Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1723
First riders give Kennywood’s Steel Curtain rave review
Julie Walsh can tell her grandchildren she rode Kennywood’s new Steel Curtain roller coaster with her husband Saturday morning in the front seat on the first trip open to the public. Her hands were still shaking 10 minutes later. “I held his hand going up that hill,” she said of...
Pittsburgh athletes trying to find ways to avoid social media messes
On many summer nights, 25 ticking time bombs can be located on the ground floor of PNC Park. In the fall, 53 incendiary devices can be found Sundays at Heinz Field. In the winter, there often are 23 potential explosives on the premises at PPG Paints Arena. In the era...
Weakened Barry rolls into Louisiana, drenches Gulf Coast
NEW ORLEANS — Barry rolled into the Louisiana coast Saturday, flooding highways, forcing people to scramble to rooftops and dumping heavy rain that officials had feared could test the levees and pumps that were bolstered after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. After briefly becoming a Category 1 hurricane,...
Barry strengthens to hurricane; storm surge feared
NEW ORLEANS — Carrying “off the chart” amounts of moisture, sprawling Barry strengthened into a hurricane Saturday as it crawled slowly toward shore, knocking out power on the Gulf Coast and dumping heavy rains that could last for days in a test of flood-prevention efforts implemented after Hurricane Katrina devastated...
Motorcycle driver dies in early-morning crash in Pittsburgh
A Pittsburgh man was killed early Saturday when the motorcycle he was riding crashed in Lawrenceville, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Jason Hainesworth, 33. A spokesman for the Pittsburgh Public Safety Department said the accident occurred at Butler Street and...
Shelter in place lifted 2nd time for chemical fire in Beaver County
Firefighters and a hazardous materials team remained at the scene of a fire and chemical release in Rochester Saturday afternoon, but officials said it was safe for residents of the immediate area to leave their homes. Authorities issued two “shelter in place” orders advising residents to stay in their homes...
5 things to know before you ride Kennywood’s Steel Curtain
Kennywood’s Steel Curtain opens to the public Saturday, but a lucky few got a sneak peek at the park’s newest coaster the day before. The ride climbs 220 feet before speeding through nine inversions and hitting speeds around 75 mph all in about two minutes. Kennywood claims it is the...
Greensburg group holds protest against planned ICE raids on illegal immigrantsVideo
As she stood at a candlelight vigil in Greensburg on Friday to protest the treatment of immigrants in detention centers along the Mexican border, Sister Colette Hanlon recalled seeing federal agents dropping off busloads of exhausted parents and young children at the pastoral center in El Paso, Texas, where the...
Pirates’ Francisco Cervelli says he hopes ‘to catch again’
Francisco Cervelli, who hasn’t played since May 25 after suffering a sixth concussion, posted on Instagram on Friday that his catching career is not over. “Saying that I quit from my catcher responsibilities is inaccurate,” he wrote. “My hope is to catch again.” View this post on Instagram “Saying that...
2020 hopefuls using Pittsburgh as early campaign backdrop
From old steel mills to sleek technology parks, the Pittsburgh region likely has the backdrop presidential candidates are looking for as they pitch their platforms to the nation’s voters, according to political strategists. Western Pennsylvania’s large populations of veterans, seniors, union workers and students could give aspiring presidential candidates an...
Husband of woman who embezzled $13 million from North Side firm found guilty of lying to IRS
A federal jury in Pittsburgh found a Clearfield County man guilty of lying to the Internal Revenue Service about his income while he and his wife blew millions of embezzled dollars on luxury boats, cars, designer handbags, vacations and gambling, federal prosecutors said Friday. Gary E. Mills, who resides in...
Special counsel Mueller’s testimony delayed until July 24
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony to Congress has been delayed until July 24 under an agreement that gives lawmakers more time to question him. Mueller had been scheduled to testify July 17 about the findings of his Russia investigation. But lawmakers in both parties complained that the short...
Trump says immigration arrests to begin Sunday
WASHINGTON — The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said efforts to deport families with orders to leave the country will continue after an upcoming national sweep that President Trump said would start Sunday. Matthew Albence, the agency’s acting director, said targets were on an “accelerated docket” of immigration court...
Tropical Storm Barry starts lashing Louisiana
NEW ORLEANS — Homeowners sandbagged their doors and tourists trying to get out of town jammed the airport Friday as Tropical Storm Barry began rolling in, threatening an epic drenching that could test how well New Orleans has strengthened its flood protections in the 14 years since Hurricane Katrina. With...
Multiple crashes slow Route 28 northbound traffic in Etna; 1 motorcyclist injured
At least one person was injured Friday when a motorcycle and a truck crashed along Route 28 in Etna — among multiple incidents slowing traffic in the highway’s northbound lanes during the afternoon rush-hour commute, initial reports indicate. State police shut down the Exit 4/Etna off-ramp around 6:45 p.m. as...
French connections abound in Southwestern PennsylvaniaVideo
On Sunday, when France celebrates its day of independence, Bastille Day, it’s a good time to acknowledge the strong influence that country and its people have had on Westmoreland, Allegheny and surrounding counties — beginning before the United States existed. A number of Southwestern Pennsylvania communities have names that reflect...
Watch: Take a ride on Kennywood’s Steel Curtain roller coaster
Can’t wait to ride Kennywood’s Steel Curtain roller coaster? Strap in and take a ride with this video provided Friday by the amusement park. The Steel Curtain takes riders 220 feet above the Monongahela River and then drops them through nine inversions and speeds reaching about 75 mph. The view...
Memories of 2016 flood haunt Baton Rouge ahead of Barry
BATON ROUGE, La. — Memories of an epic flood that caused billions of dollars in damage had Louisiana’s capital on edge Friday as Barry gained strength in the Gulf of Mexico more than 150 miles away. Storms that dumped more than 20 inches of rain across southeastern Louisiana three years...
Ross issues emergency declaration to fix sink hole near apartment complex
Ross officials signed an emergency declaration Friday morning authorizing the township to repair a large sink hole at the entrance to an apartment complex that opened when heavy storms hit the region the day before. The sink hole on McKnight Circle, which leads from McKnight Road into the Waldorf Park...
Indiana Township’s Ice Cream World serves its last scoopVideo
Five days after Ice Cream World opened in Indiana Township, the Flood of 1986 cascaded down Harts Run Road and water climbed to the window where thousands of hand-dipped cones have since been served. “We had an employee standing on the roof,” said Joel DeBaldo, owner of the old-school ice...
Lower Burrell man unsure what to do about backyard sinkhole
Jim Davis is used to having a hole filled with water in the backyard of his Lower Burrell home. That’s his swimming pool. On Friday, he was trying to figure out what to do about another, unwelcome one — a sinkhole. Davis, 71, said he noticed an indentation in his...
Western Pa. residents grow weary of rain, flood cleanups
Thursday’s torrential rains may have been the final straw for Janet Seman. After six floods since moving to her North Huntingdon Township home in 2004, Seman doesn’t know if she can clean mud out of her basement one more time. “I have sump pumps, I have what I’m supposed to...
Surge of ‘sea lice’ are stinging swimmers at Virginia BeachVideo
Swimmers are getting a stinging surprise when they hit the surf at Virginia Beach. Lifeguards this week are seeing an increase in reports of people being stung by sea lice at the Oceanfront district, reports WTKR-TV News 3. “Sea lice” is the common name for these thimble jellyfish larvae and...
Pregnant woman, son die after car swept away in Berks County flooding
BOYERTOWN — A series of storms socked the Northeast with heavy rains and strong winds, causing the deaths of a boy and his pregnant mother whose car was swept away by floodwaters while she was on the phone with emergency officials. The rain started falling Thursday and continued through early...
Purl jam: Finland hosts heavy metal knitting championship
JOENSUU, Finland — Armed with needles and a yarn of wool, teams of avid knitters danced Thursday to the deafening sounds of drums beating and guitars slashing at the first-ever Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship in eastern Finland. With stage names such as Woolfumes, Bunny Bandit and 9” Needles, the...
