Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 422
Kiski Township residents balk at merging police force with Southern Armstrong
Some Kiski Township residents are questioning the potential benefits of the township’s police force becoming part of the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department. At a community meeting this week, Southern Armstrong police Chief Chris Fabec told a crowd of about 50 people that Kiski Township would cut its police costs...
Pennsylvania moves to join states that punish stalkers who use Bluetooth tracking devices
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania took a step Tuesday toward becoming the latest state to punish someone for using a Bluetooth-connected device to track someone without their permission. The state House of Representatives voted 199-1 to approve legislation that would make using a tracking device to secretly track another person part of...
North Huntington police say Duquesne man tried to sell 970 stamp bags of heroin/fentanyl
A 30-year-old Duquesne man is accused of having 970 stamp bags of suspected heroin and fentanyl that he allegedly intended to sell in North Huntingdon, township police said. However, the buyer was an undercover police officer, authorities said. The suspect, Larnell D. “Rock” Jones III, of Seward Street, was arrested...
Plum volunteer firefighters begin training sessions at former borough building
Plum’s volunteer firefighters began using the borough’s former municipal building for training Tuesday night. Firefighters from the Holiday Park, Logans Ferry, Renton and Unity departments were expected to start by practicing forceful entry, wall breaching, large room searches and long hallway searches in the building. The building is slated for...
House Republicans launch investigation into federal funding for universities amid campus protests
WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Tuesday announced an investigation into the federal funding for universities where students have protested the Israel-Hamas war, broadening a campaign that has placed heavy scrutiny on how presidents at the nation’s most prestigious colleges have dealt with reports of antisemitism on campus. Several House committees...
4 officers killed in North Carolina were at disadvantage as shots rained from above, police say
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Law enforcement officers with an arrest warrant demanded that a man come out of a house in North Carolina before four were killed by gunfire, the victims unable to survive shots coming from inside the dwelling, a witness and officials said Tuesday. Still reeling from Monday’s attack...
Weak evidence dooms case against Hazelwood driver who killed 6-year-old
Charges against a Hazelwood woman whose vehicle struck and killed a 6-year-old boy riding his bicycle in Glen Hazel nearly two years ago were dismissed on Tuesday after the prosecution conceded it could not prove her guilt at trial. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Alexander P. Bicket granted a defense...
Assault, harassment charges against suspended Pa. trooper held for court
Simple assault and harassment charges against a suspended state trooper were held for court Tuesday. Senior District Judge Charles R. Conway made the decision at the end of a preliminary hearing during which the accuser testified Nicholas E. Hood, 31, of Derry Township assaulted her during an argument Aug. 26...
U.S. poised to ease restrictions on marijuana in historic shift, but it’ll remain controlled substance
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country. The proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White...
Bill co-sponsored by Rep. Summer Lee to improve plugging abandoned gas wells passes U.S. House
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee’s first major bill, which could accelerate efforts to plug up to 3 million abandoned gas and oil wells across the country, cleared the House Tuesday with strong bipartisan support. Abandoned wells leak copious amounts of methane and are a persistent problem in Western Pennsylvania. Speaking Monday...
Pa. auditor general visits Westmoreland County Community College to tout new hiring practicesVideo
Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy DeFoor knows the value of a community college education. It’s where he got his start on the road to becoming a state official. “We’re here to support you,” DeFoor told a group of Westmoreland County Community College students and staff Tuesday morning at the college’s Youngwood...
Encampment is gone from Schenley Plaza in Oakland
Protest signs and tents that had punctuated Schenley Plaza were gone by Tuesday, as pro-Palestinian demonstrators ended a weeklong encampment there and briefly on the University of Pittsburgh campus. Since last Tuesday, Pitt students and others had occupied the city-owned Plaza located in the shadow of the Cathedral of Learning,...
Missing dog may have motivated man to shoot at car in Hecla, police say
A man escaped injury Sunday after state police said his vehicle was shot at five times on Hecla Road. Troopers arrested William K. Dodrill, 44, of Mt. Pleasant Township, on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and related offenses in connection with the shooting. Police reported in court papers that...
Judge raises threat of jail as he holds Trump in contempt, fines him $9,000 at hush money trial
NEW YORK — Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. If he does it again, the judge warned,...
Morning Roundup: Police say Homewood man robbed same Family Dollar store 3 times
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, April 30. Police say Homewood man robbed same Family Dollar store 3 times Pittsburgh police said they jailed a Homewood man who they say robbed a Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar dollar store three times in eight days, making his get-away each...
Johnstown man killed in motorcycle crash in Derry Township
A 39-year-old man was killed in a motorcycle crash in Derry Township, Westmoreland County, on Monday afternoon, the county coroner announced. Shawn Michael Pynos of Johnstown was driving alone on his Yamaha motorcycle west on Route 30 when he left the road and was ejected from his vehicle, Coroner Tim...
Protesters in custody after Columbia University calls in police to end pro-Palestinian occupation
NEW YORK — Dueling groups of protesters clashed Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. Hours earlier, police burst into a building at Columbia University that pro-Palestinian protesters took over and broke up a demonstration that...
Pittsburgh teen killed in Troy Hill shooting
A Pittsburgh teen was killed late Monday in a shooting in Troy Hill, authorities said Tuesday morning. David Rivera, 18, was shot by an assailant at about 11:30 p.m. in the neighborhood on Pittsburgh’s North Side, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. He died at the scene near 10...
Diocese of Greensburg bishop outlines 3-year plan aimed at supporting children, young families
When parishioners said they wanted increased support for children and young families in the Diocese of Greensburg, Bishop Larry Kulick took notice. Kulick, who was ordained as bishop in 2021, shared his three-year vision for the diocese recently in a pastoral letter. The plan was formed through 18 listening sessions...
4 suspects in burglary at Mercer County gun shop nabbed by police on Mt. Washington
Three of five people suspected of being involved in a pre-dawn burglary at a gun shop in Mercer County were arrested Monday night in Pittsburgh, police said. The juveniles, whose names were not released, were spotted and stopped by Pittsburgh police at West Warrington Avenue and Saw Mill Run Boulevard...
2 children critically hurt after fall from 3rd story window in White Oak
Two children were critically injured after they fell from a third story window within moments of each other Monday afternoon in White Oak, authorities said. A six-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl fell out of the window of a house in the 1700 block of Ohio Avenue at about 3:15...
Boy, 16, who died as a result of racial incident phoned his dad as he ran from classmates
By all accounts, Orville Johnson was building a better life for his son in America. The family hailed from Jamaica, arriving here about two years ago. Johnson built up his HVAC business. And he specifically chose the Central Dauphin School District for 16-year-old Justin because it was ‘the best,” a...
Judge moves Pittsburgh teen’s homicide trial to juvenile court, angering victim’s family
A boy who was 14 when police said he fatally shot a 17-year-old will have his criminal charges handled in juvenile court, a judge announced Monday. As a result, if Nigel Thompson is found to have killed Damonte Hardrick, he could remain in custody only up to age 21. Hardrick’s...
Shootout that killed 4 law officers began as task force tried to serve a warrant, police sayVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A shootout that killed four law enforcement officers and wounded four others in North Carolina began as officers approached a home to serve a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm, police said. Some of the officers who rushed to the Charlotte neighborhood Monday afternoon...
EPA to Yukon landfill operator: fix violations or face $73,000-a-day fine
Federal environmental regulators have given a Yukon landfill operator a series of deadlines to fix problems in how it treats hazardous materials and stores the treated waste on its property or possibly face a $73,000-a-day fine. MAX Environmental Technologies Inc. of Pittsburgh will be able to continue treating hazardous waste...
