Justin Vellucci stories, Page 19
Gainey aide defends administration over controversial contractor payments
The top spokeswoman for Pittsburgh’s mayor acknowledged Tuesday that city employees broke in-house rules by using a municipal credit card to charge thousands of dollars in payments to a former worker after he became a private contractor, but she rejected suggestions that the hiring itself violated the state’s ethics law....
Police charge McKees Rocks teen in Stowe killing
Police have arrested a McKees Rocks teen who they say fatally shot a Stowe man on Thanksgiving eve. Cy-Miar Amari Woods, 16, was charged as an adult Thursday in the Nov. 22 death of Michael Dean. Dean, 26, was killed at his house in the 800 block of Benwood Avenue,...
Pittsburgh police arrest 2nd of 3 suspects in fatal West End stabbing
Pittsburgh police have arrested the second of three suspects in a fatal stabbing in March at an abandoned West End house. Police on Thursday arrested Carlena Wells, 18, in the death of Marc Kovach, 37, who was beaten and stabbed, according to a criminal complaint. His body was then hidden...
Man arrested for terrorizing North Braddock pastor now charged in cousin’s death
The man arrested for pointing a gun at a North Braddock pastor inside a church on Sunday has been charged with killing his cousin earlier that day. Bernard Polite, 26, is charged with criminal homicide in connection with the shooting death of Derek Polite, 56. Two of Derek Polite’s cousins...
Descendent of tree that once stood outside Anne Frank House now grows in Pittsburgh
Hiding from Nazis in an Amsterdam annex, Anne Frank peered out an attic window and saw a white horse chestnut tree towering over 188 Keizersgracht’s courtyard as a beacon of hope. On Feb. 23, 1944, two years into hiding, the young Jewish girl sat in silence as she and Peter...
‘Another tool on your belt’: Pittsburgh cops embrace jiu jitsu training
For Tim Novosel, Brazilian jiu jitsu is more about control than contact. The Pittsburgh police commander — who launched a jiu jitsu training program for city cops about two years ago — talked about the importance the martial art places on focus instead of force. Nearby, a dozen officers grappled...
White Oak woman recounts terror of 2 kids tumbling from 3rd-floor window
Two White Oak children might owe their lives to Andi Cartwright’s busted pair of Bluetooth headphones. Skies were sunny and temperatures lingered in the mid-80s last Monday afternoon as Cartwright strolled down Ohio Avenue in the Mon Valley town she’s called home for 22 years. As she walked, listening to...
Pittsburgh EMS expands pilot program for paramedics to utilize mobile blood banks
It didn’t look good for the teenage driver. Shortly after 7:15 a.m. on a rainy Thursday in May last year, the young man — who lost control of his yellow sports car when it hydroplaned on Saw Mill Run Boulevard and he slammed the vehicle into a utility pole near...
From cassette tapes to vinyl records, physical media is trending in Pittsburgh
Cassette tapes brought Veronika Cloutier to Pittsburgh. Vinyl LPs have kept her here. Before moving to Pittsburgh from North Carolina in 2021, the former vocalist and guitarist for the band Attack Cat measured the city’s livability by connecting with a local indie label that releases cassettes. “The fact that there...
Morning Roundup: 1 injured in crash in Baldwin Borough
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, May 3: 1 injured in crash in Baldwin Borough Several live power lines and at least five telephone poles were broken or knocked down Thursday night after a vehicle hit one of the poles in Baldwin Borough. Two...
1 dead following Hill District shooting
A Pittsburgh man died early Friday morning after being shot in the head in the city’s Hill District neighborhood, police said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as Anthony Young, 35. A cause and manner of death has not yet been determined. Pittsburgh police from Zone 2...
Man found fatally shot inside vehicle in McKeesport
A man was fatally shot Thursday night in McKeesport. Police said they were dispatched to the 2900 block of Palmgreen Avenue for a report of a shooting at 10:25 p.m. First responders found the man with gunshot wounds inside a vehicle, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene....
Moms of teens killed in McCandless crash win court battle against bail for jailed driver
Heather McCandless began to sob in front of a judge as she described how her husband ends each day by saying “good night” to the urn holding their late daughter’s ashes. Taylor Orlowski, 18, was killed Dec. 23 after a speeding car in which she was riding with four other...
Morning Roundup: Marshall home’s garage destroyed in fire
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, May 2: Marshall home’s garage destroyed in fire The attached garage of a Marshall Township home was destroyed in a fire Wednesday night. Multiple crews were dispatched to the 400 block of McKean Drive shortly after 9 p.m.,...
Federal jury convicts Oakmont native in 2019 kidnapping, death of Bethel Park woman
An Oakmont native is facing a potential sentence of life in prison after a federal jury Wednesday convicted him of kidnapping a Bethel Park woman, driving her to Nevada and killing her in the desert. John Matthew Chapman, 44, of Oakland, Md., who previously lived in Allegheny County, was found...
Morning Roundup: 1 injured after shooting in Penn Hills
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, May 1. 1 injured in shooting in Penn Hills One person was injured in a shooting Wednesday morning in Penn Hills, according to police. Penn Hills officers were dispatched at about 1:30 p.m. to the 400 block of...
Morning Roundup: Police say Homewood man robbed same Family Dollar store 3 times
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, April 30. Police say Homewood man robbed same Family Dollar store 3 times Pittsburgh police said they jailed a Homewood man who they say robbed a Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar dollar store three times in eight days, making his get-away each...
Johnstown man killed in motorcycle crash in Derry Township
A 39-year-old man was killed in a motorcycle crash in Derry Township, Westmoreland County, on Monday afternoon, the county coroner announced. Shawn Michael Pynos of Johnstown was driving alone on his Yamaha motorcycle west on Route 30 when he left the road and was ejected from his vehicle, Coroner Tim...
Pittsburgh teen killed in Troy Hill shooting
A Pittsburgh teen was killed late Monday in a shooting in Troy Hill, authorities said Tuesday morning. David Rivera, 18, was shot by an assailant at about 11:30 p.m. in the neighborhood on Pittsburgh’s North Side, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. He died at the scene near 10...
Ligonier man charged after domestic dispute ends in police standoff
A Ligonier man was arrested after an hourslong standoff with police that started Sunday afternoon, authorities said. On Monday, Ligonier Valley police charged Thomas Crary, 47, with aggravated assault, strangulation, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. Ligonier Valley police responded to the Terrace Road area about 4:15 p.m. for...
Morning Roundup: 2 men surrender in Washington County shooting
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, April 29. Suspects surrender in Washington County shooting Two men charged in a double shooting in Washington County have turned themselves in, Pennsylvania State Police said. Windale “Winnie” Barfield Jr., 19, and Karon Whitlock, 20, both of Washington,...
Pittsburgh police arrest victim’s neighbor in West End homicide
Pittsburgh police have arrested a West End man in the fatal shooting last month of his 22-year-old friend and neighbor. Lontae Smith was shot March 25 in the 1400 block of Harlow Street, where he lived, in Pittsburgh’s Chartiers City neighborhood. Police responded after an alert at 9:54 p.m. by...
From Bulgaria to Squirrel Hill: A Holocaust survivor shares his story of survival
For roughly 80 years, Albert Farhy has held onto a button-sized piece of yellow cloth cut into the shape of a star that the Nazis forced him to wear as a teenager in Bulgaria during World War II. On Monday, the Holocaust survivor held up that fabric — an emblem...
Pittsburgh man sentenced after pleading guilty to fatally stabbing woman, hiding her in a tool shed
A judge on Wednesday sent a Pittsburgh man to prison for up to 38 years after he pleaded guilty to stabbing a woman 56 times and stashing her corpse inside a suitcase in a tool shed near his Knoxville home. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kevin Sasinoski sentenced Montel Reed,...
‘No job should be a death sentence.’ U.S. labor secretary unveils new mine safety rules near Uniontown
Federal officials on Tuesday packed a Fayette County union hall to announce new mining standards on silica dust — part of an effort to stem a rising tide of black lung and other respiratory diseases being diagnosed at a rate American miners haven’t seen in 50 years. The new rule,...
