Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1798
Census targets hard-to-reach populations in Western Pennsylvania
Tucked into the folds of Westmoreland County’s landscape, Shawn Walker and Paul Teeters are two of many who are already choosing to not respond to the 2020 Census. Walker of Coyler Avenue in Jeannette and Teeters of Chestnut Street in Jeannette live in a census tract that has an almost...
Westmoreland Walks hosts spa day for women with breast cancer
Melissa Kelly keeps one thing in mind as she battles her breast cancer diagnosis — her kids. The 47-year-old Derry Township resident was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer for the second time late last year, after enduring a double mastectomy when she was first diagnosed in 2015. “It’s been rough,”...
1 victim taken by ambulance from Bell Township crash
One person was transported by ambulance from the scene of a one-car crash Friday night in Bell Township. Shortly before 11 p.m., emergency crews responded to Route 981 near its intersection with Substation Road for a report of a rollover crash. As midnight approached, Route 981 remained closed between Route...
Suspect driving with small boy crashes in Tarentum after high-speed chase on Route 28
An Arnold man with a young boy riding in the back seat led police on a high-speed chase Friday night that started on the Route 28 expressway and ended when he crashed near the foot of the Tarentum Bridge. The chase ended shortly before 9 p.m. when the suspect crashed...
Man shot dead in Clairton was former high school football great Armani Ford
A 23-year-old man who was a former Clairton High School football star was shot and killed in Clairton on Friday evening, according to Allegheny County officials. Police responded to the backyard of home on the 800 block of Vankirk Street in Clairton just after 6 p.m., where they found a...
Steelers take Toledo WR Diontae Johnson in 3rd roundVideo
Needing a wide receiver to make up for the loss of All-Pro Antonio Brown, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Toledo wide receiver Diontae Johnson on Friday night with their first pick of the third round. The pick was No. 66 overall in the draft. Johnson, a 5-foot-10, 183-pound receiver who doubled...
‘Friendly fire’ painting joins Fort Ligonier’s Washington galleryVideo
Renowned artist and Ligonier native Chas Fagan has painted portraits of all the U.S. presidents, including George Washington. Friday evening, he unveiled a more active impression of Washington — as a 26-year-old Virginia colonel faced with “friendly fire” in a French and Indian War engagement near Fort Ligonier. Fagan presented...
Death sentence upheld in Pennsylvania troopers’ ambush
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court Friday upheld the death sentence and conviction of a sniper who killed a state trooper and wounded another in a nighttime ambush outside their barracks in a heavily wooded area. The state Supreme Court’s decision upholds lower court decisions in the case of Eric Frein,...
Pitt graduate student workers’ union vote ruled inconclusive
Union organizers at the University of Pittsburgh on Friday were dealt their second setback in a little more than week when graduate student workers failed to prevail in a union vote, a preliminary count showed. Organizers tallied 675 yes votes for the union to 712 no votes, but they still...
Police: Peters youth swim coach believed teen had the soul of his dead girlfriend
A Peters swim instructor told police he sent months worth of explicit text messages to a teen because he believed she was “inhabited by the soul” of a dead, former girlfriend, according to charges filed against the man. Township police began investigating Robert Neal Keller, 44, earlier this month after...
Steelers top pick Devin Bush shows interesting fashion flair
We all know what Devin Bush will be wearing come September — black and gold. But we weren’t exactly sure what he was wearing on Thursday for the NFL draft when the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the first round. He’s set to be introduced to the media at 5...
Community grapples with tragic death of Connellsville boy in turnpike crash
Minutes after leaving a Pennsylvania Turnpike maintenance shed Thursday with his young son as part of a take-your-child-to-work day, a Fayette County man drove his truck into the back of a tractor trailer along the toll road in Mt. Pleasant Township. Hayden M. Field, 11, of Connellsville Township died at...
Record 250 herpes cases reported per day near Coachella Festival
Music fans apparently caught more than some great tunes at a California music festival this month. The annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival draws about 250,000 people to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, across two weekends in April. In addition to the impacts that any large event...
IRS says Beaver County owes it $378,000
A hefty tax lien has been filed against a Pennsylvania county after a former payroll supervisor apparently ignored IRS warning letters notifying it of unpaid debt. The IRS filed the lien against Beaver County claiming the government owes it more than $378,000. County officials found several IRS notifications of an...
Judge turns jail into house arrest for 2 in Penn State frat death
BELLEFONTE — A judge is letting two former Penn State fraternity brothers serve sentences on house arrest for convictions related to the death of a pledge. WTAJ-TV said this week that Joshua Kurczewski and Michael Bonatucci had faced minimums of three months and one month in jail, but instead they’re...
Agents: Springdale woman used dentist’s ID to call in fake drug prescriptions
A Springdale woman is accused of using her dentist’s identity to obtain prescription painkillers from a New Kensington pharmacy. Investigators say Nicole Yvonne Resnick, 39, told a narcotics agent with the state Attorney General’s Office she called in most of the prescriptions under other people’s names. She told the agent...
Men’s beards are dirtier than dogs’ fur, study says
Talk about a romantic mood killer. Before you go in close for a kiss with that hirsute dude, you might want to look at a new study out of Zurich, Switzerland, that found men’s beards contain more bacteria than a dog’s fur. The Hirslanden Clinic looked at the “bacterial load...
Kennywood opens to season pass holders this weekendVideo
Let’s ride! Kennywood in West Mifflin begins its 121st year Saturday for season pass holders. The park opens to the public on May 4. Daily operations begin May 23. Guests will have to wait until later this summer for the opening of the park’s newest roller coaster, the Steel Curtain....
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: April 26-28
Here are some suggestions for how to spend the last weekend in April. Art All Night The annual Art all Night is Saturday into Sunday at the 31st Street Studios in Lawrenceville. This event debuted in 1998 with 101 pieces of art and more than 200 all night art lovers....
Uber looks to raise up to $9B in initial public offering
NEW YORK — Uber is planning to sell 180 million shares for between $44 and $50 each, valuing the ride-hailing giant lower than previous estimates in a sign of that some of the excitement around ride-hailing has cooled. That would raise up to $9 billion for the San Francisco-based company,...
Coroner identifies teen killed in Washington County crash
The Washington County Coroner has identified the 15-year-old boy killed in a crash on I-70 Thursday night. Robert Gracey, of Wheeling, W. Va., was a passenger in a vehicle travelling west in North Franklin Township around 11:30 p.m. The vehicle hit a tractor-trailer, lost control and flipped over, according to...
Kevin Gorman: In Devin Bush, Steelers draft for present, not future
The Pittsburgh Steelers went for broke by trading up 10 spots to draft Devin Bush, a pick that has boom-or-bust potential and one they are hoping leads them to another Lombardi Trophy. The Steelers decided that the reward outweighed the risk, as they know there’s no chance for a championship...
10 people at Indiana Twp. group home checked out after fumes fill building
Ten people at an Indiana Township group home for youths were taken for evaluation and released Thursday night after apparently being affected by fumes. Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs said someone called 911 from the Western Pennsylvania Adult and Teen Challenge campus off of Lefever Hill Road reporting that people...
Steelers trade up, draft linebacker Devin Bush at No. 10
Moving up 10 spots in the first round, the Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off the first trade of the NFL Draft on Thursday and picked Michigan linebacker Devin Bush with the No. 10 overall selection. The Steelers, who held the No. 20 pick, swapped first-round slots with the Denver Broncos and...
Judge gives U.S. 6 months to identify children split at border
SAN DIEGO — The federal government has six months to identify potentially thousands of children who were separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border early in President Trump’s term, a judge said Thursday. Trump administration officials said they had a goal of six months but opposed any deadline, saying...
