Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 879
For Biden and Trump, 2022 is 2020 sequel — and 2024 preview?
WASHINGTON — This year’s midterm elections are playing out as a strange continuation of the last presidential race — and a potential preview of the next one. Donald Trump, who refused to exit the stage after his defeat and continues to rally his supporters with lies about voter fraud, has...
Workforce training seen as a key to maximizing $63 million grant to boost region’s robotics, AI industries
While Southwestern Pennsylvania’s robotics industry has the potential to grow with a targeted federal grant of almost $63 million, officials Monday stressed the need for a skilled workforce to make that potential for growth a reality. “This is about our economic future,” said Craig Buerstatte, the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s...
GOP goes to court again over Pennsylvania mail-in ballots
HARRISBURG — The state and national Republican parties are suing anew in Pennsylvania in an effort to block some mail-in ballots — those lacking the voter’s handwritten date on the return envelope — from being counted in November, when voters will elect a new governor and U.S. senator. The GOP’s...
Trump’s CDC changed covid reports under political pressure, panel finds
The CDC bowed to the Trump administration’s demands to change the editorial process of its weekly scientific journal after warnings from then health secretary Alex Azar to “get in line,” a House investigation found. The pressure faced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change the Morbidity and...
Monroeville man pleads guilty to DUI-related crash that killed pedestrian
A Monroeville man whose car was filled with dozens of empty alcoholic drink containers when he was involved in a drunken-driving crash last year will serve at least two years in state prison after pleading guilty Monday to homicide by vehicle. Braden Chetsko, 23, was ordered by Allegheny County Common...
Pa. Election Day 2022: A complete guide to the Nov. 8 election
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — On Nov. 8, Pennsylvanians will make their way to polling places to decide the governor’s race and U.S. Senate...
Faster than a Steeler or Buccaneer, a flock of pigeons stayed in the game Sunday
A herd of 200-plus-pound men running around Acrisure Stadium on Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was no match for a flock of pigeons. In case some fans were concerned about the birds’ persistent boldness, they did not impact the game, said Steelers spokesman Burt...
Manhunt underway after shooting suspects flee Arnold; multiple police departments join search
Police from multiple departments in the Alle-Kiski Valley were called out to search for suspects who fled after a vehicle was shot up in Arnold late Monday morning. The incident began at 11:30 a.m. in the 1900 block of Kenneth Avenue, according to a Westmoreland County 911 supervisor. There were...
Am I allowed to drop off a ballot for someone else?
The question is simple, yet often asked: Am I allowed to drop off a ballot for someone else? In Pennsylvania, the answer is mostly no. As stated on Pennsylvania’s official voting website, “The only exceptions are if you are a voter with a disability and have designated someone, in writing,...
2 women killed in North Side shooting were innocent bystanders, police say; 3rd victim ID’d
A 33-year-old mother of four was among three people killed Saturday night when a gas-station parking lot argument escalated into an exchange of gunfire. Jacquelyn Mehalic was on her way to work as a waitress around 10 p.m. Saturday when gunfire broke out in the 300 and 400 blocks of...
North Huntingdon man charged with sex assault of teen
A North Huntingdon man is being held without bail after township police arrested him in connection with a reported sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl, according to court papers. Mark M. Mycka, 33, was arrested Friday on charges of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and related offenses. Police...
Charges filed after Turner Dairy Farm tractor found parked in nearby driveway
A Salem man was arrested Sunday on theft charges after state police said they found a missing farm tractor worth $15,000 parked at his home, according to court papers. Gary A. Lauffer, 54, told troopers that he took the tractor from a nearby dairy farm to do work on his...
Mark Madden: Steelers should start Mitch Trubisky — if they believe they are contenders
After Mitch Trubisky entered Sunday’s home win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third quarter because of Kenny Pickett’s concussion, Trubisky provided the best quarterback play the Pittsburgh Steelers have had all year. Better than Pickett. Better than Trubisky’s prior outings. That’s beyond argument. Numbers don’t lie. Trubisky was...
Gasoline prices turn lower as diesel, heating oil rise on low inventories
After rising sharply over the past few weeks, the national average price of gasoline has taken an abrupt, but expected, downturn while diesel prices have soared, an industry analyst said. The national average fell 5.4 cents per gallon in the past week and stands at $3.86, according to price-tracking service...
Steelers vs. Buccaneers: What they’re saying in Tampa after loss
Wedding plans, anyone? Krafty. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were huge road favorites over Pittsburgh and a depleted secondary. Quarterback Tom Brady, arguably the best to ever play the game, skipped the Bucs’ walk-through practice and meetings Saturday morning to party at the wedding of his old buddy, Patriots owner Robert...
Oliver Citywide Academy students to resume in-person classes
After spending the past two weeks learning remotely, students at Pittsburgh’s Oliver Citywide Academy were scheduled to be back for in-person classes Monday. Students were sent home Sept. 29 after school officials said an attack on a teacher was carried out by a 15-year-old student in an empty classroom. Pittsburgh...
Municipal leaders say code enforcement is key to fighting blight across Western Pa.
There are 17,000 fewer people in Westmoreland County than there were 20 years ago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Business and cultural shifts have pushed shopping and industrial centers out of downtowns and into what once were open spaces. Today, abandoned homes and structures dot communities throughout the county,...
Feats of Strength: Trio of much maligned Steelers comes up huge as Steelers stun Buccaneers
Go ahead. You figure out the 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers. Or the NFL in general. The 1-4 Steelers entered Sunday’s game against the 3-2 Buccaneers on a four-game losing streak. A week after getting shredded in Buffalo, 38-3, the Steelers secondary dressed just one healthy starter. Coach Mike Tomlin’s team also...
Snowflakes Tuesday morning could tie record for earliest snowfall in Pittsburgh region
Say it ain’t snow. The first snowfall of, well, fall could happen early Tuesday across the Pittsburgh region. According to the National Weather Service, snowflakes then would tie the record for the earliest snowfall of the season in Southwestern Pennsylvania. On Oct. 18, 1972, 1.8 inches of snow was recorded...
Short-handed Steelers keep Brady out of the end zone, beat Bucs to stop skid
Facing the most decorated quarterback in NFL history, the Pittsburgh Steelers trotted out a defense that was missing four veteran defensive backs, including three starters. The league’s reigning defensive player of the year was on the sideline, too. Tom Brady not only was playing against a depleted secondary, he was...
Steelers QB Kenny Pickett suffers concussion, leaves 1st career home start
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett left Sunday’s game during the third quarter and did not return because of a concussion. The rookie first-round pick was hit by Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White after releasing a pass from his own territory midway through the third quarter. Pickett was lying on...
Biden turning to Trump-era rule to expel Venezuelan migrants
WASHINGTON — Two years ago, candidate Joe Biden loudly denounced President Donald Trump for immigration policies that inflicted “cruelty and exclusion at every turn,” including toward those fleeing the “brutal” government of socialist Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. Now, with increasing numbers of Venezuelans arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border as the...
Small businesses brace for cautious holiday shoppers
NEW YORK — Small businesses are stocking the shelves early this holiday season and waiting to see how many gifts inflation-weary shoppers feel like giving. Holiday shopping was relatively strong during the past two years as shoppers flocked online to spend, aided by pandemic stimulus dollars. Sales in November and...
Postal worker holdup leads to muscle car theft ring arrests
DETROIT — Thieves are using cloned key fobs to steal Dodge muscle cars and other high-powered vehicles directly from dealerships and even automakers in Michigan, then selling them for tens of thousands of dollars less than their value, according to authorities and court records. For one Ohio-based theft ring, it...
Carnegie Mellon’s African campus works to foster digital transformation
It started with about 30 students, half a world away, getting a Carnegie Mellon education in Rwanda. Eleven years later, the number of students has increased tenfold as CMU-Africa aims to be a key player in the digital transformation of the continent, according to CMU College of Engineering Dean Bill...
