Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 889
Pittsburgh City Council considers new stop-and-frisk policy for police
A new stop-and-frisk policy being considered by Pittsburgh City Council would require police to document why they are stopping and searching a pedestrian before they do so. Officers would need to use a body-worn camera or vehicle-mounted recording device to document their reasonable suspicion for initiating a stop-and-frisk, according to...
Gas price-shocked Pennsylvanians looking for relief, but Harrisburg unlikely to provide it any time soon
While a spokesperson for AAA says near-record gasoline prices could rise higher — the Pennsylvania average was $4.76 a gallon on Tuesday — relief seems unlikely to come from Harrisburg any time soon. Initiatives to help consumers from both Gov. Wolf’s office and the state Legislature have failed to gain...
New covid cases drop 15% in Pennsylvania’s latest report; deaths nearly double
In its weekly update on covid-19 Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 24,862 new cases in the past week. The latest batch of cases are 15% fewer than last week’s report of 29,227. Pennsylvania is now averaging 3,552 new cases per day. Despite the lower number new cases, the...
North Huntingdon man pleads guilty to killing Penn Township couple
The man who was brazen enough to gun down their brother and his girlfriend last year refused to even make eye contact with Seth and Zack Erdeljac as they sat in court for his sentencing Wednesday. “Evil does exist in this world, and it is sitting here in the courtroom...
Excela, Butler health systems announce merger, creating region’s 3rd hospital giant
A third Southwestern Pennsylvania health care conglomerate is in the works, as Excela Health and Butler Health System on Wednesday announced an intent to merge. “We believe strongly that our new partnership will extend our intellectual and financial capital,” John Sphon, Excela Health chief executive officer, said in a prepared...
McKees Rocks man pleads guilty in 2015 slaying of widower
A McKees Rocks man pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing an 81-year-old widower in Kennedy seven years ago. Stephen Day, 39, will serve 10 to 60 years in state prison under a plea agreement reached in the case. He pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, burglary, theft and receiving stolen property before...
Guns overtake cars as leading cause of death for U.S. kids
For decades, the biggest threat kids faced growing up came from the automobiles they happily hopped into every day for a trip to school, the store or soccer practice. Now, it’s gunfire. As the country mourns its latest school shooting victims in Uvalde, Texas, it also has reached a grim...
Uvalde school police chief says he’s still cooperatingVideo
UVALDE, Texas — The school district police chief who served as on-site commander during last week’s deadly shooting in Uvalde, Texas, said Wednesday that he’s talking daily with investigators, contradicting claims from state law enforcement that he has stopped cooperating. In a brief interview, Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police...
John Hinckley to get full freedom 41 years after shooting President Reagan
WASHINGTON — John Hinckley Jr., who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981, is “no longer a danger to himself or others” and will be freed from court oversight this month as planned, a federal judge said Wednesday, capping Hinckley’s four-decade journey through the legal and mental health systems. U.S. District...
More than dozen vehicles vandalized in Downtown Pittsburgh parking garage
More than a dozen cars were vandalized in a Downtown Pittsburgh garage overnight, according to Tribune-review news partner WPXI-TV. The cars were parked on several floors in the Oliver Garage located between Smithfield and Wood streets. Windshields, back windows and mirrors were smashed on cars. At least two fire extinguishers...
Man shot to death, woman wounded in Pittsburgh’s Homewood
Pittsburgh homicide detectives are investigating a shooting in Homewood that left a man dead and a woman injured. Police and medics responded to a ShotSpotter alert for 11 shots being fired in the 7700 block of Frankstown Avenue just before 1 a.m., Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson Cara Cruz said. The...
Survivor of Parkland, Fla., school shooting joins Pittsburgh leaders in calling for gun reform
A survivor of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla. on Monday visited Pittsburgh and joined local teachers and other activists in calling for action to prevent future school shootings and other acts of gun violence. David Hogg has dedicated himself to fighting for gun reform since the Parkland shooting....
Write-in candidate wins Democratic primary to run for 55th District state House seat
A retired corporate executive has won the Democratic primary to run for the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives seat in the 55th District. Westmoreland County elections officials Tuesday issued a precertification of results from the May primary that included more than 600 write-in votes for Scott Gauss of Murrysville in...
Greensburg woman resentenced for 2010 torture killing of mentally disabled victim
The youngest member of a group of six Greensburg roommates convicted for the 2010 torture slaying of a mentally disabled woman will be eligible for parole at the age of 78 under a new sentence imposed Tuesday. Angela Marinucci, now 29, was resentenced to a term of 60 years to...
18-month-old’s fatal shooting marked 8th homicide of a child in Pittsburgh region this year
De’Avry Thomas’ death Sunday in Downtown Pittsburgh gave him the tragic demarcation of being the city’s youngest homicide victim this year, which has seen more young people fall victim to gun violence — a grim trend of recent years. The 18-month-old child was buckled into his car seat Sunday afternoon...
Gift ban, other good-government changes stall in Pa. despite promises from leadership
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 — Rabbi Michael Pollack stood at a podium in the Capitol, just steps away from where the legislature meets, to...
Supreme Court order could affect Pennsylvania Senate count
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily blocked the counting of some mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, an order that could affect the tight Republican Senate primary between former hedge fund CEO David McCormick and celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz. An order from Justice Samuel Alito paused a lower-court...
Freeport Road to remain closed until further notice in aftermath of Harmar derailment
Freeport Run Road will remain closed between the Hulton Bridge and Guys Run Road through the rest of the week or possibly longer, officials said. Allegheny Valley Regional Emergency Management Agency coordinator Bruno Moretti said the tank cars have been offloaded and emptied. The focus is on cleaning up and...
Highmark reports $150M net loss in 1st quarter, citing market volatility, inflation
Highmark Health reported a net loss of $150 million in the first quarter of 2022, driven by losses from the company’s stock market portfolio and increased costs at the company’s large hospital system, Allegheny Health Network. Financial reports released by Highmark showed the company brought in $6.4 billion in revenue...
Stowe man accused of firing shots at Pittsburgh sanitation workers
A Stowe man who police said opened fire on two Pittsburgh environmental services workers last week was taken into custody Tuesday, according to police. Henry Rainey, 37, faces two counts of aggravated assault. Police said he fired on two men collecting trash in the city’s Fairywood neighborhood on May 23....
GoFundMe established for 12-year-old struck while riding hoverboard in South Huntingdon
Family and friends of a 12-year-old girl who was critically injured Saturday when she was pinned beneath a pickup while riding a hoverboard in South Huntingdon continue to wish for her recovery and have set up a GoFundMe account to defray expenses. Peyton Benner, a sixth grader at Yough Middle...
Clinton 2016 campaign lawyer acquitted of lying to the FBI
WASHINGTON — A lawyer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign was acquitted Tuesday of lying to the FBI when he pushed information meant to cast suspicions on Donald Trump and Russia in the run-up to the 2016 election. The case against Michael Sussmann was the first courtroom test of special...
Youth groups now permitted to camp in Pittsburgh parks
Youth groups will now be permitted to camp in Pittsburgh’s parks. Pittsburgh City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to allow youth organizations to obtain permits to camp in city parks. “I am going to continue to say that I hope we become independent of using organizations to use our parks,” Council...
Wolf: Money could be spent to address gun violence but ‘we cannot ignore the elephant in the room’
Gov. Tom Wolf is calling on policymakers to “be open to the things that work” to address gun violence “but we cannot ignore the elephant in the room and that is guns.” During an interview Tuesday morning on KDKA radio, Wolf reacted to last week’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary...
Man accused of leading police on 120 mph pursuit on Route 22 before crashing in Salem
A Baltimore man is accused of leading state troopers on a 5-mile pursuit through a construction zone on Route 22 Sunday at speeds of 120 mph before crashing his car over a guardrail at the Route 66 interchange in Salem, according to court records. Steven T. Randall, 42, is charged...
