Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1588
Parents of premature baby killed in Warren County crash
A GoFundMe campaign has raised almost $14,000 to help the four children of a couple killed in a car crash in Warren County. Stephen Charles Rothrauff, 39, and his fiancee, Jessica Lee Camp, 32, of Mead Township, had four children, including a premature baby born just five days before they...
Buttigieg-Warren clash on campaign trail spills into debate
LOS ANGELES — The long-festering feud between Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg erupted Thursday night in a high-stakes debate that tested the strength of the Democratic Party’s shrinking pool of presidential contenders just six weeks before primary voting begins. Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has emerged as...
Key takeaways from Democratic presidential debate in L.A.
LOS ANGELES — Democratic presidential candidates offered two very different debates during their final forum of 2019. In the first half, they spent much of their time making the case for their electability in a contest with President Donald Trump. The second half was filled with friction over money in...
CNN’s feed of Democratic debate goes dark in China when candidates mention human rightsVideo
The live feed on CNN of the Democratic presidential debate went black on Thursday in Beijing when the candidates veered into the discussion of China’s human rights abuses. Former vice president Joe Biden criticized China over its mass detention in Xinjiang for Uighurs, a Muslim minority in the country. “We...
Plum School District’s Make-A-Wish telethon hopes to top $1 million
A Plum School District fundraising effort has a chance to hit the $1 million mark on Monday. Students and staff have raised funds for Make-A-Wish since 1999 with each year’s efforts culminating with a telethon at the high school. This year, activities took place October through December and included car...
Penn Hills police, firefighters free deer stuck in railingVideo
Firefighters and police freed a deer stuck in a railing outside a Penn Hills home last month. Resident David Sullivan pulled into the driveway of his Golden Gate Drive home about 2:30 p.m. Dec. 19 when he saw two deer on his property, according to his brother-in-law, James Pastirak. “One...
Evangelical magazine Christianity Today: Trump must go; Trump blasts back
NEW YORK — A major evangelical Christian magazine founded by the late Rev. Billy Graham on Thursday published an editorial calling for President Donald Trump’s removal from office. The editorial in Christianity Today — coming one day after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives made Trump the third president in American...
West Mifflin man guilty of storing 404 pounds of marijuana in Squirrel Hill ‘stash house’
A West Mifflin man accused of using an apartment in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood to store hundreds of pounds of illegal marijuana pleaded guilty to federal drug charges, prosecutors said Thursday. Wayne Barker, 61, had operated what officials called a large-scale “stash house” as part of a drug trafficking ring...
Traffic snarled by 3-vehicle crash on Route 30 near Hempfield Plaza
One lane of traffic on Route 30 near Hempfield Plaza was blocked Thursday afternoon as emergency crews responded to a three-vehicle crash. A Westmoreland County emergency dispatcher said at least one person suffered minor injuries. The dispatcher said eastbound traffic was reduced to one lane as a result of the...
Police: Braddock home raid turns up 450 stamp bags of heroin, fentanyl
Allegheny County Police said they arrested a Braddock man Thursday after raiding his home and finding a gun and drugs. James Wise, 28, was charged with illegal gun possession, possession with intent to deliver heroin and fentanyl, receiving stolen property and three counts of possession of controlled substances. Police said...
New Castle man accused of selling crack cocaine in Butler faces new charges
A New Castle man has been accused of scheming to sell large amounts crack cocaine to addicts in Western Pennsylvania, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Zaamar Stevenson, 43, who goes by the nickname “Scrap,” faces new charges from a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh related to possessing and selling more than...
After impeachment, House bestows big trade victory on TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — One day after its historic impeachment votes, the Democratic-led House gave President Donald Trump an overwhelming bipartisan victory Thursday on a renegotiated trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. By a 385-41 vote, the House approved a bill that puts in place terms of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The...
White secretary at Pittsburgh Public Schools sues district, alleging racial discrimination
A secretary employed by Pittsburgh Public Schools is suing the district in federal court contending she’s been discriminated against for the last 12 years because she’s white. Kristen Frankovich says she’s been discriminated against because of her race in every position she’s held since 2007, when she started with the...
Westmoreland County’s 2020 budget brings 1st tax increase in 15 yearsVideo
Westmoreland County officials said a 2.4% property tax increase approved Thursday is needed to balance the 2020 budget, a spending plan that will nearly drain a surplus fund and relies on a $10 million loan to pay the bills at the start of next year. Commissioners Gina Cerilli and Charles...
SUV crashes into Primanti’s in North Versailles
One person was injured when an SUV crashed into a Primanti Bros. restaurant Thursday in North Versailles. The incident happened just before 12:30 p.m. at the restaurant on East Pittsburgh-McKeesport Boulevard, according to an Allegheny County emergency dispatcher. No one inside the business was injured, officials said, but the driver...
Westmoreland deputies: Arrest of 2 fugitives led to 2 other fugitives
A search this week for two fugitives led Westmoreland County Sheriff’s deputies to the Greensburg home of a drug rehabilitation counselor, where they said they found what they were looking for — and more, including two other fugitives hiding elsewhere with a cache of drugs, weapons and money. Around 8:30...
Sheetz opens latest store on Route 8 in ShalerVideo
If there’s such a thing as a Sheetz desert, the stretch of Route 8 in Shaler fit the bill — until Dec. 19. The Altoona-based convenience store operator held a grand opening for its latest store, giving the chain a total of 600 in operation. Owner Travis Sheetz, on hand...
Driver fired after leaving 7-year-old Leechburg student on bus
A W.L. Roenigk driver has been fired for leaving a 7-year-old Leechburg Area student on a minibus, company president Sue Roenigk said Thursday. The boy was mistakenly driven to the bus company’s Allegheny Township garage and office on Greenwood Road, about 5 miles from David Leech Elementary School where the...
Man paralyzed in fight at Downtown McDonald’s sues restaurant
A man left paralyzed after a Nov. 4 assault outside the McDonald’s restaurant on Wood Street in Downtown Pittsburgh is suing the company and the franchise operator of the location for negligence. The suit was filed Wednesday in Allegheny County court by a Pittsburgh law firm on behalf of Mark...
2 dead, 2 others shot at Rhode Island housing complex
WESTERLY, R.I. — A shooting at a Rhode Island affordable housing complex for elderly and disabled residents left two people dead and two others injured Thursday morning, police said. Westerly Police Chief Shawn Lacey said a 66-year-old gunman killed a 47-year-old woman at the Babcock Village apartment complex and injured...
Senate passes anti-robocalls bill, sending it to Trump
The Senate on Thursday passed a bill that cracks down on robocalls, a persistent and costly problem for Americans, and is sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature. The bill is one of several measures that federal and state government and the telecom industry are taking to protect...
2 rescued after Hempfield communication tower toppled, officials say
Two men were rescued from a wooded area in Hempfield on Thursday after a telecommunications tower fell over while they were building it, said Jamie Shaw, township director of code and safety. It took about 90 minutes for firefighters and medics to get the pair through a mile of wooded...
PPG Paints Arena ranks 11th in U.S. ticket sales for 2019
Bringing big name performers to its stage has helped PPG Paints Arena rank 11th in the United States and 21st in the world in ticket sales for concerts and other live touring events in 2019, according to figures released by Pollstar. “That’s probably the highest that we’ve been,” says Gary...
Western Pennsylvania lawmaker wants hunting licenses revoked for animal cruelty
A state lawmaker from Western Pennsylvania wants to give the Pennsylvania Game Commission the power to revoke or deny a hunting license to someone convicted of cruelty to animals. The proposed legislation was prompted by the investigation of two teenagers from Jefferson County’s Brookville area who appeared to torture an...
Police: Mt. Lebanon man took $153K from former Shadyside employer
A Mt. Lebanon man is accused by Allegheny County detectives of taking $153,800 over seven years from a Shadyside financial planning and advising firm where he used to work, according to court papers. Norman Bress, 85, was arrested Wednesday on charges of theft, receiving stolen property and forgery. Investigators said...
