Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1078
Latrobe festival kicks off 2-day celebration of city’s banana split legacyVideo
Six-year-old Adler Ulrich giggled with delight Friday when she helped comedic magician Steve Haberman turn a rabbit figurine into a whole family of smaller toy bunnies. The magic show behind Adams Memorial Library was just the beginning of a day out with her brother, Charlie, 3, and their Unity Township...
Shuman Center employee accused of killing cat with airsoft gun in Carrick
A Shuman Center employee is accused of shooting and killing a cat in his neighborhood with an airsoft gun, authorities said. Michael Andrews, 36, has worked in child care at the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center since mid-2019, according to a county spokeswoman. Andrews was charged earlier this week via summons...
New England preps for 1st hurricane in 30 years with Henri
BOSTON — New Englanders bracing for their first direct hit by a hurricane in 30 years began hauling boats out of the water and taking other precautions Friday as Tropical Storm Henri barreled toward the southern New England coast. Henri was expected to intensify into a hurricane by Saturday, the...
Biden pledges to Americans in Kabul: ‘We will get you home’
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is pledging to Americans still trapped in Afghanistan: “We will get you home.” Biden also said Friday the United States is committed to evacuating all Afghans who assisted the war effort — a potentially vast expansion of the administration’s commitments on the airlift so far,...
Top Pa. GOP senator orders change in election integrity plan
HARRISBURG — The top Republican in Pennsylvania’s state Senate said Friday that he is putting a different senator in charge of an “election integrity” undertaking and removing a senator who had aimed to carry out an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman...
North Huntingdon couple found dead; carbon monoxide poisoning suspected
Residents along Altman Street in North Huntingdon were shocked Friday to learn about the deaths of two elderly neighbors, believed to have been victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. Joseph and Freda Polinski, both 88, were found dead inside their home Thursday. “A family member was unable to contact his parents...
Do I need a booster if I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine?
All the talk about covid-19 booster shots have centered on those who received the two-shot Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. But what about those who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine? The short answer is: Probably at some point, but health officials still are collecting the data needed to decide....
5 things to do in Westmoreland County: Aug. 20-22
Go bananas in Latrobe Latrobe is going bananas this weekend. The Downtown Latrobe Banana Split Celebration will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday in the downtown area, with live entertainment, food vendors, arts and crafts, children’s activities and, of course, helpings of the signature dessert said to have...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Aug. 20-22
The weekend has arrived. Here are five ways to spend it in Pittsburgh. All things pickle Picklesburgh is back after being canceled last year because of the pandemic. The three-day outdoor event will be Downtown Friday through Sunday on the Andy Warhol Bridge and Allegheny Overlook along Fort Duquesne Boulevard....
Jerome Bettis’ foundation brings out hundreds for charity event in South FayetteVideo
Several former and current Pittsburgh Steelers greats joined a couple hundred special guests in support of an NFL Hall of Famer’s charity. The Jerome Bettis Bus Stops Here Foundation hosted its second annual ParTee36 Charity event at Topgolf Pittsburgh in South Fayette on Thursday night. At least 230 people, including...
Tree falls on house in Murrysville
Firefighters responded Thursday night to Windgate Drive in Murrysville, where a tree fell on a house. There were no injuries reported, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher. Crews responded at about 9:15 p.m. near the intersection of Stonecroft Street. Murrysville Volunteer Fire Co. 1 reported in a social media...
Man shot multiple times in Clairton
Allegheny County police are investigating a shooting Thursday evening in Clairton that sent a man to a local hospital with multiple wounds. The shooting was reported to county 911 dispatchers at about 6:45 p.m. in the 400 block of Halcomb Avenue. First responders found a man had been shot multiple...
Excavation of radiological waste delayed by 1 year at nuclear site in Parks
The Army Corps of Engineers plans to start digging up radiological waste at a nuclear waste site in Parks Township in 2024, one year later than originally planned. Tim Herald, the Army Corps’ project manager, said the extra time is needed so the Corps can be sure it’s removing the...
East Carson Street reopens to traffic following collapsed building demolition
Following the demolition of a partially collapsed building at 1604 E. Carson St. on Pittsburgh’s South Side, the street reopened Thursday afternoon to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The block of East Carson between South 16th and South 17th streets had been closed ever since the partial collapse Aug. 12. Barricades...
Pittsburgh zoo announces pick to succeed longtime leader
The director of a New England zoo will be the next to lead the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, zoo board officials announced Thursday. Dr. Jeremy Goodman, a veterinarian and executive director of Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, R.I., will take over effective Oct. 1, according to the board....
FAA proposes $20K in fines for father, son who became unruly on Pittsburgh-bound flight
A father and son who were escorted off a Pittsburgh-bound flight by authorities in February face more than $20,000 in fines for what the Federal Aviation Administration described as unruly behavior. The FAA reported that the son said, “I hope this plane (expletive) crashes,” as he was escorted off the...
Former Pine-Richland football coach Eric Kasperowicz suing district, officials for defamation in federal court
Former Pine-Richland head football coach Eric Kasperowicz has filed a federal defamation lawsuit against the school district and several top officials claiming they damaged his reputation by publicly accusing him of knowing about hazing and bullying in the football program and failing to report it to authorities. Kasperowicz was informed...
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey pitches infrastructure, services for the elderly and children
The bipartisan infrastructure bill pending in the U.S. House likely will become law by mid-October, predicts U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. The Scranton Democrat, on the road in Pennsylvania during the August congressional break, on Thursday told Tribune-Review editors and reporters the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that already passed the...
Record delta wave hits kids, raises fear as nation’s schools open
The day before he was supposed to start fourth grade, Francisco Rosales was admitted to a Dallas hospital with covid-19, struggling to breathe, with dangerously low oxygen levels and an uncertain outcome. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, thought his frightened mother, Yessica Gonzalez. Francisco was normally healthy and...
GOP senator’s plan to issue Pennsylvania election subpoenas ‘stopped’
HARRISBURG — A backer of former President Donald Trump’s effort to carry out an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election suggested Thursday that fellow Republicans in the state Senate are blocking his efforts. In a video posted Thursday on Facebook, state Sen. Doug Mastriano did not name names,...
Deposition raises questions in Pittsburgh police shooting
When Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala issued his conclusion that the 2018 fatal police shooting of Mark Daniels was a “justified use of force,” his written analysis repeatedly cited a ShotSpotter report he said had “determined that Daniels fired the initial two shots” at the officers. But a recently...
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, arts organizations requiring vaccination, masks for indoor performances
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, along with Pittsburgh Cultural District arts organizations, announced Thursday that guests attending indoor performances at several venues will be required to provide proof of vaccination. Masks also will be required for indoor performances while levels of community covid-19 transmission in Allegheny County are in the ‘substantial’...
North Allegheny reverses mask policy for 2nd time, back to giving parents the choice
The North Allegheny School District has done an about-face for a second time by voting to give parents the choice on whether kids should wear masks when they return to school from summer break on Monday. Last week, the district revised its health and safety plan for the return to...
Westmoreland DA accused of favoritism toward the ‘rich and famous’
The lawyer for a Derry man awaiting trial on drunken driving charges contends Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck gave preferential treatment to a local celebrity and unfairly rejected a bid for his “blue collar” client to enter a jail diversionary program. Defense attorney Robert Domenick, in court documents filed...
Man surrenders after claiming to have bomb near CapitolVideo
WASHINGTON — A man who claimed to have a bomb in a pickup truck near the Capitol surrendered to law enforcement after an hourslong standoff Thursday that prompted a massive police response and the evacuations of government buildings and businesses in the area. Police did not immediately know whether there...
