Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 450
Hydrants, waterlines questioned in wake of fatal Jeannette blaze
Jeannette fire Chief Bill Frye said the city’s aging waterlines impacted firefighters’ ability to extinguish an overnight blaze that killed a father and his four young children in a Guy Street home. Both Frye and Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County officials confirmed Wednesday a 6-inch water line feeds into the...
Prayer vigil offers comfort to family of Jeannette fire victims
Delena Lewis ached as she listened to prayers swirl around in the wind outside Jeannette City Hall on Wednesday afternoon. The devastation was fresh — her son Tyler J. King, 27, and four grandchildren, Kyson, 7, Kinzleigh, 6, Keagan, 3, and Korbyn, 1 month, were killed hours earlier in a...
Springdale mom heads to prison in methadone death of daughter, 5
The prosecutor handling the case of a 5-year-old who died from methadone poisoning told the court that there were two unanswered questions. Why was there methadone in Samantha McMunn’s Springdale house on the day her daughter died? And how did it get into her baby syringe? “I just think it’s...
CNX Resources to pay nearly $13K for each 1.5 million gallons drawn from Beaver Run for fracking
A week after water use restrictions were lifted for customers served by Beaver Run Reservoir, a Canonsburg company was given a contract that allows it to buy 51 million gallons of water to use in fracking at nearby gas wells, Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County officials said Wednesday. The authority...
United Steelworkers union endorses Biden for president
PITTSBURGH — The United Steelworkers Union has endorsed President Joe Biden, giving him support from another large labor union. The announcement Wednesday by the Pittsburgh-based union came less than a week after Biden voiced opposition to the planned sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan, saying it’s vital...
Pittsburgh Technical College put on probation
Pittsburgh Technical College in Oakdale has been placed on probation by the Middle States Commission for Higher Education and warned that its accreditation “is in jeopardy.” In a post to its website, the accrediting body said it acted due to “insufficient evidence that the institution is currently in compliance with...
Maggots, heat, decomposition lead judge to find Munhall funeral director guilty of abusing corpse
The Pennsylvania statute defining abuse of a corpse is simple. All that’s required is for a person to treat a dead body “in a way that he knows would outrage ordinary family sensibilities.” For a funeral home director to let a body sit for several days in summer, decomposing without...
Allegheny County’s elections board OKs ballot drop-off sites with 3-0 vote
Allegheny County’s new ballot drop-off locations are finally official. The county Board of Elections voted unanimously Wednesday to add six locations where voters can drop off mail-in ballots for the upcoming primary election. Staffed drop-off locations will be placed in Squirrel Hill, Moon, McKeesport, North Park, South Park and Boyce...
Duquesne in the NCAAs: Dukes vs. BYU scouting report
OMAHA, Neb. — One thing that always tends to get me in trouble when I fill out my NCAA brackets is that I fall in love with a team early in the season and I proclaim them as my March Madness dark horse in November. Then they inevitably flame out...
Layne’s Chicken Fingers to open on Pittsburgh’s South Side
A second Layne’s Chicken Fingers is coming to Pittsburgh, this one on the South Side. Company signage is on the front of the building at 1210 E. Carson St. and City of Pittsburgh permit papers, issued in February, are on the door. The inside is not finished. On the window...
Police charge man with stabbing wife 17 times in Sharpsburg apartment
A Sharpsburg man on Tuesday stabbed his wife 17 times in their apartment and then, out of breath, called 911, according to police. At 2:01 p.m., Victor Cute, 69, told 911 that he had stabbed his wife and she was lying on the floor bleeding, a criminal complaint said. He...
New Kensington’s House of 1,000 Beers remaining open despite closure of 2nd location
Fans of New Kensington’s House of 1,000 Beers don’t have to worry, the longstanding bar and restaurant will remain open despite the closing of its other location in the North Hills. Arthur and Janice Barbus took over House of 1,000 Beers on Freeport Street in 2014. They bought it from...
Early-morning blaze sends Leechburg woman to hospital
A Leechburg woman remained hospitalized Wednesday after an early morning fire tore through her home. Leechburg fire Chief John Foster identified the woman as Mandy Yakovich, who lived alone at the home on Kiski Avenue. Although Foster said she remained hospitalized, he did not have an update on her condition....
Mega Millions jackpot reaches $977 million after no one wins Tuesday’s drawing
The Mega Millions jackpot has reached $977 million for Friday night’s drawing after no tickets matched all six numbers drawn on Tuesday night. The winning numbers drawn on Tuesday were 24, 46, 49, 62, 66 and the gold Mega Ball was 7. The estimated jackpot was $893 million with a...
Morning roundup: Fire hits North Huntingdon care home; Blue Flame Restaurant closes
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, March 20: Assisted living facility fire in North Huntingdon Emergency services were called to an assisted living facility Wednesday morning. Westmoreland County 911 said a fire had started in a bathroom of Walden’s View Personal Care Home on...
Coroner identifies father, 4 children killed in Jeannette blaze
Twin brothers Tyler and Kenneth King did everything together. Their families would go on vacations together and, until a few months ago, they worked at the same place. “Even growing up, we’d sleep together on the floor,” Kenneth King said. “We had beds. We’d just sleep downstairs on the floor...
Westmoreland housing authority plots path to solar power
The Westmoreland County Housing Authority wants more power. Officials on Tuesday said a proposed solar farm built on property behind the authority-owned Hempfield Towers could benefit the low-income senior high-rise apartment building and nearby county facilities such as the jail, juvenile detention center and nursing home. “We’re looking for funding...
Spring sniffles: Tree pollen season is a little early this year, allergists say
When Dr. Bob Gorby of Westmoreland Allergy and Asthma Associates in Greensburg notices the tree in his home’s backyard starting to bud, he knows it’s tree pollen season. “It’s early this year a little bit,” he said. “Tree pollen can come out as early as late February, but it’s very...
Biden tells Latino voters: ‘I need you back’
PHOENIX — President Joe Biden on Tuesday personally appealed to Latino voters, saying they’re the reason he defeated Donald Trump in 2020 and urging them to help him do it again in November. “I need you back,” he told several dozen supporters packed into a local Mexican restaurant. Biden said...
Biden and Trump notch more wins in Tuesday’s primaries
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Joe Biden and Donald Trump won their parties’ primaries in Kansas on Tuesday, notching more delegates as they continue their march to a rematch in November’s presidential election. Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican, also easily won primaries Tuesday in Ohio and Illinois. Trump also won...
Trump sues ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation
Former President Trump is suing TV journalist George Stephanopoulos and ABC News for defamation for saying he raped advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. On a March 10 edition of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” the anchor said Trump was “liable for rape” during his interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.)....
Baby giraffe dies of a broken neck at Zoo Miami
MIAMI — A baby giraffe has died of a broken neck at Zoo Miami, zoo officials said. The giraffe, born Dec. 15, was found by the zoo’s staff Saturday morning, spokesperson Ron Magill said. “Because the event that led to this trauma happened overnight and was not personally observed, zoo...
Trump asks Supreme Court to dismiss case charging him with plotting to overturn 2020 election
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Donald Trump urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to dismiss an indictment charging the former president with conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, renewing their arguments that he is immune from prosecution for official acts taken in the White House. Lower courts...
Some Leechburg Area School District residents complain of unfair tax burden
Property owners in the Westmoreland County portion of Leechburg Area School District are demanding a new tax structure that doesn’t dip as deeply into their pockets as the current one does. “You’re picking the pockets of the 1,300 residents of West Leechburg,” Jake Heasley told Leechburg Area School Board members...
Appeals court allows whistleblower lawsuit against Pa. GOP caucus
A whistleblower lawsuit filed by the former chief of staff for state Rep. Eric Davanzo can proceed, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court has ruled. A three-judge panel this month rejected an effort from the Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus to dismiss the lawsuit filed in 2022 by Marcel Nicole Ingram, who claimed she...
