TribLive stories, Page 2267
Border agency announces largest-ever fentanyl bust
PHOENIX — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced Thursday their biggest fentanyl bust ever, saying they captured nearly 254 pounds of the deadly synthetic opioid from a secret compartment inside a load of Mexican produce heading into Arizona. The drug was found hidden Saturday morning in a compartment under...
Senate vote rebukes Trump on Syria, Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — In a bipartisan rebuke to President Trump, the Senate voted 68-23 on Thursday to advance an amendment that would oppose withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and Afghanistan. The amendment by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell occurs after Trump called for a drawdown of troops in both of...
Water line breaks at Thomas Jefferson High School
While all West Jefferson Hills classes are cancelled today due to inclement weather, Thomas Jefferson High School also is closed due to a water line break. The district announced the high school closure for Friday on Thursday afternoon. West Jefferson Hills classes have been canceled since Wednesday due to the...
Super Bowl 2019: Some of the prop bets that are making the bookies nervous
At the SugarHouse Casino, they’re seeing a lot of action on C.J. Anderson scoring the first touchdown. The biggest liability for the William Hill-US bookmakers is whether James Develin will score. Most of their bettors are saying no, he will not. Some guy walked into Resorts Casino in Atlantic City...
Laurels & lances: Cold, animals, ‘known cheater’ and death threats
Laurel: To the fire companies, senior citizen centers and other groups which stayed open extra hours this week to provide warming centers or offered additional services as needed during the polar vortex. Thank you for all you do for our communities every day, but a special thanks for the way...
Bernie Sanders proposes estate tax of up to 77 percent for billionaires
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders is proposing to expand the estate tax on wealthy Americans, including a rate of as much as 77 percent on the value of estates above $1 billion. Sanders of Vermont, who’s considering a second run for president, said in a statement that his plan would apply...
Heating problem closes Vandergrift Public Library
Vandergrift Public Library was forced to closed for the day Thursday due to a heating malfunction. The first floor heating system is not working so it is too cold to open to the public, according to a library Facebook post. Friday and Saturday hours may vary. To check the hours,...
Review: Bland ‘Miss Bala’ remake misses the original pointVideo
Mexico’s 2011 Oscar entry, “Miss Bala,” was a searing slice of social commentary about the raging narco wars wrapped up in a sexy, action-packed thriller. Directed by Gerardo Naranjo, the script was ripped from the headlines, basing its beauty queen-meets-drug lord story on a stranger-than-fiction 2008 scandal, when Miss Sinaloa...
Interstate 70 reopens in Westmoreland after propane tank explodes in tractor-trailer
A propane tank being hauled in a tractor-trailer exploded Thursday, shutting down Interstate 70 eastbound for four hours in Westmoreland County and snarling traffic for miles, according to state police. The force of the 11 a.m. explosion ripped apart the trailer, spilling 100 to 150 propane tanks of various sizes...
Letter to the editor: Reagan, Trump — one great, one a disgrace
Even though I was not a big Ronald Reagan fan, I can’t deny he was one of the better modern presidents, possibly the greatest Republican president of all time. He led the Republicans to a 12-year stronghold on our country. One of Reagan’s greatest moments came in a 1987 speech...
Letter to the editor: Social justice is envy
A local progressive politician just elevated to lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania recently stated that he is haunted by the inequality of some people being born into wealth while others into poverty. Inequality is a fact of life. Some people are very tall like John Fetterman. Some are more beautiful, athletic,...
Letter to the editor: Peduto, council violating oaths?
Both Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and District Attorney Stephen Zappala are grandstanding as politicians do. I’m not impressed. This is a no-brainer. In the mayor’s oath of office, did he swear to uphold the constitutions of the United States and the commonwealth? Did members of City Council do the same?...
Letter to the editor: Honored to serve
Donald Boudreaux is probably a fine economist, and I side with his views most of the time. However, his lauding of the end of the draft based on economic reasons is so very far off base (”Draft’s end most pro-freedom move of past 50 years,” Jan. 17, TribLIVE). I’ll dare...
Gabby Barrett comes out swinging with ‘I Hope’Video
Not winning “American Idol” hasn’t hampered Munhall native and teen singer-songwriter Gabby Barrett’s burgeoning country music career. Barrett, 18, finished in the top three on last season’s “American Idol” and dropped her edgy ballad “I Hope” Jan. 25. Barrett co-wrote “I Hope” alongside industry hit makers Zachary Kale and Jon...
Crafters sip and stitch at McWalker Yarns in Millvale
There’s a party going on in Millvale. Beer and conversation flow. Laughter fills the room. But these people aren’t congregating at one of the borough’s many bars. They’re hanging out at McWalker Yarns, a boutique store for fiber arts crafters. Every Friday from 6 to 8:30 p.m., folks are welcome...
Hampton grad excels in music department at Westminster College
Maura Kardasz, a 2016 graduate of Hampton High School and an accomplished musician, continues to shine at Westminster College. Kardasz is a junior music education major with a concentration in composition. She is a member of the Westminster Wind Ensemble, Westminster Symphonic Band, Westminster Orchestra, Westminster Jazz Ensemble and Westminster...
Fox Chapel Area bocce team opening new doors for athletes
On Friday, Jan. 25, the Fox Chapel Area bocce team traveled to take on Hampton in the first unified bocce game of the season....
Hampton bocce team opening new doors
On Friday, Jan. 25, the Hampton High School bocce team took on the Fox Chapel Area Foxes in the first unified bocce game of the season....
Editorial: Cold kids are ‘soft’?
The governor of Kentucky thinks we all need to just toughen up. Well, good news, governor. Everything has a tendency to get harder in the cold. “Come on, now. I mean, there’s no ice going with it, or any snow … I mean, what happened to America,” Gov. Matt Bevin...
E-cigarettes outperform patches and gums in quit-smoking study
WASHINGTON — A major new study provides the strongest evidence yet that vaping can help smokers quit cigarettes, with e-cigarettes proving nearly twice as effective as nicotine gums and patches. The British research, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, could influence what doctors tell their patients and...
Feds indict powerful Philly union boss, councilman, others
PHILADELPHIA — A powerful union boss with a tight grip on construction jobs in the Philadelphia region and outsized influence in city and state politics has been indicted in alleged schemes to embezzle more than $600,000 and have a councilman on the union payroll to do his bidding at City...
Monarch population up 144 percent at Mexico wintering grounds
MEXICO CITY — The population of monarch butterflies wintering in central Mexico is up 144 percent over last year, experts said Wednesday. The data presented by Andrew Rhodes, Mexico’s national commissioner for protected natural areas, was cheered but scientists quickly warned that it does not mean the butterflies that migrate...
Peter Jackson making new documentary of Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’
NEW YORK — The Beatles’ farewell documentary “Let It Be” is getting an encore, and a reinvention. “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson announced Wednesday that he is making a new film out of some 55 hours of footage — shot in January 1969 — that has never been...
Foxconn reconsiders plan for Wisconsin manufacturing hub
MADISON, Wis. — Electronics giant Foxconn reversed course and announced Wednesday that the massive Wisconsin operation that was supposed to bring a bounty of blue-collar manufacturing jobs back to the Midwest — and was offered billions of dollars in incentives from the state — will instead be devoted mostly to...
Connellsville residents take the snow angel challenge
It was a cold snowy Sunday and Amelia Lincoln, 8, of Connellsville, was restless. Her father, Mayor Greg Lincoln was a little bored himself, so he told Amelia to get her coat — they were going outside to make snow angels. However, before they ever hit the snow-covered ground, the...
