Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1832
Hogan: Trump challenge now ‘doesn’t make any sense at all’
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — While Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan isn’t completely ruling out a potential primary challenge to President Donald Trump, he said Thursday that currently “it doesn’t make any sense at all.” Hogan spoke to reporters Thursday with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Hogan friend who is in...
East Hills man who robbed 3 banks of $32K gets 8 years in prison; must repay $4K
A Pittsburgh man who robbed three banks of more than $32,000 during a two-month crime spree has been sentenced to eight years in prison, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Derek Hanner, 30, of the city’s East Hills also must pay $4,000 in restitution, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said. As part...
North Side Democrat drops primary campaign for Pittsburgh City Council
A Democrat running for a North Side Pittsburgh City Council seat abruptly ended his campaign Thursday, saying another candidate successfully challenged him for failing to file a required statement of financial interest with the city. Chris Rosselot, 38, of Troy Hill vowed to run as an independent in the November...
Legal experts weigh in on Rosfeld’s decision to testify
Legal experts called Michael Rosfeld’s decision to testify in his defense a risky strategy that likely will become the focal point of his homicide trial. “It really becomes a critical moment in the trial,” said Bruce Antkowiak, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at Saint Vincent College. “When the...
Rocco Monteleone, Penn Township boy who lost battle with leukemia, laid to rest
A Penn Township boy was laid to rest Thursday after losing his battle with acute Myeloid leukemia. Rocco Joseph Monteleone, 2, the son of Brandon and Michelle Monteleone, died Sunday. He had been diagnosed with leukemia Dec. 30. A Penn Township police command truck helped lead the funeral escort from...
Ligonier man accused in burglary jailed on $50K bond
A 32-year-old man who previously served time for a burglary conviction was back in the Westmoreland County Prison Thursday, accused of breaking into a Ligonier Township home. Joshua J. Miller, of the village of Waterford, was arraigned before District Judge Denise Thiel on charges of burglary, criminal trespass, receiving stolen...
$38 million of cocaine seized at Philadelphia port
PHILADELPHIA — U.S. customs officials say drug dogs have sniffed out Philadelphia’s largest seizure of cocaine in more than two decades inside a shipping container. Local, state and federal law enforcement officials said Thursday that 450 bricks of cocaine were found inside 13 duffel bags. Customs and Border Protection’s Area...
Pitt monkey experiment signals hope for preserving fertility in boys with cancer
The birth of a healthy baby monkey in an Oregon lab signals hope for childhood cancer survivors who want biological children, University of Pittsburgh researchers said in a paper set for publication Friday. The monkey’s name is Grady, and she weighed 1 pound, 0.6 ounces when born last April at...
PA Turnpike Commission ‘on the path to bankruptcy,’ auditor general says
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is headed down the “road to ruin,” state officials warn. Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton stood stony-faced Thursday next to Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, said the cross-state toll road is “on the path to bankruptcy” absent legislative action. It’s not corruption or mismanagement, but rather Act 44...
Mother of crash victim testifies at suspect’s sentencing hearing: ‘I don’t want to be me’
Shannon Lakenan-Rowland can remember her mother holding her younger brother Joshua Jordan when he was a baby. On Thursday, Lisa Lakenan carried an urn containing his remains into a Westmoreland County courtroom. She placed it on the wooden ledge of the witness stand. “I would never wish anybody to be...
Candy Crush vs. Mortal Kombat for Video Game Hall of Fame
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The World Video Game Hall of Fame fielded thousands of nominations for the Class of 2019 from more than 100 countries, hall officials said Thursday after narrowing the field to 12. “Will ‘Centipede’ devour the competition? Can ‘Mortal Kombat’ fight its way to victory? Will ‘Microsoft Windows...
$625M jackpot at stake in Saturday’s Powerball
DES MOINES, Iowa — Lottery officials say the Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $625 million. The jackpot on Saturday would be the seventh-largest in U.S. history, with an estimated lump sum payout of $380.6 million before taxes. The odds of winning are extremely long, at 1 in 292.2...
Phil Collins ‘Still Not Dead’ tour adds Pittsburgh stop
A limited run of Phil Collins Still Not Dead Yet, Live! dates have been confirmed for fall 2019. An Oct. 2 Pittsburgh show in PPG Paints Arena is among the 15 added stops on the tour. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. March 30 at livenation.com. Citi cardmembers can register...
National Guard called in after Texas petrochemicals facility fire
HOUSTON — National Guard troops have been called in and residents were told to stay inside after elevated levels of benzene were detected early Thursday near a Houston-area petrochemicals storage facility that caught fire this week. Harris County officials said the Guard and hazardous materials teams have established perimeters around...
Sheetz to hire more than 1K employees in Pennsylvania
If you go to Sheetz so much you feel like you should work there, now’s your chance. The Altoona-based convenience store chain announced Thursday it is planning to hire more than 2,500 employees, including more than 1,100 in Pennsylvania. Open interviews for the full- and part-time positions will be held...
Trump’s invective at John McCain dismays some Republicans
WASHINGTON — Casting aside rare censure from Republican lawmakers, President Donald Trump aimed new blasts of invective at the late John McCain , even claiming credit for the senator’s moving Washington funeral and complaining he was never properly thanked. By the time the president began his anti-McCain tirade in Ohio...
Cops: East Hills shooting suspect ‘sick of being bullied’
A Pittsburgh man told investigators he was “sick of being bullied” by the man he allegedly shot in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, police said. A 4-year-old child was in the backseat of Marlon McMillan’s Jeep when McMillan fired out his driver’s side window on Wilner Drive shortly after...
Anti-vaxxers attacked Western Pa. pediatricians. Study shows how they fought back.
When Dr. Todd Wolynn published a YouTube video on his Kids Plus Pediatrics Facebook page touting the HPV vaccine as a cancer prevention tool, he had no idea he was opening the floodgates to a world of anti-vaccine internet warriors. Wolynn, a pediatrician and the CEO of the practice with...
Police nab Butler County homicide suspect in Venango County
Police on Thursday arrested a man accused of shooting to death a 23-year-old man in Butler County earlier this week. Alec D. Miller, 19, of Oakland Township is charged with homicide in the death of Maximillian W. Halterman in Oakland Township. After hours of searching for the suspect, officials found...
New Zealand bans sales of assault weapons
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an immediate ban Thursday on semi-automatic and automatic weapons like the ones used in the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch that killed 50 worshippers. The man charged in the attack had purchased his weapons legally using a standard firearms license...
Arnold Palmer airport eyes 2 millionth passenger, gets extra South Carolina flights
Westmoreland County officials are celebrating the arrival of the 2 millionth Spirit Airlines passenger at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, expected this month. The low-cost carrier has provided the only commercial flight service at the Unity airport since 2011. As of Feb. 28, the number of incoming and outbound passengers since...
Smallest and farthest worlds ever explored by NASA are really weird
HOUSTON — In recent months, NASA has explored the smallest object ever orbited and the most distant body ever encountered — and found that both worlds are weirder than anyone could have imagined. The 800-foot-wide asteroid Bennu, which is being studied by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, produces strange plumes of dust...
Witnesses: Rosfeld was crying, shaking, panicking, distraught after shooting Rose
Michael Rosfeld was crying and shaking in the moments after he fired three shots into 17-year-old Antwon Rose II last June in a grassy East Pittsburgh lot, witnesses testified Wednesday. Residents who saw the shooting and police officers who responded to the scene told the jury that Rosfeld questioned why...
Pa. mother describes role in daughter’s murder, dismemberment
PHILADELPHIA — In a calm, emotionless voice, Sara Packer described watching her boyfriend murder her 14-year-old daughter, Grace, in 2016. She admitted to participating in the crime — the kidnapping, rape, killing, dismemberment and disposal of an adopted child she said she thought of as “a nonentity.” Packer said she...
Legal opinions vary on significance of testimony about Rosfeld’s emotions
It’s unclear whether the prosecution or defense will benefit from Wednesday’s testimony about the emotional state of former East Pittsburgh police Officer Michael Rosfeld after he shot Antwon Rose II, based on analysis from two legal experts. East Pittsburgh resident John Leach, a witness called by prosecutors, testified Wednesday that...
