Rolling Rock Town Fair debuted at Westmoreland Fairgrounds 25 years ago todayVideo
If you grew up in Western Pennsylvania during the rise of alternative and grunge rock in the ’90s and early 2000s, there’s a good chance you recall hearing radio commercials for the annual Rolling Rock Town Fair. For a handful of years, some of the biggest names in modern rock...
Pittsburgh drug ring leader sentenced to prison
A Pittsburgh man who authorities say was the ringleader of a drug-trafficking organization has been sentenced to nine to 18 years in prison for for distributing controlled substances in Beaver and Allegheny counties. Dennis Alexander, 29, was sentenced after having pleaded guilty to four counts of possession with intent to...
$1 million scratch-off ticket sold at Giant Eagle along Frankstown Road in Penn Hills
A $1,000,000 Winnings scratch-off lottery ticket that won a top prize was sold at the Giant Eagle at 9001 Frankstown Road in Penn Hills, the Pennsylvania Lottery announced Monday, Aug. 4. The store will receive a $5,000 bonus for selling the ticket. The $20 ticket offers five top prizes of...
Retrial begins in 2020 New Kensington fatal shooting
For the second time in 14 months, Westmoreland County prosecutors will attempt to convince a jury that Letresse Williams killed a suspected drug dealer during a botched robbery attempt. Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli said the Jan. 15, 2020, fatal shooting of Anthone Williams warrants a second-degree murder conviction. (Letresse...
Police arrest 2 in Stowe carjacking after chase shuts 31st Street Bridge
Two carjacking suspects were arrested Monday afternoon after crashing the vehicle police said they stole and trying to run from authorities — triggering a manhunt that shut down the 31st Street Bridge and snarled traffic on nearby Route 28. Stowe police reported a carjacking around 3 p.m. and called in...
Feds take down drug ring dealing meth in Western Pa.
Ten people from California, Michigan and Pennsylvania, including three from the Pittsburgh area, are charged in federal court with trafficking methamphetamine and other hard drugs in Western Pennsylvania. Christopher Love, 28, and Calil Francois-Moon, 20, both of Homestead, and Jonathan Toledo, 25, of Turtle Creek, were indicted last month on...
Saturday fire in New Kensington considered suspicious
A fire early Saturday in New Kensington is considered suspicious, authorities said. The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that police are investigating the blaze along Sixth Avenue as potentially intentional. “On behalf of the New Kensington police department, we can confirm that police and a Pennsylvania State Police fire...
Barrage of weekend violence not a bellwether for Pittsburgh or region, officials say
The first weekend in August was the most violent weekend of the summer in and around Pittsburgh thus far, a TribLive analysis found. There were six separate shootings: four in Pittsburgh, one in Scott and one in Monroeville. “Isolated incidents of violence are tragic, but do not define a neighborhood...
Probe into fatal East Hills fire that killed girl, 2, remains open
A 2-year-old girl killed when a December fire gutted a Pittsburgh apartment died from thermal injuries and breathing in carbon monoxide, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office announced Monday. Firefighters pulled Praise Lemons from the blaze that broke out at Maple Ridge Apartments in the city’s East Hills neighborhood around...
Man who killed cousin, terrorized North Braddock pastor, pleads guilty but mentally ill
Derek and Bernard Polite Jr. were cousins, but Derek always treated the younger man like a son, regularly welcoming Bernard into his North Braddock home when he needed a place to stay over the last 15 years. That, their family said on Monday, is what makes it so much harder...
North Hills welcomes partnerships with local businesses as it prepares for first day of school
Students in grades 1-12 in the North Hills School District will begin the new school year on Aug. 20; kindergartners will start two days later. With the students’ return comes an opportunity for the community to have a hand in their success. The school board announced a fundraising opportunity to...
Final member of trio charged in fatal Pittsburgh drug robbery heads to trial
Police say Sammie Lane Jr. executed Tayrod Ford in August 2022 during a drug robbery in Pittsburgh’s East End and then fled several hours later aboard a Greyhound bus. It would take nearly three years for authorities to track Lane down. They found him in March in a Lancaster County...
Botched bail hearing sparks memo to judges in wake of homicide
Allegheny County’s top judge has clamped down on a controversial legal maneuver that freed a violent crime defendant from jail, enabling him, authorities say, to walk away from an unsecured facility and kill a woman several months later. A judge in the court’s criminal division repeatedly denied bail for Isreal...
PennDOT sets nighttime I-70 lane restrictions in Rostraver, ramp closures at North Belle Vernon
Motorists traveling at night on Interstate 70 in Westmoreland County will encounter lane restrictions in Rostraver and ramp closures at the North Belle Vernon exit this week as PennDOT contractors work on road improvements. The North Belle Vernon exit and entrance ramps for westbound traffic on I-70 (Exit 42) will...
Girl, dog rescued from fire at Penn Township home
A young girl and a dog were rescued from a fire that extensively damaged a Penn Township home Monday afternoon. The juvenile female was unconscious when two Irwin firefighters and a Harrison City firefighter reached her in a second-floor room, said Irwin Deputy Fire Chief Shawn Stitely. “It was very...
NLRB approves union election by nurses at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital
UPMC must allow nurses working at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital to hold a union election, the regional National Labor Relations Board ruled Friday. Nurses at the Oakland hospital in May announced they wanted to unionize, calling for better staff-to-patient ratios, higher pay and more transparency from UPMC. About 1,000 nurses will...
New mobile app could help save honeybee hives, protect $20 billion in agriculture
Honeybee colonies in the United States are projected to decline by up to 70% this year, entomologists say. And that could spell economic disaster. According to the American Beekeeping Federation, honeybees contribute about $20 billion to the value of crop production in the country. But master beekeeper Joe Zgurzynski of...
Former Greensburg police chief pleads guilty to evidence tampering charges
Former Greensburg police chief Shawn Denning pleaded guilty Monday in Westmoreland County court to three misdemeanor counts of tampering with evidence. Denning, 44, of Delmont was sentenced to serve three concurrent one-year probation terms, which will run alongside the 15-month federal prison sentence he is serving after pleading guilty this...
South Buffalo bridge to remain closed for weeks as township plans informational meeting
A wooden bridge that provides one of only two access points to South Buffalo’s Clinton neighborhood is set to remain closed for at least a few weeks, according to a spokesman for the railroad that owns the structure. Last week, crews closed the 115-year-old bridge, which carries Clinton Road over...
Sharpsburg volunteer dedicated to helping other seniors
Debbie Bobeck was a 35-year-old physical education teacher busy planning her wedding when a brain tumor diagnosis turned her life upside down in 1985. She had suffered from headaches and sought medical attention. “I had seen doctors, but they told me to get new glasses or it was stress from...
Man grazed by shots fired in Brighton Heights
One man was grazed in the head by a bullet fired Monday morning in Brighton Heights, according to TribLive news partner WTAE. The shot was among 27 detected by two ShotSpotter alerts detected at the 600 block of Brighton Woods Road, according to WTAE. Jack Stack pool and playground are...
Fire damages North Huntingdon house
North Huntingdon firefighters were fighting a fire early Monday morning on a house in the western edge of the township, according to North Huntingdon fire dispatch. The fire was reported in the 200 block of Sherrick Drive around 7 a.m. This story will be updated....
In brief: Plum, Oakmont area news, events for the week of Aug. 4, 2025
Plum Class of 1985 to hold reunion Plum’s Class of 1985 will host its 40th class reunion on Nov. 28 at Veltre’s Wedding Venue on Coxcomb Hill Road. Organizers are seeking contact information for class members. Details about the reunion are available at the “Plum HS 1985 — 40 Year...
Domestic assault suspect shot by McKeesport resident after escape attempt, police say
Police are investigating an incident that they said led a McKeesport resident to shoot a man who was attempting to enter their apartment early Monday morning. According to Allegheny County Police, first responders arrived at the scene of a domestic incident at the 2300 block of Highland Avenue in McKeesport...
1 killed, 2 injured in Beaver County motorcycle crash
A Saturday crash involving two motorcycles in Darlington left one man dead and two others injured, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The two motorcycles were each traveling near the center line in opposite directions on North State Line Road, but they could not see each other because of a slight...
