Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 922
2 acquitted, jury hung on 2 more in Michigan governor kidnap plot
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Two of four men were acquitted Friday in a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, motivated by fury at the Democrat’s tough covid-19 restrictions early in the pandemic. The jury’s verdicts against Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were read in the federal court...
Republican state House candidate Tony Moreno kicked off primary ballot in 20th District
Former Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Tony Moreno is on his third attempt at elected office in less than a year, and his path just got more difficult. Moreno, a former Pittsburgh police officer who ran unsuccessfully for mayor as a Democrat and then as a Republican in 2021, has now been...
Developer buys YWCA’s Downtown headquarters for $4M, plans apartment tower
The nonprofit YWCA has sold its Downtown headquarters to City Club Apartments, a developer looking to build an apartment tower atop the existing structure. YWCA said this week that it sold the Wood Street property for $4 million. It had put the building on the market in the summer of...
New Kensington-Arnold, teachers union bracing for strike; no talks scheduled
No further talks are scheduled between negotiators for the New Kensington-Arnold School District and its teachers union ahead of a strike the union says will begin Monday, union and district representatives said Friday. However, the district has not yet canceled classes for Monday. “We want to provide ample time for...
Check out what Pittsburgh’s North Side (and North Shore) has to offer
“Play Ball.” Those two words will mark a much-anticipated rite of spring on Tuesday for Major League Baseball fans. It’s the Pittsburgh Pirates home opener. They host the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park on April 12. First pitch is, to mimic the date, at 4:12 p.m.— in the 4-1-2. The...
Gilpin man, 45, killed in house fire; search for cause continuesVideo
A Gilpin man died in a house fire early Friday morning when he was unable to escape the burning structure, the Armstrong County coroner said. Jeremy Wildie, 45, who lived along Banfield Road, was found near the rear door of his residence, Coroner Brian Myers said. Wildie was not able...
Pittsburgh police find 13-year-old boy thought to be in danger
Update: Allen was safely located, police said. Pittsburgh police are searching for a missing teenager who they say is endangered. Rajae Allen, 13, was last seen in Oakland around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, said Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews. Allen is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 135 pounds....
Appeals court OKs Biden federal employee vaccine mandate
NEW ORLEANS — President Joe Biden’s requirement that all federal employees be vaccinated against covid-19 was upheld Thursday by a federal appeals court. In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court and ordered dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the mandate. The...
U.S.: Man impersonated federal agent, claimed ties to Pakistani intelVideo
WASHINGTON — One of two men accused of impersonating federal agents and giving actual Secret Service agents gifts and free apartments in Washington has claimed to have ties to Pakistani intelligence and had visas showing travel to Pakistan and Iran, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The men, Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and...
Pittsburgh Black leaders celebrate Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation
History was made Thursday as Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and will become the nation’s first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. The confirmation was met with applause from many across the country, including many Black leaders in the Pittsburgh region. Jackson...
North Side man pleads guilty to fatal 2020 shooting in Brighton Heights
A man from Pittsburgh’s North Side will serve 20 to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder for killing another man on the North Side two years ago. Darnell McFadden, 25, also pleaded guilty to a firearms violation in an appearance Thursday before Allegheny County Common Pleas...
Avian influenza has historically spared Pennsylvania, but farms remain wary as outbreaks spread
Pennsylvania’s commercial poultry has remained untouched by highly pathogenic avian influenza for nearly 40 years, but poultry producers in the area remain on high alert because of the devastating effects it can have on flocks once it begins to spread. “A lot of chickens and turkeys have been depopulated this...
Key particle weighs in a bit heavy, confounding physicists
The grand explanation physicists use to describe how the universe works may have some major new flaws to patch after a fundamental particle was found to have more mass than scientists thought. “It’s not just something is wrong,” said Dave Toback, a particle physicist at Texas A&M University and a...
Jackson confirmed as 1st Black female high court justice
The Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court on Thursday, shattering a historic barrier by securing her place as the first Black female justice and giving President Joe Biden a bipartisan endorsement for his effort to diversify the court. Jackson, a 51 year-old appeals court judge with nine...
University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher to step down
After nine years of leading the University of Pittsburgh, Patrick Gallagher announced Thursday that he intends to step down as chancellor in the summer of 2023. “Serving as chancellor at one of the greatest public research universities in the nation is deeply fulfilling and rewarding,” wrote Gallagher in a message...
Penn Township man accused of killing father, aunt facing competency exam after tantrum in court
A Westmoreland County judge on Thursday ordered a competency exam for a Penn Township man accused in a double homicide following his removal from a courtroom after shouting obscenities and insults at a sheriff’s deputy. Neal M. Hubish, 41, was in the courtroom for a few minutes before he grew...
Pelosi positive for covid-19, was at White House with Biden
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for covid-19, a day after appearing unmasked at a White House event with President Joe Biden. Pelosi, D-Calif., received a positive test result for covid-19 and is currently asymptomatic, her spokesman Drew Hammill said Thursday in a tweet. He said she...
New Kensington-Arnold teachers set to strike beginning Monday
Teachers in the New Kensington-Arnold School District will walk off the job Monday if they and the district can’t agree on a new contract by then. The New Kensington-Arnold Education Association sent a formal strike notice to district Superintendent Chris Sefcheck after talks Wednesday night failed to produce a settlement,...
Hopelessness springs eternal for Pirates fans
It’s been a winter of discontent for Pirates fans. It started Dec. 1 when the Pirates traded catcher Jacob Stallings, a player beloved by fans and his teammates, not long after he won a Gold Glove award for his excellent 2021 season. It was perceived by the Pirates faithful as...
McKnight Road reopens after closure for vehicle-pedestrian crash in Ross
A pedestrian was in critical condition after being struck by a vehicle Wednesday evening in Ross Township. The crash happened just after 8 p.m. in the 4500 block of McKnight Road, according to an Allegheny County 911 supervisor. The supervisor said one person was taken from the scene by ambulance...
Arizona AG Mark Brnovich’s letter offers no proof of 2020 election fraud
PHOENIX — Arizona’s Republican attorney general issued an interim report Wednesday on his review of the 2020 election in Maricopa County that outlined his concerns with some election procedures but did not provide proof of any major issues despite six months of investigation. Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who is in...
Dan Scavino, Peter Navarro held in contempt of Congress in Jan. 6 probeVideo
WASHINGTON — Former Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino were held in contempt of Congress on Wednesday for their monthlong refusal to comply with subpoenas rendered by the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The two men became the latest members of former...
Greensburg police looking for Indiana County man in connection with daylight SUV theft
Greensburg police have obtained an arrest warrant for an Indiana County man who they accuse of stealing a woman’s SUV as she was filling it with gas Tuesday after receiving a tip regarding the theft, according to court documents. Police are still looking for the suspect, Darryl L. Higgins, 38....
Discrimination lawsuit and investigation dropped against Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
After former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Alexis Johnson said she was removed from covering Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, she filed a discrimination lawsuit claiming her former employer violated her civil rights. Now, she is dropping the case. Johnson, who is Black, requested to drop her lawsuit in March. On...
It’s just about blooming time for North Park’s cherry blossoms
Each spring, the drab colors of fall and winter are overtaken in North Park by vibrant hues of pink, as the blooms on hundreds of cherry trees planted in the park since 2009 begin flowering. But exactly when the dramatic transformation will happen is a mystery. “We’ve got our best...
