Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 971
Train derailment in Harmar expected to last through holiday weekend, road and river traffic haltedVideo
Cleanup of the train derailment in Harmar on Thursday is expected to shut down traffic on a section of Freeport Road as well as boat traffic on the adjacent Allegheny River throughout the Memorial Day weekend. Three people were hospitalized after a heavy-construction vehicle carrying stone collided with a Norfolk...
Pa. Turnpike could see Memorial Day traffic exceed pre-pandemic volume
Officials expect to see this year’s Memorial Day holiday traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike exceed pre-pandemic levels. They’re projecting more than 2.2 million travelers will take to the toll road during the four days from Friday through Monday. That represents an increase of nearly 300,000, or 15%, from the same...
DA to seek death penalty against man charged in Pittsburgh triple homicide
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office plans to seek the death penalty against a man charged in the New Year’s Eve killings of three people, including a 12-year-old boy. Ronald Steave, 30, was charged Jan. 6 with three counts of homicide in connection with the shooting deaths of his ex,...
Father of New Kensington boy found dead ordered to trial on charges he punched the boy in November
The father of a 9-year-old New Kensington boy who was found dead May 4 was ordered to stand trial on charges of simple assault and child endangerment that were filed in November. Jean J. Charles, 40, waived his right to a preliminary hearing before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr....
Pittsburgh Art Commission denies proposal for Jane Seymour sculpture on Mt. Washington
Pittsburgh’s Art Commission on Wednesday denied a proposal to place a sculpture by actress Jane Seymour on Mt. Washington’s Grandview Avenue Overlook. The proposed bronze statue would depict Seymour’s open heart design, which is best known from the Kay Jewelers Open Hearts jewelry collection. An anonymous donor offered to fund...
Westmoreland courthouse construction project prompts revision to bail payment process
Westmoreland County Park Police Chief Henry Fontana said he wasn’t quite sure how his department became responsible for collecting bail payments on behalf of inmates seeking release from prison at night or on weekends. But that’s about to change, thanks in part to the $7 million reconstruction of the underground...
Proposal to allow youth groups to camp in Pittsburgh parks moves forward
Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday advanced legislation that would allow youth groups to camp in city parks. The measure would allow youth organizations to secure permits to camp in city parks, something that isn’t allowed now, said Kathryn Vargas, director of the Department of Parks and Recreation. “Right now, if...
Trump loses appeal, must testify in New York civil probe
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump must answer questions under oath in the New York attorney general’s civil investigation into his business practices, a state appeals court ruled Thursday, rejecting his argument that he be excused from testifying because his answers could be used in a parallel criminal probe....
Ray Liotta, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Field of Dreams’ star, dies
Ray Liotta, the actor best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” and baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams,” has died. He was 67. An official at the Dominican Republic’s National Forensic Science Institute who was not authorized to speak to the media confirmed the death...
Lower Burrell woman who was a real-life Rosie the Riveter turns 102
Sue Gregory’s favorite photo of her spunky grandmother, Laura Such of Lower Burrell, shows her riveting at Alcoa in New Kensington during World War II just like Rosie the Riveter. Such worked at Alcoa riveting canisters for military supplies like many women who stepped up during World War II to...
Police: Texas gunman was inside the school for over an hourVideo
UVALDE, Texas — The gunman who massacred 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school was inside for more than an hour before he was killed in a shootout, law enforcement authorities said Thursday amid mounting public anger and scrutiny over their response to the rampage. A media...
Highlands’ Girls on the Run program fuels fitness, builds character
When Highlands fourth grader Kendall Walter runs laps around the playground after school, she hums tunes from the hit Broadway show “Hamilton.” “That Lin-Manuel Miranda really keeps me going,” said Kendall, a second-year participant in the elementary school’s Girls on the Run (GOTR) program. Hosted in part by the University...
Mt. Pleasant contractor pleads guilty for work not performed
A Mt. Pleasant contractor will serve up to three years on probation for accepting payment for work he never performed. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears said Wednesday that penalty could be converted into a jail sentence unless at least $8,000 in restitution is paid by Sept. 1....
Sewickley man charged in Pittsburgh teen’s homicide
A Sewickley man is charged in connection with the killing of a teenage boy this month in Pittsburgh, according to police, who said the man sent video of the teen’s last moments to at least one other person. In addition to homicide, Joseph Koller, 20, faces charges of aggravated assault...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: May 27-30
It’s Memorial Day weekend — a time to remember those who served for our freedom. Here are some ways to spend it. Memorial Day parade The annual Memorial Day parade starts at 10 a.m. Monday at 36th and Butler Streets in Lawrenceville. It ends at Allegheny Cemetery. There will be...
Hearts ‘forever broken’: Here are the victims of the Texas school shooting
UVALDE, Texas — At least 21 people — including 19 children — were killed by a gunman during Tuesday’s massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Among them were a 10-year-old girl who had just made the honor roll and a fourth-grade teacher who had worked for the school...
Medical marijuana card companies push access in Pa., while doctors are silenced
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 — When Pennsylvania lawmakers legalized medical cannabis in 2016, they struck an unusual deal: Physicians can approve patients for the...
Pittsburgh business, community leaders publicly support Pitt funding
Over 100 regional business and community leaders have thrown their weight behind the University of Pittsburgh as Republican support for the school’s state funding is in jeopardy. Pitt shared 12 letters this week urging lawmakers to follow precedent and approve the university’s 2022-23 nonpreferred appropriation bill, which would give the...
Extra security in place at Norwin after reported threat against student, employee
Extra security is in place in the Norwin School District today after a threat of violence against a student and a middle school employee was discovered on social media Wednesday, Superintendent Jeff Taylor said. The district said Thursday that the student who made the comment — reported through the state’s...
Woodland Hills appoints Castagna as permanent superintendent; 2 school directors resign
Woodland Hills school officials have made Acting Superintendent Daniel Castagna’s position permanent, voting to confirm his appointment at a special meeting Wednesday night that also included the resignation of two school board members. The board voted 5-1 to appoint Castagna as the superintendent; board member Terri Lawson abstained from voting....
Parents, educators try to come to grips with Texas elementary school shooting
Leechburg resident Angelique Senko teared up Wednesday while discussing Tuesday’s elementary school massacre in Texas. Senko, 44, a former Leechburg Area School Board member with three children enrolled in the high school, described news of the shooting as terrible. Like parents all over the country, Senko is trying to come...
Police say Washington County man fatally shot his neighbor
Pennsylvania State Police have accused a Washington County man of fatally shooting his neighbor Wednesday afternoon in Smith Township. Bryce Kevin Tacy, 52, is accused of criminal homicide in the incident reported at about 2:3o p.m. along Loffert Road. Police said Tacy verbally engaged the victim, Jerry E. Anderson, 44,...
Security measures heightened, discussed in Western Pa. districts after Texas school shooting
Knowing just how much the deadliest elementary school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2012 was likely to affect unnerved parents and children throughout Western Pennsylvania, local school officials took a proactive approach Wednesday to reassuring worried students and their families. Greensburg Salem School Districts posted a video message on its...
Westmoreland coroner’s office plans funeral for unclaimed remains of deceased veterans
The cremated remains of 15 veterans discovered in storage at the Westmoreland County Coroner’s office — some for as long as 29 years — will have a formal memorial service in July before being laid to rest with full military honors, Coroner Tim Carson said. The memorial service will be...
Pennsylvania House votes against taking up gun bill after Texas killings
HARRISBURG — An effort by Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania to ban owning, selling or making high-capacity, semi-automatic firearms went nowhere Wednesday as state House Republicans again displayed their firm opposition to gun restriction proposals. The state House of Representatives voted 111-87 against the effort by Democratic Rep. Danielle Friel Otten...
