Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1757
Police: Butler County woman hid on roof to escape man with rifle
A Butler County woman hid on a roof Wednesday night after being threatened by a man holding a rifle, according to state police. The incident happened shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday on Hidden Hill Road in Clinton Township, state police said. According to state police, Robert Wargo, 65, threatened a...
Podcast part 4: Going one-on-one with Mike Ditka
What is Mike Ditka’s favorite thing to do when he returns to the Pittsburgh area? What is his favorite type of cigar? Gus Frerotte and Dave Hager go one-on-one with the former Pitt All-American and Pro Football Hall of Famer in the final segment of this week’s “Huddle Up with...
Philly stray cat population almost at half a millionVideo
It’s cat-a-strophic issue for some Philadelphia residents. The City of Brotherly Love’s feral cat population has almost reached the 500,000 mark and many locals aren’t happy about it, according to Fox News. Frustrated residents are fed up with having to clean up cat feces and vomit on their property. The...
Western Pennsylvanians look back on D-Day 75 years later
Editor’s note: Thursday marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day. This story details the roles played by three Western Pennsylvania men in the largest seaborne invasion in history, one that would begin the Allied campaign to liberate Europe and help turn the tide of World War II. Warren Goss will never...
Vehicle fire closed part of I-70 Wednesday
A vehicle fire along Interstate 70 shut down eastbound lanes in a portion of the interstate Wednesday evening, PennDOT officials said. All eastbound lanes between the Belle Vernon/Monessen exit and the Donora/Fayette City were closed around 10 p.m., officials said. State police confirmed the road was reopened around 11:15 p.m....
Pittsburgh lawsuit details allegations of church negligence in vetting Nigerian priest accused of rape
Kathy Coll still has trouble processing how the Catholic Church responded two years ago when she reported she had been raped in 2016 by a Nigerian priest who was studying at Duquesne University and assisting in her North Hills parish. Coll, a retired high school English teacher and Eucharistic minister...
Cops: Women vanished with Le’Veon Bell’s jewelry worth $500KVideo
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Authorities say two female acquaintances vanished with more than half a million dollars in jewelry from star running back Le’Veon Bell’s Florida home. Hollywood police said Bell returned from the gym May 25 and found the women gone and his jewelry missing. The police report obtained by...
Century III Mall boarded up; only JCPenney remains
The once-vibrant Century III Mall is now boarded up, with the exception of JCPenney, the only store now open on the 90-acre property. West Mifflin officials had closed the mall in February, deeming the property “unsafe and uninhabitable” due to a broken water and fire suppression system. Las Vegas-based Moonbeam...
Benefit concert to honor New Kensington Officer Brian Shaw
A dozen bands will play Friday and Saturday for the Back the Blue benefit concert honoring fallen New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw at the Quality Inn ballroom in New Kensington. Tickets are $10 at door, which opens at 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The first band plays at 6...
Feds to go public with formerly secret lists of troubled nursing homes
Federal regulators said Wednesday they plan to go public with lists of troubled nursing homes in the future, days after Pennsylvania lawmakers unveiled a secret list of 400 such facilities. Kate Goodrich, the chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, said on a call...
Pirates announcer Steve Blass criticized for comments about Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr.
Broadcaster Steve Blass came under fire Wednesday for on-air comments he made during Tuesday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves. In the fourth inning, Pirates pitcher Steven Brault hit Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. in the elbow with a 2-2 pitch. Blass made note of Acuna’s animated...
Frazer woman sentenced to at least 6 years in prison for killing husband
A Frazer woman was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for fatally shooting her husband after a drunken argument involving money, sex and a burned tuna casserole more than two years ago. Teresa M. Drum, 40, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the death of her husband,...
Mystery object found in Outer Banks briefly stumps experts
Some strange stuff ends up on the beach in the Outer Banks. This thing had the experts scratching their heads. The staff at Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina took to Facebook for help identifying an unusual item that a visitor found on the shore. The cluster of bony...
Pittsburgh man accused of threatening ex, killing her boyfriend
Matthew Lambert spent months harassing, stalking and threatening his ex-girlfriend, telling her it would be her fault when he killed her new boyfriend, police said. He allegedly installed a tracking device on her car. A day later, her boyfriend Tre Valorie was dead. A criminal complaint filed Wednesday against Lambert...
Legal experts question deputy’s arrest over Parkland tragedy
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The arrest of a Florida sheriff’s deputy for not confronting the gunman in the Parkland school massacre represents a highly unusual use of the law — and a legally dubious one, in the opinion of some experts. Scot Peterson, 56, appeared in court Wednesday on 11...
Trump administration plans to expand hunting, fishing in wildlife refuges
OAK HARBOR, Ohio — The Trump administration is announcing what it calls a major expansion of hunting and fishing in the nation’s protected wildlife refuges. U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said Wednesday the plan affects 1.4 million acres of federal public lands, including 74 national wildlife refuges. “President Trump is...
Ohio boy, 9, raises $80K to buy bulletproof vests for police dogs
A 9-year-old boy got the idea to buy protective vests for police K-9s while watching TV. Brady Snakovsky of Strongsville, Ohio, has raised $80,000 in 17 months via GoFundMe to protect police dogs in his community. “He noticed a dog on television who wasn’t wearing a vest and he wanted...
Readers respond: Dodgeball is not bullying
A story about researchers questioning whether dodgeball is an appropiate game for schoolchildren drew hundreds of responses on social media with most of them decrying the research and saying to leave dodgeball alone. While the Canadian researchers said that dodgeball is not an appropriate game because it often has players...
North Huntingdon drug bust nets suspect in Monroeville Mall shooting
A McKeesport man allegedly involved in April’s fight and shooting at Monroeville Mall was arrested in the Walmart parking lot in North Huntingdon Tuesday after state police say they found him with 15 bricks of heroin in his possession. Brandon K. Murphy, 24, has remained at large since mid-May when...
Americans think fake news is big problem, blame politicians
NEW YORK — Half of U.S. adults consider fake news a major problem, and they mostly blame politicians and activists for it, according to a new survey. A majority also believe journalists have the responsibility for fixing it. Differences in political affiliation are a major factor in how people think...
Powerball winner used numbers from fortune cookieVideo
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina man who says he based his Powerball entry on a fortune cookie he got from his granddaughter now has a fortune to celebrate. WRAL in Raleigh reports retired retailer Charles W. Jackson Jr. stepped forward at North Carolina Education Lottery headquarters on Tuesday to...
UPMC to drop prepay rule for seniors; prepay still to affect younger patients, Hillman Cancer Center
UPMC said Wednesday it will drop a controversial prepay rule aimed at Highmark-insured Medicare Advantage patients when the competing health giants split insurance networks. The decision means that more than 100,000 senior citizens and people with disabilities enrolled in Highmark’s Freedom Blue and Security Blue Medicare Advantage plans will not...
Man convicted in fatal North Versailles Thanksgiving crash gets up to 140 years in prison
Kaylie Meininger wasn’t really Taylor Price’s big sister, but that’s what she called her friend anyway. She called Meininger’s fiancé, David Bianco, her brother-in-law and referred to the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Annika, as her niece. Price said she last spoke to the young family via video chat the morning of...
Shaler teacher writes letter to Tooth Fairy after student loses tooth at school
First-grade teacher Laura Roth went above and beyond to make sure a Shaler Area School District student got a visit from the Tooth Fairy. Roth, a teacher at Burchfield Primary School, wrote a letter to the Tooth Fairy on Tuesday verifying that a student lost her tooth at school and...
Cops: Somerset County teen threatened to shoot student on social media
A Somerset County boy was cited to juvenile court for making terroristic threats and disorderly conduct by state police after posting on social media last month that he planned to shoot another student in the Rockwood Area School District. Trooper John Wogan of the Somerset station reported that the threat...
