Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 566
‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse begins its path across the Americas, stretching from Oregon to Brazil
PORTLAND, Ore. — A rare “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun that has millions across the Americas waiting with anticipation Saturday has at last appeared into view. With the presence of cloudy skies, a NASA livestream of the phenomenon reported it in Eugene, Oregon, shortly after 9:15 a.m. local...
Sen. Joe Manchin considers independent 2024 run, warns party system could be nation’s ‘downfall’
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has benefited from waiting to reveal where he stands as the swing vote in a chamber closely divided between Democrats and Republicans. He’s taken the same approach when it comes to the next phase of his political career: The moderate Democrat...
Proposed gag order on Trump in his federal election case is putting judge in tricky position
WASHINGTON — A proposed gag order aimed at reining in Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric puts the judge overseeing his federal election interference case in a tricky position: She must balance the need to protect the integrity of the legal proceedings against the First Amendment rights of a presidential candidate to...
Palestinians stream south in Gaza as Israel urges mass evacuation, conducts brief raids
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinians scrambled to flee northern Gaza on Saturday after the Israeli military ordered nearly half the population to evacuate south and carried out limited ground forays ahead of an expected land offensive a week after Hamas’ bloody, wide-ranging attack into Israel. Israel renewed calls on...
Testimony to resume in injunction case over boiler house implosion in Springdale
The court case to block the implosion of the boiler house at the former Cheswick Generating Station in Springdale is expected to resume Monday. Last month, 16 Springdale residents filed an injunction against the companies that were scheduled to perform the implosion at the site. The boiler house was scheduled...
Family inspired love of the Pitt Panthers for this ultimate fan
Pitt is definitely it for Luciana “Miss Lu” Bair. She claims to be the biggest Panthers fan, and she’s got a pretty solid case. Let’s start with the vehicle she drives. It’s a 2023 Dodge Durango with custom seating in the school’s colors of blue and gold. Her tires have...
New CEO brings lifelong love of museums, private-sector experience to bear at The Westmoreland
Silvia Filippini-Fantoni says a trio of happenstance instances ultimately brought her to The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg. “Sometimes you have to read the signs,” said Filippini-Fantoni, a native of Italy who for the past two decades has worked with museums in Europe and the United States. She...
Tammy Felbaum, who served time in spouse’s death, found dead in Seward home
Tammy Felbaum, a transgender Seward resident who served prison time for the botched castration and 2001 overdose death of her sixth husband, was found dead this week after mail piling up at the residence prompted a welfare check by police. Felbaum apparently had been dead for several days when her...
South Greensburg woman loses bid to have involuntary manslaughter charges dropped in suicide case
A South Greensburg woman accused of sending derisive text messages to her estranged boyfriend urging him to commit suicide two years ago, lost her bid Friday to have involuntary manslaughter charges dropped in the case against her. Westmoreland Judge Scott Mears said that the two-year statute of limitations on filing...
Republicans pick Jim Jordan as nominee for House speaker, putting job within the Trump ally’s reach
WASHINGTON — Republicans chose firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan as their new nominee for House speaker during internal voting Friday, putting the gavel within reach of the staunch ally of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Electing Jordan, a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, to the powerful position second in line...
Robinson couple mourns death of only child a day after her 1st birthday
The first thing Daniel Niebergall noticed was the silence. He and his wife, Cheyenne, stood watch around-the-clock this week on the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in Lawrenceville as their only child lay comatose after suffering a grand mal seizure on Oct. 5. Doctors declared...
Pittsburgh-based plan passed over as hydrogen hub selections draw statewide praise
President Joe Biden on Friday announced $7 billion in investment in hydrogen-producing projects across the nation, including two projects that will have Pennsylvania participation. Seven so-called “Hydrogen Hubs” that are centered in seven states were announced as part of the Biden administration’s effort to boost development and production of hydrogen...
Hundreds turn out for pro-Palestine rally in PittsburghVideo
Hundreds of people turned out for a pro-Palestine rally Friday afternoon in Pittsburgh’s Schenley Plaza. As the rally began, Deena Eldaour, an organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine at Pitt, told the crowd that thousands of homes in her Palestinian family’s village have been destroyed by bombing. She said...
PNC says it will cut workforce by 4%
PNC Financial Services Group said it will cut its workforce by 4% by year’s end as it looks to pare down expenses. The move is expected to slash costs by $325 million in 2024, the Downtown Pittsburgh-based bank said on its third-quarter earnings call Friday. PNC did not specify what...
‘Day of Action for Palestine’ rally scheduled in Oakland
More than a dozen organizations have organized a ‘Day of Action for Palestine’ rally this afternoon in Oakland. The rally is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the intersection of Bigelow Boulevard and Forbes Avenue. “Israel is currently carrying out a massacre of historic proportions against Gaza and all throughout Palestine,...
2nd person in 3 days arrested with gun at Pittsburgh airport
Transportation Security Administration officers stopped two passengers at Pittsburgh International Airport Thursday after they tried to carry guns onto flights — the fifth time TSA has confiscated weapons there in the past eight days. The guns were the 37th and 38th confiscated this year at the Findlay airport — a...
Butler teachers organize concert fundraiser for colleague who lost husband, home in Plum explosion
It was from the shape of a swimming pool that Valerie Lepage realized her friend and colleague, Jackie Thomas, was among those affected by the August house explosion in Plum. The pool was all that was left of the Thomas home, which burned after the house of Paul and Heather...
Biden awards $7 billion for clean hydrogen hubs, including West Virginia
WASHINGTON (AP) — Clean-energy projects in seven states from Pennsylvania to California have been selected by the Biden administration for a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel, a key component of President Joe Biden’s agenda to slow climate change. His goal is to establish seven...
Ohio man faces human trafficking charges after 2 women, teen found in Monroeville motel
An Ohio man is accused of keeping two women and a teen captive in a Monroeville motel for at least four months and forcing them to work as prostitutes. Donte LaShawen Cole, 38, of Euclid, Ohio, was charged Thursday with 19 felonies — eight counts of human trafficking, six counts...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Oct. 13-15
Don’t let the rainy forecast dampen your weekend plans. There are plenty of fun things to do around the Pittsburgh area. Let’s take a look at just five highlights. Night market The Allentown Night Market is from 7 to 11 p.m. on Saturday along Warrington Avenue in Allentown. There will...
5 things to watch in Week 7: How will WPIAL teams approach late-season nonconference matchups?
The WPIAL schedule-makers gave McKeesport a nonconference game this week, which some coaches might dread this late in the season. It interrupts a stretch of seven consecutive conference games for the Tigers, but coach Matt Miller said they’ll attack a matchup with Gateway as seriously as they do any Big...
3.2% hike in Social Security benefits fails to keep up with rising costs, Western Pa. seniors say
Millions of Social Security recipients will get a 3.2% increase in their benefits in 2024, far less than this year’s historic boost and reflecting moderating consumer prices. The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, means the average recipient will receive more than $50 more every month beginning in January, the Social Security...
Swifties turn out to Western Pa. theaters for advance showings of ‘Eras Tour’ concert film
Lexi Levendosky of Scottdale missed out on Taylor Swift’s hugely popular Eras Tour when the singer came to Pittsburgh earlier this year. Despite her and her family’s best efforts, and even a trip to stand outside the stadium, tickets remained elusively out of reach. Levendosky, 14, got lucky Thursday night,...
GOP’s Steve Scalise ends his bid to become House speaker after failing to secure the votes to win gavelVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican Steve Scalise has ended his bid to become House speaker after failing to secure the votes to win the gavel. Scalise told GOP colleagues at a closed-door meeting late Thursday of his decision. Next steps are uncertain as the House is essentially closed while Republicans try to...
1 officer convicted, 1 acquitted in death of Elijah McClain
BRIGHTON, Colo. — Jurors convicted a Denver-area police officer Thursday and acquitted another of charges in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man whose name became a rallying cry in protests over racial injustice in policing. Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide...
