http://www.post-gazette.com/ Local/regional news and features, Latest news, Education, Transportation, Mining Safety, Weather, Capitol Notes, Casino News, Casino Journal, News Obituaries, Morning File en-us Copyright 2012, post-gazette.com. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 14:39:54 -0500 15 http://www.post-gazette.com/includes/2007design/images/150x30pg_now_logo.gif http://www.post-gazette.com/ 144 39 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208821-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A man and a woman were killed and a firefighter was injured early today when a 6-year-old playing with matches sparked a blaze at a home in Friendship. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 14:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208844-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml HARRISBURG -- The House Gaming Oversight Committee held a hearing today on a bill that would impose 10-mile no-casino "buffer zone" around the Gettysburg National Military Park and the Flight 93 Memorial Park. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 12:29:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208843-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml An Allegheny County Common Pleas judge this morning delayed issuing a decision in the homicide by vehicle case against an Upper St. Clair man, saying that he was giving more time to both sides to establish the scientific value -- or lack of it -- of the data recorder in the crashed car. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 12:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208823-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Allegheny County homicide detectives have taken a 26-year-old man into custody following the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend in Carnegie early today. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 11:58:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208826-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml County sheriff's deputies this morning arrested a man wanted in connection with a shooting at a birthday party that left one teen dead and seven others wounded. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 11:15:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208758-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml State representatives today will continue debating a measure to overhaul Pennsylvania's gas-drilling regulations and impose a fee on those shale wells, in an effort to send the bill to Gov. Tom Corbett's desk. The legislation, which was the result of years of debate in Harrisburg and months of furious activity, passed the state Senate on Tuesday morning on a vote of 31-19. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 10:31:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208782-294-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Our first year of dating was like boot camp. Each summer weekend of 1997, Greg and I matched our skills in running, hiking, biking, swimming and rock climbing. We trained at the Mt. Lebanon track and entered 5K races on weekends. My heart rate soared, trying to keep up with his hiking pace. I admired his muscular back during climbing; he liked my long legs on the bike. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 10:20:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208752-122-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Robert Glaser is renowned in the academic world for co-founding the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh, but many of his achievements aren't the kind you'll see on paper. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 09:38:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208753-454.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml HARRISBURG -- Facing a budget deficit that is a half-billion dollars and growing, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett on Tuesday proposed an austere spending plan for next year that would slash millions from state universities and revamp how counties receive aid for human-services programs. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 08:48:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208822-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Gov. Tom Corbett today again declined to give details of how he plans to deal with the state's transportation funding crisis, and said he couldn't guarantee a solution that would avert record transit service cuts in Pittsburgh. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 08:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208709-28.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml After successfully converting a vacant three-story building on Forbes Avenue into apartments and a restaurant, Mike Clements is back for an encore. The developer is seeking to transform an old cigar wrapping facility at 604 Liberty Ave., Downtown, into a two- or three-bedroom townhouse with a street level cafe or bistro. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208725-57.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The Air Force could have to cross a congressional hurdle if it wants to close the 911th Airlift Wing near Pittsburgh International Airport. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208726-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Police on Tuesday were investigating the robbery of a pizza delivery driver on the North Side, the third of its kind in recent days. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208729-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A judge will decide today whether an Upper St. Clair man accused of homicide by vehicle in the deaths of three people two years ago on the Parkway West is guilty or not. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208730-54.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The man accused of raping two women in Ross and another in Hopewell was indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge that he illegally possessed body armor, the U.S. attorney's office said Tuesday. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208731-54.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A woman who flipped her car with her infant son riding in the back seat was charged with three counts of driving under the influence after toxicology tests showed she had alcohol and drugs in her system, according to police. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208732-54.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The suspect in a Butler County bank robbery was in prison Tuesday after officers from multiple agencies tracked his getaway car. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208754-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Pennsylvania's public universities, hit by severe funding cuts this year, would collectively lose a quarter of their general appropriation next year under Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed 2012-13 state budget, which provides nearly flat funding for public school districts. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208759-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Gov. Tom Corbett had very little to say about transportation in his budget message on Tuesday, dashing expectations that he would put forth a specific plan for raising money to improve roads and bridges and rescue ailing public transit systems, including the Port Authority of Allegheny County. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208760-53-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml After about a decade of purchasing asphalt from a vendor, the Pittsburgh public works department wants to make its own asphalt again with the hope of saving money and adding muscle to the city's street-paving program. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208761-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml City council gave final approval Tuesday to a package of assistance that will be available to Pittsburgh homeowners 65 and older and to other city homeowners whose 2011 assessments totaled $150,000 or less. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208762-56-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml It appears there is still hope that a K-8 school will exist in Duquesne next year despite announcements by state Education Department officials that the district's school would dissolve after the 2011-12 school year. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208763-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml In separate motions filed Tuesday, attorneys for Jerry Sandusky alleged that his accusers are collaborating against the former Penn State defensive coordinator, while prosecutors are asking to have the man's bond conditions be even further restricted to keep him from going outside and watching children at a nearby elementary school. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208764-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Pittsburgh police continued to search for the driver of a stolen SUV that crashed into PNC's Firstside Center on First Avenue Tuesday afternoon, drawing a bomb squad and hordes of curious onlookers to the edge of Downtown. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208765-54-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Allegheny County is hoping to complete a slow-moving bridge project on Thompson Run Road in Ross by the end of April. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208777-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml PHILADELPHIA -- Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua was laid to rest Tuesday alongside the tombs of his predecessors, the bishops and archbishops of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. "He loved his people. He loved Philadelphia," said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput toward the close of the two-hour funeral Mass and entombment at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208780-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Elliot Howsie, a Pittsburgh defense attorney who has no managerial experience and owes back taxes of more than $6,000 on at least two properties in the county, is poised to become the next chief public defender in Allegheny County. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208800-298.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A second teacher from Miramonte Elementary School in South Los Angeles was charged with child molesting on Tuesday. The teacher, Martin Springer, faces three counts of lewd acts upon a child. He was arrested Friday, days after another teacher, Mark Berndt, was charged. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208598-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml In Waynesburg, a coal and college town that was home base for state Rep. Bill DeWeese, many people say they'd vote for him again despite his conviction on corruption charges. "Yes, I would vote for him again," said Bill Whitlatch, a construction company owner from nearby Rogersville. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 22:22:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208711-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The man accused of raping two women in Ross and another in Hopewell was indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge that he illegally possessed body armor, the U.S. attorney's office said today. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 20:40:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208672-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Downtown streets have opened and traffic is flowing smoothly after a man crashed a stolen SUV into PNC's Firstside Center on First Avenue this afternoon, drawing a bomb squad and a crowd of curious onlookers. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 20:30:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208685-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A Bridgewater councilman's habit of stopping by the borough building to drink water from a Styrofoam cup helped lead to his arrest last month in the 1979 homicide of a Monaca woman. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 18:23:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208670-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A woman who flipped her car with her infant son riding in the back seat was charged with three counts driving under the influence after toxicology tests showed she had alcohol and drugs in her system. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 15:12:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208662-100-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Gov. Tom Corbett has unveiled his plan for a $27.14 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, proposing another round of significant cuts to higher education and smaller decreases across many agencies. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 15:08:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208671-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A man was injured this afternoon after a metal grate fell on him at a dealer that sells heavy farm equipment, a Fayette County dispatch supervisor said. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 15:04:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208597-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml HARRISBURG -- A Dauphin County jury on Monday found longtime Democratic state representative and House Speaker Bill DeWeese guilty of all but one of six felony corruption charges resulting from a state legislative probe into the misuse of public resources. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 14:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208567-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The driver of an SUV that struck a city sanitation worker Monday in East Liberty told police she did not see the man because she was temporarily blinded by sun glare in her eyes. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 14:10:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208669-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Police are investigating the robbery of a pizza delivery driver on the North Side, the third of its kind in recent days. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 14:04:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208621-53-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml With the demolition of the Civic Arena in full swing, the city is preparing to give its consent to bring down part of another landmark building -- the Strip District's historic produce terminal. Urban Redevelopment Authority board members are expected to vote Thursday on a memorandum of understanding that clears the way for the Buncher Co. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 12:42:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208663-100-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml HARRISBURG -- The state Senate passed a Marcellus Shale regulatory and impact fee measure this morning, sending the plan for a final vote in the state House of Representatives. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 12:38:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208660-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml HARRISBURG -- Gov. Tom Corbett hasn't delivered his 2012-13 budget address yet, but some people are already unhappy. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 11:41:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208616-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Even as a new court order Monday directed the Allegheny County sheriff to remove all Occupy Pittsburgh protesters from BNY Mellon Green, several of the campers delivered a vociferous but ambiguous message: We're not going away. While some explicitly said they would stay in the face of forcible removal, others said the movement would continue outside the encampment. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 11:17:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208620-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml At the Allegheny County elections division, staffers are calling poll workers and reminding them of the April 24 primary. Competitive bids are out for hauling machines to polling places. The schools, churches, apartment complexes and other buildings that host polls are being reminded, too. There may be another round of calls this spring telling them to forget it. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 10:41:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208658-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml About 15 tents and at least one Occupy Pittsburgh protester remained in Mellon Green this morning despite a court order that authorized the county sheriff to remove campers and protesters to enforce a judge's ruling. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 10:26:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208657-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Three people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation after a mattress caught fire at a Mt. Lebanon apartment complex early today. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 09:49:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208560-147.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml You've seen those winter safety checklists advising motorists to carry items such as a blanket, flashlight, shovel and sand. Here's a partial summer checklist for local drivers: a good supply of soothing music, a functioning air conditioner and a full reservoir of patience. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 09:15:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208651-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Allegheny County fire marshals will spend part of today attempting to figure out what started the fire that destroyed the popular North Versailles restaurant, the Winchester Room. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:37:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208602-53-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml "Putting the GO back in Gospel" says a sign on the front of the Christian Fellowship Baptist Church on the North Side. But it was nearly the church itself that had to go. On Monday, a sheriff's sale was postponed until March 5 for the century-old stone church at 2453 Perrysville Ave. after an Oklahoma mortgage company agreed to work out payments by its pastor, the Rev. Algie Robinson Jr. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:36:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208546-455-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Supporters of public transit fanned out across Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle Monday afternoon to seek support from riders for increased state aid. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:30:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208603-298-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A Pittsburgh philanthropist has bestowed her alma mater, Carlow University, with the largest gift it has ever received: $5 million to establish a new student center. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:17:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208655-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Bobbie Cegelski, the gifted services coordinator for the Montour School District, was chosen Monday night to fill a vacant seat on the Robinson board of commissioners. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 07:48:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208559-294-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml One morning last fall, I signed onto my computer at work and began the process of getting rid of one after another worthless email -- delete, delete, delete, delete ... David Aschkenas. I gasped. A respite from delete. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 05:55:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208656-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml More than 100 concerned residents from Bridgeville and Upper St. Clair packed a meeting of the Upper St. Clair commissioners to voice their opposition to a new residential housing development that they say will exacerbate an already dangerous traffic situation. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 05:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208654-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The Seneca Valley School District is considering changing its grading scale. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 05:31:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208653-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Denise Balason was selected last night to fill a vacant seat on the Hampton school board. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 05:25:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208652-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The North Hills school board Monday night unanimously rejected the application of Provident Charter School to locate within the district. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 05:17:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208525-28.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Sarris Candies' landmark retail candy store in Canonsburg will remain closed for about a month after last week's fire, but candy orders and deliveries to outside sellers continue uninterrupted. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:09:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208583-122.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Charla Krupp, who gained a national following by offering women advice on looking younger and thinner with best-selling books like "How Not to Look Old," died Jan. 23 at her home in New York City. She was 58, but looked a perennial 49. The cause was breast cancer, her husband, Time magazine theater critic Richard Zoglin, said. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208564-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Allegheny County is closing its private garage behind the old morgue on Fourth Avenue, Downtown, beginning Wednesday until further notice because of structural problems. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208565-56.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A convicted sex offender from Wilkinsburg has been arrested on charges that he indecently assaulted a 10-year-old boy following a Christmas Eve party in White Oak. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208566-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Pittsburgh police have charged a Brighton Heights man, who is currently in a Minnesota jail on unrelated charges, with the 2010 shooting death of a man inside Shamrock Bar on the North Side. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208582-122-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Alcoa executive C. Fred Fetterolf became a leader in a wide variety of civic and philanthropic activities during and after his Alcoa leadership, some with a religious slant. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208596-54.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml McKnight Road northbound will be down to one lane at times from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at the bridge over Babcock Boulevard in Ross as crews install railing. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208605-503-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A Marcellus Shale regulatory and impact fee bill is two votes away from Gov. Tom Corbett's desk, after state lawmakers on Monday evening squeezed a new Republican-negotiated proposal into a pending measure. That 174-page amendment was approved by a conference committee made up of House and Senate legislators from both parties. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208606-55.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Trial began Monday for an Upper St. Clair man charged with homicide by vehicle in the deaths of three people in a crash nearly two years ago on the Parkway West. Ryan Safka, 20, also is charged with three counts each of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of David Rizzo Jr., 20, Tara Schulz, 18, and Derek Phillips, 20, all of Upper St. Clair. They were all backseat passengers in Mr. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208615-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml By day, Amanda E. Holt is a mild-mannered 29-year-old piano teacher and self-employed graphic artist. But in her spare time, she's a crusader for fair representation who upended the General Assembly's now-illegal reapportionment plan for state House and Senate districts, showing what one citizen, some maps and a lot of hard work can do. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208618-84-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will use the backdrop of a White House science fair today to highlight a nationwide shortage of math and science teachers and unveil a plan to invest $100 million to help train 100,000 new educators over the next decade. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208638-298-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml LOS ANGELES -- Parents of students at an elementary school here where two teachers were arrested on accusations of child sexual abuse marched outside the school on Monday and refused to allow their children to attend classes, protesting what they said was the failure of school officials to act against the abuse and explain its extent. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208545-298.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Downtown-based Education Management Corp. has argued in court filings that a 2011 policy change by the Department of Education proves that EDMC didn't previously break rules for compensating college recruiters. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 22:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208522-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A convicted sex offender from Wilkinsburg has been arrested on charges that he indecently assaulted a 10-year-old boy following a Christmas Eve party in White Oak. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 19:33:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208511-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Supporters of public transit fanned out across Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle today to seek support from riders for increased state aid. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 18:38:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208501-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Dormont Council President Bill McCartney confirmed today that borough manager Gino Rizza and solicitor Deron Gabriel have resigned. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 18:05:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208498-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The driver of an SUV that struck a city sanitation worker this morning in East Liberty told police she didn't see the man due to sun glare in her eyes. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 16:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208500-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml HARRISBURG -- The Marcellus Shale legislation expected to come up for a vote this week is projected to raise more than $190 million in its first year, rising to $333 million by 2015. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 15:37:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208497-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Pittsburgh police are warning food delivery drivers to use caution and be alert after two drivers were robbed at gunpoint in as many days on the North Side. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 15:30:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208493-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Downtown-based Education Management Corp. has filed a muscularly written defense of the recruiter compensation practices for which it has been sued by the federal government and several states, in an effort to get that lawsuit dismissed. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 14:56:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208499-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Fire crews are on the scene of a North Versailles restaurant fire this afternoon that has been burning for over an hour. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 14:38:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208490-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The Port Authority has reopened the Wood Street station on the T, which had been closed because of a ventilation problem. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 14:31:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208495-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will push ahead with 168 construction projects in Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties this year, including the start of a $49.5 million rehabilitation of the Squirrel Hill Tunnels. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 14:06:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208492-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Carlow University has received the largest gift in its history: $5 million from Rita M. McGinley, a 1940 alumna, honorary degree recipient and a Carlow Woman of Spirit. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 13:19:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208446-503.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A deal between Republican lawmakers and Gov. Tom Corbett on a Marcellus Shale regulatory and impact fee measure is nearly complete, with summaries of the expected compromise plan circulating among lawmakers over the weekend. Top legislative and administration aides said action on that final plan could begin as soon as today. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208407-53-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Margie Walls can't live a day without a "Jamie moment," when the sight of a woman's brown hair or a whiff of Tiffany perfume will flood her mind with memories of her daughter. But with memories come unending questions. "I mostly think about how she died and did she suffer?" Ms. Walls said, gazing at her daughter's grave. "Was she afraid? She probably was. ... I can feel her fear." Mon, 6 Feb 2012 10:54:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208419-294.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Gov. Tom Corbett delivers a budget address to the General Assembly Tuesday, touting his spending plan and policy agenda for Pennsylvania in 2012-13. Normally, The Morning File would have sources feeding us advance dope (no pun intended) about the governor's announcements. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 10:37:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208411-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml In early 2010, in an effort to ease the burden of the state's prison system, Gov. Ed Rendell announced that Pennsylvania would contract with Michigan and Virginia to move 2,000 low-risk inmates to facilities in those states. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 10:23:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208421-53-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml After 31 years of providing day care for elderly people as an alternative to a nursing home, Vintage Senior Services in East Liberty is phasing out that service through June. It will continue to operate as a senior center. The cost of adult day care has outpaced the flat funding levels of recent years, executive director Ann Truxell said. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 10:22:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208433-85.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Mon, 6 Feb 2012 09:31:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208430-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml By court order, Occupy Pittsburgh must get off BNY Mellon Green by today, but while many of the tents were removed Sunday, it was not clear whether all of the protesters would be gone. Matt Wheeler, for one, said Sunday he was not taking down his tent. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 06:43:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208427-53-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside is being considered for the National Register of Historic Places. The board of the state historic preservation office will consider on Tuesday whether to recommend the late Gothic Revival-style cathedral built in 1907 for the register. Its recommendation then would be considered by the National Park Service, which oversees the register. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208429-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The city of Pittsburgh will collect a new tax for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh beginning this year, but how much the latter has to pay for that service is a matter of discussion. City and library officials will meet today to iron out cost-sharing and other logistical details for collecting the library tax that voters approved in a November referendum. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208434-53-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml BLUFF: The Duquesne University Christian-Muslim Dialogue Committee will host a symposium, "Building Interreligious Relationships," from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the Africa Room on the third floor of the Duquesne Union. The symposium will focus on women and minorities in interreligious dialogue. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208435-122-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml As Eleanor Bailey was helping to plan funeral services for her father, William R. Bailey Jr., she ran across a saying that immediately made her think of him. "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way," it read. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208445-114-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Last year, Donate Life America, the nonprofit that advocates for people to donate their organs, reached an important, 5-year-old goal. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12037/1208467-298-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The next time people try to tell you how much the data-driven education reform programs of President George W. Bush (No Child Left Behind) and President Obama (Race to the Top) have raised academic standards in America, suggest that they take a look at the Jan. 24, 2012, New York State English Regents exam. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208372-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml It took a high-speed chase, a pursuit on foot, and a scuffle, but two McKees Rocks police officers on routine patrol spotted a car jacking in progress and arrested a suspect. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 14:24:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1207984-109.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Walt Whitman -- giant of Americana, author of "Leaves of Grass" and portrayed in voice by Garrison Keillor in Ken Burns' "The Civil War" -- is celebrated today as a champion of individual freedom, the pleasures of the senses and a love of nature. Yet Whitman made a much different mark on our country during the Civil War, as a nurse's aide and hospice caregiver. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 11:23:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208370-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Firefighters battled a blaze in Bridgeville this morning that destroyed an apartment building and spread to a neighboring structure. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 08:11:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208369-100.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Two Beaver County residents were hurt Saturday in a car crash blamed on speed. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 07:37:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208059-454.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml His first state budget proposal and its billion dollars in cuts brought months of angry outcry from students, labor unions, Democrats and the physically disabled. This year? Expect more of the same. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:06:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208325-55.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Attorneys representing a man who was sentenced to death more than two decades ago in the murder of a waitress in Fayette County are trying to stop prosecutors from retrying the defendant. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208327-58.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml An official says a fire early Friday morning at the Sarris Candies factory in Canonsburg destroyed nearly 20,000 pounds of chocolate. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1207252-491.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml "I think the first day in August was so beautiful. They came in their uniforms. You could see the expectations that things were going to be different. We're really going to focus on our learning," she said. But when the school opened ... Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1207975-294.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Stacy Innerst is the artist. You are the caption writer. Take part in our contest. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1207983-53.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The image of the first day of school at the new Pittsburgh Westinghouse 6-12 in Homewood still sticks in one teacher's mind. "I think the first day in August was so beautiful. They came in their uniforms. You could see the expectations that things were going to be different. We're really going to focus on our learning," she said. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208032-28.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml The railroad industry is picking up steam again, after losing ground decades ago to the nation's trucking industry. And Pittsburgh's expertise and history in the business -- Andrew Carnegie and the city's other industrialists needed good ways to move their steel a century ago -- has put the region on track to benefit from rail's resurgence. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208060-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml HARRISBURG -- It's only a month into the new year, but things are already getting ugly at the state Capitol. While election-year wars are always rough and tough, House Democrats have kicked things up a notch with an early attack accusing Republicans of pushing policies that are "mean-spirited and heartless toward working families in Pennsylvania." Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208061-53-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml For about two hours a day, twice a day, five days a week, Cathy Gamble is the queen -- in neon green -- of 44th and Butler streets. The longtime crossing guard greets pedestrians by name and blows kisses from her stark white gloves to the drivers who stop in her wake at this bustling intersection, where she estimates she crosses 300 schoolchildren and countless more adults each day. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208271-59.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml It took eight years, but the people of the New Kensington area finally got a chance to welcome home the 307th Military Police Company on Saturday. The Army Reserve company, based in New Kensington, deployed to Iraq for a year in 2003 and 2004. But its soldiers came back in staggered groups then, and the town could never pull together a time for one large ceremony. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208323-455.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Bishop David A. Zubik will celebrate a memorial Mass for the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua at St. Paul Cathedral on Feb. 19. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208324-56.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml A Cambria County man driving on the wrong side of the road was killed early Saturday morning in a head-on collision, according to state police. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208358-298-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml SEATTLE -- This is the University of Washington's new math: 18 percent of its freshmen come from abroad, most from China. Each pays tuition of $28,059, about three times as much as students from Washington State. And that, according to the dean of admissions, is how low-income Washingtonians -- more than a quarter of the class -- get a free ride. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208359-298.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml Green River Community College, 45 minutes south of Seattle, has no special overseas cachet, no global name recognition -- but it has enrolled 1,400 international students this year, most of them recruited by overseas agents who get 15 percent of the $9,732 first-year tuition. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208360-298-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml CHESTER, Pa. -- The Chester Upland School District is more than $20 million in debt, its bank account is almost empty and it cannot afford to pay teachers past the end of this month. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500