Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 890
Monessen superintendent charged with indecent exposure, open lewdness
The superintendent for the Monessen School District was charged with indecent exposure and open lewdness after police say she was discovered in a state of undress with a man in the parking lot of a county-owned apartment complex. Charleroi Regional Police were called to the Nathan Goff Jr. Apartments on...
Rising U.S. traffic deaths put focus on 1 Philadelphia road
PHILADELPHIA — Just one more step and the stroller would have been on the curb. The thought haunts Latanya Byrd years after a driver racing down Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia struck and killed her 27-year-old niece, Samara Banks, and three of Banks’ young sons as they crossed the 12-lane road....
Greensburg man charged with rape, sexually assaulting 2 girls in 1990s
A 64-year-old Greensburg man was arrested by state police Friday after he was accused of raping and repeatedly sexually assaulting a girl over five years in the 1990s and sexually assaulting another girl during the same time period, according to court records. Morton W. Thomson Jr., 64, was arraigned on...
Allegheny Land Trust secures capital to preserve 75 acres in Sewickley Hills
The goal has been met. Sewickley-based Allegheny Land Trust announced on May 26 that it successfully met a $1 million campaign to purchase and preserve a 75-acre property in Sewickley Hills. The nonprofit is expected to close his month on the Buerkle Woodlands, which sit at the northwest corner of...
Conny Creek Brewing taps into increased business with brew truck
Members of the Layton family of North Apollo continue to pour their energy into two businesses celebrating suds, food and socializing. Conny Creek Brewing Company, with locations in Allegheny Township and Saxonburg, is a family-friendly brewpub serving craft beers brewed in-house by brewmaster Lee Layton. Layton is a co-owner with...
Western Pennsylvania population continues to trickle downward
Municipalities across Southwestern Pennsylvania continued to lose populations between 2020 and 2021, estimates show, a continuation of a decadeslong slide felt across the region. Those trends were largely visible in Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh saw one of the biggest population declines across the state between July 2020 and July 2021,...
‘Rockin’ Roosevelt’ to bring 11 bands to Arnold park
Jim Varhola spent a lot of his youth in playgrounds around his home in Springdale. “That’s what we did — we played soccer, softball, football. I don’t know what I would have done without the parks we had,” said Varhola, of Upper Burrell. “It’s important to have those things available...
Rider recounts being stranded upside down on Kennywood’s Aero 360
Coraopolis resident Alexandra Schneider said it felt like an eternity — the five minutes that a Kennywood spokesperson said the Aero 360 was stuck upside down at the West Mifflin park. She could feel a headache coming on as the pressure from being upside rushed to her head. The 33-year-old...
Gold Star Mothers honored during Trafford Memorial Day program
Trafford resident Christine Fike marked Memorial Day by laying roses at the base of a hometown monument that is dedicated to Gold Star mothers. Fike is one of those mothers who has lost a child killed while serving in the U.S. armed forces. Her 38-year-old son, Sgt. First Class Robert...
Florida 5th grader accused of making school shooting threat
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A 10-year-old Florida fifth grade student has been arrested after making a school threat, sheriff’s officials said. Investigators learned of the threats made by the boy on Saturday and arrested him, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a social media post. “This student’s behavior is...
WHO: Monkeypox won’t turn into pandemic, but many unknowns
LONDON — The World Health Organization’s top monkeypox expert said she doesn’t expect the hundreds of cases reported to date to turn into another pandemic, but acknowledged there are still many unknowns about the disease, including how exactly it’s spreading and whether the suspension of mass smallpox immunization decades ago...
2 charged in shooting that killed infant in Downtown Pittsburgh; 1 at large
One man is in custody and another is on the run, wanted in connection with the drive-by shooting Sunday that killed an 18-month-old infant, authorities said Monday night. Markez Anger, 23, is wanted on charges of homicide and conspiracy. The midday shooting, at the height of the holiday weekend in...
Pittsburgh begins gathering community input on 2023 budgets
Pittsburgh’s Office of Management and Budget is inviting city residents to share their input regarding the city’s 2023 capital and operating budgets through virtual forums and online surveys. The capital budget funds projects that design, build, restore or purchase city-owned assets, have a minimum value of $50,000 and have a...
Educator joins West Overton staff as whiskey distiller
The real potency of the whiskey being produced at West Overton Village is its ability to capture in barrels and bottles the history of the rural community’s 19th century industrial transformation. So it seems natural those in charge of the East Huntingdon museum complex turned to a home-brewing enthusiast with...
Biden sees chance of ‘rational’ Republican approach on guns
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday that the “Second Amendment was never absolute” and that, after the Texas elementary school shooting, there may be some bipartisan support to tighten restrictions on the kind of high-powered weapons used by the gunman. “I think things have gotten so bad that everybody’s...
A dad’s anguish outside Texas school while shooting unfolded
UVALDE, Texas — Javier Cazares raced to his daughter’s school when he heard there was a shooting, leaving his truck running with the door open as he ran into the school yard. In his rush, he didn’t bring his gun. He spent the next 35 to 45 agonizing minutes scanning...
Coal ash workers dying as lawsuit over illnesses drags on
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In 2013, the first of more than 200 workers who labored to clean up the nation’s worst coal ash spill filed a suit against the contractor, blaming Jacobs Engineering for illnesses they believe were caused by exposure to heavy metals and radioactive particles in the ash. Nearly...
Fallen soldiers honored throughout Alle-Kiski Valley on Memorial DayVideo
Memorial Day is much more than just parades and picnics. Some people mark the holiday as the unofficial start of summer, while others remember to pay tribute to those who served in the military. In Vandergrift, a multi-stop morning of patriotic tributes kicked off around 7:30 a.m. Monday, hosted by...
Last of derailed Norfolk Southern cars removed from Guys Run; Freeport Road remains closed
The last of the Norfolk Southern tanker cars that toppled into Guys Run Creek during a derailment last week in Harmar have been removed, officials said Sunday. “The last tank car containing petroleum distillate was removed from the creek this morning, and all rail cars have now been removed from...
Police: 1-year-old victim identified in Downtown Pittsburgh shooting, suspect vehicle found
The sunny holiday weekend was shattered midday Sunday when someone opened fire on a car in Downtown Pittsburgh, killing the 18-month-old baby who was inside with his mother. The infant was pronounced dead at the scene. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the child as De’Avry Thomas. Officials said...
Gun sales, permits surged during the pandemic in Philly and Pennsylvania
In Uvalde, Texas, a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school, after picking up two powerful, AR-15-style rifles ordered through an online seller shortly after his 18th birthday — something that would have also been perfectly legal in Pennsylvania. Here, over the last two years, more...
Riderless horse marks Memorial Day ceremonies in North HuntingdonVideo
For the past two years, Memorial Day ceremonies at the Penn Lincoln Memorial Park in North Huntingdon have included a “riderless horse,” with military boots facing backward in the bootstraps, a tribute to soldiers lost over the years. One of those soldiers was Army Signal Corps member Daniel Tomko, who...
Uvalde tells Biden to ‘do something’; he pledges ‘we will’
UVALDE, Texas — President Joe Biden sought Sunday to comfort a city grieving the killings of 19 elementary school pupils and two teachers at the hands of a lone gunman. Faced with chants of “do something” as he departed a church service to meet privately with the families, Biden responded:...
Christian nationalism on the rise in some GOP campaigns
PITTSBURGH — The victory party took on the feel of an evangelical worship service after Doug Mastriano won Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial primary this month. As a Christian singer led the crowd in song, some raised their arms toward the heavens in praise. Mastriano opened his remarks by evoking Scripture: “God...
State police: Mercer County cold case closed after 4 decades
Pennsylvania state police say modern DNA testing and genealogy methods allowed them to close a 42-year-old Mercer County cold case and provide closure to the victim’s family. The remains of Edwin Rodriguez, of Chicago, Ill., discovered in 1980 in Wolf Creek Township, were positively identified and returned to his family,...
