Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1533
Murrysville police arrest 3 connected to thefts in Allegheny, Westmoreland counties
The arrests of three people in Murrysville this week may help solve multiple crimes in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties. Murrysville police searched a Wiestertown Road home, where they seized a quantity of crystal methamphetamine, smoking pipes, digital scales, a stolen handgun and multiple other stolen items, according to court papers....
Police: Man killed father with shotgun during Harmar fight
An East Deer man admitted he shot and killed his father early Wednesday after his dad badmouthed his girlfriend and their baby, police said. Shane Howard, 23, also told police that he hit his father in the face and head with a fire extinguisher before he shot him with a...
See how Pennsylvania students fared on SATs in 2019
The Pennsylvania Department of Education has released the average SAT scores at public schools across the state. The averages come from students in the class of 2019 who took the standardized test — about 2.2 million students nationwide, according to College Board, the institution that administers the test. The exam...
Pennsylvania couple awaiting adopted child get $20,000 gift on ‘Ellen’
A Philadelphia-area couple already expecting one life-changing moment received a second one this week, courtesy of TV talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres. Doug and Nick Roberts, of Media, are in the midst of an adoption process. They are also huge fans of the actress Kristen Bell. Somehow, DeGeneres heard about their...
Aleppo addresses parking woes caused by Amazon delivery vehicles
Traffic patterns in Aleppo Township have changed since Amazon purchased and moved into a 70,000-square-foot distribution warehouse in the 79 North Industrial Park in 2018. The warehouse supports a delivery model that largely uses vans and personal cars, according to Aleppo Township manager Gwen Patterson. An increased number of deliveries...
What to give up for Lent? Booze, chocolate, sex — and Lent itself — among top choicesVideo
Although rooted in ancient Christian practice, the idea of “giving something up for Lent” permeates American popular culture. Witness the Twitter Lent Tracker operated for a decade by OpenBible.info. The index tracks the number of mentions of Lent or “giving up” something during the week of Ash Wednesday — which...
Officials: Man ‘forgot’ he had loaded handgun in coat pocket at Pittsburgh airport
A Butler County man “forgot” he had a loaded handgun in his coat pocket when he went through security at Pittsburgh International Airport on Tuesday, according to security officials. Transportation Security Administration officials spotted the gun as it went through the checkpoint X-ray scanner in a bin, according to TSA...
East Deer couple, children escape house fire unhurtVideo
A couple and their children escaped unhurt from a fire at their East Deer home early Wednesday. The fire at 510 West Ninth Ave.was reported shortly before 3:30 a.m. Crews cleared the scene about two hours later. East Deer fire Chief Jack Bailie Jr. said the husband and wife were...
East Hills shooting leaves man in critical condition
A man was in critical condition after being shot in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood late Wednesday night, according to city police. Officers responded to an alert of shots fired in the 8400 block of Frankstown Road just before midnight. The ShotSpotter system detected more than 30 shots being fired, police...
Pittsburgh Army Corps of Engineers to hold hearing on proposed battery plant at Lordstown, Ohio
Plans to build a $2.3 billion electric battery assembly plant near General Motors Corp.’s shuttered automobile plant in Lordstown, Ohio, will be reviewed during a March 12 public hearing in Lordstown, which is about 75 miles from Pittsburgh. General Motors is applying for approval on behalf of GigaPower LLC of...
Democrats band together to knock Sanders during debate clash
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Democrats unleashed a roaring assault against Bernie Sanders and seized on Mike Bloomberg’s past with women in the workplace during a contentious debate Tuesday night that tested the strength of the two men at the center of the party’s presidential nomination fight. As the undeniable Democratic front-runner,...
Threat leads to increased police presence Wednesday at Kiski Area High School
Police officers will step up their presence at Kiski Area High School on Wednesday because of a non-credible threat received Tuesday, the district announced. Police and police dogs searched the school Tuesday in response to an “anonymous, non-specific threat,” according to the district. Officers did not find any danger, but...
AP FACT CHECK: Claims from the Democratic debate – Feb. 25, 2020
WASHINGTON — They flailed their arms, talked over each other and at one point called for backup, asking fact checkers to come to their rescue. The last debate before a crucial stage of the primaries was an often unruly affair as the Democratic presidential contenders powered past the moderators in...
South Korean virus cases jump again, 1st U.S. soldier infected
SEOUL — The number of new virus cases in South Korea jumped again Wednesday and the first U.S. military soldier tested positive, with his infection and many others connected to a southeastern city where the outbreak has clustered. South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 134 of the...
Roger Stone jurors say bias played no role in his conviction
Three of the jurors who convicted Republican operative Roger Stone for lying to Congress and witness tampering testified that political bias played no role in their decision, pushing back against Stone’s contention that he deserves a new trial. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson did not issue a ruling at...
Cheron Shelton, acquitted of murder in Wilkinsburg mass shooting, indicted on federal gun charge
Less than two weeks after his acquittal of murder in connection to the 2016 mass shooting in Wilkinsburg, Cheron Shelton is facing a new federal gun charge, records show. Shelton, 33, of Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood has been indicted by a grand jury for being a felon allegedly possessing a gun,...
Disinformation and hacking could threaten 2020 elections, former U.S. attorney warns
Threats to elections in the United States and democracy as we know it are a given in the age of the internet, said David Hickton, founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security. The good news: There’s something we can do about it, he...
Pittsburgh’s bond rating bumps up from stable to positive
Pittsburgh is in line for a better interest rate on a $50 million capital improvement bond it intends to issue next month after Fitch Ratings upgraded the city’s bond rating Monday to positive, Mayor Bill Peduto said. It had been rated as stable. “We had gotten up to stable, and...
Wesley Family Services’ $18.2M complex in New Kensington on target to open Aug. 1
Herb Hughes of New Kensington sees the positives of working on the Pioneer Apartments project in New Kensington. It’s close to Hughes’ home, and the project by Wesley Family Services aims to inject life into the city’s business district. The $18.2 million apartment building is being built on the site...
Slippery Rock student recounts ‘horrifying’ 80-foot fall at McConnells Mill
Jocie Van Kirk, the 21-year-old Slippery Rock University psychology student who fell 80 feet on Sunday while hiking at McConnells Mill State Park with her friends, recounted the experience as “definitely one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever been through.” “I was absolutely terrified,” Van Kirk said. She said...
Pittsburgh ordinance would ban ownership of crocodiles, alligators and turtles
Pittsburgh, which has more than its share of pet alligators roaming loose, is moving to ban the sale and ownership of the reptiles in the city. City Councilman Bruce Kraus on Tuesday introduced a bill that would repeal an ordinance passed by council late last year that permitted but regulated...
Stocks sink, bonds soar on fears virus will stunt economyVideo
Stocks slumped again Tuesday on Wall Street, piling on losses a day after the market’s biggest drop in two years as fears spread that the growing virus outbreak will put the brakes on the global economy. Nervous investors snapped up low-risk U.S. government bonds, sending the yield on the 10-year...
Pittsburgh airport to phase out using boarding passes at security checkpoints
Travelers flying out of Pittsburgh International Airport will soon not have to display a boarding pass to get past security, airport officials said this week. Boarding passes will still be required at the gate to board the plane. Officials with the airport and Transportation Security Administration announced that Pittsburgh is...
Former Uniontown funeral director sentenced to prison for scamming elderly clients
A former Uniontown funeral director who pleaded guilty to stealing from more than 80 elderly clients on Tuesday was sentenced to four to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $555,000 in restitution. Authorities said Stephen E. Kezmarsky III, 52, the former owner and operator of the Kezmarsky Funeral...
West Deer man charged with homicide by vehicle in fatal Hampton wreck
A West Deer man involved in a crash along Route 8 in Hampton in early December has been charged with causing the death of his passenger, Allegheny County Police said Tuesday. Investigators said Carl John Keating, 32, was traveling north at a high rate of speed on Dec. 11 when...
