Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 943
Mayor Gainey says Pittsburgh will reinspect all city-owned bridges in poor condition
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said Tuesday that the city will work with PennDOT to reinspect every city-owned bridge that is rated in poor condition. “If any of those bridges are deemed unsafe to travel on, they will be closed immediately,” Gainey said during a news conference at the site of...
Proud Boys leader charged with conspiracy in Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — The leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was arrested Tuesday on a conspiracy charge for his suspected role in a coordinated attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. Proud Boys former chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio wasn’t there...
U.S. banning Russian oil imports as Biden warns of ‘costs’
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the U.S. will ban all Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia’s economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, but he acknowledged it will bring costs to Americans, particularly at the gas pump. The action follows pleas by Ukrainian President...
Fern Hollow Bridge construction expected to begin in April
Less than two months after the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh, PennDOT officials are announcing both design and construction efforts are underway to replace the bridge. The new structure will remain along the same roadway, with four lanes for vehicles, shoulders, a sidewalk, and a shared-use path. Construction is...
UPMC moves forward with plans for 636-bed hospital in Pittsburgh’s Oakland
Health care giant UPMC is moving ahead with plans to build a new 636-bed hospital in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission was briefed on the proposed development Tuesday. Called the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital bed tower, the project was first unveiled nearly five years ago. At the time, UPMC touted...
2nd man arrested in bail scam that targeted Hempfield woman
A second New Jersey man has been arrested in connection with a bail scam that duped a Hempfield woman out of thousands of dollars. Noel Medrano-Abreu, 29, is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison without bail. He was arraigned Tuesday, with the help of an interpreter, on two conspiracy...
People flee embattled Ukrainian cities along safe corridors
LVIV, Ukraine — Evacuations of people fleeing embattled Ukrainian cities along safe corridors began Tuesday, while U.N. officials said the exodus of refugees from Russia’s invasion reached 2 million. The Russian onslaught has trapped people inside cities that are running low on food, water and medicine amid the biggest ground...
Crews respond to fire in North Braddock
Crews responded to a fire in North Braddock on Tuesday morning. The fire was reported at 6:19 a.m. in the 500 block of Stokes Avenue, an Allegheny County 911 dispatcher said. The dispatcher said no one had been taken from the scene with injuries, though crews were still battling the...
Franklin Regional ‘pauses’ teaching of novel about Iranian Revolution after complaints
Franklin Regional School District is “pausing” use of a novel in a freshman honors English course after school board members asked administrators to review its use amid concerns from some residents in the district. “Persepolis,” Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel about growing up as a 10-year-old girl amidst the Iranian Revolution...
Jury orders West Mifflin School District to pay $2.9M to former superintendent
A federal jury on Monday ordered West Mifflin School District to pay nearly $3 million to former Superintendent Daniel Castagna in connection with his 2019 firing. The jury late last week ruled in favor of Castagna, now acting superintendent at Woodland Hills, on all but one of the claims he...
Man dies after collapsing at Allegheny County Jail
A 26-year-old man died Sunday shortly after collapsing at Allegheny County Jail. A jail spokesman said the man, later identified by family members as Gerald Thomas, exited his cell shortly after noon and asked other inmates for assistance before collapsing. “A medical emergency was called, and life-saving measures were performed...
Pittsburgh foundation donates $100K to Ukrainian relief
A Pittsburgh foundation has donated $100,000 to help transport desperately needed medical and other supplies to those who have fled war-torn Ukraine and those who remain under siege by the Russian army. Eden Hall Foundation has donated $100,000 to Brother’s Brother Foundation of Pittsburgh’s North Side to help pay to...
Trial begins for Washington Township couple sued by friend paralyzed in swimming pool accident
Lawyers for a Vandergrift man who suffered a broken neck and spinal cord injuries in a swimming pool accident at a friend’s Washington Township home in 2013 on Monday asked a Westmoreland County jury to award him more than $9 million in damages. Jurors will spend the next week hearing...
1 dead, 2 wounded in shooting outside Iowa high school
DES MOINES, Iowa — One person was killed and two others were critically wounded Monday after gunfire that appeared to come from a passing vehicle struck them outside an Iowa school, authorities said. Des Moines police said in a news release that potential suspects have been detained in the shooting...
Supreme Court rejects GOP redistricting pleas in Pennsylvania, North Carolina
WASHINGTON — In a victory for Democrats, the Supreme Court has turned away efforts from Republicans in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to block state court-ordered congressional districting plans. In separate orders late Monday, the justices are allowing maps selected by each state’s Supreme Court to be in effect for the...
U.S. Steel slapped with $1.8M fine for alleged hydrogen sulfide emissions
U.S. Steel faces a $1.8 million fine from the Allegheny County Health Department because the department said the company emitted too much hydrogen sulfide, the colorless gas that smells like rotten eggs, into the air more than 150 times since 2020. The health department said the Clairton Coke Works plant...
Police investigate fatal shooting in Pittsburgh’s Hill District
A 25-year-old man was shot and killed Monday afternoon in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, according to police. The shooting happened around 4 p.m. on Bedford Avenue, police said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office identified the victim as Cha Ron Guyton of Pittsburgh. One person was detained for questioning, police said....
Family asks community for support after Harrison motorcycle crash
A local family is seeking support from the community after a serious accident in Natrona Heights left a member of their family in critical condition. A GoFundMe page launched by Katie Stivers is raising money to support the family after her father, Jim, was injured in a crash on March...
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey comes to terms with developers on proposed Oakland Crossings project
After putting the proposed Oakland Crossings project on hold for a couple of months, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said Monday that his office has reached a deal with developer Walnut Capital on proposed zoning for the large-scale development in central Oakland. The proposed 17-acre project initially included denser housing development,...
Sewickley Academy assistant head resigns; 4 other faculty, staff members gone
Sewickley Academy assistant Head of Schools Ken Goleski and four other faculty members are no longer working at the private Edgeworth school, academy officials confirmed Monday. The personnel changes are part of the response to a chaotic day in which students and parents attempted to deliver a petition to academy...
Waning signups for Pa. child care program could forecast weak economic recovery
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. Roughly 25,000 fewer children in Pennsylvania are benefiting from a program that helps low-income families find affordable child care compared with...
Covid can shrink the brain as much as a decade of aging, study finds
Even a mild case of covid-19 can damage the brain and addle thinking, scientists found in a study that highlights the illness’s alarming impact on mental function. Researchers identified covid-associated brain damage months after infection, including in the region linked to smell, and shrinkage in size equivalent to as much...
Oakmont businesses rattled by pizza shop robbery attempt that left employee critically injured
Business owners and store clerks in Oakmont are feeling jittery in the wake of Sunday’s attempted armed robbery of a pizza shop during which an employee was critically wounded by gunfire. The shooting happened shortly before 4 p.m. at the Fox’s Pizza in the 300 block of Allegheny River Boulevard,...
Madison woman killed in crash on Arona Road in Hempfield
A 57-year-old Madison woman was killed in a head-on collision Monday on Arona Road in Hempfield, according to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office. Two others were hurt in the crash, according to township firefighters. Dawn E. Coyne was pronounced dead at 12:32 p.m. at Excela Health Westmoreland hospital in Greensburg,...
Penn Hills man pleads guilty to 2019 fatal hit-and-run crashVideo
A Penn Hills man pleaded guilty Monday morning to homicide by vehicle and leaving the scene of a fatal accident in the death and dragging of a man three years ago. Surron Burch, 24, faces a mandatory penalty of 3 to 6 years in prison when he is sentenced by...
