Regional category, Page 17
Budget busters: Western Pa. schools battle rising costs, strained finances to renovate aging facilities
Superintendent Tammy Andreyko started her tenure at Quaker Valley in August 2018 meeting with district officials to discuss the possibility of building a new high school. Seven years later, dirt has yet to be moved on the 150-acre property the district purchased in May 2017 to replace its nearly century-old...
Western Pa. siblings share father’s love of engines, drag racingVideo
Nick Bowman is pretty sure his father brought him to the drag racing track when he was less than 2 months old. “I did the same with my son,” said Bowman, 38, of West Deer. To say that the Bowmans are a racing family is a bit of an understatement:...
Nearly 30 people sent to hospital — 1 critical — after Aliquippa junior high football team bus crash
A bus carrying Aliquippa junior high football players crashed Saturday morning near Ambridge en route to a game, sending nearly 30 people, including 25 players, to area hospitals for medical treatment, authorities said. One student was in critical condition and was undergoing surgery, according to a letter from Aliquippa Superintendent...
Take the TribLive weekly news quiz: Aug. 22
The following is a feature from TribLive: A weekly news quiz: 1. This week, a state will require applicants for teaching jobs from California and New York to pass an exam that the state’s top education official says is designed to safeguard against “radical leftist ideology.” What state was it?...
Forecasters see ‘taste of fall’ coming next week for Western Pa.
Ready for some heat relief? A “taste of fall” could be on the way, according to the National Weather Service in Moon. A map issued by the agency Tuesday shows Western Pennsylvania is likely to see temperatures cooler than usual, at least into Monday and possibly through next Friday. The...
Pa. high court keeps status quo on open-records access to officials’ personal social media posts
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a Crawford County school district in finding posts made by its board members — including those about district issues — on their personal social media pages are not automatically subject to the state’s open-records laws. Had the decision gone the...
10 years after landmark ruling, same-sex marriage faces a new challenge
When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, local constitution experts told TribLive it signaled the U.S. Supreme Court’s willingness to roll back other privacy rights, including contraception, same-sex relationships and gay marriage. Now, three years later, local constitutional law scholars say just four votes are needed for the justices...
Walmart shrimp could have radioactive contamination, FDA says
Certain Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp sold at Walmart stores in Pennsylvania could have radioactive contamination, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned on Tuesday. The shrimp was possibly contaminated with Cesium-137, or Cs-137, a radioactive isotope. It was detected in a single shipment of imported frozen shrimp in...
Ragweed near full bloom in Western Pa. as fall approaches
Blessings to each and every one with allergies. And tissues. And nasal spray. And eye drops. And neti pots. And Claritin or Zyrtec or Allegra. Or if sleep is desired, Benadryl. “‘Tis the season,” said Dr. Thomas Mertz of Allergy and Asthma Associates of Pittsburgh, a practice based in Harmar....
VA shuffles top leaders in Pittsburgh as agency upends ‘status quo’
The top two officials overseeing care for Pittsburgh-area veterans have been pulled from their posts and reassigned. Donald Koenig is out as director of the Pittsburgh VA, a role he took in 2019 after more than two decades as a private health care executive. His tenure stopped a carousel of...
Love triangle turned deadly inside Washington County home, police say
One man is dead and another behind bars after what police described as a love triangle turned violent Sunday night inside a Washington County home. Christopher Harper, 18, of Ellsworth is accused by Pennsylvania State Police of breaking into a residence along Walnut Street in Ellsworth and shooting Elijah Johnson,...
Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General recovering from cyber incident
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General announced Monday that, following the cyber incident last week, access is being restored to employee email accounts. Outages affected the website and disabled office email accounts and landline phones. The website was rebooted early Wednesday afternoon but still had outages on the home improvement...
Storms force closure of popular spots at Ohiopyle State Park
A popular waterfall at Ohiopyle State Park is off limits after damage from storms Sunday left some trails impassable and dangerous, according to park officials. The Cucumber Falls area and Great Gorge Trail are closed for the foreseeable future, according to a post on the park’s social media. Downed trees...
Outer Banks communities face evacuations as Hurricane Erin looms
With the threat of Hurricane Erin growing, a state of emergency was issued Sunday in portions of the Outer Banks, prompting evacuations. The Outer Banks is a popular summer vacation hub in North Carolina for many families in Western Pennsylvania. The state of emergency includes all of Dare County, North...
Fayette County EMS official accused of DUI, hit-and-run that left 1 severely injured
A Fayette County EMS manager severely injured a man in a hit-and-run crash while driving under the influence Saturday night, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Matthew McKnight, 47, of Connellsville is accused of smashing his pickup truck into the back of a minivan around 10:30 p.m. in Bullskin Township and...
Conservative college student organizations more empowered to share views
Julia Cassidy says she has always felt confident expressing her conservative political views at the University of Pittsburgh, even though they aren’t shared by most of her peers. Since Donald Trump regained the Oval Office, though, Cassidy, president of Pitt’s College Republicans, says she has noticed more students sharing conservative...
Community leaders hoping to breathe new life into former Rite Aid buildings
More than 70 Rite Aid pharmacies have shuttered or are preparing to close across the Pittsburgh area as the company undergoes bankruptcy and restructuring. Customers’ prescriptions have been transferred to other pharmacies, but the empty stores will leave a large group of properties — in prime commercial locations across Western...
Woman killed in crash of side-by-side in Washington County
Editor’s note: This report was updated on Tuesday, Aug. 19 to correct the spelling of Janna Slagle’s first name. An incorrect spelling was provided by the Washington County Coroner’s Office. A 33-year-old woman was killed in an all-terrain vehicle crash early Sunday morning in Washington County. The Washington County Coroner...
1 dead in Fayette County crash involving 2 motorcycles
A Fayette County man was killed in a crash involving two motorcycles early Saturday in the county’s German Township. Fayette County Coroner Dr. Bob Baker said Delbert Valentine Jr., 25, of Adah, was pronounced dead at the scene at Route 21 and Leckrone High House Road. The death was ruled...
2 of 5 surviving ‘Knight Rider’ cars reunited in Butler County; tractor-trailer restoration nearing completion
The world’s largest collection of screen-used Knight Rider cars is now in Butler County. The first Pontiac modified to portray the Knight Industries Two Thousand — KITT for short — and seen in the 1980s TV show’s iconic opening racing toward the screen in the desert is parked alongside one...
Worm in your tequila shot? Canada’s Dawson City has that beat with the ‘Sourtoe’Video
“You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch this gnarly toe.” These were the last words James “Jazz” Byers, 55, of Penn Hills heard before raising a shot of Yukon Jack to his lips. As he knocked the drink back, at the bottom...
Clairton Coke Works, site of deadly explosions, stirs both pride and pain
Brian Doyle remembers the explosion that hurled him to the coke plant’s floor — but little else from that day. It was a Wednesday — July 14, 2010 — and Doyle, a steamfitters union member and contractor for Power Piping, was inside the Clairton Coke Works getting ready to repair...
SNAP skimming escalates in Pa., officials push for secure EBT cards
Two million Pennsylvanians rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to feed themselves and their families, but skimming devices have led to a statewide rise in SNAP benefit theft, leaving thousands of low-income households without food. While negotiations over the Pennsylvania 2025-26 budget continue, local government officials, at a...
Pa. Game Commission’s elk cam returns ahead of mating season
A constant livestream in the heart of Pennsylvania’s elk country has restarted as the species begins its mating season, called the elk rut. The Pennsylvania Game Commission announced Friday it had powered up its video and audio stream of an area near Elk State Forest and State Gamelands 311 for...
Take the TribLive weekly news quiz: Aug. 15
The following is a feature from TribLive: A weekly news quiz: 1. A local university signed a contract with Wyndham Grand hotel in Downtown that will place up to 90 freshmen in off-campus housing at the start of the fall semester. Which school is it? A/ Pitt B/ Duquesne C/...
