Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1048
Trial begins for man charged in fatal Club Erotica shooting in McKees Rocks
The prosecution told a jury Monday morning that Charles Becher had a duty to retreat from a fight outside Club Erotica in McKees Rocks in January. Instead, Becher introduced a weapon into the altercation that led to the death of two men. Therefore, Assistant District Attorney Ryan Kiray said, Becher...
Study with UPMC researchers, patients finds convalescent plasma ‘futile’ in treating most critically ill covid patients
Early in the covid-19 pandemic calls were put out for anyone who had survived the virus to donate plasma if they were able to do so, as so-called “survivor plasma” had been used successfully to treat other viruses. The National Institutes of Health halted its own convalescent plasma trials for...
Schools warn students: Don’t try TikTok challenge of hitting staff
Norwin School District and others around the region are warning students they could face criminal charges if they engage in the latest social media TikTok stunt of smacking a school staff member or teacher. School officials are asking parents to speak to their children to make them aware that such...
Pa. school pension fund leaders seek to gag board members over leaks to media
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 — Upset at leaks about a federal investigation of the PSERS pension fund, leaders of the beleaguered plan’s board have...
Irwin man ordered to jail without bail for false imprisonment, assaulting woman
An Irwin man slated for hearings this month on accusations that he was peeping into neighborhood windows is now jailed without bail for locking a woman overnight in a storage trailer and assaulting her, according to court documents. Borough police arrested Russell Jay Little, 47, after the woman appeared at...
Police: Woman dead in Sheraden shooting
Pittsburgh police are investigating a shooting early Sunday morning as a homicide, authorities said. Officers responded just after 3 a.m. to a call reporting gunshots near Glen Mawr Street in the city’s Sheraden neighborhood, police said. First responders found a woman dead from a gunshot wound. Authorities said police are...
Tarentum mail carrier achieves USPS elite ‘Million Miler’ status
Tarentum mail carrier Donna McCorkle quickly checked the pockets of a new jacket bestowed on her by Postmaster James Aiello after earning the USPS Million Miler Award. “Where’s the Asti Spumante?” joked McCorkle, a 30-year employee at the post office along Corbet Street. McCorkle, of Verona, joined the elite rank...
Woman sentenced in connection with 8 pounds of heroin found in turnpike drug bust
A Connecticut woman arrested in 2018 after police found 8 pounds of heroin hidden in a vehicle she was driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike pleaded no contest Monday to a conspiracy charge. Any Crijleipy De Leon Jiminez, 30, was sentenced to 10 to 23 months in the Westmoreland County Prison....
Steller’s sea eagle Kody ‘content to be back’ at National Aviary after 9 days on the loose, officials sayVideo
National Aviary officials became emotional Monday as they detailed their exhaustive nine-day effort to recapture a large Steller’s sea eagle that escaped from the specialty bird zoo on Pittsburgh’s North Side last month. Kodiak, or Kody for short, took off through an opening in his outdoor enclosure on the morning...
Whistleblower: Facebook chose profit over public safety
NEW YORK — A data scientist who was revealed Sunday as the Facebook whistleblower says that whenever there was a conflict between the public good and what benefited the company, the social media giant would choose its own interests. Frances Haugen was identified in a “60 Minutes” interview Sunday as...
Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram suffer worldwide outage
The massive global outage that plunged Facebook, its Instagram and WhatsApp platforms and many people who rely heavily on these services — including Facebook’s own workforce — into chaos Monday is gradually dissipating. Facebook said late Monday that it’s been working to restore access to its services and is “happy...
Troopers say man assaulted paramedics, damaged ambulance at homeless shelter in Derry Township
A homeless man was jailed early Sunday after state police charged him with assaulting two Mutual Aid paramedics and damaging an ambulance that was dispatched to treat him at a Derry Township shelter. Michael J. Muchnock III, 38, who has lived in Hempfield, was arrested on multiple criminal charges, including...
Penn State professors will protest university’s covid policies in a unique way this week
More than 50 Penn State professors — mostly from University Park — will protest several university-related covid policies this week by holding a “Teach-Out(side),” where classes will be moved to the safer outdoors and away from their usual locations. The protest, organized by the faculty-based group Coalition for a Just...
Hempfield Area school officials opt not to join mask lawsuit by 6-3 vote
Hempfield Area School Board members voted Monday night against joining a lawsuit against a state-issued mask mandate by a 6-3 vote, with several saying they felt joining the suit would do little but cost the district money. “I think there are more important things to spend taxpayer dollars on than...
William Shatner will fly to space aboard Blue Origin rocketVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Captain Kirk is rocketing into space next week — boldly going where no other sci-fi stars have gone. Jeff Bezos’ space travel company, Blue Origin, announced Monday that “Star Trek” actor William Shatner will blast off Oct. 12 from West Texas. “Yes, it’s true; I’m going...
Covid vaccine mandate takes effect for NYC teachers, staff
NEW YORK — New York City teachers and other school staff members were all supposed to be vaccinated against covid-19 when the bell rang Monday morning in one of the first school district mandates in the country requiring employees to be inoculated against the coronavirus. Mayor Bill de Blasio gave...
Rain could impact fans plans for the Rolling Stones concert at Heinz Field
Tailgating could be a problem for fans attending Monday’s Rolling Stones concert at Heinz Field. Those hot dogs, hamburgers and kielbasa might be a little soggy. Lee Hendricks, meteorologist for The National Weather Service in Moon, said there is a 50% chance of rain between 3 and 6 p.m. “That...
Eligible for a covid-19 booster? Here’s how to get one in Pa.
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. Anywhere from one to two million Pennsylvania adults are now eligible for a covid-19 booster, and state officials say it should...
Braddock man charged in case of missing 2-year-old
A 36-year-old Braddock man is facing charges after a 2-year-old boy was reported missing early Sunday morning. Davon Xavier Brown is charged with interference with the custody of a child, concealing the whereabouts of a child and kidnapping, according to a release from Allegheny County police. Brown was also found...
Embattled Pa. teacher pension fund subpoenaed by SEC over ‘compensation and gifts’ to staff
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 — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has widened the federal scrutiny of Pennsylvania’s mammoth public school pension plan, demanding...
Ex-Facebook manager alleges social network fed Capitol riotVideo
Facebook prematurely turned off safeguards designed to thwart misinformation and rabble rousing after Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in last year’s elections in a moneymaking move that a company whistleblower alleges contributed to the deadly Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol. The whistleblower, former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen,...
Kody, Steller’s sea eagle that escaped National Aviary, found in Pine
Kody, the Steller’s sea eagle that escaped from an outdoor enclosure last month, has been found. National Aviary spokesperson Molly Toth said the bird was located by a team of animal care experts Sunday afternoon at a home in Pine. Kody, short for Kodiak, got out of his habitat Sept....
Western Pa. oil companies not happy about steep price increase kicking in
The price of natural gas isn’t the only thing that’s going up. The cost of home heating oil is about 80% higher than it was a year ago, and that isn’t making local oil companies very happy. Representatives of companies such as Glassmere Fuel in West Deer and Export Fuel...
Fauci says U.S. is turning the corner on covid surgeVideo
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is turning the corner on the most recent surge in covid-19 cases and more people need to get vaccinated to keep infections on a declining trend, infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci said. Fauci, who is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said that while the full...
Leaked records open a ‘Pandora’ box of financial secretsVideo
Hundreds of world leaders, powerful politicians, billionaires, celebrities, religious leaders and drug dealers have been hiding their investments in mansions, exclusive beachfront property, yachts and other assets for the past quarter-century, according to a review of nearly 12 million files obtained from 14 different firms located around the world. The...
