Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 782
New Spinvasion ride coming to Kennywood next spring
Kennywood is getting a new ride next year, and it promises to be out of this world. The amusement park announced Tuesday an intergalactic multi-action spin ride called Spinvasion will become the centerpiece of the park’s new alien-inspired Area 412 section. According to a press release, Spinvasion will provide an...
Shapiro to take office with mandate from Pennsylvania voters
HARRISBURG — Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor-elect of Pennsylvania, will take office with a decisive mandate from voters, who overwhelmingly rejected a Republican drive to pare back abortion rights and voting laws in the premier battleground state. Shapiro, the state’s two-term attorney general, scored a massive 14 percentage point win...
PLCB opens lotteries to purchase more than 1,500 rare whiskeys
Whiskey connoisseurs in Pennsylvania can enter lotteries this week to purchase rare bottles that have skyrocketed in demand in recent years. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board on Monday announced its Limited-Release Lotteries for the highly sought-after products. Of 1,590 bottles up for grabs, 1,440 are made by Kentucky-based Old Rip...
5th lawsuit claims Mammoth Park’s Giant Slide is unsafe
A fifth lawsuit claims the rebuilt Giant Slide in Mt. Pleasant Township’s Mammoth Park is unsafe. The attraction at the 408-acre park owned by Westmoreland County includes two 100-foot steel racing slides along with a smaller 50-foot slide for children. The current $1.1 million configuration, which opened in July 2020...
Overturned tractor-trailer crash closes lane on I-279
A tractor-trailer crashed early Tuesday morning on southbound Interstate 279, closing down one lane of traffic and causing backups as crews work to clear the scene. According to Tribune-News news partner WPXI, the trailer turned over on its side on the Mt. Nebo Road overpass and the cab separated from...
Katie Hobbs wins Arizona governor’s race, flipping state for Dems
PHOENIX — Democrat Katie Hobbs was elected Arizona governor on Monday, defeating an ally of Donald Trump who falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged and refused to say she would accept the results of her race this year. Hobbs, who is Arizona’s secretary of state, rose to prominence as...
Plum priest acquitted in 1998 sex abuse charges
A Plum priest accused of sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy in 1998 was found not guilty of all the charges against him on Monday. A jury deliberated for less than four hours before reaching its verdict in the case against the Rev. Robert Cedolia, 71. Cedolia was found not guilty...
Appeals court ruling keeps Biden student debt plan on hold
ST. LOUIS — President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive student loan debt for millions of borrowers was handed another legal loss Monday when a federal appeals court panel agreed to a preliminary injunction halting the program while an appeal plays out. The ruling by the three-judge panel from the 8th...
Concert trifecta: Pink, Lizzo, Foreigner announce Pittsburgh stopsVideo
Two pop music superstars and an arena rock band will be making their way to Pittsburgh in 2023 for concerts announced Monday. Pink’s Summer Carnival is visiting 21 cities, including PNC Park on Aug. 5. She will be joined by Brandi Carlile, Grouplove and KidCutUp. Tickets for the three-time Grammy...
5 things we learned: Numbers weren’t flashy, but Kenny Pickett got job done in Steelers win
Five things we learned from Steelers 20, Saints 10: 1. Pickett’s charge Kenny Pickett produced a 79.7 passer rating against the Saints that, if it represented his number for the entire season, would rank No. 31 among NFL quarterbacks. Alas, it merely lifted Pickett’s season rating to 68.8, which rates...
Pittsburgh to use $400K designated for public safety training facility on road work
Pittsburgh City Council on Monday voted to reallocate more than $400,000 initially earmarked for a new public safety training facility in the city’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood to road paving projects. The decision comes after city leaders last week said there is no timetable on when construction may begin at the new...
Gainey touts investments in infrastructure, public safety in Pittsburgh budget
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Monday touted investments in infrastructure, public safety and public works in his first annual budget address before City Council. The city has faced an array of challenges since Gainey took office in January — including the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge in the city’s...
Scott Township asks courts to cut print newspapers out of public notices
A Western Pennsylvania municipality is using a newspaper strike to illustrate why the state’s highest court should allow it to advertise public notices online, the latest in an ongoing battle over who can advertise — and in what format — for governmental bodies. Scott Township filed paperwork with the state...
Mark Madden: Nervous, sloppy, unsure, Kenny Pickett isn’t ready to be Steelers’ starting QB
When Kenny Pickett became the Pittsburgh Steelers’ No. 1 quarterback as of the second half of the Week 4 loss to the visiting New York Jets, it felt permanent. Pickett’s the guy, his time is now, this is the beginning, you deal with hiccups, but Pickett stays in. But now,...
Steelers vs. Saints: What they’re saying in New Orleans after loss
Not so easy in the Big Easy. The New Orleans Saints rolled into Pittsburgh with quarterback Andy Dalton and rolled up a mere 10 points. They were shutout in the second half. We thought things were rough in Pittsburgh. The Saints reside in a division with a .500 team in...
Biden discusses Taiwan with Xi in effort to avoid ‘conflict’
NUSA DUA, Indonesia — President Joe Biden objected to China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions” toward Taiwan and raised human rights concerns about Beijing’s conduct in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong during his first in-person meeting on Monday with President Xi Jinping , the White House said. In a news...
Suspect in deadly U.Va. shooting taken into custody
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Authorities say the suspect in the shooting at the University of Virginia that killed three members of the football team has been taken into custody. The suspect in the Sunday night shooting was identified as Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. Two others were wounded in the shooting, which...
Frigid temperatures, possible snow to hit Pittsburgh this week
Winter appears to be arriving a bit early in the Pittsburgh area. According to the National Weather Service office in Pittsburgh, this week’s high temperatures will be hovering around 43 degrees, which the service says is 10 to 15 degrees below normal. Tribune-Review news partner WPXI reports that the average...
Westmoreland commissioner about to get new job title: Mom
Gina Cerilli Thrasher is getting a new job: mother. She will become the first Westmoreland County commissioner to give birth while in office later this month when she and husband, Ernie Thrasher, welcome their first child, a boy. She knows the demands of motherhood will be a challenge, on top...
Parenting and politics are a rare mix
Motherhood in elected office is uncommon. Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher is joining a small group of elected officials to give birth while in public office when she and husband, Ernie Thrasher, welcome their first child, a boy, this month. Jean Sinzdak, associate director of Rutgers University’s Center for...
After pandemic plunge, international enrollment on nation’s campuses rebounds
A year after absorbing historic pandemic-driven losses, international enrollment at colleges in Pennsylvania and nationwide has rebounded, spurred by an 80% jump in new students and other gains, a new report says. The New York-based nonprofit Institute of International Education, in a survey released Monday, says the nation’s total international...
County police seek public’s help after man found shot in Clairton
Allegheny County Police are seeking the public’s help in their investigation of a shooting that occurred Sunday evening in Clairton. The shooting was reported at 7:17 p.m. in the 500 block of Farnsworth Avenue, according to police. First responders found a man suffering from a gunshot wound and transported him...
Mastriano breaks silence on election results, uses social media to concede governor’s race to Josh Shapiro
Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano conceded to his Democratic challenger Josh Shapiro in a letter posted on social media Sunday evening. “The results of the 2022 mid-term elections are not what we hoped, prayed and fought so hard for, and yet there is so much for which I am...
The Pa. GOP’s no good, very bad, terrible election is forcing a reckoning in the state party
Republicans had a lousy night nationwide Tuesday. In Pennsylvania, it was an unmitigated disaster. Within the state Republican Party, some insiders are already maneuvering for change. Ted Christian, a former Trump adviser in the state, and Andy Reilly, the Pennsylvania GOP national committeeman, are both making moves toward potentially replacing...
Feats of Strength: Steelers defense, running game come up big in much-needed win over Saints
Even in a season when optimism has been scarce for the Steelers, there was plenty of reason for some heading into Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints. The 2-6 Steelers were playing at home, in the cold, after a bye. Star outside linebacker T.J. Watt was scheduled to suit...
