Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1020
Determined Highlands kindergartner says, ‘They cut off my foot. And I’m getting a new one!’
Highlands kindergartner Annabel Grant isn’t shy when classmates ask why she uses a wheelchair. “They cut off my foot,” the 5-year-old says bluntly. “And I’m getting a new one!” Born with fibular hemimelia — the absence of a fibula bone — in her lower right leg, Annabel doesn’t appear to...
Missing Westmoreland County teen found to be safe, state police say
State police say a missing 13-year-old girl who had been last seen in Derry Borough has been found. Serenity Adams, 13, had been reported missing on Wednesday evening....
Protesters block Grant Street, demand prosecution in Jim Rogers’ death
A group of protesters carrying a banner advocating “People’s Justice for Jim Rogers” demonstrated on the steps of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh and blocked Grant Street on Friday night. Rogers died Oct. 14, about 24 hours after being struck with a Taser deployed by a Pittsburgh police officer,...
Pa. lawmakers look to expand parole eligibility for aging, sick inmatesVideo
Avis Lee, convicted of second-degree murder for serving as the lookout in a robbery-turned-fatal shooting, served 40 years, six months and 12 days in prison. In February, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf commuted her sentence of life without the possibility of parole to life with parole. She was released from prison...
Steve Bannon indicted on contempt charges for defying 1/6 subpoena
Steve Bannon, a longtime ally to former President Donald Trump, was indicted Friday on two counts of contempt of Congress after he defied a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The Justice Department said Bannon, 67, was indicted on one count for refusing...
Sept. 11 Memorial Trail to Shanksville gets boost from land purchase in New Jersey
The 9/11 National Memorial Trail, which will link to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, has advanced with action in New Jersey. N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy announced plans to spend $65 million to buy a 9-mile greenway, which will be a segment of the 9/11 Trail. The trail is...
Tree of Life synagogue shooting suspect won’t pursue insanity or intellectual disability defense
The man accused of killing 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill will not pursue an insanity defense, his attorneys said this week. Robert Bowers also will not raise an intellectual disability claim when he goes on trial for the Oct. 27, 2018, mass shooting at the Tree...
Pittsburgh Christmas tree set for Downtown delivery, prompting road closures
Pittsburgh’s official Christmas tree will be making its debut at the City-County Building’s Grant Street entrance this weekend. The Forestry Division will transport and install the 106th City of Pittsburgh Christmas tree at the site this weekend ahead of a tree lighting ceremony Nov. 20. As officials get the tree...
Pa. woman sues over slot game payout; 13 others make same claim
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — A Pennsylvania woman is suing the manufacturer of a popular online slots game, claiming it wrongly refused to pay her a $100,000 jackpot due to “a bug” in the product. New Jersey regulators revealed Friday that 14 gamblers have filed the same complaint against the company,...
Missing Penn State student found dead
A Penn State student reported missing Thursday has been found dead, according to State College Police. Police did not name the 19-year-old woman. The Centre Daily Times, citing the university and family members’ social media, identified her as Justine Gross. Police said early indications are her death was accidental. It...
Allegheny County municipalities sue PennDOT over proposed I-79 bridge tolling project
Three Allegheny County municipalities have sued PennDOT to halt a bridge project along Interstate 79 that could result in tolls being imposed there to help pay for the work. The bridge, which borders Collier and is located in Bridgeville and South Fayette, goes over Route 50. It has been targeted...
Pittsburgh, Glasgow finalize sister city partnership
The cities of Pittsburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, finalized their partnership as sister cities Thursday with an in-person ceremony. The meeting between Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Leader of Glasgow City Council Susan Aitken came after a virtual signing ceremony last year and formalized the relationship between the cities. Thursday’s meeting...
Johnson & Johnson to split into two companies
Johnson & Johnson is splitting into two companies, peeling off the division selling Band-Aids and Listerine from its medical device and prescription drug business. The world’s biggest maker of health care products, founded in 1886, said Friday the move will help improve the focus and speed of each company to...
Police charge suspect with killing 70-year-old found on train tracks in Scott
Allegheny County police charged a 28-year-old with homicide after officers found a man dead along railroad tracks in Scott on Thursday evening. Joseph Williams, 70, was pronounced dead at the scene after he was found lying on railroad tracks behind South Hills Self Storage near a homeless encampment, officials said....
Highmark CEO David Holmberg’s pay dipped to $7.8M in 2020
Highmark Health CEO David Holmberg made $7.82 million in total compensation in 2020, about $325,000 less than the previous year, records filed Friday show. The reduced compensation and bonus package amid the covid-19 pandemic follows Holmberg reaping a pay increase of about $660,000 in 2019, an 8.8% hike, according to...
Gun buyback event planned in Wilkinsburg; Giant Eagle gift certificates will be given out
The Wilkinsburg Police Department is teaming up with the Wilkinsburg Sanctuary Project for Peace in an effort to reduce the number of firearms in the community in advance of the holiday season. A gun buyback event is slated for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13 in the lobby...
2 additional suspects arrested in Aug. 14 shooting death in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover
A man and a woman from Pittsburgh have been charged in the Aug. 14 shooting death of a man in the city’s Beltzhoover neighborhood. A city SWAT team and the U.S. Marshals Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force on Thursday arrested Mariah Harrison, 19, of the city’s Fineview neighborhood, on charges...
Wilmerding’s Westinghouse Castle coming back to life with new purposeVideo
The lights were back on in the old “Westinghouse Castle” in Wilmerding Wednesday night. A few of the folks who gathered on the lawn in front of the stately Romanesque/Renaissance Revival building probably swore they saw George Westinghouse waving from his old office. The property of the General Office or...
Police: Man found dead along railroad tracks in Scott Township
Allegheny County Police homicide detectives are investigating the case of a man found dead Thursday along railroad tracks in Scott Township. County 911 dispatchers were informed just before 6 p.m. of an unresponsive man along the tracks, off Creek Street. First responders discovered the man was deceased, and county police...
Snow possible as weather turns chilly this weekend
For the first time since last spring, that four-letter weather word — snow — is being mentioned again. And it’s not one bit unusual for this time of year according to Jenna Lake, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Moon Township. “It’s very typical for this time...
A dozen Western Pa. health systems pledge to comply with vaccine mandate for hospital workers
UPMC’s top doctor affirmed Thursday that Pennsylvania’s largest health system and nongovernment employer will comply with a newly issued federal mandate that all health care workers get vaccinated for covid-19 by early January, in line with prior pledges by competing medical providers in recent months. Dr. Donald Yealy, UPMC’s chief...
Experts say Pa. mask mandate appeal seeks broader precedent
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration announced last week that it was prepared to lift the school mask mandate by Jan. 17. Why then, after the Commonwealth Court ruled Wednesday that Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam didn’t have the authority to issue the order in the first place, would the administration even...
Authentic piece of Bloomfield’s Little Italy — Donatelli’s — to close by year’s end
In the 1930s, Frank Donatelli allowed customers to stop in and pick up grocery items they needed from Donatelli’s Italian Food Center on Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield – without paying. They could give him money later. “My grandfather started accounts for Italian immigrants,” said his grandson Russell Donatelli. “They paid...
Recount triggered for open Commonwealth Court seat, with Democrat Lori Dumas leading
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 — A close race for one of two open seats on a key Pennsylvania appellate court has triggered an automatic...
Family purchases Old Stone Tavern in Pittsburgh’s West End, promises to restore historic landmark
A family has purchased the Old Stone Tavern in Pittsburgh’s West End neighborhood, promising to preserve and restore the historic site, according to city officials. City Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, whose district includes the West End, identified the buyers as Barbara and Steve Porter and their son Robert Porter. They...
