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If you are a longtime resident of Pennsylvania, it still is a bit of a jolt to the senses to drive through what was once coal country and see an oversized, cheery, red billboard sitting along U.S. 30 reading “VOTE REPUBLICAN.” However, it is a reminder of how much the people who live in these old industrial and coal-rich counties have shed the local Democratic politics of their upbringing. Voter registration numbers, as we shall see, show as much. Important to note: These voters have not changed personally, but their parties have done so. Democrats have abandoned their ...

Barges break loose on Ohio River

PITTSBURGH — More than two dozen river barges broke loose from their moorings and floated down the Ohio River in Pittsburgh, striking one bridge that had already been preemptively closed and damaging a marina, officials said. The boats eventually were pinned to the riverbank or went over a dam downstream, officials said. Pittsburgh police, fire and emergency medical services responded around 11:25 p.m. Friday to reports of the barges “floating uncontrolled” down the river, Pittsburgh Public Safety said in a statement. The area had been hit by flooding after heavy rains ...

Carnegie Science Center’s mission remains the same, but name changes

If you venture to Pittsburgh’s North Shore and drive by the Carnegie Science Center on almost any weekday during the school year, you’re likely to see at least a couple of school buses parked outside. The facility, which is part of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, is a magnet for field trips, and has undoubtedly helped spark an interest in science in many young people throughout the region. It’s a fun place for adults, too, it must be said. It was announced last week that while the mission of the Carnegie Science Center will remain, it will be taking on a new name. Thanks ...

Pa. teen sentenced to 15 to 40 years

BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania teen charged in a 12-year-old girl’s death after another teen reported receiving a video asking for help cleaning up and getting rid of the body has been sentenced to 15 to 40 years in prison as part of a plea deal. Ash Cooper, who formerly went by Joshua Cooper and is now 18, pleaded guilty Thursday to third-degree murder and other charges in the November 2022 death of Morgan Connors in Bensalem. Bucks County prosecutors said police who responded to a trailer park that afternoon about a possible homicide were told that a teenager who was ...

Early education on crime proves vital in many instances

Pennsylvania school districts and the communities in which they reside could benefit from a special, mandatory four-session course required by the state Legislature and Department of Education, targeted for one of the junior high grades and spaced out over the course of the school year. The lead front-page article in last weekend’s Mirror — “Area sees increase in juvenile crime” — provided plenty of justification for such a special learning experience. The logical question emanating from that article is whether the Legislature and Governor’s Office would endorse the idea ...

Fired officer reinstated by arbitrator

PITTSBURGH — An arbitrator has ordered the reinstatement of a Pittsburgh police officer fired following the death of a man a day after officers used a stun gun on him during an arrest. The ruling Friday came nearly two years after the city announced its intention to fire the officer and several others in connection with the October 2021 death of Jim Rogers. The 54-year-old homeless man, stopped after a report of a bicycle theft from a home, was hit with a stun gun repeatedly over several minutes before he was taken into custody. He became unresponsive in a police car and was ...