Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1697
Penn State police K-9 handler placed on leave after report of animal abuse
A Penn State police officer was placed on administrative leave in July after the department received a report of possible animal abuse by one of its K-9 handlers, a university official said Monday. The department immediately referred the report to state police, which is investigating the report, university police public...
Lawyers: Jeannette man accused of 2 arsons, 1 fatal, deserves separate trials
A Jeannette man charged with setting two fires, including one that killed an elderly woman, wants separate trials for the alleged arsons. Brian Rendon, 34, is scheduled for trial next month on two cases — one in which he is charged with setting fire to a couch in front of...
Mike Tomlin ‘devastated’ by death of Steelers WR coach Darryl DrakeVideo
With a heavy heart and speaking at times while his a voice crackled with emotion, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin tried his best Tuesday to articulate what Darryl Drake meant to players, coaches and himself. Drake, the team’s wide receivers coach, died early Sunday morning in the college dorms, leaving...
Netflix series ‘Manhunt’ closes Kittanning Citizens Bridge for filming
The Kittanning Citizens Bridge and parts of South Water Street are closed thorough about 8 p.m. so TV production crews can get less than five minutes of video on the bridge. Traffic is being rerouted to the Graff Bridge, PennDOT said Tuesday. Kittanning police Chief Bruce Matthews said the Netflix...
Our Lady of Grace Parish cancels festival after receiving ‘disturbing’ letter
Our Lady of Grace Parish has canceled its annual festival planned for this week after officials said they received a “disturbing” letter in the mail. The festival and annual fundraiser for the Scott church was scheduled to begin Wednesday and run through Saturday. An office in the Diocese of Pittsburgh...
Get a taste of the inaugural Greensburg Restaurant Week
Local chefs are inviting diners to “be our guest” during the inaugural Greensburg Restaurant Week on Aug. 19-25. Seventeen restaurants and cafés in downtown Greensburg and along Route 30 in Hempfield are following the lead of other U.S. cities — including Pittsburgh — that roll out incentives during August, one...
CNN backs Chris Cuomo after caught-on-video confrontation
NEW YORK — CNN says it completely supports anchor Chris Cuomo after he was seen on video threatening to push a man down some stairs during a confrontation after the man apparently called him “Fredo,” in a seeming reference to the “Godfather” movies. The video appeared Monday on a conservative...
Colombian man gets 33 months in prison in Pine robbery of jewelry salesman
Even the Pittsburgh attorney for a Colombian man sentenced Monday for his part in a 2013 robbery of a traveling salesman of a half million in gemstones and jewelry has questions about the crime. Oscar Javier Rodriguez Roa, 36, of Bogota, Colombia, was sentenced Monday to 33 months in federal...
Man grazed by bullet in Pittsburgh’s Hill District
Pittsburgh police are investigating a shooting late Monday in the city’s Hill District. A man was grazed in the knee with a bullet, according to Cara Cruz, public information officer for the department. Officers responded to a ShotSpotter notification just after 11:15 p.m. in the 600 block of Elmore Street....
A year later: Pennsylvania report on Catholic sex abuse still making an impactVideo
Mark Rozzi was surprised to receive the first one, and then another letter from the Allentown Catholic Diocese. The letters were a reminder that the deadline to apply for the compensation fund for victims of child sexual abuse was fast approaching. The 48-year-old Berks County Democrat, who has served in...
Nearly 600 priests, lay people have been publicly named in Pa. sex abuse scandal
The 2018 grand jury identified 301 priests who had sexually assaulted and abused hundreds of children over the past several decades. As large as that number is, the true scope is much higher. Last year’s grand jury report has been the largest in scale, covering six of the state’s eight...
Questions swirl around Jeffrey Epstein’s monitoring before suicide
NEW YORK — One of Jeffrey Epstein’s guards the night he hanged himself in his federal jail cell wasn’t a regular correctional officer, according to a person familiar with the detention center, which is now under scrutiny for what Attorney General William Barr on Monday called “serious irregularities.” Epstein, 66,...
Driver hurt in truck crash near Clairton Coke Works
At least one person was injured when a truck carrying gasoline crashed over an embankment and stopped near the Clairton Coke Works. Allegheny County dispatch said the incident occurred shortly after 8 p.m. Monday along the 400 block of North State Street. Emergency responders closed off the nearby Walnut Street...
Mark Madden: Raiders finding out Antonio Brown is exactly as advertised
It took time, but Antonio Brown finally did right by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Forget about his statistics. Brown compiled those for himself, not the team. The Steelers never won a Super Bowl with Brown. (Told you so.) But upon departing for Oakland, Brown immediately proved the turmoil that enveloped him...
Trump to spotlight Beaver County cracker plant during Western Pa. visit
President Trump plans to spotlight the ethane cracker plant under construction in Beaver County as a welcome example of economic progress and job creation when he visits Western Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon. Trump will discuss his administration’s efforts to bolster the manufacturing and energy sectors against the backdrop of one...
Gov. Wolf wants answers on 4 kids separated from families
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s governor says at least four children from his state were recently separated from their parents by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and wrote Monday to demand the agency halt the practice until it has a plan to ensure the welfare of children. Gov. Tom Wolf asked Homeland...
Kevin Gorman: Rocky Bleier’s return to Vietnam gives new perspectiveVideo
When Rocky Bleier surveyed the open rice paddy at Hiep Duc in the Que Son Valley last August, the Pittsburgh Steelers great tried to visualize the differences of nearly five decades. “Jesus Christ,” Bleier said, stopping in his tracks. “You think about those guys that got killed.” Bleier sniffled, then...
Loyalhanna man seeks to overturn conviction for killing his mother, sister and aunt
Westmoreland County prosecutors on Monday challenged a judge’s ruling allocating up to $2,500 in taxpayer money for defense lawyers to hire a ballistics expert to help craft an appeal for a death row inmate. Kevin Murphy, 58, of Loyalhanna, is seeking to overturn his conviction to three counts of first-degree...
The Raconteurs plan phone-free concert at Pittsburgh’s Stage AE
The 21st-century concert experience largely means having one’s focus on the stage compromised by the glow from someone’s cellphone, or having a view obscured by people taking photos or making video recordings of their favorite song. That won’t be the case at Stage AE on Tuesday night, however, when Jack...
2 sent to hospitals after Route 28 crash near Tarentum exitVideo
Two women were taken to a hospital Monday afternoon after the car in which they were riding veered off Route 28. Witnesses told police the car flipped several times in the area of mile marker 19, just past the Tarentum exit, according to state police. The driver and her passenger...
Longtime Animal Friends CEO terminated
Animal Friends longtime President and CEO David Swisher has been terminated. According to Animal Friends board Chairwoman Gina Carlos, Swisher has been replaced by Kathleen Beaver, former chief strategy officer. “Upon being made aware of allegations against President and CEO David Swisher involving violations of the organization’s employment policies, Animal...
Sandcastle to add a new water slide: Bombs Away
There will be a new way to cool off at Sandcastle next summer. The West Homestead park announced it will next year debut Bombs Away, described as “a high altitude, looping free-fall body slide.” The park said the slide will take riders up more than six-stories. “Riders will enter the...
Motorcyclist ID’d in fatal Squirrel Hill tunnel crash
A 26-year-old Pittsburgh man was identified as the driver of the motorcycle involved in a fatal crash Friday morning in the eastbound lanes of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel. Aaron Pascal died at the scene of the crash, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office said. Pascal was driving a motorcycle in...
Greensburg police track down three women charged in fatal heroin overdose
Greensburg police Monday afternoon announced they were looking for three women charged with supplying a fatal dose of heroin that killed a city woman May 16. By evening, all three had been arrested — including one more than 600 miles away. Police allege Janae M. Brown, 41, of Scottdale; Britnee...
Cops: Derry Township man drove 110 mph past state police patrol car
A Derry Township man was clocked driving more than 100 mph after passing a state trooper in a marked patrol car early Sunday along rural Route 217, according to police. Mark J. Wherry, 58, was arrested a short time later at his home along Tannery Hollow Road, where troopers tracked...
