Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 862
Here’s what you need to know about Pa.’s new child care tax credit
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. HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf has approved a new, permanent child care tax credit that will allow families to claim thousands...
Poll: Many young, educated Republicans ready to move on from Trump
A day after a New York Times poll indicated that a majority of Democrats do not want President Joe Biden as their 2024 candidate, a second poll shows that most young Republicans do not want Donald Trump to win their party’s nomination. The New York Times/Siena College poll showed that...
Panel says more accountability would make policing safer for communities, officers
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. Missed Spotlight PA’s event about the limitations of Pennsylvania’s police hiring database? Here are five of the most interesting takeaways from...
Cheney: Trump attempted to contact Jan. 6 witnessVideo
WASHINGTON — The Jan. 6 committee revealed Tuesday that Donald Trump has attempted to contact a witness who was in discussions with the panel about its investigation of the former president and the 2021 attack on the Capitol. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said that person declined to answer or respond...
Pittsburgh City Council special election to be held in November
A special election to fill a vacancy on Pittsburgh City Council will take place on Nov. 8, the same day as the general election. The election will determine who will replace Corey O’Connor, who stepped down to become Allegheny County Controller. O’Connor — the son of former Pittsburgh Mayor Bob...
Kiski Township supervisors to vote on hiring 2 police officers
The Kiski Township supervisors will vote on hiring two police officers during their meeting Wednesday. Four of the township’s six officers and the police secretary quit last week over claims of harassment and intimidation, former Sgt. Thomas Dessell said. The township supervisors hired a new police chief, Lee Bartolicius, last...
Man hospitalized in Pittsburgh after shooting
A man was hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday night as a result of a being shot in the thigh, Pittsburgh police said. Police in the city’s East End neighborhood said they were notified that the man had been driven to the hospital by a private vehicle at 8:30 p.m. Police...
Pentagon: U.S. kills IS group leader in Syria in drone strike
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Tuesday that it killed a leader of the Islamic State group in Syria in a drone strike. U.S. Central Command said in a news release that Maher al-Agal was killed Tuesday and an unidentified senior official in the Islamic State group was seriously injured. The...
Wolf says he’ll protect abortion seekers
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf is following in the footsteps of other Democratic governors following the U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion ruling and looking to protect patients who travel to Pennsylvania for the procedure from being prosecuted by their home states. Wolf on Tuesday said in a statement that he would...
Judge orders forfeiture of 17 guns possessed by Unity man, suspect in disappearance
Seventeen guns belonging to a Unity man suspected in the 2018 disappearance of Cassandra Gross were ordered to be forfeited in an unrelated federal weapons case. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak on Monday granted a preliminary forfeiture order in the case against Thomas G. Stanko, 51. The order...
Pittsburgh man acquitted in death of college friend during 2021 Hawaii vacation
A jury in Hawaii acquitted a Pittsburgh man last week for the death of his friend during a vacation on the Big Island last year. Benjamin Fleming, 39, a Carnegie Mellon graduate, was found not guilty of manslaughter. Fleming and friends Abhishik Gupta of Pittsburgh and Alexander Germany-Wald of Boston,...
Jan. 6 committee to connect Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and QAnon to Trump alliesVideo
WASHINGTON — The committee investigating the Capitol insurrection will focus for the first time this week on the relationship between people in former President Donald Trump’s orbit and the extremist groups that planned and orchestrated the violence on Jan. 6, 2021. The hearing could be one of the most consequential...
Western Pa. dentist on trial for wife’s 2016 safari death in ZambiaVideo
DENVER — A shotgun blast that shattered the early-morning tranquility of a remote southern Africa national park nearly six years ago, killing a U.S. woman, resonates again in a Denver courtroom this week as the founder of a dental franchise goes on trial for allegedly killing his wife and collecting...
Biden admin: Docs must offer abortion if mom’s life at risk
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Monday told hospitals that they “must” provide abortion services if the life of the mother is at risk, saying federal law on emergency treatment guidelines preempts state laws in jurisdictions that now ban the procedure without any exceptions following the Supreme Court’s decision to...
New Kensington police seek help finding 17-year-old runaway
New Kensington police are asking for the public’s help in finding a missing teenager. Police said Patience Johnson, 17, is listed as a runaway. Police did not say when she was reported missing or how long she has been gone. Johnson has been listed as a runaway before, police said....
Man accused of assaulting paramedics, troopers responding to overdose call outside Hempfield casino
A man being treated by Mutual Aid Ambulance late Saturday outside Live! Casino Pittsburgh in Hempfield is accused of assaulting responding paramedics and troopers, according to court dockets. Cameron Vaughn Starr, 28, of Manor, is being held in the county prison on two felony counts of aggravated assault and other...
Course offering high school students insight on a career with state police expands to Westmoreland County
A new Pennsylvania State Police 14-week program for high school students is expanding into Westmoreland County this fall. Trooper Clint Long, who works in the recruiting services section, said the free program will help teens ages 15 to 18 understand the role of the agency and its troopers, as well...
Many Democrats would prefer another candidate than Biden, poll shows
Most Democrats want to see a candidate other than President Joe Biden on the ballot in 2024, according to a new poll. A separate analysis shows Biden has a lower approval rating at this point in his presidency than any president since Harry S. Truman in the 1940s. A New...
Police: Texas trucker jailed after breaking into South Huntingdon horse barn, fighting with troopers
A state trooper was accidentally tased Saturday evening while attempting to arrest a Texas truck driver accused of trying to break into a South Huntingdon garage, according to court papers. Police said Simran P. Virk, 31, of San Antonio, was foaming at the mouth and had used synthetic marijuana and...
Penn Hills store sells jackpot-winning Cash 5 ticket
A jackpot-winning Pennsylvania Lottery Cash 5 ticket was sold in Penn Hills, the lottery announced Monday. The winning Cash 5 with Quick Cash ticket for Sunday’s drawing was sold at Stop N Shop on Frankstown Road. It matched all five balls drawn — 5, 8, 27, 35 and 42 —...
Pa. lawmakers agreed to a big election funding deal — with strings attached
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. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers have agreed to give counties $45 million in new election funding as part of the state budget,...
2 medical helicopters dispatched to crash in Unity, firefighters say
Two patients were flown by medical helicopters to trauma centers in Pittsburgh after a head-on collision Monday on Route 982 in Unity, according to firefighters. The collision occurred at 5:58 a.m. at the highway’s intersection at Coventry Lane in the vicinity of Glengarry Golf Course, said Pleasant Unity fire Chief...
Pittsburgh gas prices falling but remain higher than state, national averages
Gasoline prices are continuing to fall across the state and nation but remain stubbornly higher in the Pittsburgh region, according to AAA and GasBuddy. AAA was reporting the national average at $4.68 per gallon Monday, down about 13 cents in one week and about 32 cents from a month ago....
Trump associates’ ties to extremists probed by Jan. 6 panel
After members of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, their leader called someone on the phone with an urgent message for then-President Donald Trump, another extremist told investigators. While gathered in a private suite at the Phoenix Park Hotel, an Oath Keeper...
Over-the-counter birth control? Drugmaker seeks FDA approval
WASHINGTON — For the first time, a pharmaceutical company has asked for permission to sell a birth control pill over the counter in the U.S. HRA Pharma’s application on Monday sets up a high-stakes decision for health regulators amid legal and political battles over women’s reproductive health. The company says...
