Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1634
After Tree of Life shooting, lawmakers and activists fight for tougher hate-crime lawsVideo
The attack at Tree of Life synagogue hit close to home for state Rep. Dan Frankel. “I grew up in this community,” the 62-year-old Democrat said. “I went to Tree of Life for bar mitzvah.” Frankel’s district includes Squirrel Hill. He lives four blocks from the synagogue that suffered the...
Capital case against Robert Bowers in Tree of Life shooting moves slowlyVideo
Federal prosecutors want Robert Bowers, charged with killing 11 at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill last year, in front of a jury by this time next year, facing the death penalty. But his attorneys contend there would be no need for a trial if prosecutors had just...
5 things to watch in Week 9: Aliquippa, Central Valley battle for conference title
Only one team has defeated Aliquippa in the past two seasons combined: Central Valley in Week 9 last year. That’s one loss in 706 days. It’s also the only loss in Aliquippa coach Mike Warfield’s two-year tenure. “You don’t have to remind me,” Warfield said, laughing. The Beaver County rivals...
82-year-old woman killed in Homestead house fire
A woman died in a house fire in Homestead. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the woman as Avis Brock, 82, of Homestead. Allegheny County dispatchers said the blaze occurred shortly after 8:10 p.m. Thursday along the 200 block of East 14th Avenue. Her cause and manner of death...
Center for Lyme launches to lobby Congress for more research, treatment options
A new nonprofit launched this week will focus on lobbying Congress to expand funding for the development of new drugs and diagnostic tools for battling Lyme disease. The Center for Lyme Action launched on Tuesday in addition to hosting a congressional forum with lawmakers from Minnesota, New Jersey and California,...
AP source: Department of Justice review of Russia probe now a criminal inquiry
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has shifted its review of the Russia probe to a criminal investigation, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday, a move that is likely to raise concerns that President Donald Trump and his allies may be using the powers of the government to go...
Pittsburgh police: Man arrested for Jimmy John’s robbery is innocent
Pittsburgh police said Thursday they arrested a Braddock man and charged him with a robbery that he didn’t commit. All charges will be dropped against Aaron Massengill, 40, whom police suspected was responsible for robbing the Jimmy John’s sandwich shop in the 3400 block of Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Oakland...
3 from South Hills face charges tied to 92 injured dogs found on Washington County farm
Three people from the South Hills have been charged with felony animal cruelty charges in connection to 92 emaciated and injured dogs found on a Washington County farm during a law enforcement raid last year. Lucy Ann Binakonsky, Emily David Binakonsky and Charlotte L. Binakonsky are accused of being responsible...
Quick action by employees helps save Derry Township millwork buildingVideo
Quick action on the part of Appalachian Millwork employees and their neighbors at the A.J. Myers bus garage likely saved the custom millwork building early Thursday evening, officials say. Fire crews were called to the building, on Menasha Lane in Derry Township, just after 4:30 p.m., according to Westmoreland County...
New Highlands acting principal is a key figure in lawsuits against district
The newly appointed acting principal at Highlands Early Childhood Center is a key figure in two lawsuits against the Highlands School District. District Superintendent Monique Mawhinney appointed Cathy Russo as acting principal in the wake of the resignation of Principal Heather Bigney. In a federal lawsuit filed Monday, the day...
Kevin Gorman: Bob Nutting must own up to Pirates’ problems, which start at the top
Bob Nutting heard the calls for a housecleaning and heeded the warnings Pittsburgh Pirates fans wouldn’t stand for the status quo. The Pirates chairman started firing away, like he was skeet shooting at Seven Springs. But he got a bit backward. Before the Pirates played their season finale, they fired...
State police: Man serving life for murdering children killed cellmate in Indiana Co. prison
A 43-year-old inmate from Philadelphia already serving two life terms for murdering two toddlers was charged Wednesday with the New Year’s Day killing of his cellmate at SCI Pine Grove in Indiana County. Dwight Darnell Bowen, now incarcerated at SCI Houtzdale, was charged by state police with homicide in the...
Daily Download: Rethinking robots, Dirty Dozen and Penguins’ woesVideo
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 Maddy Lee discusses the pausing of testing food delivery by robots, the Dirty Dozen bike ride and the Penguins’ struggles....
Pennsylvania won’t give driver’s license records to Census
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s transportation secretary is telling the U.S. Census Bureau that her agency won’t provide driver’s license records as part of a Trump administration effort to gather citizenship information. Secretary Leslie Richards wrote Thursday to a Census Bureau official, saying her department won’t participate in the project. More than...
3 Pittsburgh officers wounded in Tree of Life shooting thank public for support
Three Pittsburgh police officers shot while responding to the attack on a Squirrel Hill synagogue nearly a year ago continue to heal and remain grateful for their city’s support. They have not spoken publicly as the one-year mark of the shooting approaches, but they released written statements Thursday. Zone 4...
Philadelphia tops list of cities for bedbugs, Pittsburgh makes list
The City of Brotherly Love beat out the Steel City on a list no one wanted to top. Philadelphia came in at No.1 on Terminix’s ranking of the top 50 most bedbug-infested cities in the country. Further down the list, Pittsburgh landed at No. 16, while Harrisburg came in at...
Police: Driver under the influence of cocaine in Salem crash that killed 1, injured 2
State police accuse a former New Alexandria man of being under the influence of cocaine during a fatal crash in Salem over the summer. Brian Keith Clemons, 42, of Normantown, W.Va., was arrested Wednesday in connection with the Aug. 10 crash on Route 22. He is charged with homicide by...
14 arrested during protests of President Trump’s visit to PittsburghVideo
A series of planned protests in defense of the environment and in opposition to President Donald Trump took place across Pittsburgh’s Downtown all day Wednesday as Trump spoke at an energy industry conference held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The rallies and marches remained peaceful even as Trump...
Bomb threat closes Fox Chapel Area High School
Fox Chapel Area High School is closed today for a bomb threat, despite a search of the building that turned up clear. School officials late last night were notified on the state-mandated Safe2Say Something tip line about a threat to the high school, Bonnie Berzonski, district coordinator of communications, said....
North Allegheny redistricting will send hundreds to different schools
North Allegheny School District on Wednesday night approved a redistricting plan that will send hundreds of students to different buildings next year. The move was spurred by soaring growth and classroom overcrowding, officials said on the district website. About 495 students will be affected. The district this year has just...
Tree of Life shooting has shaken Squirrel Hill, but residents insist the community will prevailVideo
Squirrel Hill, for many who grew up in Pittsburgh’s East End, conjures memories of movies at the Manor Theater and Friday night pizza in a neighborhood where diversity and acceptance have always been the norm. Those memories remain strong even after Oct. 27, 2018, when a heavily armed man tried...
Anti-Semitic action, rhetoric are pervading American public life, experts sayVideo
Bari Weiss was in Arizona when she heard about an anti-Semitic attack in her beloved Squirrel Hill. The details were sketchy at first, but it soon became apparent that a shooter had killed 11 people in the Tree of Life synagogue where she had celebrated her bat mitzvah 21 years...
Ukrainian leader felt Trump pressure before taking officeVideo
KYIV, Ukraine — More than two months before the phone call that launched the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s newly elected leader was already worried about pressure from the U.S. president to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden. Volodymyr Zelenskiy gathered a small group of advisers on May...
Braddock man accused of robbing Pittsburgh sandwich shop
Editor’s note: All charges were dropped against Aaron Massengill on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2019. Read what police had to say about learning that he did not commit this crime. A Braddock man was arrested for allegedly robbing the Jimmy John’s shop near the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland. Pittsburgh...
Trump touts jobs, industry at Marcellus shale conference in PittsburghVideo
Hours after President Donald Trump announced at the White House that Turkey has agreed to a cease fire in Syria, he boarded Air Force One with seven Pennsylvania Republican House members and shifted into campaign mode as the plane headed toward a Marcellus shale conference in Downtown Pittsburgh. “Nobody does...
