Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 816
11-year-old boy crashes grandparents’ car into pole in Pittsburgh’s Windgap neighborhood
An 11-year-old boy crashed his grandparents’ car into a pole in Pittsburgh’s Windgap neighborhood early Thursday morning, according to public safety officials. Pittsburgh police were dispatched to the intersection of Broadhead Fording Road and Windgap Avenue for a vehicle that had hit a pole just before 3 a.m. Thursday. Police...
Community, students rally around undefeated Hempfield Area as Friday football game nears
One of the hottest tickets in Westmoreland County this week is for a seat in Spartan Stadium, where Hempfield Area’s 4-0 football team will host 3-1 Penn-Trafford on Friday night. On Wednesday morning, a long line of students at Hempfield Area Senior High waited to purchase tickets from Karen Sternick,...
Pittsburgh man suspected in Brookline bank robbery apprehended
A Pittsburgh man wanted in connection with an August bank robbery in the city’s Brookline neighborhood was arrested Tuesday. Timothy Sowinski, 53, was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force and Pittsburgh Police Fugitive Apprehension Unit, Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews reported. He was wanted...
2 people left homeless, pets dead, after Salem mobile home fire
Two people were homeless Wednesday evening after a trailer fire that killed two of their pets. Neither of the homeowners was injured when a mobile home caught fire early Wednesday evening in the 100 block of Bennett Drive in Salem, fire officials said. Crews were called about 5 p.m. and...
Former McKeesport teacher facing multiple sex charges waives preliminary hearing
A former McKeesport Area middle school teacher and youth basketball coach accused of sexually assaulting several boys waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday. Eric Fairman, 27, of Pleasant Hills was scheduled to go before District Judge Michael W. Thatcher on multiple charges including indecent assault, unlawful contact with minors, corruption of...
Trump docs probe: Court lifts hold on Mar-a-Lago records
WASHINGTON — In a stark repudiation of Donald Trump’s legal arguments, a federal appeals court on Wednesday permitted the Justice Department to resume its use of classified records seized from the former president’s Florida estate as part of its ongoing criminal investigation. The ruling from a three-judge panel of the...
Fayette woman killed in head-on crash in Hempfield, police say
A Fayette County woman was killed in a Hempfield crash Wednesday afternoon, according to state police. Troopers said another vehicle slammed head-on into the Kia Sedona Betty J. Wagner, 73, of Franklin Township, was driving on Arona Road at 4:45 p.m. Wagner was pronounced dead at the scene. Wagner and...
Prosecutor says deadly force not justified in Penn Borough shooting
A Penn Borough man told a Westmoreland County jury Wednesday he was shot in the chest by his landlord last summer. Nathan Booher, 26, testified he was unarmed on Aug. 28, 2021 when he entered the house he had lived in the previous three years with his mother’s boyfriend and...
Donora man contends bar fight that left three injured started by jealous boyfriend
A Donora man told a Westmoreland County jury Wednesday he pulled out a knife to protect himself during an all-out brawl three years ago at a North Belle Vernon bar that left three people seriously wounded. Eric Cook, 46, testified during the third day of his attempted murder trial that...
House passes election law overhaul in response to Jan. 6Video
WASHINGTON — The House has passed legislation to overhaul the rules for certifying the results of a presidential election as lawmakers accelerate their response to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Donald Trump’s failed attempt to remain in power. The bill, which is similar to bipartisan legislation moving through the...
Expert refutes concussion claims in suit against West Mifflin Area School District
The neuropsychologist who invented the widely used ImPACT test to help diagnose concussions testified on Wednesday that symptoms experienced by a West Mifflin man hurt on the high school football field 13 years ago are unrelated to that injury. Dr. Mark R. Lovell told a jury that he believes Shane...
Regular private meetings among top Penn State trustees may be violating Pa.’s transparency law
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. STATE COLLEGE — For more than a decade, some of the most powerful members of...
Mellon Park plan calls for better connections and traffic calming
A public park in Pittsburgh’s East End is looking for some upgrades and a new plan details the desire to better connect the park’s two halves and to slow drivers down as they pass through. The Mellon Park Action Plan was released Wednesday, and it lays out the community’s priorities...
Pittsburgh projected to spend $2 million more in gas for fleet this year
The city of Pittsburgh is expected to spend about $5 million in gas this year — about $2 million more than last year — to keep its fleet running amid soaring gas prices. The city spent $3.2 million in gas to fuel its vehicles in 2021, Councilman Anthony Coghill said....
Jurors begin deliberations in 2017 Homewood triple fatal fire trial
The victims didn’t have a chance. Sandra Carter Douglas. Shamira Staten. Ch’yenne Manning. None of them, said Deputy District Attorney Brian Catanzarite, played any role in a fight Martell Smith had early on the morning of Dec. 20, 2017. A fight, the prosecutor continued, that drove Smith into such a...
Parents charged in New Kensington boy’s death
Both parents of 9-year-old Azuree Charles were charged Wednesday in connection with the New Kensington boy’s death in May. Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said the boy’s father, Jean Charles, 40, of Brackenridge, is charged with first-degree murder, criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, unlawful restraint of a minor...
Shogan promises transparency at hearing for National Archives leadership role
A North Huntingdon native was questioned for 30 minutes Wednesday during a Senate confirmation hearing to review her nomination to be archivist of the National Archives and Records Administration. Colleen Joy Shogan said she would provide transparency in regards to all emails and communications between the agency and the FBI...
Mt. Pleasant man facing more charges after another assault at county jail
A Mt. Pleasant man accused this week in an incident in a Westmoreland County courtroom was charged Wednesday with head-butting a second guard at the county jail in a month, according to court papers. Joe Paul Biller, 37, is facing aggravated and simple assault charges. He was being readied for...
How steep Fed rate hikes affect your finances
NEW YORK — Mortgage rates have jumped, home sales have slumped and credit cards and auto loans have gotten pricier. Savings rates are slightly juicier, though. As the Federal Reserve has rapidly increased interest rates, many economists say they fear that a recession is inevitable in the coming months —...
Trump accused of vast fraud in lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James
New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company for fraud on Wednesday, alleging they padded his net worth by billions of dollars by lying about the value of prized assets including golf courses, hotels and his homes at Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago. Attorney General Letitia James...
Biden: Russia ‘shamelessly violated’ UN Charter in UkraineVideo
UNITED NATIONS — President Joe Biden declared at the United Nations Wednesday that Russia has “shamelessly violated the core tenets” of the U.N with its “brutal, needless war” in Ukraine. He said the war is an affront to the heart of what the international body stands for as he looked...
Putin orders partial military call-up, sparking protestsVideo
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization of reservists Wednesday, taking a risky and deeply unpopular step that follows humiliating setbacks for his troops nearly seven months after invading Ukraine. The first such call-up in Russia since World War II heightened tensions with Ukraine’s Western backers,...
Pittsburgh man charged in Jan. 6 Capitol attack
A Pittsburgh man is facing misdemeanor charges after illegally entering the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack and entering the conference room of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, officials said. Thomas Carey, 21, communicated with four other men beforehand to coordinate their plans and then all illegally entered the...
Washington School District alerts families to potential monkeypox case
Washington School District alerted students and families of a potential monkeypox case at Washington Park Primary School. A student suspected of having monkeypox or another similar disease was at the school Monday, Superintendent George Lammay said in a letter to families. “The school immediately sanitized all physical locations that the...
Fauci tempers Biden’s declaration that pandemic is ‘over’
Not so fast, Mr. President. Outgoing presidential covid adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday walked back President Joe Biden’s assertion that the coronavirus pandemic was “over.” A lot depends on how we respond to current variables and future virus variants, the nation’s top infectious disease expert said during a fireside...
