http://www.post-gazette.com/ All News en-us Copyright 2012, post-gazette.com. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 14:09:46 -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/12039/1208865-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Penguins have returned forwards Colin McDonald and Jason Williams to their farm team in Wilkes-Barre. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 14:06:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208863-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Two Ukrainian men pleaded guilty today to conspiring to import and sell illegal steroids and to money laundering in the culmination of an investigation that started in Pittsburgh and spread to three continents. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 13:49:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208821-100.stm?cmpid=news.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 13:17:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208688-148.stm?cmpid=news.xml This engaging work of self-declared "investigative parenting" will strike like a stiletto heel into the quivering gelatin of middle-class parental anxiety. Pamela Druckerman, an American journalist and mother of three in Paris, sends word that, once again, Americans are messing up their kids and another culture is superior. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 13:11:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208844-100.stm?cmpid=news.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/12039/1208700-500.stm?cmpid=news.xml The final scene of "Ruthless! The Musical" is so brazenly depraved, you probably should know about it in advance, but that would be like giving away the big reveal of "The Sixth Sense." So, for those of you who would be easily offended by a wicked child gone wild, consider yourself warned. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 12:17:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208843-100.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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=news.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/12039/1208756-361-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml The newly crowned top 3-point shooter in WPIAL boys basketball history has helped his team reach the playoffs his senior season. Micah Mason broke the WPIAL record for career 3-pointers and helped Highlands earn a spot in the postseason Tuesday with a 72-60 win against visiting Deer Lakes in Class AAA Section 2. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 10:58:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208707-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml Congratulations -- You're a prize winner! Or maybe not. More people reported falling victim to phony prize and sweepstakes awards than any other type of scam last year, according to the National Consumers League. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 10:56:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208758-454-0.stm?cmpid=news.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/12039/1208681-374-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml LA PAZ, Bolivia -- None of my other trips to South America had ever included Bolivia; thus, I have found its complexity somewhat daunting. What brought my wife and me here was my stepson's wife, an internationally acclaimed pianist, Ana-Maria Vera. Ana-Maria is half-Bolivian, half-Dutch and now American. She started her career at age 8 as a child prodigy. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 10:25:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208701-437.stm?cmpid=news.xml Whether or not you have children, chances are you once were one. And if you were fortunate, books -- from your parents, the school library, a maiden aunt at Christmas -- were a part of your childhood. If so, there should be something for you in the all-ages exhibition "Draw Me a Story: A Century of Children's Book Illustration." Wed, 8 Feb 2012 10:23:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208782-294-0.stm?cmpid=news.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/12039/1208705-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml In late January, President Barack Obama swung by the Washington Auto Show to check out some new wheels, although it's not clear yet when he might need to start driving his own car again. Millions more Americans will be climbing inside the latest models this year as auto shows come and go around the country. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 09:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208752-122-0.stm?cmpid=news.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/12039/1208779-176-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Rick Santorum got the electoral boost his campaign badly needed Tuesday, winning GOP contests in Missouri and Minnesota while jumping out to an early lead in Colorado's caucuses as well. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 09:38:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208753-454.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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/12039/1208679-109-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml In the most recent Gallup poll on abortion, as many Americans described themselves as pro-life as called themselves pro-choice. A combined 58 percent of Americans stated that abortion should either be "illegal in all circumstances" or "legal in only a few circumstances." Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208680-109.stm?cmpid=news.xml Congress is stuck in a rut of voting to delay, rather than fix, a problem that threatens access to health care for seniors and military families. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208682-115.stm?cmpid=news.xml This is one of a series presented by the National Aviary. The National Aviary works to inspire respect for nature through an appreciation of birds. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208683-44.stm?cmpid=news.xml Walter Dean Myers, author of more than 100 books for young adults and children, is the first African-American writer to serve as the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and the third person to hold the position, which the Library of Congress created in 2008. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208684-51-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml As thousands of students reach their high school years, levels of stress continue to increase. This is especially true for females; in my school, when I took a survey of 24 students (a group of 12 boys and 12 girls) that asked them if high school is stressful for them, 11 out of the 12 girls responded "yes," while only 50 percent of boys seem to let high school bog down their spirits. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208686-348-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Well, it's safe to say that Piers Morgan won't be first in line for tickets to Madonna's just-announced world tour. The pontificating Brit continued his public assault on America's long-reigning Material Girl while chatting with E!'s own Chelsea Handler last night, blasting Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show as a "gruesome" performance, E! News reports. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208690-67.stm?cmpid=news.xml This devil will be given his due, thanks to "Antiques Roadshow." When the venerable PBS appraisal show airs the three hours shot in Pittsburgh beginning Monday, one of the locals who made the cut was Robert, a retired schoolteacher from the Mon Valley. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208691-192.stm?cmpid=news.xml You know it's a hyper-partisan age when GOP svengali Karl Rove professes offense at a Super Bowl ad extolling American resilience. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208692-192.stm?cmpid=news.xml Longtime Democratic state Rep. Bill DeWeese has lost his right to public office. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208693-192.stm?cmpid=news.xml Whatever the prospects are for diplomacy by Russia to end the Syrian conflict, the tragedy is that the bloodshed will continue while that occurs. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208694-110-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Now is the time for Pennsylvania legislators to reform state government. By combining two key reforms, they can eliminate two threats to good government -- a cumbersome, costly, oversized Legislature and the partisan gerrymandering of election districts. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208697-483.stm?cmpid=news.xml It's not often I get inspired to make a dish after watching a celebrity chef whip it up on TV. Especially when said cooking star is Sandra Lee, who's best known for her "semi-homemade" style of cooking, which relies heavily on pre-packaged products instead of fresh items. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208698-437.stm?cmpid=news.xml Four Egyptian artists/activists are in Pittsburgh this week to participate in closing events Saturday for the exhibition "Sites of Passage" at the Mattress Factory museum, North Side. The events are public and included with museum admission. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208704-28-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Also in today's headlines: Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208706-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml If you think Pittsburgh's health insurance landscape has changed dramatically in the last year, you ain't seen nothing yet, according to six of the region's top insurance executives. Expect more friction between physicians and health plans as insurers try to wring what they call unnecessary procedures, scans and surgeries out of the system. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208708-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml It took about 450 million years, but the Utica Shale is finally having its moment in the sun. Seven deals involving the Ohio oil and gas formation totaled $6.7 billion in 2011 -- a huge increase from the single transaction worth $178 million in 2010. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208709-28.stm?cmpid=news.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/12039/1208712-139.stm?cmpid=news.xml Alberto Contador vowed Tuesday to return to the pinnacle of cycling, maintaining his innocence in the face of a two-year doping ban that stripped the Spanish star of his 2010 Tour de France title. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208713-139-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml The World Anti-Doping Agency on Tuesday urged U.S. federal authorities to quickly hand over evidence collected in their lengthy probe into seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and doping in American cycling. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208715-143.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Big Ten, which helped squash the notion of a four-team playoff to crown a national champion in college football several years ago, is taking another look. "All of the Big Ten athletic directors are comfortable exploring the possibility of a four-team playoff," Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis said. "Four is better than two." Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208716-66.stm?cmpid=news.xml Two days after their grueling season concluded with a tense victory against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, the New York Giants took a victory lap in Lower Manhattan. The celebration kicked off with a parade that wound north up Broadway's Canyon of Heroes, amid a sea of confetti, horns and fans in blue jerseys, and ended with a ceremony at City Hall Plaza, where Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg presented the players with keys to the city. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208717-66-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml If the Steelers wanted an offensive coordinator who will be tough on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, they found the right person in Todd Haley. As an offensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals, Haley often got into arguments and in-your-face debates with some of his top players, including star quarterback Kurt Warner. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208718-87-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml There's a perception out there that Steelers new offensive coordinator Todd Haley is a tyrant. It's one thing to be emotional, a good thing actually in a sport as competitive as football. But many say Haley frequently steps over the line, that he is headstrong, confrontational and difficult to work with and for. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208719-142.stm?cmpid=news.xml Memphis is the latest school to sign up for a spot in the new Big East. A person familiar with the decision says Memphis is joining the Big East for all sports in 2013. The Big East announced it would hold a teleconference today with commissioner John Marinatto, University of Memphis President Shirley C. Raines and Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson, though it did not give any details about what would be discussed. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208725-57.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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/12039/1208727-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml New deadlines have been set for Allegheny County property taxes as a result of concerns about new property assessments. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208728-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml Deciding the weighty issue of who should oversee the annual inspection of gas pumps, UPC scanners, scales and parking meters in Allegheny County will have to wait until the county controller is back from maternity leave next month. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208729-53.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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=news.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=news.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/12039/1208734-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml After several failed attempts, Iranian lawmakers for the first time mustered enough votes Tuesday to compel President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to testify before them in coming weeks about what they called "irregularities" related to his handling of the country's struggling economy. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208735-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml BAGHDAD -- Less than two months after U.S. troops left, the State Department is preparing to slash by as much as half the enormous diplomatic presence it had planned for Iraq, a sharp sign of declining U.S. influence in the country. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208736-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml ATLANTA -- A vice president at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation resigned Tuesday, saying the breast cancer charity should have stood by its politically explosive decision to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208737-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- Faced with continued criticism from a new rule on health insurance coverage for birth control, the White House on Tuesday emphasized that the details of the mandate were not yet settled. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208738-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml A federal appeals panel in San Francisco ruled Tuesday that California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, a decision that could lead to the Supreme Court's consideration of the controversial social issue. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208739-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml DAMASCUS, Syria -- Russia's top diplomat said Tuesday that a Syrian commission has prepared a new constitution, to be voted on in a referendum, and added that President Bashar al-Assad is ready for a "dialogue" with opposition groups after months of a harsh and bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208741-449.stm?cmpid=news.xml Freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 13 points and 13 rebounds and top-ranked Kentucky easily passed its toughest Southeastern Conference test to date with a 78-58 victory against No. 8 Florida. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208743-135.stm?cmpid=news.xml Duquesne freshman P.J. Torres texted his coach in November before the team's nationally televised game at Arizona: "I'm ready to play coach." Ron Everhart disagreed. It was a big TV game after all, and he questioned his freshman's motives. Torres didn't played that night. "Everybody here was 'the man' in high school. I came here with the high school mindset. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208745-175.stm?cmpid=news.xml Winning on the road in the Big East is a tough task. Pitt has come to understand just how difficult it is this season after posting winning records in conference road games for three consecutive seasons. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208747-169.stm?cmpid=news.xml For most of this season, the top of scoring sheet has been fairly predictable for Robert Morris. Redshirt junior Velton Jones nearly always is there. Leading the Colonials with 16.8 points per game, he has been the team's top scorer in 15 of 25 games. Behind Jones is usually sharpshooter Coron Williams, who leads the team with 56 3-pointers and averages 11.0 points per game. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208754-454-0.stm?cmpid=news.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/12039/1208757-275-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Paul Pierce passed Larry Bird for No. 2 on the Celtics' career scoring list, finishing with 15 points as Boston increased its winning streak to five in a row with a 94-84 victory against the visiting Charlotte Bobcats. Pierce needed nine points to tie Bird's total of 21,791. He had seven points at halftime, then hit a 3-pointer with 10:23 left in the third quarter to pass Bird. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208759-454-0.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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=news.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=news.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=news.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=news.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=news.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/12039/1208768-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml Leading Democrats have commenced a furious drive to galvanize and expand the network of wealthy liberal donors that has been largely dormant since 2004, hoping to recruit them to Democratic-leaning "Super-PACs" that President Barack Obama now believes will be critical to winning re-election in November. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208771-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml Martin Brodeur stopped 30 shots for his first shutout this season and the record 117th of his NHL career Tuesday night, and the visiting New Jersey Devils beat the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers, 1-0, for their fifth consecutive win. David Clarkson gave Brodeur all the offense he needed with a first-period, power-play goal. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208772-61-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Evgeni Malkin has a Stanley Cup ring, an NHL scoring championship and a playoff MVP award. What he does not have, at least in parts of North America, is a public presence equal to his accomplishments. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208774-66.stm?cmpid=news.xml Steelers tight end Weslye Saunders has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2012 season for violating the NFL's policy on performance enhancing substances. Saunders, an undrafted rookie in 2011, is eligible to participate in all preseason games and practices before his suspension begins Sept. 1. This is not the first time Saunders has had off-the-field problems. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208777-454-0.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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/12039/1208781-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml Used to be that a bad game would rattle Marc-Andre Fleury, causing him to follow it with one that wasn't much better. Not anymore, though. He proved that again Tuesday night, when he did just about everything possible to earn a victory for the Penguins against Montreal at the Bell Centre. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208783-154-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml The expression "political football" refers to something kicked around for political effect. But, nowadays, everything is kicked around for political effect. In truth, politics has become football, as the Super Bowl ended up proving. Consider that politics and football are both contact sports. Both involve lots of money. Both encourage blind allegiance to a team. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208793-96-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Workers in the digital era can feel at times as if they are playing a video game, battling the barrage of e-mails and instant messages, juggling documents, Web sites and online calendars. To cope, people have become swift with the mouse, toggling among dozens of overlapping windows on a single monitor. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208794-115-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Norton D. Zinder, a researcher who helped lay the basis for the new field of molecular biology in the 1950s and '60s and who played a crucial role in the politics of decoding the human genome, died on Friday in a nursing home in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. He was 83. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208795-115.stm?cmpid=news.xml Q. Are oral plaque, coronary vessel plaque and eye plaque the same substance? Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208796-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml His candidacy all but dismissed just days ago, Rick Santorum won the Minnesota caucuses and a nonbinding primary in Missouri on Tuesday, raising fresh questions about Mitt Romney's ability to corral conservative support. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208797-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that would authorize a tax on the shale gas industry and set uniform standards for development, changes that critics said would leave many municipalities with little control over the use of their land. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208798-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml DAYTON, Ohio -- On a day that was not kind to Newt Gingrich, he traveled to a place he hopes will help get him back in the saddle next month: Ohio. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208799-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Leading Democrats have commenced a furious drive to galvanize and expand the network of wealthy liberal donors that has been largely dormant since 2004, hoping to recruit them to Democratic-leaning "super PACs" that President Obama now believes will be critical to winning re-election in November. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208800-298.stm?cmpid=news.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/12039/1208801-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml ATHENS -- As thousands of Greeks walked off the job in a general strike on Tuesday to protest stringent new austerity measures, there was a growing sense that the country was reaching a critical point in its efforts to survive the debt crisis. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208802-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan government officials cast doubt Tuesday on whether more than 20 children who died in camps recently had perished from the cold. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208803-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml MOSCOW -- The police in Russia plan to resubmit for trial a tax evasion case in which the primary defendant died in detention more than two years ago, his former employer said Tuesday. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208804-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml RIO DE JANEIRO -- Faced with an influx of thousands of Haitians into its Amazonian frontier, Brazil has reacted by cracking down, offering a view into its growing pains as it wields greater regional influence and emerges as an immigration magnet. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208805-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml In the centenary year of his birth, Alan Turing, the British mathematician and cryptanalyst regarded as one of the central figures in the development of the computer and artificial intelligence, has been denied a formal pardon by the government of Prime Minister David Cameron for his conviction in 1952 on charges of homosexuality, then a criminal offense in Britain. An e-mail petition for a pardon for Mr. Turing, who committed suicide by eating a cyanide-laced apple in 1954, when he was 41, has drawn worldw Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208806-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml Scotland Yard formally acknowledged on Tuesday that it had acted unlawfully in 2006 and 2007 in failing to notify hundreds of individuals targeted by The News of the World as it hacked into the cellphone voice mail messages of politicians, sports stars and other celebrities. The admission came as two judges at the High Court in London were hearing evidence in a lawsuit brought by a former deputy prime minister, John Prescott, and a group of other litigants. Top officers at Scotland Yard have previously reje Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208807-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml TUXTLA GUTIÉRREZ, Mexico -- In the 1990s, they helped their parents run a small family food stand in front of a bus terminal in southern Mexico. Today, the Álvarez Puga brothers, Alejandro and Victor, sit atop a multimillion-dollar financial consulting firm, travel in private jets, own property in New York and boast of having clients around the world. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208808-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Correction Appended Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208809-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml After several failed attempts, Iranian lawmakers for the first time mustered enough votes on Tuesday to compel President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to testify before them in coming weeks about what they called "irregularities" related to his handling of the country's struggling economy. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208810-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml BAGHDAD -- Less than two months after American troops left, the State Department is preparing to slash by as much as half the enormous diplomatic presence it had planned for Iraq, a sharp sign of declining American influence in the country. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208811-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml The last veteran of World War I was a waitress, and for 90 years no one knew her name. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208812-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml FLORENCE, Italy -- A judge in Florence continued on Tuesday the house arrest of Francesco Schettino, the captain of the luxury liner that ran aground off the Tuscan coast on Jan. 13, leaving 17 people dead and 15 still unaccounted for. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208724-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml MONTREAL -- Rene Bourque, Lars Eller and Tomas Plekanec scored during a eight-round shootout to give Montreal a 3-2 victory over the Penguins at the Bell Centre tonight. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 22:28:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208598-454-0.stm?cmpid=news.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/12038/1208703-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Two people were in critical condition following an afternoon accident on Route 51/Sawmill Run Boulevard today. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 22:22:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208711-100.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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=news.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/12038/1208661-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Former Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley has been hired as the Steelers new offensive coordinator, replacing Bruce Arians, the team announced today. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 15:42:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208670-100.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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=news.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=news.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/12038/1208666-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Steelers tight end Weslye Saunders has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2012 season for violating the National Football League's policy on performance enhancing substances. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 14:23:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208567-53.stm?cmpid=news.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/12038/1208535-325.stm?cmpid=news.xml What was not to love about Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's succulent dance foray among the hallmark composers known as the three B's -- Bach, Beethoven and Brahms? Called "Uncommon," it wasn't a full-length theatrical production, but in many respects was a more massive undertaking. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 14:05:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208669-100.stm?cmpid=news.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/12038/1208667-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Attorneys for Jerry Sandusky said this morning that the accusers in the sexual abuse case against him may have "collaborated" to bring charges against him. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 13:09:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208621-53-0.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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/12038/1208665-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml A black former state halfway house monitor who was fired for sleeping on the job was in court today for the opening of a civil trial at which he is arguing that he was terminated unfairly because a white monitor's snoozing was tolerated. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 12:21:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208664-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Pittsburgh City Council today gave final approval to a package of supports for homeowners who want to fight new property assessments. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 11:50:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208660-100.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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=news.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/12038/1208542-314.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Big Apple will get a bit busier when the who's who of the fashion world descend on Lincoln Center Thursday for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, eight days of runway shows and presentations previewing the trends that will make a splash in stores next fall and winter. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 10:33:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208658-100.stm?cmpid=news.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/12038/1208659-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml RTI International Metals Inc. posted a profit of $15,000 in the fourth quarter, an improvement over the Moon titanium producer's $1.4 million loss during the same period a year ago. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 10:25:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208543-314.stm?cmpid=news.xml Help your honey smell extra sweet as you're snuggling cheek to cheek this Valentine's Day with fragrances for him and her. There are many new scents on the market this month, as well as new places to purchase some longtime favorites. So rather than -- or in addition to? -- the usual candygram, give a gift that will last a bit longer and that you both can enjoy, without the calorie guilt. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 10:22:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208657-100.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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/12038/1208521-460.stm?cmpid=news.xml Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre welcomed more than 100 guests Friday night as they celebrated the launch of the PBT and the August Wilson Center for African American Culture's three-year partnership "Uncommonly August," at the August Wilson Center. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:47:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208518-460.stm?cmpid=news.xml "The Best Chefs of Pittsburgh Join the 5th Annual Symphony of Food -- Chefs' Showcase Dinner" was the title of the delicious benefit held Jan. 27 and sponsored by WOMEN of Southwestern PA. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:45:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208534-67.stm?cmpid=news.xml ABC's "The River" turns out to be a more interesting show than its pilot suggests. That's not to say the premiere, airing tonight at 9 on WTAE, is disappointing -- it's a scary enough introduction -- but future episodes expand the show's universe, better develop the characters and reveal that while the show is called "The River," not every story has to take place on a boat. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:37:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208651-100.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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/12038/1208554-66-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin has never won the NFL's coach of the year award. Quarterback Eli Manning has never been the league's MVP. With two Super Bowl victories in the past five seasons, though, they have emerged as the NFL's top coaching-quarterback tandem. And the best might be yet to come. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:33:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208546-455-0.stm?cmpid=news.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/12038/1208530-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml After riding among a caravan of bright blue bikes up Oakland's O'Hara Street Thursday, University of Pittsburgh senior Micah Toll said he wasn't surprised by the attention from onlookers. Especially considering that they were gliding up the inclined roadway at about 15 mph without pedaling. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:25:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208540-500.stm?cmpid=news.xml Nothing seems as fascinating to a middle-aged American male as the guy himself. Examples abound, so I'll leave Charlie Sheen alone, but for an evening's immersion in this area of self-absorption, try "Mid-Strut" at The REP, Point Park University's professional company. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:22:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208607-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner will recommend that the state Department of Agriculture take back responsibility for assuring store scales and gas pumps are accurate. Her move comes in a tit-for-tat response to a plan by county Executive Rich Fitzgerald to have his office, rather than the controller, handle that job. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:19:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208603-298-0.stm?cmpid=news.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/12038/1208532-500.stm?cmpid=news.xml For anyone who has ever squeezed into the sausage skin of a leotard, hobbled funk-less through a hip-hop combination or been chastised for poor posture in a ballet class, comedian Jen Childs has a soft spot for you. These are just a few of the scenarios she cites in her one-woman show "Why I'm Scared of Dance," which continues Thursday through Sunday at City Theatre, South Side. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208549-87-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml It was about 90 minutes after Super Bowl XLIII, a game that always will be remembered here because of the Steelers' fabulous comeback against the Arizona Cardinals. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was at a private party, his tie off, his sleeves rolled up and a cold adult beverage in his hand. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 08:13:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208655-100.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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=news.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=news.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=news.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=news.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/12038/1208524-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml A commercial made for the Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" contest has won $1 million for its creator -- but it wasn't the one made by a Saxonburg native. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:10:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208529-28-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml LOS ANGELES Mirabelle Vargas, 29, winds her way through the open-air stalls in downtown Los Angeles' bustling Santee Alley, hunting for Victoria's Secret underwear. Or at least undies with a tag that says Victoria's Secret. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:10:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208525-28.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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/12038/1208592-449.stm?cmpid=news.xml Bobby Cremins knew he had nothing left to give his College of Charleston players when he walked away from the game last month. Cremins said he was physically exhausted and advised by his doctor to make drastic changes or risk jeopardizing his long-term health. "I had nothing. I had no gas. The tank was empty," Cremins said Monday. "The kids knew. They could feel it." Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208595-275-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Lou Williams nailed the go-ahead 3-pointer, scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and dampened Kobe Bryant's record-setting game while leading the Philadelphia 76ers to 95-90 win against the Los Angeles Lakers Monday night. With "Beat L.A.!" Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208502-109-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml We have seen the world created by the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, and it doesn't work. Oh, yes, it works nicely for the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country, especially if they want to shroud their efforts to influence politics behind shell corporations. It just doesn't happen to work if you think we are a democracy and not a plutocracy. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208503-109-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml A simple resolution passed the state House of Representatives unanimously on Jan. 24. It recognizes the significant impact the Bible has had on our country and refers to the Bible as the word of God. It in no way inhibits anyone from believing in any faith or no faith. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208504-109.stm?cmpid=news.xml As Allegheny County confronts unprecedented challenges including reassessments, Port Authority service cuts, unemployment and a fund balance lower than that of many school districts, I find it deeply troubling that our county executive, Rich Fitzgerald, is placing a priority on moving the county's Weights and Measures function -- a $250,000 cost within a $1.5 billion budget -- to his office. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208505-192.stm?cmpid=news.xml Pittsburgh, which owes its existence to its beginnings as a frontier garrison town, has always had a close, historic relationship with the military. In great numbers, men and women from Western Pennsylvania have served to help the nation fight its wars. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208506-192.stm?cmpid=news.xml The dangers of lead-based paint have been well-established for more than 30 years. The knowledge that even low-level exposures to lead can affect mental capacity led the United States to ban the use of paints in this country with lead content above 600 parts per million since 1978. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208507-192.stm?cmpid=news.xml All he is saying is give peace a chance. No, not John Lennon -- Fredrik Heffermehl, a Norwegian jurist and critic of the Nobel Peace Prize selection process. It could mean trouble for the committee, which faces a formal investigation into its selections. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208508-110-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml I felt I had an obligation to "weigh in" on the ongoing discussion about the Weights and Measures Bureau in Allegheny County ("Two in a Measured Dispute: County Executive, Controller Each Want to Monitor Meters," Feb. 1). I had the privilege of supervising this group during my five years in county government under the three commissioners and then Jim Roddey. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208514-44.stm?cmpid=news.xml Jack Gantos kept his hopes for winning a Newbery Medal -- given annually by the American Library Association to the best-written children's book -- in "lockdown mode" over the past few months. Mr. Gantos, 60, had come close to winning the gold Newbery Medal in 2001 for "Joey Pigza Loses Control." Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208515-437.stm?cmpid=news.xml Photographer Ivette Spradlin grew up in Florida and Georgia. When she moved to Pittsburgh a few years ago, she was not prepared for the long gray winters and the isolation they impose. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208516-460.stm?cmpid=news.xml To know Thad Mosley is to be charmed immediately by his warmth, his smile and by the aura of goodness that seems to emanate from his compact person. Producer and director Kenneth Love captures all that and more in his intimate portrait, "Thaddeus Mosley: Sculptor." Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208517-460.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Pittsburgh CLO Ambassadors held its Auction Preview Party Jan. 30 for VIPs at the Renaissance Pittsburgh, where guests were sipping the samples provided by Capital Wines & Spirits. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208519-460.stm?cmpid=news.xml The sharks were circling the Duquesne Club Thursday evening for the 24th annual Cummerbund Society Pool Tournament. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208527-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml Also in today's headlines: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208533-60.stm?cmpid=news.xml Patrons at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont can meet the men behind the Internet sensations "Pittsburgh Dad" and "The Mercury Men" tonight. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208539-348-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Defeat is a bitter pill to swallow -- especially at the Super Bowl. Perhaps it was made a bit easier for Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady, whose wife Gisele Bndchen was on hand to comfort him in Indianapolis on Sunday night, after losing 21-17 to Eli Manning and the New York Giants in a suspenseful fourth quarter, People reports. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208541-314-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml If hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, imagine how a scorned woman who loves to shop feels! In a very bad case of adding insult to injury, a postcard Saks Fifth Avenue sent to its cardholders last week has managed to inflame more than one customer with its insensitivity. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208547-139.stm?cmpid=news.xml Three days after U.S. prosecutors dropped their investigation of doping claims against Lance Armstrong, fellow Tour de France champion Alberto Contador was stripped of his 2010 title when sports' highest court rejected the Spanish cyclist's story that contaminated meat caused him to fail a drug test. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208548-63.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Colorado Rockies acquired veteran right-hander Jeremy Guthrie from the Baltimore Orioles on Monday, a move that bolsters their young rotation. In exchange, the Rockies send reliever Matt Lindstrom and right-hander Jason Hammel to the Orioles. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208550-66-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick gave clear instructions to his defensive unit: Let the runner score. Playing the odds and inviting critics, the calculating coach told his players to get out of the way, open a wide path for Ahmad Bradshaw and give Tom Brady a chance to win the Super Bowl in the final 57 seconds. Unusual? Certainly. Crazy? Not at all. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208551-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml He didn't look bad on a line with Steve Sullivan and Cal O'Reilly, even though he was playing out of position. He added a nice dimension to the No. 2 power play, as well, even though the second unit isn't exactly his natural habitat. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208552-175.stm?cmpid=news.xml Dante Taylor's career has not turned out the way he envisioned, and his detractors can argue when he finally bottomed out. It seems a good bet, though, that his two-game stretch in January against Rutgers and Marquette are certainly in the discussion. Taylor did not score in those games three days apart in mid-January. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208556-66-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml For the third consecutive year, the Super Bowl set a record as the most-watched television show in U.S. history. The Nielsen Co. said Monday that an estimated 111.3 million people watched the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots, 21-17, Sunday night in Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208561-153-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml When a co-worker brought "Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master" to my attention last week, I was immediately intrigued. The letter purports to be from Jourdon Anderson, a runaway slave, to his former "owner," Col. P.H. Anderson. It was written on Aug. 7, 1865, several months after the end of the Civil War. Jourdan lived in Dayton, Ohio. The colonel lived in Big Spring, Tenn. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208564-53.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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=news.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/12038/1208569-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml ATHENS, Greece -- Greece's government said Monday that it will cut 15,000 state jobs this year, part of new austerity measures it must adopt to secure new debt agreements and rescue funds from international lenders. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208570-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- The White House moved Monday to tighten sanctions against Iran because of the country's suspect nuclear program, freezing all property of the Central Bank of Iran, other Iranian financial institutions and the Iranian government in the United States. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208571-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml RAMALLAH, West Bank -- After months of wavering, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took a decisive step Monday toward reconciliation with the Islamic militant group Hamas, a move that Israel promptly warned would close the door to any future peace talks. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208573-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml BEIRUT -- The U.S. closed its embassy in Syria and withdrew its staff Monday in the face of escalating mayhem that U.S. officials blamed on the Syrian government's unbridled repression of an 11-month-old uprising. The move marked another dramatic moment in a week full of them, as the confrontation in Syria turned even more violent and unpredictable. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208574-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml OSLO, Norway -- The right-wing extremist who has admitted killing 77 people in Norway's worst peacetime massacre told a court Monday that he deserves a medal of honor for the bloodshed and demanded to be set free. Anders Behring Breivik smirked as he was led into the Oslo district court, handcuffed and dressed in a dark suit, for his last detention hearing before the trial starts in April. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208575-139-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml While sports events across Europe fall victim to the deep freeze, the Dutch are welcoming the drop in temperatures, hoping that the revered "Eleven Cities" speed skating race can be staged later this month for the first time in 15 years. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208582-122-0.stm?cmpid=news.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/12038/1208588-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml Buffalo Coach Lindy Ruff broke three ribs in what was described as "a freak accident" after he was upended by defenseman Jordan Leopold in practice Monday. Ruff was hurt near the end of practice during a puck-chase drill when Leopold was trying to cut off forward Ville Leino. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208589-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml Phil Kessel scored twice and Mikhail Grabovski assisted on Toronto's first two goals to lead the surging Maple Leafs past the visiting Edmonton Oilers, 6-3. The Oilers played without coach Tom Renney, who stayed back at the team hotel after taking a puck in the head during the morning skate. The cut required stitches and left Renney experiencing headaches. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208590-61-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Jordan Staal isn't the biggest name on the Penguins' injured list. He isn't even the biggest name center there. But he is the one who figures to be the first to get back in their lineup. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208593-175.stm?cmpid=news.xml Gorgui Dieng returned from a sprained right ankle to score 15 points and freshman Chane Behanan added 12 rebounds as No. 24 Louisville (19-5, 7-4) beat Connecticut (15-8, 5-6), 80-59, for its fifth win in a row. Louisville looked like the team ranked fourth in the nation at 12-0 and nothing like the one that dropped five out of seven three weeks ago. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208596-54.stm?cmpid=news.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/12038/1208599-176-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- Perhaps the most attention-getting Super Bowl ad -- other than that dog blackmailing his owner with tortilla chips to keep quiet over a felinicide, of course -- was Clint Eastwood's paean to a resurgent auto industry in Detroit. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208600-176-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml While their decisions won't award many actual delegates, voters in three states could reshape perceptions of the Republican presidential nomination battle today by reinforcing Rick Santorum's claim as chief conservative alternative to front-runner Mitt Romney. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208601-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- More than a third of the advertising tied to the presidential race has been funded by nonprofit groups that will never have to reveal their donors, suggesting that a significant portion of the 2012 elections will be wrapped in a vast cloak of secrecy. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208605-503-0.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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/12038/1208612-361.stm?cmpid=news.xml West Mifflin's Ciara Patterson did everything she could, but it wasn't enough to defeat the No. 1-ranked girls basketball team in WPIAL Class AAA. Patterson had 24 of her game-high 38 points in the second half, but by then the Titans were just playing catch-up. South Park beat West Mifflin (7-9, 6-3), 76-50, Monday night to clinch the Section 4 title for the second consecutive season. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208613-361-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Basketball Box Scores Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208614-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Two American brothers of a Mexican casino magnate who fled drug and fraud charges in the United States and has been seeking a pardon enabling him to return have emerged as major fundraisers and donors for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208615-454-0.stm?cmpid=news.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=news.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/12038/1208631-96-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Stephen Wolfram, a 52-year-old scientist, software designer and entrepreneur, tends to go his own way -- often with noteworthy results. He published his first physics paper at 15, earned his Ph.D. from Caltech at 20 and two years later won a MacArthur prize. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208632-115.stm?cmpid=news.xml A giant crocodile with a bulging shield of thickened skin on its forehead lived among dinosaurs, a new study reports. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208633-115.stm?cmpid=news.xml By filtering through 25 gallons of seawater from Puget Sound, a computer scientist in Washington State has managed to tease out and sequence the DNA of a tiny microbe that has eluded scientists for years. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208634-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml NAVAL AIR STATION WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. -- The pilot sat strapped to a chair, held in place as if he were in the backseat of a helicopter. Beside him, on a mock wall, was a window. The window was closed. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208635-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml Two American brothers of a Mexican casino magnate who fled drug and fraud charges in the United States and has been seeking a pardon enabling him to return have emerged as major fund-raisers and donors for President Obama's re-election campaign. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208636-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Elizabeth Young, a mother and artist in Las Vegas, likes Mitt Romney's successful record of "turning around companies that have been doing so poorly." Chad Backus, a physical therapist from Winnemucca, Nev., appreciates his "business experience, his leadership experience." And Arwen Spor, a mother of three in Spring Creek, Nev., lived in the Salt Lake City area during the 2002 Olympics, and trusts Mr. Romney because of his role in reviving the struggling games. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208637-84-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- President Obama is signaling to wealthy Democratic donors that he wants them to start contributing to an outside group supporting his re-election, reversing a long-held position as he confronts a deep financial disadvantage on a vital front in the campaign. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208638-298-0.stm?cmpid=news.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/12038/1208639-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml ROME -- Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church began a four-day symposium on Monday about the prevention of sexual abuse of minors by the clergy, an unprecedented assembly described by the Vatican as a response to a painful issue that has wracked the church and estranged many faithful. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208640-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml An immigration appeals judge ordered the government on Monday to release on bail a militant Islamic preacher who is considered a leader of Al Qaeda in Europe, despite government arguments that he is a threat to Britain's security. The preacher, Abu Qatada, 51, whose real name is Omar Othman, has spent more than six years in British jails since his arrest after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, and had been described by a Spanish terrorism judge as "Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe." Mr. O Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208641-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml Queen Elizabeth II broke with her custom of performing no public duties on the anniversary of the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952, leaving her Sandringham estate in rural Norfolk on Monday to make brief appearances at a neighboring town hall and a village nursery school. The day marked the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne, an accomplishment matched by only one other British monarch in more than 1,000 years. Her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, celebrated her Diamond Jubil Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208642-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- Authoritarian rulers from Caracas to Moscow and beyond have long viewed pro-democracy groups financed by the United States with deep suspicion, regularly denouncing them as meddlers or spies and sometimes harassing their workers. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208643-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml PARIS -- The leaders of Germany and France, meeting here on Monday, pledged not to allow Russia and China to block international action to stop the bloodshed in Syria, and promised to help the Syrian people. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208644-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml MEXICO CITY -- The historic choice of a woman as its presidential candidate may turn out to be a shrewd move for the party of Mexico's incumbent president, political analysts said Monday, allowing it to capitalize on the growing power of women in politics and offering a fresh approach for a party that has been mired in a bloody drug war. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208645-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml TEHRAN -- One measure of the profound anxiety now coursing through Iranian society can be seen on Manouchehri Street, a winding lane at the heart of this city where furtive crowds of men gather every day like drug dealers to buy and sell American dollars. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208646-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml ST. MORITZ, Switzerland -- In an earlier era in Europe, it was not unusual for the sudden and unexpected departure of a monarch to touch off a prolonged period of claims and counterclaims until one of the pretenders finally prevailed. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208647-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml Some sanctions against Myanmar were waived by the United States on Monday, allowing the Myanmar government to work with the World Bank and other international financial organizations to bolster its economy. The decision is the latest in a series of cautious reciprocal steps intended to reward sweeping political and economic changes in the country, also known as Burma. The restrictions on international financial organizations stem from American laws against human trafficking, which the United States State De Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208648-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- A senior American military commander is expected to travel to Pakistan this month in what Obama administration officials say is the first step toward thawing a strategic relationship that has been in effect frozen for more than two months. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208649-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- The White House moved to enforce tightened sanctions against Iran on Monday because of the country's suspect nuclear program, freezing all property of the Central Bank of Iran, other Iranian financial institutions and the Iranian government in the United States. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208650-82-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml LAHORE, Pakistan -- Long unchallenged, Pakistan's top spy agency faces a flurry of court actions that subject its darkest operations to unusual scrutiny, amid growing calls for new restrictions on its largely untrammeled powers. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500