Top Stories category, Page 7
Pharmacies are disappearing across Pa. as operators blame a broken payment system
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Hundreds of pharmacies across Pennsylvania have gone out of business in recent years, data obtained by Spotlight PA show, and pharmacists say legislation...
Tarentum man arrested after standoff with police
A 28-year-old Tarentum man is accused of firing a gun in his backyard after an argument with his roommate. When police responded to reports about the gunshots about 2:20 p.m. Thursday, it started a standoff that lasted about three hours until Matthew Jones was arrested. Jones was charged with obstruction,...
Another grocer eyed to replace Community Supermarket in Harrison Heights plaza, owner says
Another grocery store is being sought to replace Community Supermarket in the Harrison Heights plaza, a spokesman for the owner of the plaza told TribLive. Benbrooke Development asset manager Richard Lubkin said his company will seek a grocery tenant to fill Community Supermarket’s location in the plaza. It’s the latest...
UPMC, GoHealth partner to run 81 urgent-care clinics in Pa., W.Va.
UPMC and MedExpress clinics recently got a makeover and a new name — UPMC-GoHealth Urgent Care — but services are staying mostly the same. In October, UPMC and national chain GoHealth Urgent Care partnered to rebrand and renovate 80 clinics across Pennsylvania and West Virginia, including 33 in the Pittsburgh...
Hulk Hogan, icon in professional wrestling, dies at age 71
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Hulk Hogan, the mustachioed, headscarf-wearing icon in the world of professional wrestling, has died at the age of 71, Florida police and WWE said Thursday. In Clearwater, Florida, authorities responded to a call Thursday morning about a cardiac arrest. Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital, police...
Justice Department official meets with Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s No. 2 official met Thursday with Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The meeting in Florida, which Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday he was working to arrange, is part of an ongoing Justice Department...
Heat doesn’t beat Steelers fans at 1st day of camp
Kenny Mullin arrived at Saint Vincent College in Unity before 6 a.m. Thursday. He wanted to be one of the first fans to arrive at Pittsburgh Steelers training camp, and he met his goal. “This is pretty much what I love to do,” said Mullin, who was first in line...
Police arrest Braddock teen in fatal shooting linked to Wilkinsburg drug deal
A Braddock teen was arrested Wednesday for fatally shooting a second teen who police said tried to buy marijuana with a bag stuffed with fake cash during a January drug deal. Police charged Khalil Valcin, 17, with homicide and a firearms count in the Jan. 4 shooting death of Dorrel...
Heat index may jump above 100 degrees; rain coming this weekend, forecasters say
Extreme heat is back with temperatures expected soar past 90 degrees Thursday, according to Jared Rackley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Moon. Pockets of the region could see a heat index — that’s how hot it feels taking the humidity into account — above 100 degrees on...
Morning Roundup: Driver escapes injury in turnpike fire; 2 injured in Penn Hills crash
Here are some of the latest news items happening this morning, Thursday, July 24: Driver escapes injury in Turnpike fire A driver freed themselves from a tractor-trailer cab after a fire broke out inside of it Wednesday afternoon on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, authorities said. First responders from the Wexford Volunteer...
Pennsylvania Game Commission proposes 10 additional Sunday hunting dates for 2025
Hunters could get up to 10 additional Sundays to hunt this fall under a proposal going before the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s board of commissioners on Monday. The new dates are being proposed by the agency after Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a law earlier this month fully repealing the longstanding ban...
New mobile app could help save honeybee hives, protect $20 billion in agriculture
Honeybee colonies in the United States are projected to decline by up to 70% this year, entomologists say. And that could spell economic disaster. According to the American Beekeeping Federation, honeybees contribute about $20 billion to the value of crop production in the country. But master beekeeper Joe Zgurzynski of...
Lawmakers introduce legislation regulating pet cremation after local scandal
Pennsylvania legislators introduced identical bills in the state House and Senate that would regulate animal cremation services after a scandal involving a local funeral director. Patrick Vereb, 70, of Hazelwood was charged in April by the state Attorney General’s Office with taking money for pet cremations but instead disposing of...
Pa. electric bills to rise after grid manager ups payments to power plants
Electric bills in Pennsylvania could climb as much as 5% as rising rates paid to power plants trickle down the system. That’s according to PJM Interconnection, a regional body that ensures utilities have enough power to supply their customers during peak demand times, like a heat wave or cold snap....
4 more Hempfield fire stations take steps toward the township managing their affairs
Four Hempfield fire departments are taking additional steps toward dissolving their charters and moving under township management. The township’s Carbon and Hempfield No. 2 fire departments passed declarations of intent to dissolve in June. If approved by the Hempfield supervisors during the board’s meeting Monday, the departments will have taken...
Columbia University agrees to pay more than $220M in deal with Trump to restore federal funding
NEW YORK — Columbia University has reached a deal 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 combating antisemitism on campus, the university announced Wednesday. Under the agreement, the Ivy League school...
Pam Bondi facing Democratic calls to testify following report she told Trump he was in Epstein files
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Pam Bondi is facing Democratic calls to testify before Congress following a newspaper’s revelation that she told President Donald Trump that his name appeared in the files of the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Bondi told Trump his name was...
Close call! Passing train scuffs side view mirror of tractor-trailer rig parked next to tracks
A tragedy was barely averted Wednesday when a passing train scuffed the side-view mirror of a truck parked next to the train tracks in Natrona. Harrison police responded to the Vine Street railroad crossing after receiving a report that a train had clipped the side of a tractor-trailer. Police found...
5 things travelers can expect at the new Pittsburgh International Airport terminal
Coming back from a trip will have never felt so good — no more landing at the Pittsburgh International Airport after an incredible trip, only to be met by depressing carpeting and dated 1990s design. The airport is getting a $1.7 billion glow-up via a new terminal. Pittsburgh International Airport...
Fraud case dismissed against Leechburg contractor
A judge on Wednesday dismissed the criminal case against a Leechburg contractor charged with defrauding a Unity couple in connection with a $59,000 home improvement project they claimed was never completed. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger ruled prosecutors had insufficient evidence to prove that Dawayne W. Redmond,...
Summer Lee leads push to subpoena Epstein files
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee led an effort Wednesday to subpoena files related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation — hours before the House was scheduled to go on break until September. In an 8-2 vote with bipartisan support, a House Oversight subcommittee passed a motion by Lee to subpoena...
Here’s what family members and friends told Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger in court
Family members and friends lashed out at killer Bryan Kohberger in court Wednesday as he was sentenced to life in prison for the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students. No motive has been offered and Kohberger, 30, chose not to speak at the hearing. He pleaded guilty earlier...
Supreme Court allows Trump to remove 3 Democrats on the Consumer Product Safety Commission
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to remove three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who had been fired by President Donald Trump and then reinstated by a federal judge. The justices acted on an emergency appeal from the Justice Department, which argued...
Bacteria risks found at all Lake Erie beaches in Pennsylvania, report says
Health risks were found at all of Lake Erie’s Pennsylvania beaches last year, a new report says. The beaches tested in 2024 were found to be potentially unsafe for swimming on at least one day, according to the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center’s latest analysis of bacteria testing titled “Safe...
‘Call to action’: Pittsburgh controller warns of ‘precarious’ city finances
Pittsburgh Controller Rachael Heisler on Wednesday warned that the city’s finances are “precarious” and urged officials to cut spending while growing the local economy. In the first half of the year, the city spent $24 million more than during the same period in 2024, Heisler said. That happened even though...
