Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 855
Pittsburgh Jewish, Black leaders call out Doug Mastriano for ties to Gab social platform
A group of prominent Jewish and Black Pittsburgh leaders on Thursday condemned Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano for his ties to the right-wing social media platform Gab. Gab is a site accessed by the accused Tree of Life shooter Robert Bowers, who used the platform to share conspiracy theories targeting...
Pittsburgh Public Schools taps Wayne Walters as superintendent
Wayne Walters, who has been working as interim superintendent, will become the permanent head of Pittsburgh Public Schools after a national search concluded he remained the top candidate to fill the role, school board officials said Thursday. School board President Sala Udin pointed to Walters’ “career-long dedication to high standards,”...
House OKs bill to protect contraception from Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — The right to use contraceptives would be enshrined in law under a measure that Democrats pushed through the House on Thursday, their latest campaign-season response to concerns a conservative Supreme Court that already erased federal abortion rights could go further. The House’s 228-195 roll call was largely along...
Activist pleads guilty to trying to set fire to 2 Pittsburgh pizza shops
A Pittsburgh activist and art curator said that when she attempted to start a fire at two different pizza shops one night in October 2019 that she was mentally exhausted from fighting against a racist system. “My brain broke,” Nicky Jo Dawson told a judge on Thursday. “It, literally, was...
Ex-Pitt emergency management director gets probation for stealing/reselling PPE
Christopher Casamento earned $95,000 as the director of emergency management at the University of Pittsburgh. It was a job he went to school for and loved. But he lost it and more when he stole more than 13,000 pieces of personal protective equipment from the stockpile that he oversaw to...
Professional wrestling training school coming to downtown New Kensington
Michael Young wants to show that there’s more to professional wrestling than what many people think. Young, 27, a Lower Burrell native living in Bloomfield, is the current singles champion for Pittsburgh-based Enjoy Wrestling, where he’s known as MV Young. He is opening a wrestling school, Technique 2 Train Pittsburgh,...
Republicans challenge Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law anew
HARRISBURG — Republicans have sued again in an attempt to throw out Pennsylvania’s broad mail-in voting law, even as the state’s highest court considers a separate lawsuit aimed at wiping out a law that lost favor with Republicans following former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud. It is...
Biden tests positive for covid-19, has ‘mild symptoms’Video
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden tested positive for covid-19 on Thursday and is experiencing “very mild symptoms,” the White House said, as new variants of the highly contagious virus are challenging the nation’s efforts to get back to normal after two and a half years of pandemic disruptions. White House...
Longtime Allegheny County solicitor resigns, sworn-in as Common Pleas Judge
Longtime Allegheny County solicitor Andy Szefi resigned his post on Wednesday to be sworn in to the Court of Common Pleas judgeship to which he was appointed earlier this year. Szefi, the county’s top attorney for a decade, was appointed to the position by Gov. Tom Wolf, and he was...
A beginner’s guide to requesting public records on Pa. law enforcement
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. Disputes over public records reached a record high last year, with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records reporting 322 appeals involving...
More than 2 million covid vaccines discarded across Pa. as doses expire
A year and a half ago, as the demand for the newly released covid-19 vaccines far and away outstripped the minute supply, shot-seekers rushed clinics and fought desperate battles to snag short-lived appointment openings online. Now, however, as demand for the vaccines falls to its lowest point, thousands of vaccines...
Harrison library reveals ‘Secrets of the Allegheny River,’ including long-popular Jack’s Island
Growing up in 1940s Natrona, Mary Ann Debor didn’t have to look far for a perfect riverfront getaway. Her family was among a dozen who built wooden cabins on Jack’s Island, an idyllic retreat plopped in the middle of the Allegheny River between Harrison and Lower Burrell. “We had a...
Pressure on Senate GOP after same-sex marriage passes House
WASHINGTON — The Senate unexpectedly launched a new push Wednesday to protect same-sex marriage in federal law after a surprising number of Republicans helped pass landmark legislation in the House. Some GOP senators are already signaling support. The legislation started as an election-season political effort to confront the new Supreme...
AP-NORC poll: Majority want Congress to keep abortion legal
WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans say Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide, according to a new poll that finds over half say they feel at least somewhat “sad” or “angry” about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The high court’s decision...
White House insiders to talk about Trump’s actions on Jan. 6
WASHINGTON — Matthew Pottinger was a journalist in China, concerned about the country’s drift toward authoritarianism, when he decided — at age 31 — to enlist in the U.S. Marines after the invasion of Iraq. “Our form of government is not inevitable,” Pottinger recalled thinking during an interview two years...
Senators propose changes to electors law after Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators agreed Wednesday on proposed changes to the Electoral Count Act, the post-Civil War-era law for certifying presidential elections that came under intense scrutiny after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. Long in the...
Morgan Wallen’s Burgettstown show sold out; fans asked to carpool, arrive early
Fans of country musician Morgan Wallen are being asked to arrive early or consider carpooling for Thursday’s sold-out show at The Pavilion at Star Lake near Burgettstown. Fans must have tickets to enter parking lots, which open at 3 p.m. Early entry parking opens at 1 p.m. The show is...
Troy Hill Fire House granted historic designation
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday granted historic designation to the Troy Hill Fire House. The two-story brick structure, located on Ley Street, is now used for civil service purposes. The city’s Planning Commission unanimously recommended the site for historic designation, after the Historic Review Board made the same recommendation. City...
Beaver County man dies after Glen Osborne motorcycle crash
A Beaver County man died of injuries sustained during a motorcycle crash Wednesday afternoon in Glen Osborne, according to Allegheny County Police. Emergency crews responded to a motorcycle-vehicle crash around 3:40 p.m. near the intersection of Ohio River Boulevard and River Road. The man driving the motorcycle, 62-year-old Shawn Grimm...
New Kensington man accused of attacking caregiver with shovel handle
A New Kensington man is accused of assaulting a caregiver with the cut-off handle of a shovel. Police charged Marvin Tyree Hall, 36, of Constitution Boulevard with two felony counts of aggravated assault and a misdemeanor count of simple assault. Police said the assault was reported shortly after 11 a.m....
Pennsylvania certifies primary election in 64 of 67 counties
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania has certified the results of primary elections from 64 of 67 counties, leaving out three counties in a growing legal dispute over whether to count mail-in ballots on which the voter didn’t handwrite a date, state officials said Wednesday. Certification of the remaining three counties — Berks,...
Westmoreland residents can help map next phase of broadband expansion through survey
Westmoreland residents over the next several months will be asked to help map out an expansion of broadband internet in the county. Officials this week announced the kickoff of a survey of the existing broadband infrastructure and service areas as part of an effort to enhance accessibility throughout the more...
Westmoreland DA to add information officer, fiscal coordinator/grant writer
Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said three new jobs in her office will improve transparency and enhance the prosecutor’s efforts to secure additional public funding for services. The county’s salary board, which includes the three commissioners and Controller Jeffrey Balzer, signed off on Ziccarelli’s plan to create the new...
Indiana Republicans propose banning abortion with exceptions
INDIANAPOLIS — Leaders of Indiana’s Republican-dominated Senate on Wednesday proposed banning abortion with limited exceptions — a move that comes amid a political firestorm over a 10-year-old rape victim who came to the state from neighboring Ohio to end her pregnancy. The proposal will be taken up during a special...
Judge refuses to lift restrictions for Mechanicsburg woman accused of stealing Pelosi’s laptop at Capitol riot
A Cumberland County woman accused of stealing Nancy Pelosi’s laptop during the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol will continue to be confined to her home and must wear an ankle monitor leading up to her trial, according to a judge’s ruling. Riley Williams, 23, of Mechanicsburg, previously filed...
