of armed robbery in the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood Wednesday evening. Police were dispatched to the GoGo Market in the 5000 block of 2nd Avenue...
Repairs at Vandergrift’s Casino Theater set for completion by end of year
Another piece of the decades-long repair efforts at Vandergrift’s Casino Theater is set to wrap up by the end of the year, borough engineer Lucien Bove said. He said crews will complete the second phase of a restoration project that will see sections of the building’s masonry repointed, windows replaced...
Ligonier Valley School Board taps McKeesport Area administrator as new superintendent
Matthew Mols, assistant superintendent at McKeesport Area School District, is set to take on the role of superintendent at Ligonier Valley School District. Ligonier Valley School Board at a special Wednesday meeting voted unanimously to hire Mols under a five-year contract, with a starting base salary of $160,000. Mols was...
Pa. House gun bill vote debate leads to expletive-fueled shouting match among lawmakers in Capitol
HARRISBURG — A fiery state House debate on a gun bill turned into a ugly shouting match on the floor Wednesday, that included expletives and a comment taken as a threatening racial epithet, according to lawmakers who witnessed the events. The fight over gun legislation was the most raucous in...
Federal agencies’ websites: A spectrum of reactions to the shutdown
Federal agencies and departments are discussing the recent government shutdown differently. Just take a look at their websites. The government stalled much of its operations at midnight Wednesday as Congress and the White House remain in a deadlock regarding the 2026 budget. It’s the first time since December 2018 —...
Many Americans ‘in limbo’ as federal government shuts down
Marsha Chapple doesn’t know how — or if — the government shutdown will impact her and the physically and mentally disabled adults she serves. Chapple, 56, of McKees Rocks, is a caregiver for Trinity Home Care, a Coraopolis-based company that receives federal funding. “I called in this morning, and we’re...
Trial testimony: McKeesport man accused of shooting his mother had violent past
Prosecutors on Wednesday set out to show John Malcolm Smith V had a history of violence before he allegedly shot his mother. On the second day of the trial, Danita Jones and Sonya Peoples of the neighborhood “happy hour crew,” testified on behalf of their dead friend, Antoinette Porterfield. “She...
Ex-Pittsburgher charged in $2M investment scam sent to federal prison
An ex-Pittsburgher and former investment broker who admitted his role in stealing more than $2 million through a sham energy company is going to federal prison. Jonathan Freeze, 66, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud last year, was sentenced in Pittsburgh on...
