April 3, 2025 4:58 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Marc Fogel, a Pittsburgh-area school teacher who was deemed wrongfully held in a Russian prison for years before being freed in February, will throw out the first pitch at the Pittsburgh Pirates home opener against the New York Yankees. Fogel is from Butler, about an hour north of Pittsburgh. Fogel was detained in 2021 when traveling to Russia to work at a school. He was handed a 14-year sentence for having what his family and supporters said was medically prescribed marijuana. He was released and brought back to the U.S. in February.
April 3, 2025 4:55 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – An Ohio man without a concealed carry permit is accused of trying to bring a gun through the Pittsburgh International Airport. The Allegheny County police Department says TSA officers spotted the handgun within a passenger’s backpack at the main security checkpoint around 2 p.m. Monday. TSA officials say the gun was loaded, with one bullet in the chamber. Since the passenger, identified as Christopher Wells Jr., 30, didn’t have a valid concealed carry permit, he’s facing a felony charge on top of a possible federal fine for bringing the gun to a checkpoint. Passengers can travel with guns only in checked baggage if unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case. Then, the locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm on its website.
April 3, 2025 4:48 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — (WPXI) – A man is in custody after a stand-off in Bethel Park Wednesday. A Bethel Park Police Department official said officers responded to the 1300 block of Stoltz Road around 5 p.m. for a domestic disturbance. Court documents say a man reported to 911 dispatchers his brother, Daniel Lipford, was intoxicated and his girlfriend was covered in bruises. When police arrived, he told them Lipford physically assaulted his girlfriend and was inside the house with her 2-year-old, refusing to come outside. He also reportedly had access to a shotgun. Lipford’s girlfriend came outside, but her son was inside and police could not get Lipford to come out. Officers surrounded the home and requested help from SWAT and other area police departments. Part of Stoltz Road, as well as Beverly Court, Falla Drive and Claytonia Drive, were closed while first responders were negotiating with the man. By 9:15 p.m., police say the man, identified through court records as Daniel Lipford, released the child. He was taken into custody on an arrest warrant for simple assault, terroristic threats and strangulation. All roads reopened just before 10 p.m.
April 2, 2025 5:17 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — What was once Pennsylvania’s biggest coal-fired power plant is being turned into a $10 billion natural gas-powered data center campus designed to capitalize on Big Tech’s fast-growing energy demands. The owners of the former Homer City Generating Station, about an hour east of Pittsburgh, said Wednesday that they’re installing seven gas-fired turbines to power data centers on site with up to 4.5 gigawatts of electricity. That’s enough to power about 3 million homes. It would be the nation’s largest gas-fired power plant and the nation’s third-largest power generation facility. Construction could begin this year and power could flow by 2027. The coal-fired plant shuttered in 2023. (Photo: AP)
April 2, 2025 4:47 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is imposing a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries and even higher tariff rates on dozens of nations that run trade surpluses with the United States. It threatens to upend much of the architecture of the global economy and trigger broader trade wars. Trump is declaring a national economic emergency to launch the tariffs, which are expected to produce hundreds of billions in annual revenues. He has promised that factory jobs will return back to the United States as a result of the taxes, but his policies risk a sudden economic slowdown as consumers and businesses could face sharp price hikes on autos, clothes and other goods. (Photo: AP)
April 2, 2025 10:17 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption case. Judge Dale E. Ho on Wednesday granted the Justice Department’s extraordinary request to set aside criminal charges so the mayor could aid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. But the judge denied prosecutors the ability to potentially bring the criminal case back after the mayoral election. The order to dismiss the case “with prejudice” spares Adams from having to govern in a way that pleases Trump or potentially risk having the charges revived. The Justice Department’s push to end the case caused a rift between its leadership in Washington and prosecutors in New York. Adams had pleaded not guilty to bribery and other charges.
April 2, 2025 5:12 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge in California has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily restore legal aid to unaccompanied migrant children in the United States. The Republican administration on March 21 terminated a federal contract that provides legal aid for children under 18. Plaintiffs are legal aid groups whose funding was cut. They want the government to make sure children do not face court proceedings without legal aid. Attorneys for the government say taxpayers are not obligated to pay for direct legal services.
April 2, 2025 5:05 am
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Democrats’ victory in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race is a big loss for Elon Musk. The billionaire supporter of President Donald Trump and his affiliated groups spent more than $21 million supporting the conservative in the race in hopes of breaking liberals’ 4-3 majority on the court. But the Democrats’ candidate, Judge Susan Crawford, won comfortably. She and Democrats made Musk’s spending the focus of their campaign. The election was the first test of Musk’s political impact since he skyrocketed in prominence by launching a controversial effort to slash the federal government in Trump’s administration.
April 2, 2025 5:04 am
A trio of elections have provided plenty of warning signs to Republicans and President Donald Trump. The conservative judge endorsed by Trump and backed by Elon Musk to the tune of $21 million lost by a significant margin in a state the president won in November. And while Florida Republicans held two of the most pro-Trump House districts in the country, both candidates also significantly underperformed Trump’s November margins. Tuesday’s elections were seen as an early measure of voter sentiment as Trump works with unprecedented speed to dramatically upend the federal government, clashing with the courts and seeking revenge as he tests the bounds of presidential power.
April 2, 2025 5:03 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Val Kilmer has died at age 65. The versatile actor played flying ace Iceman opposite Tom Cruise in “Top Gun,” Batman in “Batman Forever” and singer Jim Morrison in the biopic “The Doors.” Kilmer’s daughter says he died Tuesday in Los Angeles from pneumonia. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. The Los Angeles-born Kilmer studied acting at the elite Juilliard School and had his big break in the 1985 spy spoof “Top Secret.” He was sometimes regarded as a difficult presence on film sets but said in his memoir that he always put the art first.
