Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1705
Police: Driver flees scene of stolen truck crash in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh police are investigating after a stolen truck was found crashed and abandoned Saturday morning, authorities said. The incident happened about 11:45 a.m. on Mountain Avenue near Wagner Street at the border of Mt. Oliver and Carrick, according to Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri. First responders arrived and found a...
Kennywood’s Steel Curtain down for weekend
Kennywood’s new Steel Curtain roller coaster will be closed for the remainder of the weekend, according to the amusement parks’ Facebook page. It’s at least the third time the coaster, which opened July 13, has shut down for maintenance. The coaster closed partway through its opening day, and its reopening...
New Kensington police seek help identifying robbery suspect
New Kensington police are asking for help identifying a suspect in a Friday night robbery. The incident happened at a New Kensington convenience store. The department posted a photo from a security camera to their Facebook page indicating the man shown is a suspect in a strong-arm robbery. Anyone with...
Pittsburgh Diocese: St. Raphael School in Morningside will not reopen
Saint Raphael School in Pittsburgh’s Morningside neighborhood will not reopen for the 2019-2020 school year, officials with the Diocese of Pittsburgh said Saturday. The board of Pittsburgh East Regional Catholic Elementary Schools voted Friday night to recommend the school’s closure for the coming school year, board president the Rev. Kris...
Hundreds come to Lower Burrell for Brian Shaw Memorial Fund eventVideo
Overcast skies in Lower Burrell on Saturday afternoon did nothing to temper the early turnout for the annual fundraiser celebrating the life of slain New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw. The fundraiser — the prelude to a motorcycle ride next weekend — helps raise money for the Brian Shaw Memorial...
Former Greensburg man accused of assaulting jail guards
A former Greensburg man is accused of hitting three Westmoreland County Prison guards in the face and biting their hands during a scuffle last November, authorities said. The suspect, Esteban Ortiz Sosa, 37, whose current address is listed on court documents as the state prison at Camp Hill, allegedly injured...
Annual reenactment of Battle of Bushy Run underway in Penn Township
The Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society on Saturday hosted the first of two days commemorating the 256th anniversary of the Battle of Bushy Run. The battle between the British and the confederation of Native Americans on the Penn Township battlefield took place Aug. 5 to 6, 1763. Activities continue Sunday...
Romanian tourist dies in accident at Yosemite National Park
A Romanian tourist has died in a fall near a waterfall in Yosemite National Park in California. Authorities say 21-year-old Lucian Miu was scrambling on wet rocks below Bridalveil Fall on Wednesday when he fell about 20 feet. He died at a hospital. The Fresno Bee says two other people...
Texas governor: 20 dead in shooting at El Paso shopping complex
EL PASO, Texas — A young gunman opened fire in an El Paso, Texas, shopping area packed with as many as 3,000 people during the busy back-to-school season Saturday, leaving 20 dead and more than two dozen injured. Authorities were investigating the possibility the shooting was a hate crime, working...
Separate shootings overnight in Pittsburgh leave 1 wounded
Pittsburgh police responded to two separate shootings early Saturday morning, including one that left a man in critical condition, authorities said. Officers responded about 1:30 a.m. to a ShotSpotter notification in the Hill District near Perry Street and Wylie Avenue, said Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz. Police found no victim...
Monongahela police officer involved in South Park Township shooting
A Monongahela police officer shot and injured a South Park Township man early Saturday after a car chase that began in Washington County became a physical fight in Allegheny County, authorities said. Allegheny County police are investigating. The incident began about 2:50 a.m. with a traffic stop in Monongahela, according...
Evening storms leave pockets of Allegheny, Westmoreland counties without power
Stormy weather on Friday evening made for a few scattered power outages in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. In Allegheny County, about 100 Duquesne Light customers in Penn Hills’ Shannon Heights neighborhood near Verona, and about 250 customers in both the Monroeville and North Versailles area were without power as of...
Trump to visit Beaver County ethane cracker plant Thursday
President Donald Trump will make his way to Beaver County next week to tour a soon-to-be completed Shell Chemicals ethane cracker plant. A White House official confirmed the president’s scheduled stop at the $6 billion plant near Monaca on Thursday. Trump plans to speak after the tour about his administration’s...
Hyde Park man to stand trial for wife’s 2017 death, her taped accusations played in courtVideo
Among the witnesses who testified Friday against a Hyde Park man accused of killing his wife in 2017 was the victim, herself. Jeffrey Mark Fondrk, 57, was ordered to stand trial Friday for allegedly beating Patricia Ann Fondrk to death in July 2017. Fondrk pleaded not guilty. At his preliminary...
$1M grant boosts Pittsburgh plan to open Downtown movie theater
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust received a much needed $1 million boost from Pennsylvania this week for plans to open a six-screen movie theater on Sixth Street, Downtown. Kevin McMahon, who heads the cultural trust, said it now has about $10 million for the theater project, but still needs another $2...
Police frustrated by wide-ranging juvenile car thefts in Allegheny County
Police across Allegheny County say they are bewildered by a recent rash of thefts by minors who are stealing vehicles, cash and even guns in the middle of the night. The style of thefts are nearly identical in suburban communities from Castle Shannon to Harmar, including cases in Oakmont, Fox...
Work on Harmar hospital expected to start next week
After nearly a year of delays, work to build Allegheny Health Network’s neighborhood hospital in Harmar is expected to begin next week. AHN spokeswoman Candace Herrington said Rycon Construction crews will begin by preparing the site for construction, including installing fencing around it and placing a trailer onsite. The planned...
Paralyzed New Kensington Navy veteran receives van from Virginia charityVideo
Dan Hika, a Navy veteran paralyzed in a swimming pool accident seven years ago, feels free. And he owes it to Frank Lasch and Azalea Charities, which raised enough money to buy Hika and his family a minivan that will allow him to get to and from places without having...
Unity gym regular accused of stealing car, purse after workout
Frequent gym-goer Britnee M. Silvis walked into the Planet Fitness in Unity on July 8, moments after workout regular Ryan Crawford had parked a red 2014 Mazda 6 outside, according to state police. When Silvis left the gym a short time later at 7:06 p.m., the 31-year-old woman, who walks...
Analysis shows Bernie Sanders with most donors and money in U.S., Western Pa.; Joe Biden still leads in polls
Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders — once again making a play for blue-collar workers — has received donations from across the country, including much of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Maps created by The New York Times show Sanders receiving a higher number of donations across Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh region — areas with...
Pittsburgh working on plan to address homelessness, crime in Downtown
Pittsburgh police have been working several months on plans to better address growing problems with homelessness and crime in the Golden Triangle, Chief Scott Schubert said Friday. He said the Zone 2 station, which staffs a substation on Liberty Avenue in Downtown, did an evaluation that included the number of...
Judge David Cashman resigns from Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Cashman resigned from the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board following two heated board meetings this week. Cashman served on the board for about seven years and was serving as its chairman. “I appreciate the accomplishments that we have achieved in reducing the...
Police seek people seen near Belvedere Hotel minutes before fire broke outVideo
State police said Friday they want to talk with two people seen walking near the Belvedere Hotel in Oklahoma Borough shortly before it burned down last month. Security camera footage shared by state police briefly showed the two people walking before they disappeared from view near the hotel. The pair...
Video: Shark sinks teeth into charter captain aboard boat in Outer BanksVideo
A charter boat captain was helping an angler land a blacktip shark on the deck when the fish bit into his leg and wouldn’t let go. Rick Caton’s group was having great luck with Spanish mackerel and bluefish on Tuesday when they headed toward a school of blacktip and sharpnose...
Kunco, freed of rape conviction, pleads guilty to lesser charges; to be released
John Kunco, the Allegheny County man who served more than 28 years in prison for a New Kensington rape he said he didn’t commit, pleaded guilty Friday to reduced charges. Kunco, 54, was immediately paroled and was expected to be released from jail later Friday under terms of the sentence...
