Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1659
5 things to do in Westmoreland this weekend: Sept. 27-29Video
It looks to be a fabulous fall weekend, and early leaf peeping, long hikes in the cooler temperatures and grilling dinner or assembling s’mores around the bonfire might be in order. And, of course, if it’s autumn in Westmoreland County, festivals and outdoor markets are getting ready for their last...
Elizabeth Bridge closed indefinitely after crack discovered; detour announced
The Elizabeth Bridge spanning the Monongahela River was closed Thursday night and will be closed indefinitely, according to PennDOT. The bridge, on Route 51 between Elizabeth and West Elizabeth, was slated to be shut down at about 10 p.m. Thursday. PennDOT said the bridge was being closed because of a...
Tim Benz: Former WPIAL athlete at the center of the ‘Sexy Mister Rogers’ costume controversy
Is it a beautiful day in your neighborhood? If Dessie Mitcheson is in your neighborhood right now, the answer is most assuredly “yes.” View this post on Instagram @shoptobi A post shared by Dessie Mitcheson (@dessiemitcheson) on Jul 30, 2019 at 10:33am PDT Told ya. However, the former Kiski Area...
Parents of 7-week-old boy charged with child abuse
Warrants have been issued for the parents of a 7-week-old boy, who West Mifflin Police say fled after a hospital examination showed he had injuries consistent with child abuse. State police identified the baby as Ambrose Klingensmith and said he may be at special risk of harm or injury. They...
5 things to watch in Week 5 of high school football
Central Valley traveled 13 miles to play its first conference road game this season and only nine miles for its second, matchups with Beaver County rivals Blackhawk and Beaver Falls. This week, they’re road Warriors. A 70-mile drive each way awaits Central Valley on Friday night. The Warriors have reserved...
3rd man charged with drug counts in Mac Miller’s death
LOS ANGELES — A third man has been arrested and charged with drug offenses in connection with rapper Mac Miller’s overdose death last year. Court documents show Stephen Walter is suspected of selling counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl that Miller possessed before he died last September of an accidental...
Ex-French President Chirac embraced European unity, opposed U.S. invasion of Iraq
PARIS — Jacques Chirac, a two-term French president who was the first leader to acknowledge France’s role in the Holocaust and who defiantly opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, died Thursday at 86. President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute in a nationally televised speech to a predecessor he said...
Son of Lower Burrell judge sentenced to 6 to 23 months in jail for part in drug ring
The son of a Lower Burrell district judge and a nephew of Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck will serve up to 23 months in jail for what prosecutors said was his role in a million-dollar marijuana distribution ring. Stephen Yakopec III, 29, of Lower Burrell told a Westmoreland County...
Pittsburgh Public Schools investigating ‘inappropriate’ first-grade homework
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials on Thursday denounced part of a reading homework assignment distributed to first-graders that centered on children running away from a police officer, saying it was not an acceptable part of district curriculum. “Tom will run. He will run from the cop,” the assignment says. “Tom will...
Jeannette residents: Hemp-drying warehouse stinks
A new hemp-drying facility delivered jobs to Jeannette, but neighbors are unhappy with the odor that emanates from a large warehouse on Thomas Avenue. City officials said Patriot Shield Security failed to get an occupancy permit prior to opening a few weeks ago. Solicitor Tim Witt said Thursday that the...
2 people escape fire at Greensburg homeVideo
The cause of a fire that ripped through a Greensburg home Thursday afternoon is under investigation. Responding to 307 Seminary Ave. shortly after 4 p.m., firefighters found the fire started in a second-floor bathroom, said Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department Chief Thomas Bell. According to Bell, two people were sitting in...
Standoff ends in Jeannette, man in custody
One person was taken into custody Thursday after a brief standoff when Jeannette police and agents from the state Attorney General’s Office attempted to serve an arrest warrant, police said. Investigators shut down a block of Gaskill Avenue after the suspect hid in an apartment of a quadplex in the...
U.S. deploys air defense systems, troops to Saudi Arabia
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is sending one Patriot missile battery and four ground-based radar systems to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said Thursday, in what officials describe as the first steps to help the kingdom protect itself against Iranian attacks. Two more Patriot batteries and a THAAD missile defense system will...
California man pleads not guilty to South Side overdoses
A California man pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court to charges he distributed a deadly fentanyl mixture that killed three men in Pittsburgh’s South Side over the weekend. Peter Rene Sanchez Montalvo, 25, of Coachella appeared in court briefly, where he entered his plea of not guilty and waived...
Report: Pa. natural gas royalty payments on the rise
Natural gas royalties paid to Pennsylvania landowners rose significantly in tax year 2017 due to increased production and higher prices, the state Independent Fiscal Office said in a recent report. The report said $1.06 billion in royalty payments were made in 2017 — a 64% increase from tax year 2016....
Race not a factor in Pittsburgh gas station dispute, lawyer for 2 charged saysVideo
The race and gender of the people involved in a Sept. 20 fight at an Exxon station in Marshall-Shadeland is not a factor in the case, the attorney for two of the three men charged in it said Thursday. “My clients are not racists,” attorney David A. Shrager said. “They...
Police: Vandergrift man admits stealing $4K in guns, jewelry, cash from Frazer home
Police say a Vandergrift man told them he broke into a Frazer home on Wednesday and stole $4,000 worth of cash, jewelry and guns to “help a friend get money.” When officers found Kevin Paul Pierce, 29, he was in his truck looking through the jewelry he had taken, Frazer...
Video shows historic mansion being moved by bargeVideo
An old home needed a new place to stay, so a family decided to moved it by land and sea. On Wednesday, a historic mansion that’s spent 250 years on the same plot in Easton, Md., was loaded onto a barge and motored up Chesapeake Bay about 50 miles to...
‘Gross’ lanternflies causing big bug problem for someVideo
KUTZTOWN, Pa. — In the Great Spotted Lanternfly War, Pennsylvania’s citizen-soldiers are fighting back with fly swatters and vacuums, dish soap and sticky tape. They’re stomping and spraying and zapping and bragging about their kills on social media. “DESTROY THEM,” a propaganda poster urges. “Die, die, die, spotted lanternfly,” a...
‘OK’ hand gesture, ‘Bowlcut’ added to hate symbols databaseVideo
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The “OK” hand gesture, a mass killer’s bowl-style haircut and an anthropomorphic moon wearing sunglasses are among 36 new entries in a Jewish civil rights group’s online database of hate symbols used by white supremacists and other far-right extremists. The Anti-Defamation League has added the symbols...
Whistleblower: White House tried to ‘lock down’ details of Ukraine call
WASHINGTON — A secret whistleblower complaint at the center of an impeachment inquiry alleges that President Donald Trump abused the power of his office to “solicit interference from a foreign country” in next year’s U.S. election. The White House then tried to “lock down” the information to cover it up,...
Street closures, bus detours planned during Pittsburgh’s Great Race
Streets in Pittsburgh’s Downtown, Uptown, Oakland and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods will close Saturday and Sunday and Port Authority of Allegheny County bus routes will be detoured during the 42nd running of the annual Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race, officials said. Street closures on Saturday during the Dollar...
Desserts sold by Allderdice student being tested for pot
An Allderdice High School student is suspected of selling Rice Krispies Treats laced with marijuana, a district spokeswoman confirmed Thursday. Pittsburgh Public Schools spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said two students were involved in the alleged incident, but only one is suspected of selling the potentially tainted treats. The desserts were were...
Pittsburgh mother sentenced to 5-10 years in daughter’s OD death
A Pittsburgh woman was sentenced Wednesday to five to 10 years in a state prison for her toddler’s 2018 death from a fentanyl overdose. Jhenea Pratt, 24, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment during a June trial. Pratt has been jailed since her August 2018 arrest. Prosecutors said...
Overturned vehicle on Route 28 snarls morning commute
A vehicle overturned on southbound Route 28 in Tarentum early Thursday, hampering the morning commute. The crash was reported about 5:20 a.m. at the Exit 14 on-ramp from Route 366 to southbound Route 28, PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said. The vehicle ended up on its side. There were no immediate...
