Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1694
5 things to do in Westmoreland this weekend: Aug. 16-18
TGIF! Summer may be winding down quicker than we’d like, but time marches on. Get out and savor every minute. There is plenty of fun to be found in Westmoreland. Still swingin` Neon Swing X-perience brings its joyful sound end of summer celebration Saturday. Nick Barilla opens the show at...
Somalis transform vacant Pittsburgh lot into their own farm
Abdulkadir Chirambo smiles easily, especially when he’s talking about the vacant city lots the United Somali Bantu of Greater Pittsburgh have converted to a huge farm-like garden. As president and spokesman of the organization, he gets serious when asked what brought him from Kenya to Pittsburgh. “Peace, education and changing...
Police identify victim in Hill District apartment shooting
A 21-year-old man was killed in a shooting Thursday at a Hill District apartment complex. Terrance Jerome Jones Jr. died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, according to an Allegheny County coroner’s report. Pittsburgh police responded to the 2500 block of Chauncey Drive in Bedford Dwellings...
Police: Somerset couple faked pregnancy, birth and death of newborn baby
A Somerset couple is facing charges after they allegedly faked a pregnancy and then the death of a newborn baby and collected almost $600 in donations for funeral costs and gifts , state police said. Geoffrey and Kaycee Lang, of Somerset Township, also allegedly hosted a baby shower to receive...
Elizabeth Forward officials: Bus provider breached contract; student transportation in jeopardy
Officials with the Elizabeth Forward School District have filed an injunction against Pennsylvania Coach Lines after, the district claims, the bus company breached their contract and are jeopardizing the transportation for thousands of students when school starts next week. The district said in a press release that it filed a...
Police raid Lincoln-Lemington home, seize stolen guns, 4.5 pounds of cocaine, other drugs
Police arrested three Pittsburgh residents Thursday after finding stolen guns, nearly 4.5 pounds of cocaine as well as methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana and drug packaging materials inside a home in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood, officials said. Three of the eight guns recovered from the residence turned up stolen, public safety officials said....
Officials: Casino opening in Hempfield to have Pittsburgh name — and that’s OK
Westmoreland County’s mini casino, slated to open next year, will be known as “Live! Casino Pittsburgh.” Located in Westmoreland Mall, about 38 miles or about an hour’s drive from downtown Pittsburgh, the casino that is being built in a former department store in Hempfield won’t have any local identification in...
Dale Earnhardt Jr., family ‘safe’ from fiery plane crash in TennesseeVideo
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is safe and in a hospital for evaluation after his plane crashed in east Tennessee, the NASCAR television analyst and retired driver’s sister tweeted. Earnhardt’s sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, tweeted that the driver’s wife, Amy, and 15-month-old daughter, Isla, also were on the plane along with two...
Former Steeler Jerome Bettis launches partnership with FanDuelVideo
Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back and NFL Hall of Fame member Jerome Bettis kicked off a partnership with the sportsbook FanDuel Thursday, celebrating the launch of legal online sports betting in Pennsylvania. “There was a big push when fantasy football came in. I think sports betting is the next evolutionary...
New Kensington school builds patio for relocated Ten Commandments monumentVideo
It’s been almost two years since a Ten Commandments monument removed from Valley High School under a federal court agreement was relocated to Mary Queen of Apostles School in New Kensington. Soon, the monument’s new home will be complete. Work started this week on a patio surrounding the 6-foot-tall monument...
Virgin Galactic reveals futuristic outpost for space tourism
UPHAM, N.M. — Spaceport America is no longer just a shiny shell of hope that space tourism would one day launch from this remote spot in the New Mexico desert. The once-empty hangar that anchors the taxpayer-financed launch and landing facility has been transformed into a custom-tailored headquarters where Virgin...
Gov’t wants a new 911-like number just for suicide hotline
NEW YORK — With suicides on the rise , the U.S. government wants to make the national crisis hotline easier to reach. Once implemented, people will just need to dial 988 to seek help. Currently, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline uses a 10-digit number, 800-273-TALK (8255). Callers are routed to...
Service planned for Tree of Life shooting anniversary
The Pittsburgh Jewish community is planning a day of service, study and remembrance on Oct. 27, a year after a Pittsburgh synagogue became the site of the country’s deadliest anti-Semitic attack. The 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue killed 11 worshippers across three congregations that held services in...
$3 million scratch-off marks 3rd big Westmoreland winner in a week
For the third time in a week, a Pennsylvania Lottery player in Westmoreland County struck it big — like $3 million big. The lottery announced Thursday that Colonial Manor Sunoco at 12970 Route 30 in Irwin sold a grand prize-winning $3,000,000 Diamond Dazzler scratch-off ticket this week. An employee at...
Family, pets displaced by Monroeville house fire
A Monroeville family and a number of animals have been displaced following a house fire on Vanderbilt Drive on Aug. 15. Debbie Bolette said she has lived in the home at 719 Vanderbilt for 25 years. She said three of her four dogs survived the fire and were being cared...
Scientists confirm July was hottest month record
BERLIN — July was the hottest month measured on Earth since records began in 1880, the latest in a long line of peaks that scientists say backs up predictions for man-made climate change. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday that July was 1.71 degrees warmer than the...
Pennsylvania car registration stickers could make a comeback
A Pennsylvania state legislator wants to revive the vehicle registration sticker two years after it was discarded as a cost-saving measure. A bill before the House Transportation Committee would not only bring back the tiny sticker but tie it to state vehicle inspections, as well, according to the legislation proposed...
Pittsburgh youth football player who died felt ill before practice, mom says
The mother of a Carrick teen who died after collapsing at youth football practice Wednesday night said her son had wanted to skip the practice because he wasn’t feeling well. “He really wanted to relax and stay home,” Laken Duckett-Coates, 28, said Thursday while surrounded by family and friends on...
Police: Woman evicted from Cook Township home left behind 2 dogs, 9 birds
A Unity woman is accused of animal cruelty for allegedly leaving behind two dogs and nine birds after she was evicted from a Cook Township home in June. Charges were filed Wednesday against Patricia Canton, 51, by a humane police officer from North Huntingdon rescue group All But Furgotten. Canton...
Father of man charged with killing New Kensington cop sues prison over medical care
The father of the man accused of killing a New Kensington police officer is suing four Westmoreland County Prison officials, claiming they denied him needed medical care while he was incarcerated. Gregory Baucum Jr., in the lawsuit filed this week without the assistance of a lawyer, contends he was repeatedly...
Allegheny Cemetery marks 175 years in Lawrenceville
Roger Galbraith has worked at Allegheny Cemetery for nearly 50 years, and he plans to stay for eternity. “Section 13, Lot 79: That’s where I’ll be buried,” he said, pointing to a green hillside dotted with tombstones. The 66-year-old grew up in Lawrenceville, just a few blocks away from the...
Water advisory lifted in 2 Pittsburgh neighborhoods
A water advisory issued earlier this week for two Pittsburgh neighborhoods has been lifted. People in Lincoln-Lemington and Homewood North no longer have to boil water before using it. Still, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority advised running water from the tap for at least a minute before drinking or...
Philadelphia gunman identified after hourslong standoff
PHILADELPHIA — An hourslong standoff where a gunman shot at police, wounding six of them, as he was barricaded inside a Philadelphia home somehow ended with no fatalities. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, who spent hours Wednesday negotiating with the gunman through the phone, said the situation that unfolded “could...
Pa. court ruling opens possible path for old church sex-abuse claims
A year to the day after a statewide grand jury report disclosed seven decades of sexual abuse allegations against 301 Catholic priests, the Pennsylvania Superior Court Wednesday cleared what may be a path for some old claims to go to a jury. An order issued Wednesday by the court upheld...
Police: 2 fleeing Washington Township traffic stop hurt in chase
Two people were hospitalized early Thursday after the vehicle in which they were traveling rolled over during a police pursuit in Washington Township, according to investigators. Township police tried to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation on Hancock Avenue just south of Oklahoma Borough at 1:16 a.m., according to...
