Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1532
Pittsburgh man pleads to voluntary manslaughter in 2018 slaying
A Pittsburgh man already serving time in federal prison for his part in a West End drug ring was sentenced Thursday to state prison time for the 2018 slaying of another man. Rashem Littleberry, 29, was sentenced to 4.5 to 9 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter...
Mickey from ‘Disney on Ice’ visits UPMC Children’s Hospital of PittsburghVideo
Ella Weisbord had a simple request as she waited to meet a Disney character Thursday in UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. “I want to dance with Mickey,” the 5-year-old from Cheswick said. Mickey Mouse was happy to comply. Ella’s mother wheeled the girl up to Mickey for a meet-and-greet …...
3 Pittsburgh chefs make James Beard Awards semifinals list
Christian Frangiadis was flying home from Denmark when a customer called to make a booking at his Spork restaurant. He also congratulated the chef on his being named a James Beard Award semifinalist. That’s how Frangiadis learned he was on the 2020 list of semifinalists, in his case for Best...
Robert Morris cancels all study abroad trips as coronavirus spreads
Robert Morris University has canceled all trips abroad out of growing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, a university spokesperson said Thursday. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have canceled all study abroad trips planned for the spring semester, including those scheduled to leave in May,” spokesman Jonathan...
Ex-Pennsylvania lawmaker pleads guilty in child porn case
LEBANON — A former Pennsylvania state lawmaker charged last fall with possession of child pornography pleaded guilty Thursday. Mike Folmer entered a guilty plea in Lebanon County Court to three counts of possessing child porn and one count of criminal use of a communications facility for having items on his...
Pittsburgh among cities where Trump campaign will open centers to woo black voters
Flush with cash, President Donald Trump’s campaign is stepping up its outreach to black Americans as it tries to claw away support from the traditionally Democratic voting bloc ahead of November’s general election. Trump’s campaign announced Wednesday that it is opening “Black Voices for Trump Community Centers” in the coming...
Allegheny Township man accused of using device to record woman’s conversations
An Allegheny Township man is accused by police of putting a tracking and recording device in a woman’s SUV to listen to her conversations and follow her movements, according to court papers. Kerry Richard Jackson, 35, is charged with intercepting communications, possession of a device for intercepting communications, criminal use...
Jeannette man seeks dismissal of attempted murder charges
A Jeannette man wants attempted murder charges against him dismissed because he was not present when a man and juvenile were wounded during a robbery at a Sutersville home. Police contend Aaron Brown, 27, provided the weapons used in the Nov. 16, 2018, incident and, as a result, was charged...
Good grief: Shaler funeral director moonlights as stand-up comic
Frank Perman is a mortician with a stand-up routine that always knocks ‘em dead. The supervisor of Perman Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Shaler takes his job very seriously. Comedy is an emotional outlet. On Feb. 21, before a sold-out crowd at Crafthouse Stage & Grill in Baldwin, he...
Crash near Freeport Area High School prompts districtwide delay
All schools in the Freeport Area School District operated on a two-hour delay Thursday following a crash that closed part of Route 356 for just more than an hour. A two-vehicle crash happened shortly before 6 a.m. on Route 356 at Cole Road in Buffalo Township, according to a Butler...
Take a tour of Facebook’s Pittsburgh lab, where it is developing VR avatars
Facebook is developing virtual reality systems in Pittsburgh that it hopes will someday permit people located in separate parts of the world to communicate virtually as if they are sitting together in the same room. Let’s say people in China, the United States, Europe, South America and Australia want to...
Man in critical condition after rescue from burning Mount Washington apartment
A man was rescued from a burning apartment in Mount Washington late Wednesday afternoon. Pittsburgh authorities said city firefighters responded to a structure fire along the 800 block of Boggs Avenue around 5 p.m. Responders encountered fire in one of the apartments and discovered a man inside. Officials said the...
Cyclist struck by car in Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood
A woman was struck by a car while riding a bicycle Wednesday night in Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood, officials said. Shortly after 8 p.m., emergency dispatchers received a report the incident at the intersection of Baum Boulevard and South Negley Avenue, near where Friendship meets the city’s Shadyside neighborhood. When officers...
Trump names Pence to lead U.S. response to coronavirus threatVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the United States is “very, very ready” for whatever the coronavirus threat brings, and he put his vice president in charge of overseeing the nation’s response. Trump sought to minimize fears of the virus spreading widely across the U.S., saying, “I don’t...
Last day at Tarentum library like losing ‘family’Video
For nearly the past 10 years, 92-year-old Norm Jacobs of Natrona Heights, Harrison, has had a daily routine. Jacobs, a retired attorney who still has a law license, stops for eggs at Massart’s restaurant on Sixth Avenue, checks in at his nearby office, and then walks down Lock Street to...
Former Leechburg police Chief Michael Diebold to stand trial on alleged sex offender violations
Former Leechburg police Chief Michael Diebold will stand trial on charges that he didn’t comply with registration requirements for convicted sex offenders, a district judge confirmed Wednesday. Diebold, 42, was charged by state police in Armstrong County with two felony counts of failing to provide accurate registration information. The case...
Mayor Peduto pans design for planned 21-story office in Pittsburgh’s Strip District
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he wasn’t impressed with the design for a 21-story office tower that New York-based JMC Holdings has planned for the site of a cold storage warehouse in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Peduto said the company would have to come up with a design more in line...
Gunman kills 5 at Milwaukee brewery before taking own lifeVideo
MILWAUKEE — An employee opened fire Wednesday at one of the nation’s largest breweries in Milwaukee, killing five fellow workers before taking his own life, police said. The assailant who attacked the Molson Coors complex was identified as a 51-year-old Milwaukee man who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police...
Lawyer for suspended Pirate Felipe Vazquez wants bail, statement to police suppressed
A new lawyer for suspended Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez wants a Westmoreland County judge to set a bond that would allow the former All-Star to leave jail as he awaits trial on child sex charges. Vazquez, 28, was charged last summer with statutory sexual assault and other offenses in...
Congress warns Pentagon not to move money to fund Trump’s border wall
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers from both parties told Pentagon leaders on Wednesday that the Defense Department is undermining its own efforts to get military money by diverting billions of dollars for the construction of President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and the committee’s...
Pennsylvania reports 1st child flu-related death of season
Pennsylvania health officials have reported the first pediatric flu death in the state this season — one of a dozen new flu deaths in the past week. Deaths were recorded for the week ending Feb. 22 in each of the four age groups reported by the state health department. That...
Giant Eagle to stop doubling coupons
Giant Eagle will no longer double manufacturer coupons beginning Sunday. With so many e-coupons and digital choices, the store is changing to accommodate technology. The O’Hara-based retailer will continue to redeem the coupons for face value. “As customer usage of manufacturer coupons continues to decrease both in our stores and...
Inbound Fort Pitt Tunnel lanes reopen after crash
Inbound lanes of the Fort Pitt Tunnel reopened at about 4:30 p.m. after they were closed for about 90 minutes after a truck crash, according to PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan. Motorists using I-376 east should expect residual delays because of the crash, Cowan said....
Police: Man shot in Beltzhoover dies at hospital
A man was shot and killed Wednesday morning in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover neighborhood, according to Pittsburgh police. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner identified the victim Thursday morning as Robert Fulton, 33, of Pittsburgh. He died in the emergency room at UPMC Mercy Hospital, according to the medical examiner. Public Safety spokeswoman...
Snow returns to parts of Western Pennsylvania on Wednesday night
A stretch of mild weather will come to an end Wednesday night and snow will return, according to the National Weather Service. Rain is expected to become widespread this afternoon and change over to snow after 8 p.m. as it gets colder, meteorologist Myranda Fullerton said. Through early Thursday morning,...
