Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 911
Shooter threat closes Imani Christian Academy in Pittsburgh’s East Hills
A threat of violence has closed a private Pittsburgh school Thursday. Imani Christian Academy in the city’s East Hills section is closed due to a shooter threat, according to an alert on the school’s website. Pittsburgh police are investigating. School officials were not immediately able to be reached, but classes...
Farmers markets reopening in Westmoreland County
Farmers markets are springing up in the region, including a sale this Saturday in Greensburg. About 15 vendors will be selling their homemade products at the farmers market from 9 a.m. to noon at Lynch Field in Greensburg, said Paul Sarver, manager of the Farmers Market Association of Central Westmoreland,...
Democratic lawmaker: Biden suggests he’ll ease student loan burden
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has signaled he might forgive some student loan debt and further extend the federal moratorium on repayments, a lawmaker who discussed the issue with him said Wednesday. The White House was notably more measured about Biden’s stance, but such moves would be a boon to...
Federal judge halts preparations for end of U.S. asylum limits
NEW ORLEANS — The Biden administration must stop what amounts to the phasing out a pandemic-related public health rule allowing the expulsion of migrants without giving them an opportunity to seek asylum, a federal judge in Louisiana ruled Wednesday. The administration plans to end the policy outright on May 23....
Lawyer for Greensburg shooting suspect claims self defense
The lawyer for a man awaiting trial for attempted murder told a judge his client acted in self defense when he fired one shot during a melee outside Rialto Cafe in Greensburg. Defense attorney T. Brent McCune said 23-year-old Evan Curley of Greensburg was acting to protect himself as bullets...
Josh Shapiro’s vast donor base has positioned him to enter general election campaign flush with cash
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 — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro has raised nearly $18 million in campaign contributions over the past 15 months —...
Avian flu hits ducks, chickens, eagles in Pa.; officials ask public to report dead birds
Avian flu cases in wild birds, including eagles and ducks, are growing in Pennsylvania. The first detection at a poultry farm, where birds are especially vulnerable to the flu, was flagged April 16 in Lancaster. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced more detections in three commercial flocks, also in...
Greensburg Night Market opens with larger footprint, more vendors
The monthly Greensburg Night Market returns Thursday for its fourth year, with an expanded footprint covering three downtown city blocks. Set for 5:30-9 p.m., the market will stretch along South Pennsylvania Avenue from West Otterman Street to West Third Street. About 80 vendors will be present. “We’ve been wanting to...
Fauci: ‘Pandemic phase’ over for U.S., but covid still hereVideo
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday the coronavirus is under better control in the United States. but the pandemic isn’t over — and the challenge is how to keep improving the situation. “We are in a different moment of the pandemic,” said Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, in an...
Hempfield family unhurt in what they describe as explosion that sounded ‘like a gunshot’
A Hempfield home was damaged Wednesday morning after an incident that its occupants described as sounding “like a gunshot,” according to homeowner David Elliott. Firefighters were called to Cree Drive in the township’s Fort Allen neighborhood around 8 a.m. and found the home’s windows had been pushed out of their...
Pittsburgh area experts have mixed reactions to Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase
It was Remington shaver spokesman Victor Kiam who famously said, “I like it so much, I bought the company.” For Elon Musk, the opposite is true. The world’s richest man, according to Forbes Magazine, Musk reached an agreement to buy Twitter for $44 billion on Monday and then said he...
Therapy dogs ease stress for college students during finals
The perfect remedy to college finals stress? Puppy love. On Tuesday, Pitt-Greensburg students gathered in the Fireside Lounge to hang out with a posse of pups — including a Dalmatian, beagle and sheepadoodle — from Youngwood Top Dog Services. Therapy dogs have become increasingly popular on college campuses to bring...
New event space to open at Live! Casino Pittsburgh
A new event and entertainment space is slated to open this summer at Live! Casino Pittsburgh. Located in Hempfield’s Westmoreland Mall, the 7,000-square-foot space dubbed The Venue at Live! Casino is scheduled to open in late June. The space, which can hold up to 780 people and has an adjustable...
Pittsburgh man federally indicted on charges related to several robberies in Allegheny County
A Pittsburgh man arrested in connection with four armed robberies in March, including two in which people were shot, now faces federal charges. Eric Jones, 32, of the city’s East Hills neighborhood has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of robbery, attempted robbery and firearms violations, authorities...
Republican Senate candidates meet in live debate, but without front-runnersVideo
Several Republican candidates participated in a prime-time debate for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey. The debate was chaotic, with most candidates dodging questions, instead speaking out about alleged voter fraud and criticizing other candidates. There are seven Senate candidates running in Pennsylvania’s Republican...
Disney tells investors Florida can’t dissolve special district without paying debt
MIAMI — As Florida legislators were rushing through passage of a bill to repeal the special district that governs Walt Disney World last week, they failed to notice an obscure provision in state law that says the state could not do what legislators were doing — unless the district’s bond...
I-70 work at Yukon, Madison exits triggers detours; Route 22 rehab to continue in Salem
Motorists who are heading east on Interstate 70 and intend to use the Yukon or Madison exits in Westmoreland County can expect to encounter detours this week as crews from contractor Trumbull Corp. work on improving the two interchanges. Closures of eastbound ramps at the exits, and resulting detours, were...
Video: Pa. Republican candidates for U.S. Senate debateVideo
A debate between Republican candidates vying for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat was held Tuesday night and featured Kathy Barnette, Jeff Bartos, Carla Sands, George Bochoetto and Sean Gale. Spotlight PA organized the debate with its media partners The Philadelphia Inquirer, PennLIVE/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and WITF Public Media. The event,...
Penn Hills man sentenced to 2 years in federal prison for traveling extensively while on supervised release
A Penn Hills felon who wasn’t supposed to travel outside of Western Pennsylvania after serving 14 years in prison was found to have gone on at least 14 trips to places such as Las Vegas, Disney World and Los Angeles. Federal authorities say Kevin Carter, 50, was busted when he...
Police: Man in critical condition after being shot in Wilkinsburg
A man was in critical condition after being shot in Wilkinsburg on Tuesday afternoon, according to Allegheny County Police. Officers were dispatched around 2:45 p.m. for a shooting along the 500 block of Franklin Avenue. First responders found the man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. He was...
Unity man convicted of child rape, sexual assaults
A Unity man was convicted Tuesday of the rape of one child and sexual assault of another. Following a four-day trial, a Westmoreland County jury found Steven M. Cope Jr. guilty of 10 counts including rape of a child and multiple charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault...
CDC estimates 3 in 4 kids have had coronavirus infections
NEW YORK — Three out of every four U.S. children have been infected with the coronavirus and more than half of all Americans had signs of previous infections, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers estimated in a report Tuesday. The researchers examined blood samples from more than 200,000 Americans...
Officials identify man, woman found dead in Springdale apartment
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the two people found dead Monday in a Springdale house as Robert Devaughn Williams, 36, of New Kensington and Morgan Kurpakus, 24, of Springdale. Their bodies were discovered after 3:30 p.m. Monday in a house in the 1000 of block of Pittsburgh...
Anti-Defamation League: 82% increase in antisemitic incidents in Western Pa. in 2021
Western Pennsylvania has seen an increase of more than 80% in antisemitic incidents, the highest figures recorded in the state since tracking began in 1979, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League. ADL officials released the report this week highlighting 20 incidents in which antisemitism was considered a significant...
Vice President Kamala Harris positive for covid-19, Biden not ‘close contact’
WASHINGTON —Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for covid-19 on Tuesday, the White House announced, underscoring the persistence of the highly contagious virus even as the U.S. eases restrictions in a bid to return to pre-pandemic normalcy. Harris press secretary Kirsten Allen said neither President Joe Biden nor first lady...
