Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 689
Increased demand, OPEC production cut contribute to rising gas prices
Pennsylvania is among 44 states that saw their average gasoline prices rise over the past week. “Prices are being pulled up not only due to continued increases in demand as temperatures warm, but also pressure from oil prices, which have risen over 20% in the last month, primarily driven by...
Biden kicks off Easter egg roll with talk of reelection bid
WASHINGTON — Not even the annual White House Easter Egg Roll is safe from presidential politics. President Joe Biden, the host of Monday’s festivities on the South Lawn, said he plans to participate in “at least three or four more Easter egg rolls, maybe five.” Biden was alluding to his...
Louisville bank employee livestreamed attack that killed 5Video
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at his workplace Monday morning, killing five people — including a close friend of Kentucky’s governor — while livestreaming the attack on Instagram, authorities said. Police arrived as shots were still being fired inside Old National Bank...
Man struck by vehicle on Pittsburgh’s South Side
A man was struck by a vehicle early Monday near 12th and East Carson streets on Pittsburgh’s South Side, according to city police. Officers said they found the man after responding to a call of shots fired at 2:16 a.m. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Police...
Trump’s response to criminal charges revives election lies
NEW YORK — Legally, the most important words former President Donald Trump said after he was charged with 34 felonies by the Manhattan District Attorney last week were “not guilty.” But, politically, the most significant may be “election interference.” Trump’s repetition of those words, which have been taken up by...
Pa. Democratic Sen. Bob Casey to seek 4th term
HARRISBURG — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey will seek a fourth term in office, bringing the power of incumbency and unmatched name recognition in Pennsylvania politics to his party’s defense of a seat in a critical presidential battleground state. The announcement by Casey, the longest-serving Democratic U.S. senator in Pennsylvania history,...
Tractor-trailer crash spills chemicals near Monongahela River
A tractor-trailer that crashed into a creek early Monday morning along Bellbridge Road in Lincoln Borough has not yet spilled chemicals into the Monongahela River, officials said. The truck, which was hauling about 80 drums (each 55-gallons) of a two-part epoxy chemical, drove into the stream just after 1 a.m.,...
Pa. Turnpike Commission renting homes it bought in Plum, Penn Township
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission does more than operate a highway across the breadth of the state. In several locations, it’s also a landlord, including in Plum, where the turnpike commission bought a single-family house that had been for sale in the Regency Park neighborhood. The turnpike commission paid $247,000 for...
China military ‘ready to fight’ after drills near Taiwan
TAIPEI, Taiwan — China’s military declared Monday it is “ready to fight” after completing three days of large-scale combat exercises around Taiwan that simulated sealing off the island in response to the Taiwanese president’s trip to the U.S. last week. The “combat readiness patrols” named Joint Sword were meant as...
As runway near-misses surge, radar that keeps planes apart is aging and unreliable
A crucial safety system that’s relied on to avoid potentially fatal collisions at major U.S. airports is aging and plagued by outages that have left travelers unprotected for months at a time. At some airports, it hasn’t ever been installed. The technology — which tracks vehicles on or near runways...
Pitt study shows probiotics boost cancer treatment in mice, could be precursor for human treatment
A new University of Pittsburgh study shows how good gut health could be beneficial at fighting certain kinds of cancer. A study published Thursday in the science journal Cell showed probiotic bacteria in mice traveled from the animals’ guts and established in tumors, where the bacteria directly stimulate immune cells...
Building the Valley: Moonlight Inn restaurant in Vandergrift stands test of timeVideo
Jim Baker of Carrick doesn’t mind taking a road trip for a hearty meal. Baker recently drove 40 miles to meet with former classmates from his 1973 Kiski Area High School graduating class for an evening of food and fellowship at Moonlight Inn in Vandergrift. He ordered a Franco’s Ribeye...
Unemployment fell to 3.5% under Biden. For how much longer?
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden keeps seeing good economic news and bad public approval ratings. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in March. More than 236,000 jobs were added. But there has been no political payoff for the president. A poll last month by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public...
Fetterman, Casey slam federal judge’s ruling against abortion medication
Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey did not mince words when responding to Friday’s ruling by a federal judge in Texas halting the approval of an abortion medication. “This ruling by a hard-right Trump appointed judge is simply bull(expletive),” Fetterman said in a statement released Saturday morning....
Pope at Easter: Pray for Ukrainian, Russian people, refugees
VATICAN CITY — In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis on Sunday invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people, praised nations which welcome refugees and called on Israelis and Palestinians wracked by the latest surge in deadly violence to forge a “climate of trust.” Francis, along with...
Editorial: A day of celebration and faith
Today is a day of faith. It is, in fact, about more than one faith. For many, even most, in the United States, today is Easter Sunday. It is the most important holy day to Christians around the globe, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus. For the Jewish community, it falls...
Guardian Angels Parish helps rebuild St. Vladimir Ukrainian Church; pastor says shared faith ‘makes the church come alive’Video
Sifting through the charred remains at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church in Arnold, the Rev. Yaroslav Koval spotted what he considers a miracle. A painting of St. Michael, the patron saint of protection, clung to the wall of the sanctuary where flames burned the hottest during a 2021 blaze that...
Uniontown man suffered injuries in crash on Route 66 in Hempfield
A Uniontown man was cut out of a pickup truck Saturday and taken to a Pittsburgh hospital with serious injuries, according to state police. Troopers said Jonathan M. Millikin, 41, was traveling north on Toll Route 66 in Hempfield just before 6 p.m. when the Ford Ranger he was driving...
Pitt Chancellor-elect Joan Gabel faces array of challenges as she prepares to take helm
Once Joan Gabel arrives in July from the University of Minnesota, the success of her tenure as University of Pittsburgh chancellor might hinge on the same unforgiving metrics that were used to judge her male predecessors. Fundraising will be key among them. Even with its $5.5 billion endowment, a thriving...
Competing abortion pill rulings sow broad alarm, confusion
Emma Hernandez is defiant even if she fears what may come in the latest stage of the nation’s fight over abortion: a widening prohibition to safe and legal ways to end unwanted pregnancies, including access to abortion pills. Competing rulings by two federal judges over the availability of the abortion...
Easter Bunny parachutes into Brackenridge church festival
Easter isn’t usually the Christian holiday known for the flying mascot, but the Easter Bunny visited Brackenridge this year from the sky. The famous rabbit skydived and parachuted into the Easter festival at Generations House of Worship in Brackenridge late Saturday morning. A large crowd had gathered at the festival,...
Year after fatal Airbnb shootings, Pittsburgh Police have no update
Nearly a year after two teenagers were killed and eight others were injured in an Easter morning shooting at an Airbnb rental property in Pittsburgh’s North Side, city officials have not passed any legislation to regulate short-term rentals, and police have no updates on their investigation. Police said about 200...
Norfolk Southern train derails in Pittsburgh
A five-car train derailed Saturday morning in Pittsburgh’s West End, closing a section of West Carson Street for a time, Pittsburgh Public Safety officials said. The Norfolk Southern train cars were empty, and no hazardous material was leaked, a company spokesperson told Tribune-Review news partner WPXI. No injuries were reported,...
Police: 6 people wounded in shooting on South Carolina beach
ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. — Gunfire erupted on a South Carolina beach during a “senior skip day” event involving numerous teenagers Friday, wounding six people and prompting charges against two for unlawful possession of guns, police in South Carolina said. The shots broke out around 5:20 p.m. on Isle of...
Justice Thomas says he didn’t have to disclose luxury trips
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday he was not required to disclose the many trips he and his wife took that were paid for by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. Describing Crow and his wife, Kathy, as “among our dearest friends,” Thomas said in a statement that he...
