TribLive stories, Page 761

Methamphetamines can kill. The illegal drugs themselves can be lethal, but it doesn’t stop there. The labs are dangerous when they are operating. They give off gases. They can explode. They are a tinderbox that has to be handled like a time bomb, but people manufacturing illicit drugs aren’t notoriously...

Publicize your community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Drive-thru vaccine clinic for cats and dogs scheduled Frankie’s Friends Cat Rescue will host a drive-thru vaccine clinic for cats and...

At the state and local level, there seems to be a full-scale attack on how our elections are administered, as politicians push policies intentionally designed to make it harder to vote, especially for Black and brown voters. Westmoreland County’s Republican commissioners recently voted to eliminate regional drop boxes for mail-in...

INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 16-16) scored two in the top of the 10th to beat Charlotte (White-Sox), 7-5. LF Cal Mitchell (.312) went 2 for 5 with a pair of two-run home runs, including the game winner. They were his first two long balls of the year. 1B Mason Martin (.245) went...

High schools Baseball WPIAL Friday’s results Nonsection Albert Gallatin 17, Waynesburg 7 Ambridge 5, Keystone Oaks 3 Baldwin 14, Bethel Park 8 Butler 9, Kiski Area 1 Central Catholic 2, Shaler 0 Highlands 9, Riverview 3 Indiana 13, Derry 2 Ligonier Valley 15, Southmoreland 3 North Allegheny 4, South Fayette...

As coaches schedule playoff “tune-up” games, they’re looking to put their team in some situations that they’ll face in the playoffs. Frazier head coach Don Hartman got just that Friday. The Commodores fell behind early but were able to rally for a 3-2 win over visiting Mt. Pleasant in the...

Sandra Soltes hit a two-run triple to tie the game and Delaney Sierka followed with an RBI single to give Bethel Park a 7-6 walk-off nonsection win Friday in a tune-up for next week’s WPIAL softball playoffs. Sierka and Abby Quickel had two hits for the Black Hawks (8-8). Jessica...

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Christian school in Louisville gave an assignment this week asking middle school students to write a letter to a hypothetical friend warning against homosexuality, resulting in public criticism and a review by school leaders. The Christian Academy of Louisville School System assignment calls for a seventh...

The Riverview Raiders, a WPIAL Class A baseball finalist last season, will first try to prevent Bishop Canevin from making WPIAL history this season. No school ever has won WPIAL titles in football, basketball and baseball in the same academic year. The Crusaders already have nailed the football and basketball...

Melissa Hart, the only woman in Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial primary race, announced Friday she has decided to bow out of the contest and throw her support to Lou Barletta. Her decision comes on the heels of Jake Corman’s exit from the race Thursday. He too is endorsing Barletta to be...

Regarding the article “Bethel Park man accused of hitting officer with car had 14 prior DUI convictions” (May 9, TribLIVE): This is absolutely insane. This man has 14 DUIs back to the 1970s. And that doesn’t mean he has been out driving only 14 times while under the influence. There...

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 — Hollywood personalities, sports magnates, deep-pocketed entrepreneurs, and other high-profile donors poured nearly $12.8 million just last month into propping...

A Wilkinsburg man will spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced Friday for first-degree murder. A jury in February found Dilon Bartifay, 34, guilty of killing Gregory Lamont Blair Sr., the father of former University of Pittsburgh basketball star DeJuan Blair. He was sentenced by Allegheny...

Stocks rallied on Wall Street Friday, but not enough to claw back all the losses the market has taken in this volatile week of trading. The S&P 500 rose 2.4% as of 12:01 p.m. Eastern. The benchmark index is still on track for its 6th straight losing week, something that...

There are balls. Then there are lottery balls. And a set of those balls doesn’t come cheap. The Department of Revenue recently purchased 30 sets of lottery balls totaling 516 in all for $41,280 - or $80 a ball. While it sounds costly, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Lottery says...

I don’t believe there is such a thing as childhood transsexuality before puberty. Anyone who uses chemical or surgical methods to change a child’s sex should be prosecuted for child abuse and charged as a pedophile. God makes no mistakes. William Bowen Rostraver...

Regarding the article “GOP senatorial candidate Mehmet Oz to tour Central Westmoreland tech center” (May 4, TribLIVE): I’m glad Oz is showing interest in the importance of supporting tech training. Over the past few decades, the emphasis on college has led to an almost complete disappearance of tech job candidates....

Anita Shah of Sewickley was among three Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine students who recently presented at the AAMC Group on Student Affairs, Careers in Medicine, and Organization of Student Representatives National Meeting in Denver. The students, all members of the MD class of 2023, delivered an oral presentation entitled...

It never ceases to amaze me how fast activists can form to protest. I realize that some protesters are paid, and will travel all over to join a protest. Some people may disagree with this statement. However, my late Asperger college graduate grandson, having a challenging time finding a job,...

Publicize your community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Apollo Memorial Library announces summer reading program Apollo Memorial Library will offer a summer reading program “Oceans of Possibilities,” weekly from...

I wish our national liberal media would report more truthfully about what is happening in Ukraine. I find their coverage very one-sided, and I don’t believe them. When two countries war against each other, both tell their citizens that God is on their side. Both believe they have a justifiable...

INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 15-16) was doubled up by Charlotte (White-Sox), 8-4. RHP Osvaldo Bido (0-2, 3.91) started and gave up four runs on five hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. RHP Eric Hanhold (6.39) was touched up for three runs in an inning of relief. RF Bligh Madris (.232) went...

High schools Baseball WPIAL Thursday’s schedule Nonsection Armstrong 3, Kiski Area 1 Avonworth 15, McGuffey 3 Beaver 12, Hopewell 10 Bentworth at West Greene, ppd. Carlynton 10, Bishop Canevin 9 Blackhawk 8, Mars 5 Butler 13, Latrobe 8 Carmichaels 2, Belle Vernon 1 Beth-Center 12, Charleroi 2 Chartiers-Houston 11, Monessen...

Madison Rapp hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to account for the game’s only run as Penn-Trafford defeated Yough, 1-0, in a nonsection matchup of WPIAL softball title contenders Thursday. Rapp pitched three scoreless innings, and Mia Smith threw four more for Penn-Trafford (15-2). Madison Horvat singled...

PHILADELPHIA — Amid a wave of challenges nationally to books in school libraries, Pennsylvania experienced more book-banning activity from the second half of last year through this spring than almost any other state, according to a group supporting free expression in literature. A report released last month by PEN America...