Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1623
Pennsylvania tax revenues for 1st quarter at 6.1% above pre-recession peak
At least we’re not Ohio. A new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts that looks at state tax revenues at the end of the first quarter of 2019 found they were up 13 percent across the nation since their pre-recession peak in 2008. “The results mean that states collectively had...
Pro athletes, players’ unions seek to halt Pittsburgh ‘jock tax’
Two professional hockey players, a former baseball player and players unions are challenging Pittsburgh’s so-named “jock tax” and seeking a court injunction that would prevent the city from collecting it. The plaintiffs are former Penguin Scott Wilson, now in the Buffalo Sabres’ minor league system, Kyle Palmieri, a right winger...
Western Pa. salt trucks ready for ice, slick roads as temps dropVideo
There’s isn’t much snow predicted for the Pittsburgh region over the next week, but the chance that temperatures will dip into the upper teens next week has kicked preparations for dealing with any accumulation or ice into high gear. The weather forecast for tonight through Friday afternoon calls for a...
Donald Trump Jr. spars with ‘The View’ hosts, from blackface to rape
Tempers were short, the volume was loud and the crosstalk relentless when Donald Trump Jr. and girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle appeared on Thursday’s episode of ABC’s “The View.” Dubbed “The Political View,” the marathon argument session devolved from the political topics at hand into the president’s son accusing cohosts Joy Behar...
Daily Download: Feels like winter, Wilson’s Bar-B-Q and Pitt men’s basketballVideo
Each day, TribLIVE reporters and editors will break down the biggest news of the day, with video highlights of the people and places making headlines. Today, reporter Paul Guggenheimer discusses the frigid temperatures that will result in snow in some places, the future of Wilson’s Bar-B-Q in the North Side...
Art provides comfort a year after Tree of Life shooting
A painting being passed around Pittsburgh’s Jewish community is providing comfort to victims’ families and those involved with their burials a year after the Tree of Life shooting. The painter, Rabbi Me’irah Iliinsky of San Francisco, said she painted “The Tree of Life Is Weeping” shortly after learning about the...
Juul halts sales of mint, its top-selling e-cigarette flavor
WASHINGTON — Juul Labs says it will halt sales of its best-selling mint-flavored electronic cigarettes. The company said in a statement Thursday the move is in response to new research. The studies released this week showed that mint was the most popular vaping flavor among many high school students who...
Former Gateway Packaging controller pleads guilty to stealing nearly $200K
A former employee at Gateway Packaging, a stock product and packaging company in Murrysville, Westmoreland County, pleaded guilty this week in federal court to stealing nearly $200,000 from the company and falsifying financial statements to cover it up, prosecutors said. Victoria Mazur, 52, of Plum, pleaded guilty to one count...
Bullet casings found at Brian Shaw shooting came from .40-caliber gun, detective testifies
Slain New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw died primarily from blood loss caused by two gunshot wounds, a forensic pathologist testified Thursday, the fourth day of the trial of his accused killer, Rahmael Holt. Shaw was hit by three bullets the night of Nov. 17, 2017, after he tried to...
Derry Township man charged in butcher knife attack
State police say a Derry Township woman barricaded herself in a bathroom after a man swung a butcher knife at her during an argument Wednesday. Donald E. Gunter, 39, was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, terroristic threats, simple assault, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness by state police after the...
WPXI meteorologist Kevin Benson charged with driving under the influence
A Pittsburgh-area weather forecaster faces misdemeanor driving under the influence charges in Washington County, according to court records. WPXI-TV meteorologist Kevin Benson was charged with three counts of driving under the influence and four moving violations after a 911 caller reported an erratic driver on Interstate 79 near the Interstate...
Starbucks rolls out reusable red holiday cups
If red (white and green) cups are back at Starbucks, can Christmas be far behind? The coffee giant on Thursday premiered its holiday designs “created to evoke mini moments of joy for customers and partners. It’s fun, festive and uniquely Starbucks,” said Jen Quotson, vice president of Starbucks Creative. Customers...
Leechburg Road reopened after morning crash
A pickup truck was bent into a V on Thursday morning in a crash on Leechburg Road in Allegheny Township. The crash happened at about 8:45 a.m. Thursday when a driver ahead of the pickup was making a left turn into Sevic Landscaping along the 4000 block of Leechburg Road,...
Franco Harris’ son to transform bomb squad truck into wine bar for tailgates
This new bar could be, as they say, the bomb. Franco “Dok” Harris, son of Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer Franco Harris, purchased a former police bomb squad truck through the Pittsburgh International Airport auction last month. His goal is to turn it into a portable wine bar, but just...
Over 2 million pounds of chicken recalled in 7 states, including Pa.
More than two million pounds of chicken in seven states was recalled because it might have been contaminated by metal, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service. None of the affected chicken was sold in stores. It was sold directly to institutions like schools, jails...
Cops: Pittsburgh officer shoots gunman in Crafton Heights
A Crafton Heights man fired at least 10 shots at two Pittsburgh police officers before one of the cops returned fire, critically wounding him after a domestic dispute Wednesday night at the man’s home, police said. Issa Abdus-Salaam, 31, of Crucible Street, is in critical condition at a Pittsburgh hospital,...
Greensburg Salem School Board discusses borrowing up to $13 million
The Greensburg Salem School Board could vote next week to borrow up to $13 million for renovations needed across the district. Under certain circumstances, the 10-year bond could lead to a 2-mill tax hike. It’s not a plan that the whole board agrees with — especially when a new school...
Pittsburgh health care analyst takes 2nd place in ‘Jeopardy!’ episode, showdown not over yet
Pittsburgh-based contestant Lindsey Shultz hasn’t been knocked out of the showdown for this year’s “Jeopardy!” superstar yet. Shultz, a Connellsville native who works as a physician and health care analyst, clinched second place in Wednesday night’s episode, which marked Day 3 of the popular game show’s “Tournament of Champions!” She...
Allegheny Health Network taps longtime UPMC surgeon to help guide $300M investment in cancer care
Highmark’s Allegheny Health Network has tapped a longtime UPMC cancer surgeon to help guide its $300 million-plus investment into cancer care across Western Pennsylvania. Dr. David L. Bartlett, an internationally renowned cancer surgeon affiliated with UPMC since 2001, has accepted the position as chair of the AHN Cancer Institute, AHN...
1 killed, 2 wounded in shooting at San Diego restaurantVideo
SAN DIEGO — Police searched for a gunman who shot three employees — killing one — at a fast food restaurant in San Diego on Wednesday. The shooting happened around 5:30 p.m. at a Church’s Chicken in the Otay Mesa area, officials said. The suspected gunman had been in the...
Mon Valley residents, environmental groups call for stricter pollution controlsVideo
Allegheny County environmental activists and Mon Valley residents are calling on the Allegheny County Health Department to institute stricter hydrogen sulfide pollution and coke oven gas controls, particularly related to emissions from facilities like U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works in Clairton. Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, is a colorless gas that...
Ex-Station Square club owner who laundered heroin money gets more prison time
A former Station Square nightclub owner convicted of plotting to sell cocaine while already on probation for masterminding a multi-state heroin ring will spend another year and four months behind bars, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Vernon Jackson, 50, a former music producer who has ties to Dormont, Robinson and Pittsburgh’s...
Democrats sweep through suburban Philadelphia counties
HARRISBURG — Democrats completed an electoral sweep of Philadelphia’s four suburban counties in Pennsylvania, long a bastion of Republican control and a critical bellwether for statewide candidates. Democrats won control in Delaware and Chester counties in the election Tuesday for the first time going back to the Civil War and...
Police seek help finding girl, 17, charged in robbery-related death of Pittsburgh man
Police are seeking the public’s help to find a 17-year-old Brighton Heights girl wanted in connection to the robbery-related death of a Pittsburgh man, officials said Wednesday. Shayla Johnson — who also has ties to McKeesport and Duquesne — is a suspect in the homicide case of Julian Carpenter. Carpenter,...
Police: 2nd employee charged in fight outside Pittsburgh McDonald’s
A second McDonald’s employee involved in a fight at the Downtown Pittsburgh fast food restaurant that left a man paralyzed was charged with assault Wednesday. Kaniya Martin, 18, of Pittsburgh, faces a single count of misdemeanor simple assault in connection to the Monday night fight, according to court records. She...
