Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1100
Police: Missing Pittsburgh woman and son found safe
Update: Toni Baker and her son have been found safe, according to Pittsburgh Police. Pittsburgh police are looking for a woman and child they considering endangered and vulnerable. Toni Baker, 41, and her son, 12-year-old Najeh Taylor, were reported missing from Wind Gap Avenue in the West End. Anyone with...
Pittsburgh Public Schools renew mask mandate in proposed safety plan
People may be putting their masks away as covid mandates are lifted, but students and teachers at Pittsburgh Public Schools will need to take them back out for the upcoming school year if a health and safety plan proposed by district officials passes on July 28. Not only will masks...
With pandemic worsening in U.S., Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is worriedVideo
The U.S. surgeon general said Sunday that he’s concerned about what lies ahead with cases of covid-19 increasing in every state, millions still unvaccinated and a highly contagious virus variant spreading rapidly. Noting that nearly all coronavirus deaths now are among the tens of millions of people who haven’t received...
3 people flown by medical helicopter following crash along I-70 in Rostraver
Three people were flown by medical helicopter following a crash Sunday morning on Interstate 70 in Rostraver, according to the Rostraver Central Fire Department. Crews responded to the two-vehicle crash on the eastbound side of the Matthew Smelser Memorial Bridge, also known as the Smithton high-level bridge, shortly before 10:30...
In Trump’s Jan. 6 recast, attackers become martyrs, heroes
WASHINGTON — A cocktail of propaganda, conspiracy theory and disinformation — of the kind intoxicating to the masses in the darkest turns of history — is fueling delusion over the agonies of Jan. 6. Hate is “love.” Violence is “peace.” The pro-Donald Trump attackers are patriots. Months after the then-president’s...
Pennsylvania election audit gets GOP campaign trail embrace
HARRISBURG — Former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election have been debunked by the courts, his own Justice Department and scores of recounts. But in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, where Trump lost by 80,000 votes eight months ago, they’re finding new signs of life. A Republican...
Police: Man shot during home invasion in Reserve Township
A man was shot in the leg during a home invasion in Reserve Township Saturday night, police said. Allegheny County dispatchers were notified of a home invasion in the 2700 block of Mount Troy Road shortly before 10:20 p.m. Reports indicated that one person was shot during the incident. First...
Closure of Cheswick Generating Station sparks mixed feelings in community
Some mourn the loss of jobs. Others celebrate the demise of a coal-burning plant and related environmental concerns. All acknowledge their Alle-Kiski Valley communities surrounding the Cheswick Generating Station will be forever changed. The station, which is Allegheny County’s last coal-fired power plant, is scheduled to close permanently in mid-September....
Reunion of Pirates’ 1971 World Series champions brings back memories
As Al Oliver looked around the room at his old teammates wearing their white home jerseys and gold hats, he recognized how many members of the 1971 World Series champions were missing. The remaining Pittsburgh Pirates were determined to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the world champions by honoring the...
Ligonier Valley Historical Society holds living history weekend at Compass InnVideo
History lovers who braved intermittent rain showers Saturday afternoon were transported back to the 1800s as the Ligonier Valley Historical Society presented its second living history weekend this year. The event was held at the Compass Inn Museum in Laughlintown. It featured members of Ship’s Company, a Maryland-based maritime reenactment...
Alle-Kiski Valley firefighters practice driving firetrucks in tight spaces
Parallel parking is often the most difficult part of any driver training course — staying between the orange barrels, learning to use your side mirrors and hoping you don’t hit the curb. Now imagine doing it in a 40-ton fire rescue truck. “This is like a driving test, but way...
Kiski Township traffic stop turns up drugs, guns
Police arrested an Indiana man this week after a traffic stop turned up drugs and guns, authorities said. Sahid Nasir-Evans, 27, faces charges related to firearms violations and possession of marijuana, said Kiski Township Police Sgt. Thomas Dessell. Officers stopped Nasir-Evans just after 1 a.m. Monday on Route 56 near...
Western Pa. among nationwide areas seeing dangerous rise in opioid epidemic
Throughout the height of the covid-19 pandemic, it seemed as if the opioid epidemic had come to a sudden halt — largely because coronavirus headlines dominated newsstands, television broadcasts and everyday conversation. The latest overdose death figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, convey a starkly opposite...
Westmoreland places ‘leveraged bet on market’ to shore up county pension debt
Westmoreland County’s largest ever bond issue, which will put taxpayers on the hook for $173.6 million, won’t lay water or sewer lines, pave roads, fix aging bridges or set a single steel beam. Instead, debt on the $126.48 million in bonds to be paid by taxpayers over the next 20...
Astrobotic’s MoonRanger rover a step closer to lunar mission
On the 52nd anniversary of the day Apollo 11 blasted off and headed for its historic moon landing, Astrobotic has taken a “giant leap” toward its own moon landing. The Pittsburgh-based aerospace company has announced the autonomous rover MoonRanger it partnered with Carnegie Mellon University to create, has passed another...
Gilpin man hospitalized after large tree falls on his campground homeVideo
A Gilpin man was taken to a local hospital for treatment after a tree fell on his porch Friday. Neighbors Lori and Brian Barbieri said they heard a snap as the late-afternoon storms died down and watched as the tree came down across their neighbor’s home in the Kiski River...
‘A blaring siren’ for Democrats after ruling halts DACA
Immigrants and advocates are urging Democrats and President Joe Biden to quickly act on legislation to protect young immigrants after a federal judge in Texas on Friday ruled illegal an Obama-era program that prevents the deportation of thousands of them brought into the U.S. as children. Plaintiffs have vowed to...
McKeesport residents warned not to drink tap water after commercial building fire
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County is asking residents in the Lower 10th Ward of McKeesport to not use the tap water after firefighting foam may have been sucked into a fire hydrant as crews battled a blaze at McKeesport Auto Body on Friday night. According to an advisory posted...
Man who shot at Pittsburgh officers said he wanted them to kill him, gets 15 to 30 years
Issa Abdus-Salaam had a difficult childhood, including being moved from his home in Philadelphia at age 7 to live with strangers in Senegal, West Africa. Although his parents eventually joined him four years later, it wasn’t before he had lived in filth, saw a man beaten to death in the...
Latrobe police say neighbors’ complaints led to drug arrests
Multiple complaints this month over an influx of pedestrian and vehicle traffic at a Latrobe home resulted in the arrests of a couple Thursday by city police on charges of trafficking cocaine and heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia. William E. Schall, 34, and Bobbi Rae Ragazzini, 26, who live...
Brookline couple faces charges after 6-week-old tests positive for cocaine
A Brookline couple faces charges after doctors discovered cocaine in the system of their 6-week-old infant, according to charges filed by Pittsburgh police Thursday. Matthew Bell and Lindsey Satterfield both face charges related to drug possession, assault and child endangerment. According to the criminal complaint, Satterfield took her infant son...
Owners of Vandergrift home destroyed in blaze thankful to be alive
Robert Harvey Mills and his wife Caroel Mills watched a fire destroy their Vandergrift home of 51 years Thursday morning. They helplessly stood by as their their home on Holland Street burned — along with two neighboring houses. Still, the couple said they’re thankful to be alive, and determined not...
Police: Desperate notes in Walmart, Fallingwater led to woman held captive
The first note appeared just over a week ago. Stuck to a mirror in the women’s restroom at the Walmart on Washington Pike in Scott, a handwritten note pleaded for help, police said. The writer, a woman, wrote that she was being held captive by a man named Corey Brewer...
Former Excela nurse accused of stealing pain pills from patients
A former nurse at Excela Health Westmoreland hospital in Greensburg was arrested this week by the state Attorney General’s office on accusations of stealing prescription painkillers from patients over a five-month period in 2020, according to court papers. Joel M. Gazal, 34, of North Versailles, was arraigned on two counts...
Pennsylvania jobless rate down slightly, payrolls up in June
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate and labor force shrank slightly in June as payrolls crept up, according to state figures released Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point to 6.9% from May’s adjusted rate, the state Department of Labor and Industry said. May’s initial rate had been...
