Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 870
Clinics scramble to divert patients as states ban abortion
They call her, desperate, scared and often broke. Some are rape and domestic violence victims. Others are new mothers, still breastfeeding infants. Another pregnancy so soon, they say, is something they just can’t handle. “Heart wrenching,” said Angela Huntington, an abortion navigator for Planned Parenthood in Missouri, who is helping...
Trump painted in testimony as volatile, angry president
WASHINGTON — When President Donald Trump learned his attorney general had publicly rejected his election fraud claims, he heaved his lunch at the wall with such force that the porcelain plate shattered and ketchup streamed down. On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, consumed by crowd size concerns, he directed...
Mt. Pleasant-area locals wonder how Excela, Butler intended merger will impact Frick Hospital
As a merger between the Excela and Butler health systems is pursued, those in the Mt. Pleasant area are unsure how the intended merger will affect the local Excela Frick Hospital, but many wish for a positive outcome. “Mergers can go either way,” Mt. Pleasant Mayor Diane Bailey said. “I’m...
Allegheny County Democrats push for Pitt funding as Pa. budget deadline edges closer
Democrats continue to throw their full support behind the University of Pittsburgh’s funding after Pennsylvania House Republicans added a take-it-or-leave-it amendment to Pitt’s appropriation bill. Numerous Allegheny County Democrats gathered Tuesday in Harrisburg to speak in favor of Pitt and decry the amendment that would restrict state-related universities from receiving...
Giant Eagle to pay employee out-of-state travel costs for abortions
Giant Eagle Supermarkets said Tuesday it will reimburse expenses for insured employees and family members who have to travel between states for comprehensive healthcare, including access to reproductive care. The move by the O’Hara-based supermarket chain mirrors policies announced by other corporations since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week...
Foot doctor practicing in 5 counties accused in state grand jury indictment of sexually abusing a dozen women
A foot doctor with offices in five Western Pennsylvania counties faces multiple felony charges after a state grand jury heard testimony from a dozen women who accused him of sexually assaulting them during office visits. Some of the women told the grand jury that the doctor got them hooked on...
U.S. officials announce more steps against monkeypox outbreak
NEW YORK — Reacting to a surprising and growing monkeypox outbreak, U.S. health officials on Tuesday expanded the group of people recommended to get vaccinated against the monkeypox virus. They also said they are providing more monkeypox vaccine, working to expand testing, and taking other steps to try to get...
2 detained after shots fired in Downtown Pittsburgh
A man and woman have been detained for questioning in connection with gunshots fired Tuesday afternoon in downtown Pittsburgh, city police said. There were no injuries as a result of gunshots being fired near the intersection of Fort Duquesne Boulevard and Sixth Street around 3:30 p.m. Police did not say...
Supreme Court justices nix 2nd mostly Black district in Louisiana for 2022
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday put on hold a lower court ruling that Louisiana must draw new congressional districts before the 2022 elections to increase Black voting power. With the three liberal justices dissenting, the high court short-circuited an order from a federal judge to create a second...
Lawsuit alleges Allegheny County Jail failed to help man who died by suicide last year
The estate of a man with a history of suicidal thoughts and various mental health diagnoses who died by suicide last year in Allegheny County Jail is suing the county. Martin Bucek, of Shaler, died on July 3, 2021. He was 55. Dolores Bucek, the administrator of Bucek’s estate, filed...
Officials say Western Pa. can lead way in clean energy industry
The Pittsburgh region has a long history of energy production, from its former proliferation of coal mines to a more recent boom in natural gas, and it may be looking to add to that energy profile by transitioning to renewable and clean energy technology. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Energy...
51 migrants die after trailer abandoned in San Antonio heatVideo
SAN ANTONIO — Desperate families of migrants from Mexico and Central America frantically sought word of their loved ones as authorities began the grim task Tuesday of identifying 51 people who died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer without air conditioning in the sweltering Texas heat. It was the worst...
iPhone turns 15: How Apple forever changed the way we communicateVideo
It was January 2007 when Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs walked onto a stage at the MacWorld convention and introduced the world to a new kind of phone. It was called an iPhone, and it became available to the public June 29, 2007. Little did anyone know it would...
Fight over 2020 election records lands in Pennsylvania court
HARRISBURG — A county judge in Williamsport has to decide whether to force officials to provide voter-by-voter electronic election records after the state Office of Open Records ruled Pennsylvania law makes them confidential. Heather Honey, who heads the Lebanon, Pa.-based firm Haystack Investigations, sought in October a digital copy of...
FDA advisers debate updating covid booster shots for fall
Government advisers debated Tuesday if Americans should get a modified covid-19 booster shot this fall — and exactly how best to update it to fight a virus that surely will change even more by then. “That’s the problem — we’re being asked to more or less have a crystal ball...
Game warden, U.S. Steel employees rescue bald eagle; bird’s sibling helped rescuers find itVideo
Employees of U.S. Steel Irvin Works and the Pennsylvania Game Commission rescued a juvenile bald eagle in the vicinity of its nest on the steel plant’s grounds in West Mifflin. One of two young bald eagles raised at the aerie below the U.S. Steel plant along the Monongahela River took...
Councilman introduces legislation to protect abortion access in Pittsburgh
Legislation introduced to Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday aims to protect abortion in the city, even if it would at some point become restricted statewide. City Councilman Bobby Wilson sponsored three related bills hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, deciding that Americans do not have a...
Pittsburgh nurses say overturning Roe will endanger patients, increase burnout
About half a dozen nurses gathered Tuesday outside of West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield to decry the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, essentially making abortion illegal in several states. Pennsylvania still allows abortions up to 24 weeks into pregnancies and will continue at least through...
Pittsburgh man who won right to new trial pleads guilty to 3rd-degree murder
A man from Pittsburgh’s Overbrook neighborhood who won the right to a new trial 13 years after he was convicted of accidentally killing his great aunt in Perry North pleaded guilty Tuesday to third-degree murder. Jayquon Massey, 32, was ordered to serve 14 to 28 years in prison as part...
Airbnb permanently bans parties at its rental locations
SAN FRANCISCO — Airbnb is making permanent its ban on parties at homes listed on the site for short-term rentals. The San Francisco company believes the ban has worked, saying Tuesday that reports of parties at listed properties have dropped 44% from a year ago. More than 6,600 guests were...
Pittsburgh zoning amendment clears way for proposed Oakland Crossings
A zoning amendment approved Tuesday by Pittsburgh City Council clears the way for the proposed Oakland Crossings development to proceed. Walnut Capital, the Shadyside developer that revitalized the East End’s Bakery Square, needed City Council to approve the zoning change in a portion of Oakland so it can move ahead...
Target set to open in historic Kaufmann’s building
Target is scheduled to open in the old Kaufmann’s building in Downtown Pittsburgh next month. The grand opening for the Fifth Avenue store is slated for July 17, said Maddie Wojtalewicz, a Target spokesperson. “At approximately 22,000 square feet, the store will bring an easy, safe and convenient shopping experience...
2 charged in rash of vehicle break-ins in Westmoreland County
Two people are facing charges in connection with more than two dozen vehicle break-ins across Westmoreland County, according to court papers. Troopers said the suspects — Shelby Lynn Stamm, 26, of Youngstown and John Mitchell Hughes, 30, of Orlando, Fla. — stole cash, guns, designer sunglasses, wallets and other items....
Aide: Trump dismissed Jan. 6 threats, wanted to join crowd
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump dismissed the presence of armed protesters headed to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and even endorsed their calls to “hang Mike Pence,” a key former White House aide told House investigators Tuesday, describing chaotic scenes inside and outside the executive mansion as Trump...
Sheetz offers gas for as low as $3.49 a gallon through Fourth of July holiday
With many people traveling for the Fourth of July holiday, Sheetz is offering some of its gas options at lower prices. Effective immediately, Sheetz will drop prices on Unleaded 88 to $3.99 a gallon and E85 to $3.49 per gallon. The discount will be available “through the July 4th holiday...
