Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 772
Jeffries wins historic bid to lead House Dems after Pelosi
WASHINGTON — Emboldened House Democrats ushered in a new generation of leaders on Wednesday with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries elected to be the first Black American to head a major political party in Congress as long-serving Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her team step aside next year. Showing rare party unity after...
Proposed ordinance to allow backyard chickens in O’Hara scheduled for council consideration in January
A proposal to allow O’Hara Township residents to keep backyard chickens is now before O’Hara Council and is scheduled for consideration at its Jan. 3 meeting. Chickens have never been permitted on township residences under 5 acres. Allowing them on smaller properties has been on the radar for several years....
Fern Hollow Bridge to be finished by end of year, officials say
The new Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh’s East End is expected to open by the end of the year, city and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials said. “We are anticipating the bridge will be open by the end of the year, and perhaps before Christmas,” PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said....
Westmoreland prison puts out the call for 29 guards
The Westmoreland County Prison has put out a “help wanted” sign for guards — 29 in all. “We definitely have an urgent need for corrections officers,” Warden Bryan Kline said during a prison board meeting this week. Kline said the county has made “significant progress” in reducing the number of...
Gift shop opens at Pittsburgh Brewing Co. site in East Deer
Barry Wagner of Brackenridge was hoping to score a case of fresh-brewed beer when he visited the newly opened Pittsburgh Brewing Co. gift shop. “I’ve been drinking Iron City since 1972,” Wagner said while perusing the T-shirts and tin signs at the site off Freeport Road in East Deer. “I...
Despite concern it’s not enough, Pittsburgh OKs $900K for summer youth food program
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved a measure to provide $900,000 for a food service program that provides meals to local students over the summer when they aren’t served meals at school, though one council member raised concerns about whether that’s enough funding for the initiative. The amount of money...
Congress prepares to take up bill preventing rail strike
WASHINGTON — Congress is moving swiftly to prevent a looming U.S. rail workers strike, reluctantly intervening in a labor dispute to stop what would surely be a devastating blow to the nation’s economy if the transportation of fuel, food and other critical goods were disrupted. The House was expected to...
Pa. Senate sets rules for Philly DA Larry Krasner’s impeachment trial
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday approved two procedural measures needed to stage an impeachment trial for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, the latest step in an unprecedented effort to remove the city’s prosecutor from office. The resolutions set the rules of the trial, which is expected to begin...
3 people shot in McKeesport
McKeesport police are investigating an incident in which three people were shot Tuesday afternoon. The shooting was reported shortly before 1:45 p.m. in the 500 block of Pirl Street. McKeesport police told Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV that the wounds suffered by all three victims are considered non-life-threatening. The grandmother of...
Pittsburgh police officer hurt while breaking up fight, separate shooting incident results in arrest
A Pittsburgh police officer was injured while attempting to break up a fight on Tuesday evening in Market Square. A Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesman tweeted about the incident around 8:30 p.m. They said officers responded to a dispute between juveniles at the Five Guys fast food restaurant. An officer suffered...
High school junior, football player, dies after shooting Tuesday in Monessen
Officials have identified a Monessen High School student who died after being shot Tuesday evening in Monessen. Amari Altomore, 16, of Monessen died in an area hospital following the shooting at 8:10 p.m. at 649 S. 14th St., Monessen, according to a report from the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office. The...
Coraopolis man sentenced to 5 years in federal prison for possessing child porn
A Coraopolis man has been sentenced to spend the next five years in federal prison after he was convicted of possession of child pornography. The sentence was imposed on Christopher A. Sennett, 34, by U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon, federal authorities announced Tuesday. Sennett was found guilty of possession of...
Landmark same-sex marriage bill wins Senate passageVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed bipartisan legislation Tuesday to protect same-sex marriages, an extraordinary sign of shifting national politics on the issue and a measure of relief for the hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples who have married since the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide. The...
Judge orders machine recounts in 4 Westmoreland voting precincts
A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday ordered machine recounts of election results from four voting precincts, but in doing so rejected requests to review by hand each ballot cast this month in the race for governor and U.S. senator. Voters in five of the county’s 307 voting precincts filed court...
Oath Keepers boss guilty of seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 caseVideo
WASHINGTON — Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted Tuesday of seditious conspiracy for a violent plot to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential win, handing the Justice Department a major victory in its massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. A Washington, D.C., jury found Rhodes guilty of sedition...
Study: U.S. gun death rates hit highest levels in decades
NEW YORK — The U.S. gun death rate last year hit its highest mark in nearly three decades, and the rate among women has been growing faster than that of men, according to study published Tuesday. The increase among women — most dramatically, in Black women — is playing a...
Gas driller pleads no contest to polluting Pennsylvania town’s water
MONTROSE — Pennsylvania’s most active gas driller pleaded no contest Tuesday to criminal charges, capping a landmark environmental case against a company prosecutors say polluted a rural community’s drinking water 14 years ago and then tried to evade responsibility. Residents of the tiny crossroads of Dimock in northeastern Pennsylvania said...
Gainey, Pittsburgh council debate plan to move cable bureau under mayor’s office
Pittsburgh City Council members said they aren’t comfortable with Mayor Ed Gainey’s proposal to move the city’s cable bureau under the control of the Mayor’s Office. Gainey’s proposed 2023 budget calls for moving the cable bureau, the print shop, the nonemergency 311 line and various communication staff under his office’s...
Jeannette man sentenced for 2019 fatal shooting outside of high school football game
A Jeannette man told a judge he was trying to protect himself when he shot and killed another man in 2019 outside a high school football stadium. “It happened so fast,” said Greg Harper as he explained the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 6, 2019 killing of 48-year-old Dameian Williams in...
Pittsburgh man sentenced to life for 2019 slaying of Monroeville woman
One of two men found guilty of first-degree murder after they killed a Monroeville woman and stole her car more than three years ago was sentenced on Tuesday to spend the rest of his life in prison. Ramonta Yancey, 29, of Pittsburgh was also ordered by Allegheny County Common Pleas...
Twitter ends enforcement of covid misinformation policy
Twitter will no longer enforce its policy against covid-19 misinformation, raising concerns among public health experts that the change could have serious consequences if it discourages vaccination and other efforts to combat the still-spreading virus. Eagle-eyed users spotted the change Monday night, noting that a one-sentence update had been made...
Bethel Park man pleads to killing man in wheelchair while DUI
A Bethel Park man who was driving under the influence of marijuana when he struck and killed a man in a motorized wheelchair in Homestead pleaded guilty on Tuesday. Eric Walker, 51, pleaded guilty to causing an accident involving death while not licensed, driving under the influence, careless driving and...
Michigan’s high court pauses Ethan Crumbley parents’ case in Michigan school shooting
DETROIT — The Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday sent the involuntary manslaughter case of the parents of accused Oxford High shooter Ethan Crumbley back to the Court of Appeals to consider whether there was sufficient evidence for James and Jennifer Crumbley to stand trial. The Michigan Court of Appeals in...
Judge rules in favor of Quaker Valley School District on high school construction project
An Allegheny County Common Pleas judge on Nov. 28 ruled in favor of Quaker Valley School District’s plans to build a new, $95 million high school. Senior Judge Joseph James issued his six-page opinion overturning the Leet Township zoning board, which in March refused to grant a special exception for...
Daycation: Steubenville, Ohio, boasts world’s largest display of life-sized nutcrackers
Experience a whimsical and traditional holiday walking tour of 200 life-sized nutcrackers on display in historic Steubenville, Ohio, located about 40 miles from downtown Pittsburgh. The Steubenville Nutcracker Village offers a free, 24/7 nutcracker self- guided outdoor tour opportunity through Jan. 7. Billed as the world’s largest collection of life-sized nutcrackers,...
