DAN NEPHIN

Associated Press Writer
Add To Watchlist

Volunteer day promoted to honor Mister Rogers

Mister Rogers cared deeply about his neighbors and his neighborhood, both in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and in real life.

Continue reading this entry ...

Pa., NJ, Ohio residents prep for possible flooding

Just weeks after dealing with record-setting snowfall, residents in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey are preparing for the possibility of flooding.

Continue reading this entry ...

6 defendants held for trial in Pa. torture slaying

One of six defendants charged in the torture death of a mentally disabled woman recounted in a recorded statement played Thursday at a preliminary hearing how he repeatedly stabbed the woman, and how he and some of the others beat her and fed her urine, feces, and detergent.

Continue reading this entry ...

2 charges dismissed against Steelers kicker Reed

A judge on Monday dismissed charges of simple assault and resisting arrest against Steelers kicker Jeff Reed, who was accused of raising his fists at a Pittsburgh police officer when ordered back in his vehicle as police dealt with a teammate.

Continue reading this entry ...

Pa. man dies during storm when 911 calls unheeded

With her boyfriend in severe abdominal pain, Sharon Edge called 911 for an ambulance in the early morning hours of Feb. 6. Heavy snow was falling — so heavy it would all but bring the city to a standstill — and Curtis Mitchell needed to go to a hospital.

Continue reading this entry ...

Pa. girl's 25-year-old case lends hope to others

Cherrie Mahan was 8 when she vanished from a bus stop near her home. A picture of the smiling, brown-haired girl would be the first featured on direct-mail fliers like those now sent weekly to tens of millions of U.S. homes with a simple message — Have You Seen Me?

Continue reading this entry ...

Suspects' lice delays Pa. torture-murder hearing

A district judge's office says a hearing for six people charged in the torture killing of a mentally disabled Pennsylvania woman has been postponed because the suspects have head lice.

Continue reading this entry ...

W.Pa. lawyer says Canadian wrongly served on jury

A western Pennsylvania defense attorney wants his client's drug conviction dismissed because one of the jurors wasn't a U.S. citizen, which is a requirement of jurors.

Continue reading this entry ...

Pa. woman guilty of cutting baby from teen's womb

A woman who lured a pregnant teenager to her apartment, drugged her, cut out her baby, then killed her and tried to pass the infant off as hers was found guilty but mentally ill of second-degree murder and kidnapping.

Continue reading this entry ...

53 Haitian orphans arrive at Pittsburgh airport

A flight carrying 53 Haitian orphans has landed at Pittsburgh International Airport, a week after their orphanage was destroyed by the massive quake.

Continue reading this entry ...

Study: Pa. should skip tax breaks for tech firms

Pennsylvania should think twice about using tax breaks to lure high-tech companies to the state or to keep them here and should instead focus on helping existing employers, according to a study aided by unions.

Continue reading this entry ...

Central Pa. Steelers fans can hang banner for now

A pair of Pittsburgh Steelers fans in south-central Pennsylvania will be able hang a banner at their house supporting the NFL team — at least for now — even though the borough claims the sign violates a zoning ordinance.

Continue reading this entry ...

'12 Days of Christmas' items' cost would top $87K

Making one's true love happy will cost a whopping $87,403 this year, a minuscule increase from last year, according to the latest cost analysis of the items in the carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

Continue reading this entry ...

Calif. debt firm settles Pa. class-action suit

A California debt collection company has agreed to a $2.55 million judgment to settle a lawsuit brought by thousands of Pennsylvanians who claim they were wrongly led to believe they had to pay costly fees to avoid criminal charges for bouncing checks.

Continue reading this entry ...

Green walls taking root in green building design

The next big thing in green building design might be to turn an existing idea on its side. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. recently installed a green wall the size of two tennis courts on one side of its headquarters.

Continue reading this entry ...

Volunteers aiding G-20 hope to show off Pittsburgh

Hundreds of volunteers have picked up trash, practiced foreign languages and prepared to greet the thousands of visitors arriving in Pittsburgh this week for the two-day Group of 20 economic summit.

Continue reading this entry ...

World's oldest bartender, 95, is retiring in Pa.

Only minutes after Prohibition died in 1933, Angelo Cammarata, 19, served a 10-cent bottle of Fort Pitt beer to a customer in his father's neighborhood grocery.

Continue reading this entry ...

Mylan sues Pittsburgh paper over document stories

Generic drug giant Mylan Inc. has sued the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette over stories based on internal documents that prompted a review by the Food and Drug Administration.

Continue reading this entry ...

Drake's Pa. oil well idea changed world in 1859

The oil boom that began 150 years ago in this small northwestern Pennsylvania town changed the world and made countless people rich, but not the man who found the way to successfully extract black gold from the earth.

Continue reading this entry ...

Conservatives take on liberals in blogosphere

Call this city blogger central. Two grassroots groups — one left leaning, the other right leaning — are holding their annual conferences here and teaching members how to wield clout online.

Continue reading this entry ...

Hand transplant patient hopes to feel wife's touch

The nation's first double hand transplant patient can wriggle his new fingers a little bit now and grab a tennis ball, but what he really wants to do is be able to feel his wife's hands when he holds them.

Continue reading this entry ...

Activists plan for G-20 with march, demonstrations

Protest groups targeting the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh in September are mobilizing, holding meetings and workshops ahead of the event and posting information on topics from using handcuffs for mass demonstrations to how to work with the media.

Continue reading this entry ...

Baby cut from womb turns 1; a grandfather grieves

Terrell Kian Johnson is turning 1 on Wednesday. It's also the first anniversary of the day his mother died — when she was kidnapped and bound with duct tape and Terrell sliced from her womb.

Continue reading this entry ...

Tributes to Jackson spring up in unlikely locales

Tilesha McClurkin wanted to join other Michael Jackson fans to celebrate his life, but she knew she wouldn't be able to go to whatever official memorial celebration might be held.

Continue reading this entry ...

Interior Secretary optimistic about Flight 93 land

The government has made "substantial progress" in negotiating with the seven landowners whose property is needed so the Flight 93 National Memorial can be built by the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday.

Continue reading this entry ...