TribLive stories, Page 547

Bryce Robson scored 21 points as Deer Lakes ended the longest winning streak in Pennsylvania boys high school basketball history at 74 games Thursday night, beating Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 70-55. Billy Schaeffer added 17 points and Nate Litrun had 12 for the Lancers (5-3), who jumped out...

The Penguins paid tribute to Steelers great Franco Harris, who died Wednesday at age 72, by wearing No. 32 decals on their helmets for a home game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena. The team played a tribute on the arena video board before faceoff...

Not only did Fox Chapel graduate Jake Pilarski agree to sign with an MLB team, he will join one of the sport’s premier franchises. Pilarski will sign a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and will report to the team’s minor-league training facility in February. Pilarski played for the Washington...

There already was going to be much written about Franco Harris, the legendary Pittsburgh Steeler who 50 years ago caught a deflected pass off his teammate at the last minute of a game against the Oakland Raiders in a play that would be known forever as the “Immaculate Reception.” Now,...

Amid national security concerns involving the social media app TikTok, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced on Thursday she has banned its use on Treasury-owned phones and computers. This comes at a time when Congress is considering a similar ban of the video-sharing app on all federal government devices and possibly,...

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State’s 2022 defense was one of the Big Ten’s most disruptive units during the regular season. The Nittany Lions’ fan base will get one more look at coordinator Manny Diaz’s troops when the 10-2 Nittany Lions face 10-3 Utah in the Jan. 2 Rose Bowl. Penn...

Three members of the Pitt men’s soccer program had their name called Wednesday during the 2023 Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Junior forward Bertin Jacquesson, senior midfielder Valentin Noel and fifth-year midfielder Jackson Walti were selected. Jacquesson, Pitt’s highest draft pick in program history, was taken 16th overall by Real Salt...

After enthusiastic response earlier this month to the ” Alexa, thank my driver” campaign, Amazon is doing it again. It started yesterday, Dec. 21, so it is not clear if the 1 million rewards have yet been reached. When Amazon launched the program on Dec. 7, 1 million thank-yous -...

Dear Editor, During the pandemic, there was time to consider ways to reshape some of the ways in which we live. From supply chain issues to inflation to a renewed understanding of our environmental impact in daily life, it seems an especially good time to allow people the comfort of...

Technology companies are shedding jobs at disturbing rates. Those with experience in computing are being laid off, sometimes with little warning. Freshly minted computer science graduates are facing employment headwinds not seen for well over a decade. Is this the next dot-com bubble burst, which could send the economy spiraling...

LOS ANGELES — There’s something special about a holiday trip to a national park. At many parks, you get more space to yourself, with crowds dispersing after summer ends. Snow falls, depending on the park, and certain plants and animals go into hibernation. It can be a quiet, contemplative time...

KABUL, Afghanistan — The minister of higher education in the Taliban government on Thursday defended his decision to ban women from universities — a decree that had triggered a global backlash. Discussing the matter for the first time in public, Nida Mohammad Nadim said the ban issued earlier this week...

Submissions from nonprofit organizations for Briefly Speaking can be emailed to Carol Pinto-Smith at cpinto-smith@triblive.com or mailed to Briefly Speaking, 210 Wood St., Tarentum, PA 15084. Include a complete address and daytime phone number. Submissions are due at least two weeks before the event. Each announcement is printed once; there...

Brittney Griner is a very lucky person. Other Russian prisoners are not so lucky. President Biden has messed up this country. He and the Democrats need an edge in future elections. Bringing Griner home may do that. In return, we gave them a notorious illegal arms dealer. How many thousands...

Beth Samuel Jewish Center Shabbat Morning Services are held every Saturday at 10 a.m. in person and on Zoom. Beth Samuel Jewish Center is at 810 Kennedy Drive in Ambridge. For more information, visit bethsamuel.org. Christ Church at Grove Farm On Dec. 23, a traditional candlelight communion service will take...

Many of us who were familiar with Donald Trump and his lifelong pattern of taking advantage of others and acting outrageously were confident that he would not grow into the presidency and that he would consistently embarrass us. We did not know exactly what he would do to bring himself...

Sports heroes don’t have much say in where they end up playing. It comes down to things like what team is highest in the draft and what positions that coach has to fill. By the same token, the cities that play host to those teams don’t have a say in...

Defense attorneys in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting said in a court filing this week that 11 of 17 plastic tubes of evidence provided to them for independent DNA testing were empty when they arrived at the lab in England. Attorneys for Robert Bowers are asking the federal judge...

Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Winners named in Tarentum holiday light contest Tarentum Recreation Board has...

I discovered a long time ago that teachers don’t choose their profession for the monetary rewards. They start with grand ambition and much hope to shape our youth to their fullest potential and prepare them for the demands of a productive life in a modern world. They deserve our admiration...

High Schools WPIAL Basketball Boys Wednesday’s results Class 4A Section 2 Ambridge 40, Hopewell 39 KSA Classic (Kissimmee, Fla.) McGuffey 34, Monclair Kimberley Academy (N.J.) 32 Uniontown 62, Salem (Mass.) 37 Seahawk Holiday Classic (Hilton Head, S.C.) Mt. Lebanon 42, Westview (Tenn.) 37 Nonsection Allderdice 68, Pine-Richland 59 Aquinas Academy...

Shady Side Academy in Fox Chapel has selected a California educator to head its Middle School, according to an announcement on Dec. 19 from SSA President Bart Griffith Jr. Michelle Merson will become the academy’s head of Middle Shool, effective July 1, 2023, to replace Amy Nixon who has announced...

Ethan Anish scored 22 points and made four 3-pointers while Major Rainey and Jack Segall added 12 points apiece to lead Allderdice to a 68-59 victory over Pine-Richland in nonsection boys basketball Wednesday night. Sam Kelly finished with 10 for the Dragons (7-1), who improved to 7-0 against WPIAL opponents...

From 7 a.m. until noon, James Franklin sat in the same chair in the Lasch Building with coaches and staffers surrounding him. There was NFL Draft music, and there were former Penn State standouts like Tamba Hali, Pat Freiermuth, Paul Posluszny and Jaquan Brisker calling in to announce the future...

The Christmas season is a time to be cheery and celebrate the good things in life. So I will take a break from my running criticism of our overpaid state legislators to note some of the positive work they’ve done recently that should make Pennsylvania a safer place to live....