Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1025
Penn State to use $1.5M grant on workforce programs in New Kensington
Penn State will use a $1.5 million federal grant to create workforce education and retaining programs targeting Southwestern Pennsylvania, the university announced Wednesday. The university’s New Kensington campus, located in Upper Burrell, and its Digital Foundry, under construction in downtown New Kensington, will lead the project. It will be known...
Mourning Greensburg Central Catholic loses 1st-round game to OLSH
Shaken by a double dose of tragedy, Greensburg Central Catholic took the field on its first series Friday night with only five players, all of them linemen. The Centurions were flagged for a delay of game, but Our Lady of the Sacred Heart declined it. The moment was subtle yet...
Police: McKeesport man charged with the murder of Karli Short and her unborn child in September
A McKeesport man has been arrested in connection with the murder of the mother of his unborn child. Isaac Smith, 25, was taken into custody around 7 p.m. Friday by Allegheny County detectives and Pleasant Hills police. He is charged with homicide and homicide of an unborn child in connection...
Police: Man, 41, found dead inside McKeesport home
Homicide detectives are investigating after a man was found dead Friday afternoon inside a McKeesport home, police said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Stephen Rucinski, 41. Police were called to the 2900 block of Grover Avenue around 4:40 p.m. after 911 dispatchers reported “a male...
Diners sample reborn rye whiskey at West Overton Village
A hundred guests gathered Friday in the lower level of the West Overton Village museum to dine on a catered meal and sample the first barrel of rye whiskey distilled at the East Huntingdon site since 1919. “I keep getting drawn back to it,” Nicktown resident Ed Stock said of...
Netflix filming in downtown Pittsburgh to cause road closures Monday
Parts of two roads in downtown Pittsburgh will be closed Monday as part of the filming of Netflix’s “Rustin.” Public Safety officials said Ross Street will be closed from 6-8:30 a.m. between Forbes and Fourth avenues. Smithfield Street will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. between Fifth and...
AHN offering child covid vaccines at 3 clinics, will add pediatricians’ offices soon
Allegheny Health Network Pediatric Institute will host three community vaccination clinics for children ages 5 to 11 this month. • Saturday, Nov. 13 from 8 a.m. to noon at Allegheny General Hospital’s Hemlock Building, 320 E. North Ave. in Pittsburgh’s North Side. • Saturday, Nov. 20 from 9 a.m. to...
Former Shaler substitute teacher, Capitol attack suspect seeks release; for now, he’ll be transferred to different jail
The former Shaler substitute teacher charged with participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot again is seeking his release from pretrial custody, alleging he was subjected this week to a strip search after a meeting with a new attorney. Robert Morss, 28, has remained in custody since his arrest in...
Some UPMC workers plan 1-day strike, call for right to unionize without retaliation
UPMC’s recent move to dole out $500 bonuses did little to quell mounting concerns among some workers who accuse the health care giant of trying to squash their efforts to unionize. “There was no ‘thank you pay’ until we started organizing to strike,” Juilia Centofanti, a pharmacy technician at UPMC...
It’s high season for deer-car collisions on Pennsylvania roads
Pennsylvania drivers beware: This is the season when the chances of hitting a deer increase, experts say, especially with the end of daylight saving time this weekend. The state ranks first in the nation for the highest number of animal-vehicle collisions that mostly involve deer, according to insurance company State...
Police: Charleroi couple hid infant’s body in bedroom wall for months
A Charleroi woman faces abuse of a corpse and other charges for hiding the death of her infant and sealing his body in a bedroom wall, according to the criminal complaint against her. Charleroi Regional Police Detective David Kimball wrote in the complaint that officers were called to a home...
Pittsburgh police union file grievance over covid vaccine mandate
The union representing Pittsburgh police officers on Friday said it plans to file a grievance with the city and an unfair labor complaint with the Labor Relations Board in response to a mandate requiring all city employees receive a covid-19 vaccine. “The city has unilaterally imposed a vaccine mandate without...
‘I will forgive you, but you must pay,’ father of woman who OD’d tells Greensburg man who supplied drugs
Nearly five years have not erased the pain Rachael Tantlinger’s parents and brother feel as a result of her drug overdose death. Sometimes, it’s physically debilitating, said father, Chris Tantlinger. For mother Valerie Tantlinger, the raw emotion was still evident Friday in court testimony. Both directly addressed the man who...
Food truck serves oddly shaped pizza slices in Pittsburgh as lesson on gerrymandering
A food truck called Gerry’s Partisan Pizza served up free slices of pizza in Oakland on Friday — but there was a catch. The slices were cut into odd shapes, rather than the standard neat triangles. Their sizes varied. Each piece was meant to serve as a reminder about gerrymandering,...
Kelly Frey shares love of Pittsburgh in farewell message
Former WTAE anchor Kelly Frey in a Facebook post Friday said she and the station could not agree to terms as she thanked viewers for their support as word spread of her departure. “I love you Pittsburgh,” she wrote. “Truly. From the bottom of my heart. And I won’t deny...
UPMC schedules 10K covid vaccinations for children in 1st day
Across the health system, UPMC scheduled 10,000 covid vaccination appointments for children in the 5 to 11 age group during the first 24 hours after they became available, officials said Friday. Dr. Alejandro Hoberman, president of UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics, said a majority of those vaccines will be given in...
North Side’s Monterey Pub reopens after being closed for over a year
The bar at Monterey Pub in Pittsburgh has a shiny new look. More than 14,000 zinc-coated copper pennies adorn the bar top in a swirl-like design which has been sealed with epoxy and is back again holding beer, wine and cocktails. “The old bar top needed something,” said general manager...
Bentleyville woman alleges state trooper strip-searched her during I-70 traffic stop
A woman said that she was strip-searched on the side of Interstate 70 in South Strabane by the state police this summer after being pulled over for traveling 5 mph over the speed limit. Holly Elish, 34, of Bentleyville, said in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that she was heading...
‘Marisol and Warhol Take New York’ is taking Pittsburgh
The decade of the 1960s brought with it a pop culture explosion that enveloped music, fashion, film and visual art. In one sonic boom, a new multi-dimensional world of creation opened up and two artists in particular — Venezuelan-American Marisol Escobar, otherwise known simply as Marisol, and Pittsburgh native Andy...
Pfizer says its covid pill cut hospital, death risk by 90%
WASHINGTON — Pfizer Inc. said Friday that its experimental antiviral pill for covid-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% in high-risk adults, as the drugmaker joined the race for an easy-to-use medication to treat the coronavirus. Currently most covid-19 treatments require an IV or injection. Competitor Merck’s...
U.S. hiring rebounded in October, with 531,000 jobs added
WASHINGTON — America’s employers stepped up their hiring in October, adding a solid 531,000 jobs, the most since July and a sign that the recovery from the pandemic recession is overcoming a virus-induced slowdown. Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate fell to 4.6% last...
South Hills pastor named auxiliary bishop for Pittsburgh diocese by Pope Francis
Pope Francis has named a longtime South Hills pastor an auxiliary bishop of Pittsburgh, the Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Friday. The Rev. Mark Eckman was appointed Friday by Archbishop Cristophe Pierre in Washington, D.C. His ordination is scheduled for Jan. 11 at St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. Eckman,...
Gov. Wolf describes having wife drop off ballot as honest mistake
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said his mail-in ballot was dropped off by his wife before Tuesday’s election despite a state law requirement that voters deliver them in person. Wolf’s spokeswoman Beth Rementer called it an honest mistake. “I did vote, actually I voted by mail,” Wolf said Tuesday...
Giant Eagle opening covid vaccine appointments for kids
Appointments for children ages 5 to 11 to get covid-19 vaccinations could be available as early as this weekend at Giant Eagle pharmacies in the area, according to an announcement. Anyone who wants to schedule an appointment for a child in that age range can visit the grocery store chain’s...
Police say daughter pointed loaded gun at mom outside Pittsburgh family court
A woman from Braddock was arrested Thursday after authorities said she pointed a loaded gun at her mother during an argument outside a court building in Downtown Pittsburgh. Kerneisha McClelland, 34, was taken into custody by Allegheny County Sheriff’s deputies shortly after noon Thursday in front of the Family Division...
