Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1540
Business as usual for local councils as Boy Scouts of America files for bankruptcy
Local Boy Scouts councils said their activities will continue as usual, despite the bankruptcy filing of their 110-year-old parent organization, the Boy Scouts of America. Each council is its own entity, financially and legally separate from the national organization. Leaders of the Laurel Highlands Council, which includes the Pittsburgh area...
Witness: Pittsburgh man played on park swings after North Side killing
An East Allegheny man accused of fatally shooting another man in Pittsburgh’s Spring Hill-City View neighborhood played on swings at a North Side park after the 2017 killing, a witness told police. Justin Parrotte, 31, is facing homicide and gun charges for the death of John Miller in a nonjury...
Pittsburgh students receive high marks for City Hall performanceVideo
Mike Nichols, a volunteer for Pittsburgh Public Schools, has escorted kids through the corridors of Pittsburgh City Hall for more than 20 years to give them a sense of how local government operates. On Tuesday, Nichols brought in a violin ensemble from Westwood elementary into council chambers for a short...
Pittsburgh poised to pay city firefighter $70,000 to settle discrimination suit
Pittsburgh would pay a city firefighter $70,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2016 by restricting his duties after he suffered a head injury while responding to a fire call. City Council introduced a resolution Tuesday that would authorize a settlement of...
Police: Bugs ‘crawling on the walls’ at South Huntingdon home with 2 kids
A South Huntingdon woman who was ordered not to have contact with a baby is accused of having the child at her home last month, according to state police. Elizabeth Ann Hart, 22, is charged with child endangerment and harassment. Troopers investigating a 911 hang up call Jan. 8 on...
Pa. Superior Court hears appeal arguments in corruption case against former Westmoreland sheriff
The lawyer for former Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held argued Tuesday that not enough evidence exists to warrant the continued prosecution of the now-private citizen on public corruption offenses. Held, 45, of Hempfield is awaiting a second trial for allegations he directed on-duty staffers to participate in reelection campaign activities...
Trump commutes former Illinois Gov. Blagojevich’s sentenceVideo
CHICAGO — President Donald Trump has gone on a clemency blitz, commuting the 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and pardoning former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik. Trump also says he has granted clemency to financier Michael Milken, who pleaded guilty for violating U.S. securities laws. Kerik served...
Gordmans grand opening in East Huntingdon draws curious shoppersVideo
Several dozen shoppers braved a wet, windy morning Tuesday to be among the first to shop at the new Gordmans, formerly Peebles, department store in East Huntingdon. Officials from the township and from Mt. Pleasant borough joined employees as they officially opened the location in Countryside Plaza. Grand openings of...
Penguins to award $100K to renovate one of 3 Western Pa. ice rinks
The Penguins are staging a contest in which a local ice rink will be selected to receive $100,000 for renovations. Online voting will determine the winner. Bradys Run Park Ice Arena in Beaver Falls, the Belmont Sports Complex in Kittanning and S&T Arena in Indiana are the finalists. The team...
Trump pardons Edward DeBartolo Jr., son of ex-Penguins owner
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former San Francisco 49ers owner convicted in a gambling fraud scandal who built one of the most successful NFL teams in the game’s history. DeBartolo Jr., who owned the San Francisco 49ers during their 1980s-1990s dynasty, was involved...
Man sentenced to life in prison in beating death of refugee Pittsburgh cab driver
One of four men accused of beating a Somali refugee cab driver to death nearly three years ago in Pittsburgh was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison by an Allegheny County judge. Daniel Russell, 23, was convicted of second-degree murder in November for his role in the 2017 death of...
Coming soon: More pet camping sites at Pennsylvania state parks
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will allow pets at more state park campsites in 2021. Dogs, cats and caged animals such as birds and hamsters will be permitted in the parks. Livestock such as horses, cows, pigs, sheep, and goats are not considered pets. Pet camping started...
Police: Indiana County man killed by own tow truck during repossession in McKeesport
A tow truck driver from Indiana County making a repossession was killed early Tuesday in McKeesport when the tow truck he was operating rolled back over him, Allegheny County police said. Andrew Sester, 42, of Lucerne Mines in Center Township, was pronounced dead at 4:54 a.m., according to the Allegheny...
Hempfield man accused of hitting Irwin bar patron with his truck
Police accused a Hempfield man of hitting another man with his pickup truck during a fight outside an Irwin bar last month, according to court papers. Adam Charles Walters, 26, was arrested on charges of aggravated assault by vehicle, reckless endangerment and related offenses. He is free on a recognizance...
Pittsburgh rap artist Harvey ‘Frzy’ Daniels aims for greatnessVideo
Harvey “Frzy” Daniels did not plan to become a rapper. When he was a kid, he wasn’t even allowed to listen to rap music. Will Smith was the exception. One day in 2003, during his senior year at the since-shuttered Career Connections Charter High School in Lawrenceville, he was unknowingly...
535Media unveils AI startup MeSearch, with focus on reader-tailored experience
A Pittsburgh artificial intelligence startup built on decades of search technology launched Monday with an aim to change the way news is published, delivered and consumed online. MeSearch, founded as a joint venture with 535Media, will start the first tests of its technology with Trib Total Media to provide neighborhood...
Boy Scouts file for bankruptcy over sex-abuse lawsuits
Barraged by hundreds of sex-abuse lawsuits, the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday in hopes of working out a potentially mammoth victim compensation plan that will allow the hallowed, 110-year-old organization to carry on. The Chapter 11 filing in federal bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware, sets in...
Westbound lanes of Pa. Turnpike reopen between Beaver Valley, New Castle
Part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike was closed Tuesday morning due to an overturned tractor-trailer. The westbound lanes were closed for almost three hours between the Beaver Valley and New Castle exits. The lanes reopened shortly before 10 a.m. No injuries were reported. BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: No Reported Injuries and No...
12-year-old boy reported missing found Tuesday, police say
A 12-year-old boy reported missing was found Tuesday afternoon, according to Pittsburgh police. Taesean Gibson was last seen at Martin Luther King School shortly after 3 p.m. Monday. Police did not believe Gibson was abducted or is in danger, noting that he frequents Carnegie Library on Federal Street in the...
2 men charged in connection with September murder of Monroeville woman
Two men face homicide and other charges in connection with the September murder of a Monroeville woman in McKeesport, according to criminal complaints filed Monday. Allegheny County Police charged Ramonta Yancey, 26, of Pittsburgh, and Daron Parks, 26, of Washington, with criminal homicide, robbery of a motor vehicle, conspiracy, tampering...
Pirates legend Bill Mazeroski’s house in Hempfield goes on auction block
The Westmoreland County home of Pittsburgh Pirates legend Bill Mazeroski and his wife will go to the highest bidder, with the sale coming less than three months after memorabilia from his Hall of Fame career and other household items attracted hundreds of people to a New Year’s Day auction. Bids...
John Bolton warns of possible ‘censorship’ of his White House memoirVideo
WASHINGTON — Former national security adviser John Bolton raised alarm the Trump administration could block his memoir that describes his interaction with the president over Ukraine. “I hope it’s not suppressed,” Bolton said Monday at a speech at Duke University in Durham, N.C. “This is an effort to write history,...
Body of missing kayaker formerly from Armstrong County recovered in West Virginia
The body of kayaker Jamie Lynn Gray was recovered Monday afternoon from a West Virginia river where she went missing on Feb. 9, authorities said. Gray, 41, went missing while kayaking with nine other people on a remote section of Middle Fork River in Barbour County, according to the West...
Wilkinsburg mayor rebukes Allegheny County police, prosecutors for ‘reckless handling’ of mass shooting case
Wilkinsburg Mayor Marita Garrett on Monday posted to Facebook a scathing rebuke of Allegheny County police and prosecutors, calling on law enforcement officials to “recognize their egregious missteps” and “reckless handling” of the investigation into the murders of five adults and an unborn child killed during a 2016 ambush of...
Washington Township scraps planning commission, hires administrator
Washington Township officials are dissolving the township’s planning commission in favor of a planning administrator. The township supervisors last week approved an agreement with the Municipal Authority of Washington Township that effectively takes that action. Supervisors Chairman Rich Gardner said the authority must still approve the agreement under which both...
