Free Republic

I began my career with Allegheny County Pretrial Services in April 2008. I was sworn in by a judge, issued a badge, and placed into a system built on neutrality and public safety. Our job was simple: interview defendants, verify information, review police reports, pull complete criminal histories, and present magistrates with fact-based recommendations. We weren’t advocates for release or detention. We were there to present facts. And for a long time, the system worked because facts were the only thing that mattered. Failures to appear happened, but they were usually honest mistakes. Multiple pending cases were rare. Dangerous charges...

Voters on Tuesday will choose either Democrat Corey O’Connor, the Allegheny County controller, or Republican Tony Moreno, a former Pittsburgh police officer, as Pittsburgh’s next mayor. O’Connor, 41, of Point Breeze, is a former city councilman and son of the late Mayor Bob O’Connor. He defeated incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey for the Democratic nomination in the May primary. Moreno, 57, of Brighton Heights, spent 24 years on the Pittsburgh police force. He came in third in the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary — behind Gainey and then-Mayor Bill Peduto — before running as a Republican in the general election, again losing...

A fan is “in critical condition” after falling “from the 200 level of PPG Paints Arena” during the Penguins’ game against the Blues last night. The incident happened “after the Penguins scored their second goal 55 seconds into the first period of their 6-3 victory.” Fans said they “saw the man in a Penguins jersey stumble down several stairs between sections 201 and 234 as he approached the bottom of the section before falling into and tumbling headfirst over the glass.” The fan “fell into the suite level and hit another person,” then “dropped another level into the walkway between...

W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 26 — An ambitious terrorist plot to attack a host of American interests overseas was foiled by the capture of a key Osama bin Laden operative, sources tell ABCNEWS. Intelligence sources in Europe and the United States say the intended targets included the American embassy in Paris, the U.S. consulate in Marseilles, France, buildings at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium and the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France. The outlines of the plan were known to French and American authorities before Sept. 11, but the attacks were not ...

Pennsylvania’s highest court has declared that Pittsburgh’s attempt to force all athletes who compete in the city to pay a tax, even if they aren’t Pennsylvania residents, is unconstitutional and unfair. The city had passed the tax more than a decade ago, forcing visiting athletes to pay an income tax just for the privilege of playing there. But the state’s supreme court has ruled that the tax unconstitutionally discriminates against nonresidents, according to Legal Newsline. The ruling is a win for MLB, NHL, and NFL players who visit Pittsburgh to play the city’s home teams. The lawsuit was brought way...

The agency revealed that suspect Donald Henson, a former military member, is still at large The FBI's Pittsburgh field office is investigating a “targeted attack” that took place in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Sept. 17. “At approximately 2:40 a.m., an individual driving a white sedan proceeded to ram one of the vehicle entrance gates at FBI Pittsburgh,” authorities wrote on social media. “This individual exited the vehicle, removed an American flag from the backseat, and threw it onto the damaged gate. The individual then left the scene on foot.” Investigators identified the individual in question as Donald Henson,...

UPMC has confirmed it will end gender-affirming care for patients 18 and younger in response to the Trump administration’s policies aimed at transgender youth. A spokesperson for UPMC, the region’s largest hospital network, said federal guidance has made it clear clinicians who provide care such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy run the risk of criminal prosecution. UPMC will continue to provide behavioral health support and other care “within the bounds of the law,” the spokesperson added. The spokesperson declined to say when care will end, but impacted families have been told June 30 is the cutoff.

The “stick to sports” door swings both ways. While the term rose to significance as a catchphrase for conservative voices who hoped to shout down athletes and media with conflicting beliefs (athletes and media who agreed were and are exempt from being told to shut up), fans who have concerns about the current state of the union are objecting to those athletes who are aligning with the person who’s running the show.

Any suggestions/help on PA Republican choices, in particular for Pittsburgh and Western PA. We will be voting later today and will appreciate information from conservatives here. Thanks.

Twitter allowed Cesar Sayoc, the man who allegedly sent apparent bombs to public figures around the country this month, to post more than 240 threats towards 50 different people on its social network without sanction. Meanwhile, the media managed to temporarily force free speech social network Gab offline after it was revealed that the Tree of Life Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting suspect had an account on the platform. According to CNN, an analysis discovered that “Sayoc tweeted more than 240 threats directed to at least 50 public officials, news organizations and media personalities.” “The threats, and Twitter’s apparent inaction regarding them,...

<p>NOT ENTIRELY COMPOSED WHEN DEPOSED. That would be Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ed Rendell, who was recently deposed in a federal lawsuit in which he is a defendant.</p> <p>Rendell appeared at times angry, frustrated and incredulous over some of the questions asked during the June 14 deposition in Philadelphia. More than once, he threatened to walk out of the proceedings.</p>

 David McCullough was born in 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was educated there and at Yale University. Author of 1776, John Adams, Truman, Brave Companions, The Path Between the Seas, Mornings on Horseback, The Great Bridge and The Johnstown Flood, he has twice received the Pulitzer Prize and twice the National Book Award, as well as the Francis Parkman Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Award. The following is adapted from a public lecture delivered at Hillsdale College on March 31, 2006, during Mr. McCullough's one-week residency at the College to teach a class on “Leadership and the History...

David McCullogh Historian David McCullough was born in 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was educated there and at Yale. Author of John Adams, Truman, Brave Companions, The Path Between the Seas, Mornings on Horseback, The Great Bridge and The Johnstown Flood, he has twice received the Pulitzer Prize and twice the National Book Award, as well as the Francis Parkman Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Award. His next book, 1776, will be published in May 2005. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is an abridged transcript of remarks delivered on February 15, 2005, in Phoenix, Arizona, at a Hillsdale College National...

A self-described Hamas operative who infiltrated the US Air Force and once boasted that he’s “been a terrorist since he’s been a kid” was busted alongside two Pittsburgh women after the feds foiled an apparent terror plot involving a pair of pipe bombs, the Justice Department announced this week. Mohamad Hamad, 23, who has dual citizenship in the US and Lebanon, was already charged for defacing a synagogue was hit Tuesday with a nine-count superseding indictment along with Talya Lubid, 24, and Micaiah Collins, 22. “Mohamad Hamad lied about his loyalty to the United States, among other false statements, in...

Police have charged the driver they say caused a wrong-way, head-on collision that killed two people Sunday evening on the Parkway East near Downtown Pittsburgh. Pedro Olan Morales, 56, from Charlotte, N.C., has been charged with aggravated assault by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, accidents involving injury or death while not licensed, and multiple traffic violations in connection with the crash, according to Pennsylvania State Police. He is confined to Allegheny County Jail with bail denied. Morales was in a gray 2010 Chevy Silverado with Ohio license plates near the Allegheny County Jail about 7:30 p.m. when his...

Radio host Jim Quinn passed today. I loved his show. Been listening to him for over 30 years. For me, it's like when we lost Rush.

Pittsburgh police have reopened Grant Street to one lane after it was closed to traffic in Downtown Pittsburgh as at least two manhole covers along the thoroughfare popped loose, one with a thunderous boom, around noon Tuesday. The cause was traced to a fire affecting high voltage wires under Grant Street, according to Emily Bourne, a police spokeswoman. Pressure built up beneath the street and dislodged the manhole covers, she said. People could feel the initial blast a block away at the Allegheny County Courthouse. No one was injured, according to Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt.

A former UPMC doctor and assistant professor at Pitt was arrested after police in Hawaii said he tried to push his wife off a hiking trail and hit her in the head with a rock. Honolulu police said they arrested Gerhardt Konig after a short chase on foot near Pali Highway on Monday evening. Earlier in the day, police put out a poster with Konig's photo, saying he was wanted for attempted murder at Pali Lookout. Police said Konig was on Oahu with his wife Monday morning when he tried to push her off a trail and used a rock...

The federal government gave at least $2.7 million in taxpayer money to researchers who sought out minority babies who had been aborted in order to harvest their organs, according to internal documents released Tuesday. The University of Pittsburgh targeted minorities in its request for infant organs—including those taken from full-term babies—to create a "pipeline" for fetal research. Researchers said they needed 50 percent of the donated fetuses to be minorities and specified that 25 percent must come from black women. The Pittsburgh metropolitan area is 85 percent white and 8 percent black. Researchers stressed the importance of maintaining organ blood...