Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1169
Heavy metal guitarist is 1st suspect to plead guilty in Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — A heavy metal guitarist on Friday became the first defendant to plead guilty to federal charges in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Jon Ryan Schaffer, the frontman of the band Iced Earth, has agreed to cooperate with investigators in hopes of getting a lighter sentence,...
Pennsylvania sounds alarm on vaccine hesitancy
A growing number of unfilled appointments and low uptake among nursing home workers are early signs that vaccine hesitancy is becoming an issue in Pennsylvania, prompting state officials to sound the alarm Friday and urge residents to get their covid-19 shots as quickly as possible. After months of demand outstripping...
Pennsylvania casinos top $400M in March, shatter monthly revenue record
Monthly casino revenues in Pennsylvania for the first time topped $400 million in March, according to figures released by the state Gaming Control Board. Combined gambling revenues totaled more than $403 million, up significantly from the $154 million in revenues seen in March 2020, when non-life-sustaining businesses were forced to...
Lawyer: Video shows Aaron Donald did not beat up man in South Side brawl
An attorney for Pittsburgh native and NFL defensive standout Aaron Donald says the L.A. Rams player helped save the man accusing him of assault from further injury, contradicting claims from this week Donald beat up the man in a South Side melee. Attorney Casey White said there’s no dispute Devincent...
Pennsylvania sees rising covid cases, deaths, hospitalizations
Pennsylvania on Friday reported 5,650 new cases of covid-19, raising the seven-day average to 4,916, the highest average since early February. There have been 1,098,502 cases recorded since the pandemic began, according to data from the state Department of Health. The state added 56 new covid-related deaths, the second most...
Change in course: Pirates move pierogies race from PNC Park to Clemente BridgeVideo
Alana and Jimmy Maxey came from Austin, Texas, to PNC Park Thursday to catch a Pirates afternoon game. They had heard about the racing pierogies as well. “Friends and family told me about the pierogies race, so I was excited to see that,” said Alana Maxey, a huge Pittsburgh sports...
Mark Madden: Pine-Richland’s shameful firing of Eric Kasperowicz deserves better than ‘no comment’
Pine-Richland High School fired Eric Kasperowicz after eight seasons as football coach. He won two state championships and four WPIAL titles, including one of each this past season. Kasperowicz was 85-18. He’s beloved by his players and known for his professionalism. Plenty of Kasperowicz’s players got football scholarships. Kasperowicz wasn’t...
Duquesne Light seeks to raise rates by 7.7%
Duquesne Light Co. wants to raise the electric bills for residential customers by 7.7%, an increase that would cost users another $7.73 a month on average, or about $92 a year, the Pittsburgh-based company said. The request was filed Friday with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. If approved, which is...
Body of missing Beechview man found in Ohio River
The body of a Beechview man missing since late January was found Thursday night in the Ohio River, authorities said. Thomas Hughes, 25, was found in the river near Monaca, according to Pittsburgh police. The Beaver County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy and determine a cause and manner...
U.S. has been wracked with several mass shootings in 2021
a significant drop in mass shootings in the United States during a pandemic-hit 2020, this year has already seen several deadly cases. Police in Indianapolis say eight people were shot and killed in a shooting late Thursday at a FedEx facility. The shooter also killed himself. It follows a lull...
‘History, character and charm’: Hempfield home inspired by work at Penguin Court mansionVideo
The new owners of the Italian Provencal-style house at 729 Harvey Ave. in Hempfield will find plenty of reminders of the home’s past. Above the living room fireplace are carved the initials of the original occupants, building contractor Anson T. Zambano and his wife, the former Emma Seeno. Zambano built...
FBI says it interviewed FedEx mass shooter last year
INDIANAPOLIS — The FBI says that last year it questioned the man who fatally shot eight people at a FedEx plant in Indianapolis. Paul Keenan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis field office, said Friday that agents questioned 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole after his mother called police...
Police: 1 person dead, another injured after crash in Duquesne
One person died and a child was injured after a single-vehicle crash in Duquesne early Friday morning, according to Allegheny County police. Crews responded to Route 837 near North Second Street around 3:30 a.m. where they found a man ejected from a vehicle and a child still inside the car,...
Hempfield Area temporarily closes middle school because of covid-19 cases
A Hempfield Area middle school is closed today due to positive covid-19 cases, according to district officials. Students at West Hempfield Middle School are attending classes remotely after the district was informed that two students contracted the virus and were at school while infectious, according to a letter from Superintendent...
Police: Juveniles shot, 1 killed, in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood
A teenage boy was killed and another hospitalized in shootings in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood Thursday night. Police responded to a Shotspotter alert along the 1300 block of Sorrell Street around 8:10 p.m., Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews reported. Officers found two boys had been shot. One was unresponsive and later...
Police: Scammers calling Oakmont residents, claiming to be police and FBI seeking Social Security numbers
Oakmont police are warning residents about phone scammers claiming to be from the department or the FBI seeking personal information. Chief Michael Ford said the caller is attempting to obtain Social Security numbers and other personal financial information as part of an “investigation.” At least one resident alerted the borough...
‘I’m glad Tarentum’s opening up’: Night Market draws customers to small businesses on covid reboundVideo
David Gartner paused to get a satisfying whiff of the ribs and chicken sizzling atop a barbecue grill on the sidewalk outside J&G Corner Store on Thursday night. The 66-year-old Tarentum resident and his companion had just “completed the whole circuit” of small businesses participating in the Tarentum Night Market,...
Man dies after being shot in Wilkinsburg
A man died Thursday evening after a shooting in Wilkinsburg. Allegheny County 911 was notified of a shooting in the 1500 block of Marlboro Avenue in Wilkinsburg at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday. First responders found a 25-year-old man who had been shot in the chest. He was transported to a...
Pennsylvania State System universities freeze tuition for a 3rd year
Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities will hold the line on tuition for an unprecedented third consecutive year. That means in-state students at schools that charge flat-rate tuition will pay $7,716 a year for basic undergraduate tuition. At Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the only local university in the state system that assesses...
Westmoreland commissioners say $140 million borrowing plan will put off future tax hike
Westmoreland commissioners said a plan to borrow about $140 million this year to bolster the county’s pension fund could prevent a future property tax increase. Commissioners on Thursday signed off on the preliminary work to hire financial advisers, lawyers and underwriters who will finalize the plan that officials said will...
Peduto orders crackdown on contractors committing tax fraud
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto used Thursday — April 15, traditionally the deadline for tax filings — to announce an executive order to crack down on construction companies that skirt tax laws. Although the tax deadline has been extended until May 17 this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Peduto used...
Pittsburgh police report another black bear sighting, create email for wildlife concerns
Pittsburgh police reported another black bear sighting on Thursday, the latest in a string of reports in the city and Allegheny County. This time the bear was spotted on Lemington Avenue in Lincoln-Lemington. Police reminded anyone who comes across a bear to leave it alone, refrain from feeding it and...
Feds: Scott Twp. man set up fake PPP loans for gold bars, college tuition, fancy cars and more
He bought a Ford Mustang, two Mercedes SUVs, a BMW, a Land Rover and Porsche. He bought gold bars and silver coins, jewelry, art and firearms. He gave money to his family. He paid their college tuition. All of that, the FBI said, after Randy Frasinelli fraudulently applied for and...
Video: Chicago boy wasn’t holding gun when shot by officerVideo
CHICAGO — Disturbing bodycam video released after public outcry over the Chicago police shooting of a 13-year-old boy shows the youth appearing to drop a handgun and begin raising his hands less than a second before an officer fires his gun and kills him. A still frame taken from Officer...
Pfizer CEO says 3rd covid-19 booster shot ‘likely’ needed within a year of getting vaccinatedVideo
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla predicted Thursday that people who have received the company’s covid-19 vaccine will “likely” need a third booster shot within a year to maintain protection against the virus. “It is extremely important to suppress the pool of people that can be susceptible to the virus,” Bourla told...
