Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 992
Consumer prices up 5.7% over past year, fastest in 39 years
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years, as a surge in inflation confronts Americans with the holiday shopping season under way. The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in...
Westmoreland County DA-elect Nicole Ziccarelli says transition team not getting cooperation from predecessor
Westmoreland County District Attorney-elect Nicole Ziccarelli said Wednesday she and her new administrative team are set to begin work Jan. 3 to replace outgoing prosecutor John Peck, who she said has so far refused to cooperate with the transition. “My predecessor is not interested in creating a transition team with...
Ligonier man’s Christmas story takes on new life
Carl Smith was a young father, worried about disappointing his children 50 years ago when he spun a Christmas tale that became a family tradition. At the time, he had no idea the tale would take on a life of its own, going so far as to be featured in...
Kiski police arrest Vandergrift woman in North Apollo stabbing
Kiski police have arrested a woman accused of stabbing a man in North Apollo early Thursday morning. Police said the suspect, Amy Hepler, 38, of Vandergrift turned herself in at approximately 9 a.m. Police said officers responded around 2:15 a.m. to a report of a domestic assault at a home...
Crashes, diesel spill cause traffic headaches on inbound Parkway East
Crashes and a diesel fuel spill caused the inbound Parkway East in Pittsburgh to be closed for a time Thursday morning. There were believed to be at least two separate crashes after the Squirrel Hill tunnel between Bates Street and the Boulevard of the Allies, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV reported....
Pittsburgh region won’t see a white Christmas, like most years
If you are pining for that nostalgic white Christmas depicted on holiday greeting cards with billowing swirls of clean snow, don’t look to the Pittsburgh region this weekend. Christmas Day will be unseasonably warm, with a potential high of 57 degrees and a low of 42, said David Shallenberger, lead...
Kim Potter guilty of manslaughter in Daunte Wright’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — A suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for her Taser was convicted of manslaughter Thursday in the death of Daunte Wright, prompting tears from the young Black man’s parents and a jubilant celebration by supporters outside the courthouse who chanted “Guilty, guilty, guilty!” The...
Supreme Court will hear arguments on Biden vaccine requirements
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says it will hold a special session in just over two weeks to hear arguments on the Biden administration’s vaccine or testing requirement for large employers and a separate vaccine requirement for healthcare workers, an announcement that comes amid rising coronavirus cases. The high court...
Experts say more must be done by Pittsburgh in response to Jim Rogers’ death
From the initial stop to the decision to frisk. From the way the frisk was executed to the decision to pull out a taser. From how the taser was deployed to how all of the officers at the scene responded, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police failed in its handling of...
Lost dog Scoobee found in Wilkins, owners rejoice
Call it a Christmas miracle. Scoobee, the 60-pound shepherd/pitbull mix that escaped from the Banfield Veterinary Hospital in Monroeville on Friday - and had been on the run - was found by a man in Wilkins on Wednesday. He called police who came to pick her up and notified the...
Allegheny health director: More than 400 covid deaths since October
More than 400 people have died in Allegheny County covid-related deaths in the past three months, including 97 in December, county Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said Wednesday. Covid-19 case counts remain at a daily average of 600 per day, while “hospitalizations remain high, as do deaths,” Bogen said. “I...
Gov. Wolf vetoes GOP bill to post school course materials online
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a bill on Wednesday that would have required school districts to post information about textbooks, course material and state academic standards online. The Democratic governor said the legislation “politicizes what is being taught in our schools” and that state regulations already require public...
Holiday travel on Pennsylvania Turnpike expected to jump by 40% over last year
Officials predict more than 5.4 million motorists will take to the Pennsylvania Turnpike between the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year’s Day holidays, approaching pre-pandemic travel figures. “Our holiday traffic projections are coming close to matching those of 2019 with an increase of 40% over last year,” PA Turnpike CEO...
Jan. 6 committee seeks interview with GOP Rep. Jim Jordan
WASHINGTON — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection requested an interview and information from Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio on Wednesday, the second time this week the committee publicly sought to interview a sitting member of Congress. In a letter to Jordan, Mississippi Rep. Bennie...
Proposal would add 6 parks, more than 300 acres to Pittsburgh park system
A proposal before Pittsburgh City Council would designate six greenways as city parks, adding more than 300 acres to the city’s park system. The measure would move the city closer to its goal of increasing the number of residents who live within a half-mile – or roughly a 10-minute walk...
Pittsburgh Mayor-elect Ed Gainey says covid-19 test was false positive
Pittsburgh Mayor-elect Ed Gainey said Wednesday that his recent covid-19 test was a false positive. Gainey had moved an announcement regarding his transition team to a virtual format Monday after a rapid covid-19 test came back positive. Gainey, who is vaccinated and has received a booster, never had symptoms of...
Pause on student loan payments is extended through May 1
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday extended a student loan moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to put off debt payments during the pandemic. Under the action, payments on federal student loans will remain paused through May 1. Interest rates will remain at 0% during that period, and...
Pfizer pill becomes 1st U.S.-authorized home covid treatment
WASHINGTON — U.S. health regulators on Wednesday authorized the first pill against covid-19, a Pfizer drug that Americans will be able to take at home to head off the worst effects of the virus. The long-awaited milestone comes as U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all rising and health officials...
Pennsylvania elections chief warns lawmakers about deadlines
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top statewide elections official warned legislative leaders that delays in drawing new General Assembly district lines may require them to push back next year’s spring primary election. Acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid told the floor leaders Tuesday for both parties in the two chambers on the...
260-pound black bear trapped near Downtown PittsburghVideo
The Pennsylvania Game Commission trapped a 260-pound black bear Wednesday morning next to a Lower Hill District dumpster near Downtown Pittsburgh. A sighting of the bear was first reported Dec. 6 in the 5700 block of Penn Avenue, but it disappeared, said Douglas Bergman, a game commission warden covering Allegheny...
Police: Homewood woman arrested for housing 2 infants, puppy in ‘deplorable living conditions’
Two infants were taken into protective custody after, police say, officers found them living in “deplorable” and unsafe conditions in a Homewood home on Monday. A malnourished puppy was also removed from the house on Mt. Vernon Street. Pittsburgh police charged Franshauna Chevi Batron, 37, with endangering the welfare of...
Unity’s Victory Brinker, Steelers JuJu Smith-Schuster support Pittsburgh’s less fortunate
Victory Brinker noticed homeless people as she walked the streets of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, Calif., before her performance on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. “She had never seen homeless people before,” said her mother, Christine Brinker, on Tuesday inside Light of Life Rescue Mission on Pittsburgh’s North Side. “She...
Greensburg man charged with directing woman to record video of sex act with child wants case dismissed
A Greensburg man awaiting trial on charges that he directed his ex-girlfriend to have sex with a child and record the act now contends the case is based on an improper police search of his cell phone. A new lawyer for Charles Jason Hunter, 35, in court documents made public...
Experts weigh in on holiday travel amid threat of omicron, surging covid cases
Almost two years since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, cases are surging and the threat of another highly contagious variant looms, but projections show people still plan to travel for the holidays. Nearly 28 million more people will travel this year compared to 2020, according to AAA, and airlines...
Secret Service: Nearly $100B stolen in pandemic relief funds
Nearly $100 billion at minimum has been stolen from covid-19 relief programs set up to help businesses and people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, the U.S. Secret Service said Tuesday. The estimate is based on Secret Service cases and data from the Labor Department and the Small...
