Top Stories category, Page 84
Tim Benz: ‘Serial optimism’ may determine the fate of the 2025 Steelers
During a conversation at his locker Wednesday, Steelers safety Miles Killebrew described himself as a “serial optimist.” “I always say, ‘This is our year.’ I don’t see anything that’s telling me otherwise this year. I think we are going to be a great team,” the special teams captain said this...
Suspended Arnold police chief resigns
Josh Stanga, Arnold’s suspended police chief, has resigned from the force, Mayor Shannon Santucci announced. “Officer Stanga will no longer be chief, or any part, of the Arnold Police Department,” Santucci said Friday. “He resigned in lieu of being terminated.” Reached by phone Friday, Stanga declined to comment on his...
Takeaways from RFK Jr.’s contentious hearing before Senate lawmakers
WASHINGTON — A contentious three-hour hearing between U.S. senators and Robert Kennedy Jr. devolved into multiple screaming matches on Thursday as the nation’s health secretary fended off accusations about sweeping changes he’s made to vaccines, health care policy and leadership. The oversight hearing in the Senate Finance Committee was a...
Operation Warp Speed was one of Trump’s biggest achievements. Then came RFK Jr. and vaccine skeptics
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump launched Operation Warp Speed in the throes of the covid-19 pandemic, an effort he has credited with saving tens of millions of lives. During a Cabinet meeting last week, he likened it to “one of the greatest achievements ever.” Sitting at the table as a...
Morning Roundup: Mt. Lebanon High School goes virtual after threat; I-279 rollover; $2.4M in Pa. lottery wins
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Sept. 5: Mt. Lebanon High School threat Mt. Lebanon High School will be learning virtually Friday after district officials were alerted to a threat against the school in a Thursday night social media post. According to a message...
Work underway to restore Massy Harbison cabin in New Kensington to original state
Restoring the Massy Harbison cabin in New Kensington to today’s specs would take no time at all, contractor Jim Palumbo said. Trying to replicate its 1790-era appearance is another story. “We have to wait for rough-cut lumber to do the roof because they didn’t have plywood back then,” said Palumbo,...
Former Steelworkers local union president sentenced for embezzling $10,000
An Elizabeth man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a charge of embezzlement of labor union assets. Michael Evanovich, 46, pleaded guilty to one count before U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone. He was sentenced to 24 months of probation and ordered to pay full restitution and a $5,000...
Lori Falce: Who wants to be a Powerball billionaire?
The tickets to my future are tucked in my wallet next to my driver’s license and an overburdened credit card. They are the 10 different lines of numbers to play for the Powerball lottery. They should have cost $20. They were only $16 because I won $4 in Wednesday’s drawing...
Central Westmoreland CTC eyes campus, program expansion as enrollment increases
Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center is outgrowing the buildings on its 44-acre campus in New Stanton — noting a more than 500-student increase in enrollment in the past five years. One of more than 80 career and technical education centers statewide, Central Westmoreland will educate 1,518 students this year...
Protesters demand action on gun violence, days after school massacre in Minneapolis
Several dozen protesters crowded a Squirrel Hill intersection Thursday — many holding provocative signs, some chanting at passing motorists — to demand an end to the nation’s rash of gun violence. Eight days had passed since a gunman opened fire in a Minneapolis Catholic school. He killed two children while...
Trump will seek ‘Department of War’ rebrand for PentagonVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Friday to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, his latest effort to project an image of toughness for America’s military. The Republican president can’t formally change the name without legislation, which his administration would request...
U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel end litigation against Cleveland-Cliffs
Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel have ended its lawsuit against steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs and the head of the United Steelworkers union. Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel merged in June. A federal lawsuit was filed in March alleging Cleveland-Cliffs, its president, Lourenco Goncalves, and United Steelworkers President David McCall, were conspiring to...
DA says no criminal charges in runaway cylinder death in Oakland that killed Western Psych worker
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday it will not file criminal charges stemming from a construction accident in Oakland in which a steel cylinder broke loose and killed a woman in 2024. Aleia Lopez, 51, of the North Side, was struck on May 3, 2024, as she walked...
Appeals court panel stops order to wind down operations at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ in Everglades
ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal appeals court panel on Thursday put on hold a lower court judge’s order to end operations indefinitely at the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” The three-judge panel in Atlanta decided by a 2-1 vote to stay the federal judge’s order...
White House pans Shapiro for questioning National Guard deployments
The White House dismissed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s opposition to President Trump potentially deploying National Guard troops to Philadelphia to fight crime, touting the results of the deployments elsewhere. “Another wannabe presidential candidate is desperate to get into the news cycle by attacking the president’s highly successful operations to drive...
WDVE sign coming down from its Green Tree location
For what it’s worth, Google’s AI assistant thinks it’s highly unlikely Pittsburgh classic rock station WDVE has ever played “The Sign.” The earworm from Ace of Base, the Swedish pop group that invaded American airwaves as an antidote for grunge in 1993, would have been a fitting electric lunch request...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Sept. 5-7
This weekend marks the first official Steelers Sunday of the NFL season — but that won’t happen until Sunday afternoon. So, what to do with the rest of your free time? Here are five other ideas. Pittsburgh Lebanese Festival All weekend long, get a taste of Lebanon at the Pittsburgh...
Arnold fire victim remains in ICU; fundraiser established for sisters who died
The mother of two women killed in an Arnold fire last week remains in a hospital intensive care unit recovering from the blaze, a longtime family friend said Thursday. Lori Muldrow, 61, remains in West Penn Hospital’s ICU because she inhaled smoke that damaged her lungs after her house at...
Carnegie Mellon creates committee to discuss role of The Fence tradition
Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian on Thursday announced an official 17-member group tasked with making new recommendations for operation of The Fence, which has been a long-standing campus tradition. The announcement came in a letter two months after Jahanian temporarily shut down use of the Fence. The closure followed...
Where does Pennsylvania stand with school vaccine regulations?
After Florida’s surgeon general moved to end all state vaccine mandates, including school requirements, some Pennsylvanians may wonder if the same could happen here. As of now, every state has school vaccine mandates. If Florida follows through with the proposed plan, it would be the first state to completely withdraw...
4 Pittsburgh firefighters hurt battling blaze in South Side Slopes
Four Pittsburgh firefighters were treated at an area hospital after they were shocked Thursday morning while battling a blaze in the city’s South Side Slopes neighborhood. The firefighters, who authorities declined to name, “came into contact with an electrical current” inside an unoccupied home in the 100 block of Monastery...
Environmentalists hail ‘landmark’ $2.6M settlement with Beaver County company over microplastic pollution
A Beaver County plastics manufacturer has agreed to pay $2.6 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed by PennEnvironment and Three Rivers Waterkeeper over the discharge of microplastics in wastewater and stormwater in the Ohio River Basin. The proposed settlement with Styropek USA, which was announced Thursday, must be approved...
Woman accused of pocketing $37K in GoFundMe donations meant for injured cousin
State police have accused an Oklahoma Borough woman of pocketing more than $37,000 from an online fundraiser she established for an injured relative. Vanessa Renea Louise Lewis, 29, is charged with theft by deception, financial exploitation of a care-dependent person, receiving stolen property and theft by failure to deposit funds....
$6.2M expansion at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison creates AHN rehab hub
A $6.2 million expansion at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison will boost inpatient rehabilitation space by 70% and establish it as a rehab hub for parent company Allegheny Health Network. Space for patients recovering from injuries, surgery and serious illness will increase from 17 to 29 beds. Hospital President Dr....
Kennedy tries to defend covid-19 vaccine stance in raucous Senate hearingVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., facing pointed bipartisan questioning at a rancorous three-hour Senate committee hearing on Thursday, tried to defend his efforts to pull back covid-19 vaccine recommendations and explain the turmoil he has created at federal health agencies. Kennedy said the fired CDC director...
