Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 676
WVU President E. Gordon Gee defends cuts, despite growing dissent and potential no-confidence vote
E. Gordon Gee says he’s not afraid to walk the campus of West Virginia University these days, unpopular president or not. “I am not someone who has fear,” he said. ”What I do fear is whether or not I’m doing the right thing, especially in the golden years of my...
Whistleblower claims Westmoreland prison inmates lack sufficient mental health treatment
A former behavioral health clinician claims inmates at Westmoreland County Prison received substandard mental health care and that she was fired when she reported her allegations to the facility’s private medical provider. In a whistleblower lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, Carla Rhodes, a licensed social worker, says...
Prosecution says speeding caused 2020 fatal Hempfield crash
Nick Rossi said he was asked to drive his friend’s car nearly three years ago because he knew the location of the destination they never reached. Westmoreland County prosecutors said Rossi was speeding as he drove on Arona Road in Hempfield, drifted up an embankment and crashed into a tree....
Proposal aims to make Pittsburgh a ‘sanctuary city’ for gender-affirming care
Legislation set to be introduced to Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday aims to make Pittsburgh a “sanctuary city” for gender-affirming health care. The measure, sponsored by Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, would shield gender-affirming care providers, recipients and legal guardians from out-of-state investigations or prosecution. The legislation mirrors a measure approved...
Bell Acres businessman who admitted to $15M in tax fraud asks for house arrest or probation
A Bell Acres man who built what the federal government called the largest house in Pennsylvania with proceeds from a $15 million tax fraud thinks he should serve his sentence on either probation or house arrest. Joseph Nocito, 81, filed the motion seeking alternatives to federal prison earlier this month....
Trump gets March 4 trial date in federal case over efforts to overturn 2020 electionVideo
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump will face trial on March 4, 2024, for four felony charges related to his alleged efforts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election. That means jury selection would begin a day before Super Tuesday on March 5, when California, Texas and...
Florida governor declares widespread state of emergency ahead of Idalia’s expected landfallVideo
TAMPA, Fla. — Florida residents loaded up on sandbags and evacuated from homes in low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Idalia intensified Monday and forecasters predicted it would hit in days as a major hurricane with potentially life-threatening storm surges. As the state prepared, Idalia thrashed Cuba...
Labor Day drivers likely to find higher gas prices, AAA says
Drivers taking road trips this Labor Day weekend will likely see slightly higher gas prices compared to last year, according to AAA. The national average for a gallon of regular was $3.78 on Labor Day 2022, but has been above $3.80 for the past couple of weeks, AAA said in...
Pittsburgh sculptor Thaddeus Mosley recognized as artist, inspiration
Thaddeus Mosley is a strict but loving father, a World War II veteran and an internationally recognized sculptor, friends and family said Monday. Mayor Ed Gainey recognized the 97-year-old Pittsburgh artist on Monday in a small ceremony at the City-County Building. “You have changed this city,” Gainey told Mosley, whose...
Faculty member shot and killed in a campus building, says University of North Carolina officialVideo
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — A University of North Carolina faculty member was shot and killed in a campus building, officials said Monday. A suspect was arrested about an hour and a half after shots were reported, UNC Police Chief Brian James said at a news conference. Students and faculty at...
70-year-old dead following Derry Borough apartment fire
A 70-year-old man was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m. Monday at Independence Health-Latrobe after he was hurt in an apartment fire in Derry Borough. The cause and manner of William S. Trout III’s death remain undetermined, Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson said. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday, Carson said....
Pittsburgh police investigating fatal shooting in Lincoln-Lemington
Pittsburgh police are investigating a shooting that left one man dead Saturday morning in the city’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood. Zone 5 police officers responded just after 9 a.m. to a home in the 1500 block of Westmoreland Avenue for “an unknown trouble call,” police spokeswoman Cara Cruz said Monday. Officers met...
Trump and 18 others charged in Georgia election case scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 6
ATLANTA — Former President Donald Trump and the 18 people indicted along with him in Georgia are scheduled to be arraigned next week on charges they participated in a wide-ranging illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election. All 19 defendants, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani...
Penguins owner Fenway Sports Group to buy AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
The fate of AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh appears to have been resolved: Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Pittsburgh Penguins, will buy the cable channel from Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal that’s expected to close in October, according to a report from Sports Business Journal. Terms of the deal were...
Jacksonville killings refocus attention on city’s racist past and the struggle to move on
By some measures, the city was making strides to emerge from its racist past. But the killing of three Black people Saturday by a young, white shooter was a painful and startling reminder that the remnants of racism continue to fester in Jacksonville, Florida. What happened in Jacksonville, said longtime...
Pope says ‘backward’ U.S. conservatives have replaced faith with ideology
ROME — Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the U.S. Catholic Church, saying they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time. Francis’ comments were an acknowledgment of the divisions in the U.S. Catholic Church, which...
Minor Ohio earthquake felt in some parts of Western Pa.
Some Western Pennsylvanians may have felt trembles from a Sunday night earthquake in the Cleveland area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was reported near Madison, Ohio, not far from Lake Erie, at 10:43 p.m. Monitors in Avella, Moraine and Keystone state parks and Penn State Dubois all...
Morning roundup: Washington County man killed in wrong-way crash
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, Aug. 28: Washington County man killed in wrong-way crash A Roscoe man was killed in a wrong-way crash on Toll Route 43 in Washington County, according to the coroner. A vehicle driven by Tyler Smith, 24, was traveling...
2 high school students killed, another male hurt in Braddock shooting
Two teenagers were killed and a third was hurt late Sunday during a shooting in Braddock, Allegheny County Police said. An Allegheny County Housing Authority officer near Margaretta and Center streets, about a block off of Sixth Street, reported hearing multiple gunshots around 11 p.m. The two teenagers with fatal...
Butler County leaders get a close look at agricultural issues — and an elk farm — on tour
To say Bill Duncan is busy man probably would be an understatement. Duncan, his wife, Jean, and their son, Jim, own and operate an elk farm at their Clinton Township property. The unusual form of agriculture was the spotlight of a recent Butler County Farm Bureau legislative tour, during which...
Turnpike commission announces location of Route 130 interchange
A turnpike interchange will be installed near the intersection of Nike Site Road, Sandy Hill Road, Pleasant Valley Road and Route 130 in Penn Township, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission announced. The interchange, which will fall between the Irwin and Pittsburgh interchanges, will be accessible for westbound and eastbound drivers. It...
Tropical Storm Idalia takes aim at Gulf of Mexico on a possible track toward the U.S., forecasters sayVideo
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Idalia formed Sunday off the coast of Mexico on a potential track to come ashore as a hurricane in the southern U.S., the National Hurricane Center said. At 5 p.m. Sunday, the storm was about 95 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, moving northeast at 3 mph...
Sheriff provides the first details of how a white man fatally shot 3 Black people at a Florida storeVideo
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 21-year-old white man fatally shot three Black people in Florida with guns bought legally despite his once being involuntarily committed for a mental health exam, the local sheriff said Sunday. Ryan Palmeter shot one of his victims as she sat in her car outside a Jacksonville...
Use of force by city police to be reviewed in Downtown Pittsburgh drug arrest
Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Safety will review the use of force by a group of city police during their arrest of a man Downtown on Friday night, after multiple videos posted to social media brought criticism from community groups and others. Police said the man, identified in a criminal complaint...
Fueled by Heather Lyke’s leadership, Pitt athletics experiencing renaissance of success
One by one, they enter the room. Pat Narduzzi. Jeff Capel. Jay Vidovich. Dan Fisher. Every head coach of a varsity program at the University of Pittsburgh shuffles into a room in either the Petersen Events Center or the South Side football facility. They’re all here to meet with their...
