Top Stories category, Page 3
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...
Morning Roundup: Police accuse man of reckless driving in Mt. Washington; Pittsburgh Water rate hikes considered
Here are some of the latest news items happening this morning, Wednesday, July 30: Police accuse man of reckless driving in Mt. Washington Pittsburgh police said they arrested a man for reckless driving Tuesday evening in the city’s Mt. Washington neighborhood. Officers were on a neighborhood patrol in Mt. Washington...
Hempfield Park set to get additional bathrooms and concession stand
The Hempfield supervisors have approved the $277,000 purchase of a prefabricated building that will be installed at Hempfield Park. The building will house bathrooms and a concession stand, said Marissa Haynes, director of parks and recreation. The supervisors on Monday approved buying the building from CXT in a 4-1 vote...
West Nile, Jamestown Canyon viruses found in Westmoreland mosquitoes; Lyme risk high
Westmoreland Conservation District is urging residents to take precautions against tick and mosquito bites as samples of the pests collected in the county have tested positive for Lyme disease, West Nile virus and a less familiar new threat — Jamestown Canyon virus. Chrissy Edwards-McCune, West Nile Virus coordinator for the...
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...
Philadelphia men sentenced for drug bust on PA Turnpike
Two Philadelphia men arrested for possession of an estimated $140,000 in fentanyl-laced heroin during a 2023 traffic stop along the Pennsylvania Turnpike were sentenced Tuesday to serve lengthy prison terms. Mario Antonio Caba, 39, and Elvis Luis Holguin Ventura, 29, were convicted of one felony and misdemeanor drug counts following...
8.8-magnitude earthquake causes tsunami in Russia and Japan, sets off warnings for Alaska and Hawaii
TOKYO — One of the world’s strongest earthquakes struck Russia’s Far East early Wednesday, an 8.8-magnitude temblor that set off a tsunami in the northern Pacific region and prompted warnings for Alaska, Hawaii and other coasts south toward New Zealand. Tsunami warning sirens blared Tuesday in Honolulu and people moved...
Greensburg teen, 17, sentenced as adult for Hempfield armed robbery
A Greensburg teen has been ordered to serve up to 40 months in prison for his role in an armed robbery last year in Hempfield. Cayden Essway, 17, was prosecuted as an adult and pleaded guilty in May to one felony count of robbery and a misdemeanor weapons offense. Essway’s...
Woman identified as victim on fatal Route 51 crash
A 20-year-old woman has been identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office as the victim of a fatal accident last Friday, July 25 along Route 51 in Jefferson Hills. Kayleigh Brosius of Elizabeth Township was killed in the multi-vehicle accident in the 1400 block of Route 51 around 6:20...
South Buffalo residents left frustrated after bridge abruptly closes
Crews suddenly blocked traffic Tuesday morning onto a wooden bridge that carries Clinton Road over railroad tracks in South Buffalo. The 114-year-old structure, which provides one of the two ways in and out of the township’s Clinton neighborhood, is now barred by large concrete barriers on each side. The subject...
Trump claims Epstein ‘stole’ young women from Mar-a-Lago spa, including Virginia Giuffre
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Jeffrey Epstein “stole” young women who worked for the spa at Mar-a-Lago, the latest evolution in his description of how their highly scrutinized relationship ended years ago. One of the women, he acknowledged, was Virginia Giuffre, who was among Epstein’s most well-known...
Senate confirms Trump lawyer Emil Bove, pushing past whistleblower claims
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed former Trump lawyer Emil Bove 50-49 for a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge Tuesday as Republicans dismissed whistleblower complaints about his conduct at the Justice Department. A former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, Bove was on Trump’s legal...
Westmoreland tax office director being let go after just 1 year on the job
The Westmoreland County commissioners on Tuesday confirmed that they are firing the director of the county’s tax office after just one year on the job. According to payroll records released by the county controller’s office, Sarah Minnick, who had served as director of the office that processes property tax payments...
Clock is ticking on Menards site plan approval in Hempfield
Home improvement store chain Menards has been put on notice — the site plan for a new store Hempfield supervisors approved almost five years ago is nearing its expiration date. Township officials this month sent a letter to the company’s properties division warning the plan will expire if construction doesn’t...
Pittsburgh ‘uniquely positioned’ to lead in physical AI, organizers of upcoming summit say
Pittsburgh will again find itself in the AI economy spotlight in September when it hosts the two-day AI Horizons summit in the East End’s Bakery Square. The summit, in its second year, will focus this year on physical AI — in which artificial intelligence is integrated into physical systems like...
Father of fallen Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire opens up in advance of upcoming motorcycle run
There is a hole in Lee McIntire’s heart that doesn’t heal. It’s been more than two years since his son, Justin, began his 2 to 10 p.m. shift as Brackenridge police chief, as he had done so many times before. Shortly after leaving home, he responded to a call to...
Coroner releases identity of man who died by suicide during Ligonier Township traffic stop
A Ligonier Township man died by suicide Saturday during a traffic stop, according to the Westmoreland County coroner. Jeffrey J. Sierocky, 52, had a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to information released Tuesday, three days after the incident along Route 30 near Baywood Road in Ligonier Township. Ligonier Valley Police initiated...
Congressional proposal would target spotted lanternfly
Spotted lanternflies, targeted by stomping feet wherever they’re found, have a new enemy: Congress. U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, and three of his colleagues have introduced legislation that would authorize the nation’s agriculture chief to make grants available for lanternfly research aimed at stopping the spread of the invasive insect....
10 lifeguards on hand when girl drowned at Hersheypark wave pool
Ten lifeguards were watching the wave pool at Hersheypark when a 9-year-old girl drowned, officials said. A spokesperson for the theme park confirmed the incident occurred at the wave pool within the Boardwalk at Hersheypark, on Thursday, as reported by NBC10 Philadelphia. At the time of Sophia Subedi’s death, the...
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...
$58 million in medical debt erased for over 43,000 Pittsburgh residents
Pittsburgh City Councilman Bobby Wilson on Monday announced that more than 43,000 city residents saw their medical debt erased. This comes after Wilson, D-North Side, in 2023 sponsored a bill that allocated $1 million in federal covid-19 relief money to contract with a company that bought dischargeable health care debt...
New Kensington approves loan agreement to repave 17 streets
New Kensington Council gave the final OK on how it will pay for road improvements in the city this year and next. The city entered into a loan agreement with the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Bank to borrow $1.19 million for street improvements. The program is designed to provide low-interest loans and...
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...
Citing cultural concerns, Bushy Run to update name of hill during reenactment
Bushy Run Battlefield in Penn Township is using its upcoming reenactment as an opportunity to right a wrong — giving a more culturally appropriate name to a hill on its 218-acre property. The reenactment, slated for Saturday and Sunday, is a staple event in the township. It portrays a 1763...
Springdale Planning Commission to review plans for proposed massive data center
The first meeting for a proposed data center in Springdale is set for Aug. 6. That’s when the borough’s planning commission will hear a presentation from the site developer and discuss potential conditions for its use at a public meeting. Springdale Borough Manager Terry Carcella said topics likely would include...
