Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1104
Judge compares attack on Saint Vincent student to horror film, imposes 10-year sentence
A Westmoreland County judge on Monday compared the September 2017 attack on a Saint Vincent College student to a horror movie as she imposed a 10-year prison sentence against the former Somerset County man convicted in April of attempted rape. “This type of offense is truly the kind of things...
Former Pittsburgh woman among victims of Miami condo collapse
A former Pittsburgh woman is among a growing list of victims found in the rubble of the Miami condo collapse, officials said Monday,. The body of Nicole Dawn Doran, 43, formerly of Brentwood, was recovered from the rubble on Friday, according to Miami-Dade police. She was one of nine additional...
Pa. House GOP commits to public meetings, vows ‘most transparent’ congressional redistricting process ever
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 key Pennsylvania lawmaker committed Monday to transparency measures aimed at making the decennial redrawing of the state’s congressional...
Gamblers light up in Pennsylvania casinos with lifting of smoking ban
They’re smoking again in Pennsylvania casinos after a temporary ban during the pandemic left them smoke-free for about a year. When the state’s mask mandate lifted June 28, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, which oversees casinos, allowed the gaming sites to once again permit its guests to smoke. The temporary...
West Deer man rescued from Allegheny River near New Kensington
A 36-year-old male was reunited with his family after being rescued from the Allegheny River in New Kensington on Monday afternoon. The rescue happened near Logans Ferry Road. Plum Police Sgt. Jay Kapusta said the West Deer resident walked from New Kensington to Plum before getting into the water to...
Harrison police charge man with stealing 2 vehicles, burglarizing dealership
A Harrison man is in the Allegheny County Jail after township police charged him with stealing two vehicles and burglarizing a used car dealership. Harrison police said they identified Mark A. Bauer, 60, as the person responsible for taking a GMC Sierra from Ekas Auto, at 2115 Freeport Road, and...
Israeli man extradited to Pittsburgh on rape charges, sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison
For the first 15 years after her rape, Andrea Mantia struggled. At first, the teen’s grades fell, school attendance dropped off, she struggled to know who she was. As she got older, her turmoil turned into alcohol abuse, self-harm and suicide attempts. “I was emotionless to the act itself,” she...
Feds: Lego set found in Capitol attack suspect’s Glenshaw home wasn’t ‘fully constructed’
The Lego model of the U.S. Capitol found in the home of a Glenshaw man charged in the Jan. 6 attack in Washington was not “fully constructed” as federal prosecutors initially described it. “Please note that after a review of the photographs from the search, there appears to have been...
Unity man accused of domestic assault, firing at troopers during 7-hour standoff
A Unity man is accused of twice firing a 9 mm handgun during a seven-hour standoff with state troopers after a domestic assault at his home last week, according to court documents. Gregory S. Dorough, 48, was arrested about 5 p.m. Friday inside his residence along Arnold Palmer Drive. He...
Residents ask Pittsburgh council to slow down spending federal relief cashVideo
Pittsburgh officials should wait until the public has a chance to digest and weigh in on a proposal by Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration that allocates $335 million in federal pandemic relief money, most of the people who spoke at an online hearing over the weekend told council. Residents and community...
Chase Bank plans Irwin branch along Route 30
A New York-based national bank is planning to build its first full-service branch in Westmoreland County along Route 30 in Irwin at the site of a former Greek restaurant. A contractor is demolishing Andros Restaurant at 9399 Route 30, for JP Morgan Chase Bank National Association, which purchased the ½-acre...
Pennsylvania says it counted 500K duplicate covid-19 shots
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Department of Health has reduced the number of covid-19 vaccine doses that had been administered by about 500,000, saying the numbers were duplicates. The figures, released Friday evening without explanation, also showed an increase of about 60,000 in the number of people who are counted as fully...
18-year-old Murrysville man killed in Derry Township crash
A Murrysville man was killed early Saturday after hitting a deer in Derry Township, according to the Westmoreland County coroner. Damian W. Bearley, 18, was driving an Infiniti Q50 south on Route 982 at 3 a.m. when investigators said he hit a deer, crossed the opposite lane and slammed into...
Listen up: Biden speaks volumes in a whisper to make a point
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden was at a public transit station in Wisconsin, talking about repairing roads and bridges, when he shifted gears and began defending his plan to send money to parents for each minor child, payments some critics call a “giveaway.” Biden folded his arms, rested on the...
Jobless Pennsylvanians, attorneys fear more problems as work-search requirement returns
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 — Unemployed Pennsylvanians and their advocates are bracing for the return of work-search requirements, fearing the overburdened system is not...
Police investigating fatal shooting in McKees Rocks
Allegheny County police are investigating after a 21-year-old Penn Hills woman was shot and killed early Monday in McKees Rocks. Officers responded at about 12:11 a.m. to the 900 block of Gray Street where they found a woman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said. The victim, identified by the...
Pittsburgh’s Heinz Endowments to dole out $10M to Western Pa.’s Black arts, cultural groups
Pittsburgh is among seven U.S. metropolitan areas set to get a multimillion-dollar infusion to support arts and cultural groups that represent people of color. A new pot of $10 million in grant money will be up for grabs this fall, thanks to $5 million from the Ford Foundation as part...
Pfizer to discuss vaccine booster with U.S. officials
WASHINGTON — Pfizer says it plans to meet with top U.S. health officials Monday to discuss the drugmaker’s request for federal authorization of a third dose of its covid-19 vaccine as President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser acknowledged that “it is entirely conceivable, maybe likely” that booster shots will be...
Why are summer colds rising in Western Pennsylvania?
Coughs, sore throats and congestion are common in the fall and winter as cold and flu season takes hold. But doctors say it’s strange to see what they’re experiencing now — an influx of patients with cold-like symptoms in the middle of summer. “This time of year, we typically don’t...
Donald Trump spins tales of rigged election, hints at 2024 comeback
DALLAS — Donald Trump swept into Dallas on Sunday spinning tall tales about the 2020 election and the crowd that mobbed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 hoping to keep him in the White House despite his defeat. “No evidence? There’s so much evidence,” he insisted at the Conservative Political...
Billionaire Richard Branson reaches space in his own ship
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. — Swashbuckling entrepreneur Richard Branson hurtled into space aboard his own winged rocket ship Sunday, beating out fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos. The nearly 71-year-old Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company reached an altitude of about 53 miles (85 kilometers) over the New...
Police seek driver who crashed into Pleasant Hills salon
Pleasant Hills Police are seeking the driver of a car who fled after his vehicle crashed into a Pleasant Hills hair salon early Sunday morning. Pleasant Hills Police say a car plowed into the Unique Salon Hair Design building early Sunday morning — and the driver took off. Live report...
Bonus pay for essential workers varied widely across states
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — For putting their health on the line during the coronavirus pandemic, prison guards in Missouri got an extra $250 per paycheck. Teachers in Georgia received $1,000 bonuses. And in Vermont, nurses, janitors, retail workers and many others got as much as $2,000. Over the past year,...
Search in Florida collapse to take weeks; deaths reach 90
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Authorities searching for victims of a deadly collapse in Florida said Sunday they hope to conclude their painstaking work in the coming weeks as a team of first responders from Israel departed the site. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said 90 deaths have now been confirmed...
Department of Labor admits it overcharged unemployed Pennsylvanians millions of dollars
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 — Just one day after Spotlight PA contacted the Department of Labor and Industry with a list of questions about...
