Fayette County funeral home catches fire
A fire broke out at funeral home Thursday afternoon in Fayette County. Firefighters from New Haven Hose Company, located in Connellsville, were dispatched at 2 p.m. to the 400 block of Pittsburgh Street for calls that Paul G. Fink Funeral Home Inc. was on fire. No one was trapped in...
Morning Roundup: Police say Butler man was DUI when he hit another man in driveway
Here are some of the latest news items happening this morning, Thursday, July 31: Police say Butler man was DUI when he hit another man in driveway Pennsylvania State Police charged a man they allege was driving under the influence when he fatally struck a pedestrian. The wreck occurred around...
John Fetterman’s memoir, ‘Unfettered,’ is latest offering in Library of Congress
“Unfettered” — described by its publisher as an unapologetic account of the unconventional life of U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, as written by Fetterman — will become part of the canon of the literal Library of Congress when it comes out on Veterans Day. It’s Fetterman’s maiden memoir, but the second...
Rare freshwater jellyfish spotted near Presque Isle in Lake Erie
James Grazio, a Great Lakes biologist with the Department of Environmental Protection, never expected to encounter the animal he’d been hoping to see for the better part of his career. On July 15, while out on Lake Erie near Presque Isle with DEP summer intern Ray Walter collecting water samples,...
Researchers using scent dogs to sniff out eggs of invasive spotted lanternfly
Humans can be trained to identify the eggs of the invasive spotted lanternfly. But it’s not easy. The mottled gray color of the egg masses often matches the areas where they’re laid, or they’re located high in a tree or some other hidden location. Suffice it to say, no human...
Paying more for groceries? Here’s how prices have moved — or not — over the past year
Donald Trump campaigned, in part, on the promise to bring down grocery prices, but seven months into his second term, the result is a mixed bag. Coffee and beef prices are up. Baby formula, eggs and Cheerios are down. Toilet paper and diapers have held steady. “The obvious one is...
Washington County coroner accuses DA of unethical conduct in baby’s homicide case
Within hours of the suspicious death of a Peters Township baby in Pittsburgh in 2022, the Washington County district attorney pressured his county’s coroner to assume jurisdiction of the case and ensure it was declared a homicide as part of a strategy to aid his election campaign, according to allegations...
Morning Roundup: Pittsburgh, Allegheny County open cooling centers amid heat wave
Here are some of the latest news items happening this morning, Tuesday, July 29: Pittsburgh, Allegheny County open cooling centers Pittsburgh and Allegheny County will operate cooling centers Tuesday and Wednesday as temperatures are forecasted to climb above 90 degrees. Cooling centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 7...
Sweat bee or corn fly? What’s bugging you if it isn’t a mosquito
The surefire way to know whether it’s a sweat bee or a corn fly buzzing around is if it stings. The halictid bee stings, but the corn fly, also called a hover fly, does not. “They’re mimics of bees, just annoying as all get-out,” said Michael Skvarla, a Penn State...
Charges filed in connection with vandalism of U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly’s satellite office
A Sharon man is facing multiple charges in connection with the vandalism of the Hermitage office of U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly. According to Hermitage police Chief Adam Piccirillo, the department received reports of the vandalism just before midnight Friday. Expletives, disparaging accusations and derisive comments directed toward the Republican from...
Game Commission adds 10 Sundays to fall hunting seasons
Pennsylvania hunters can now spend 13 consecutive Sundays in the woods this fall. In a unanimous decision at its Monday meeting, the Pennsylvania Game Commission voted to instruct its executive director to open up 10 Sundays for hunting starting Sept. 14 and ending Dec. 7. That’s in addition to the...
Back-to-school season kicks off with donation drives for students
The back-to-school season is approaching as summer heat still lingers. As students transition from July to August, many families are still struggling to secure the supplies needed for a successful school year. Here are some ways you can help support students as they head back to the classroom for another...
Scorching summer will mean higher electric bills, regulators warn
Utility regulators are warning extreme heat since mid-June will mean higher electric bills for Pennsylvanians. The state’s Public Utility Commission said Friday scorching weather has brought demand on the regional power grid to its highest level in 14 years, a fact that will soon be reflected in electric bills. “Whether...
Pittcon, among world’s largest science conferences, will return home in 2027
One of the world’s premier laboratory science conferences is named for the Steel City — and it’s coming home for the first time in more than a half-century. The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry & Spectroscopy is organized almost entirely by volunteers from the region and an office staff in...
1 dead after Washington County crash
A person is dead after an overnight crash in Washington County. According to a report from Washington County Coroner Tim Warco, the crash occurred on State Route 481 in Carroll Township before 3 a.m. Warco said the driver, who has not been identified yet, lost control of the vehicle while...
Groups forming to plan futures of Penn State Fayette, New Kensington campuses
Officials in Fayette and Westmoreland counties are in the early stages of figuring out how they can best repurpose the closing Penn State campuses in their communities. Scott Dunn, chairman of the Fayette County commissioners, has been leading the charge to establish a team — branded the Eberly Campus Transition...
Daycation Destination: A trip to historic Franklin, Pa.
Dine, sip, shop and stroll the day away with a Daycation Destination road trip to historic Franklin in Venango County. Named for Benjamin Franklin and laid out in 1775, Franklin is a small city nestled at the confluence of the French Creek and Allegheny River about 85 miles north of...
State police identify woman killed, man hurt in Butler County 3-wheeled motorcycle crash
State police have released the name of a woman who died and a man who was seriously hurt in a crash involving a three-wheeled motorcycle in Butler County Saturday afternoon. According to state police, Betty E. Campbell, 66, of Butler died at the scene on Oneida Valley Road in Washington...
Police investigate vandalism at U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly’s office in Hermitage
Local and federal police forces have opened investigations after the Hermitage office of U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly was vandalized overnight. According to a statement from Kelly’s office, the damage was discovered Saturday. Expletives, disparaging accusations and derisive comments directed toward the Republican from Butler were scrawled across office windows in...
Police accuse man of stealing $18K from casino at the Meadows by switching hold ’em cards
A 25-year-old man is accused of stealing more than $18,000 from a Washington County casino by moving cards around in multiple hands of “Ultimate Texas Hold ‘em,” according to state police. State police charged Brando Castaneda, of Washington, Pa. with one felony count of theft Thursday for the crime alleged...
Charleroi councilman claims glass plant will reopen, but other officials cannot confirm
The former Corelle Brands LLC glass plant in Charleroi, which produced Pyrex bakeware until it closed in April, could be reopened this year with a foreign producer, according to a Charleroi official. Councilman Larry Celaschi claimed in an email to fellow borough officials Thursday that negotiations with a potential buyer...
Sheetz unleashes chainsaw on MTO sandwiches to customers’ delight
Getting a Sheetz sandwich sliced in half by a real chainsaw was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Sean Starr. Starr, 36, of Bloomfield, drove to the Sheetz gas station in Seven Fields Friday to participate in the Sheetz x Liquid Death Chainsaw-Sliced Sandwich Experience, where people got to have their Made-to-Order...
Rep. Mike Kelly reprimanded by House ethics panel over wife’s stock purchase tied to steel company
The House Ethics Committee issued a formal reproval Friday of Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., following a yearslong investigation into an insider-trading allegation over his wife’s purchase of stock in a steel company in his Butler-area congressional district. The panel also said Kelly and his wife, Victoria Kelly, should divest of...
Rep. Summer Lee questions use of masks in ICE raids
When federal agents use unmarked vehicles and wear masks during raids that are part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, it violates basic civil rights and contradicts democratic principles, two members of Congress wrote U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a letter released Friday. The letter was...
Take the TribLive weekly news quiz: July 25
Back from hiatus, the following is a feature from TribLive: A weekly news quiz: 1. An Ivy League school reached a deal this week with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of...