http://www.post-gazette.com/ All News en-us Copyright 2009, post-gazette.com. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:01:24 -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/09325/1015361-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml Football Leaders: Rushing, Passing, Receiving Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:57:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015332-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml One of the greatest runs in WPIAL football history was ended last night by some great runs. Mike Caputo, West Allegheny's junior running back, turned in another terrific perfoerrmance. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:56:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015331-63.stm?cmpid=news.xml Facing a midnight deadline last night to set their 40-man roster, the Pirates announced yesterday that they waived starter-reliever Jeff Karstens and officially added hard-throwing reliever Ramon Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:55:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015245-454.stm?cmpid=news.xml In the latest fallout from a government corruption scandal, House committee assignments are being shuffled after a state lawmaker arrested last week was stripped of his post as ranking Republican on the Urban Affairs Committee. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:52:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015337-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml Rushel Shell's past week epitomized that of his Hopewell team last night. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:26:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015335-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml Woodland Hills kicker Sam Scifo was at home sick during the Wolverines' playoff game against Central Catholic last week. Last night, he sent Bethel Park home for good. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:20:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015343-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Rochester defense let one seven-point lead slip away. It did not allow a second one to get away from it. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:13:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015320-450.stm?cmpid=news.xml The numbers are frightening. Mount Union College has won 18 consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference titles, is 10-0 this season, has the nation's longest winning streak at 25 games, has won 43 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:12:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015341-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml Clairton got its revenge against Laurel and earned a shot at another WPIAL title as the Bears routed the Spartans, 33-0, last night in the Class A semifinals at Center. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:12:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015340-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml The victory earned Greensburg Central (10-2) its third title shot in five years. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:11:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015339-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml North Hills' luck did not run out last night. Instead, that was Brandon Felder, Dayonne Nunley and the rest of the Gateway Gators running out, over and past them. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:10:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015336-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml City League champion Schenley (10-1) routed Punxsutawney, 54-0, last night at DuBois in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA playoffs. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:09:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015342-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml For much of the WPIAL playoffs Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanac has been telling just about anyone whole will listen that his Quips are not that good. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:08:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1006966-37.stm?cmpid=news.xml VIENNA -- Sachertorte. Magnificent palaces. ... Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1012575-37.stm?cmpid=news.xml CONCORD, N.H. -- The New Hampshire tourism department has started offering special deals to fans of its Facebook page. ... Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1014795-30.stm?cmpid=news.xml A prime location for the Villa of North Park neighborhood helped builder Carl J. Spagnolo weather the dual effects of high interest rates and recession in 1979. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1014796-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml Real estate news in brief. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1014799-30.stm?cmpid=news.xml Ceramic tile is one of the most versatile and attractive finishes for countertops, shower and tub walls, and floors. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015069-67.stm?cmpid=news.xml ABC says the final season of "Lost" will begin in February with a night devoted to the drama. An hourlong special recounting the story line so far will air at 8 p.m. Feb. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015071-67.stm?cmpid=news.xml Holding back tears, Oprah Winfrey told her studio audience Friday that she would end her show in 2011 after a quarter-century on the air, saying "prayer and careful thought" led to her decision. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015074-388.stm?cmpid=news.xml When the "Beatles" took the stage at Heinz Hall on Thursday night, it turned a lot of '60-somethings into teenagers in an instant. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015075-30.stm?cmpid=news.xml Musicologist Mariana Whitmer and her husband, bank executive George Whitmer, have lived there happily since the summer of 1991. But the house at 838 N. Lincoln Ave. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015076-54.stm?cmpid=news.xml The 20th annual Butler Symphony House Tour serves dual purposes: raising money for a "note"-worthy organization and giving a glimpse inside some of the historic county's more noteworthy homes. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015077-62.stm?cmpid=news.xml The pug's big buggy eyes stare balefully from beneath the wide brim of an orange cowboy hat. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015083-325.stm?cmpid=news.xml Financiers in handcuffs, millions in bonuses to executives of bankrupt companies, mortgages foreclosed, hunger and unemployment on the rise. It's the economy, stupid. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015084-458.stm?cmpid=news.xml Last Monday, I sat on the couch watching a football game on TV until 11:45 in the evening, then got up, grabbed my keys and drove over to the local video game store to be in line for "Call of Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015086-30.stm?cmpid=news.xml Two holiday house tours are scheduled Dec. 5 and you'll need to act now to get tickets for one. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015109-109.stm?cmpid=news.xml Rehab wasn't just a matter of healing our injuries Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015110-109.stm?cmpid=news.xml Times like these remind me that I should be thankful for not only my wife and kids, my house and job, etc., but even stuff rife with unpleasantness, which also has its place in the universe. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015112-109.stm?cmpid=news.xml Giveaways to the big banks make recovery harder now Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015113-109.stm?cmpid=news.xml They hired me with a busted lip, / Summer I was fifteen. / Ernie liked me, / he liked all the girls. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015116-44.stm?cmpid=news.xml "The Iconic House: Architectural Masterworks Since 1900" By Domenic Bradbury with photographs by Richard Powers Thames & Hudson, $65 The world's most influential houses are in this Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015147-67.stm?cmpid=news.xml Former Pittsburgh TV news anchor Don Cannon was expected to be released from police custody in California yesterday, according to his attorney, Patrick J. Thomassey. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015185-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml Also in today's headlines: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015186-432.stm?cmpid=news.xml In "Highmark Executive Says Health Care Changes Are Necessary But Should Stop Short of a Public Insurance Option" (Nov. 12), Dr. Donald R. Fischer, chief medical officer of Highmark, said, "A public plan, drawing money and customers away from private insurers, also would 'decrease the opportunity for innovation that happens at private plans.'" Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015188-432.stm?cmpid=news.xml Some of the best teachers available to help young learners are now even more available -- unemployed, underemployed and just plain affected factory workers, salesmen, waitresses, shop owners and many more. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015189-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml They may be toasting with Pepsi products at the Smith Brothers ad agency. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015190-30.stm?cmpid=news.xml Pittsburgh area real estate showed signs of a turnaround in October as last-minute buyers apparently scrambled to take advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit that was originally set to expire in November. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015191-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml City officials are resetting their sights on a once-spurned St. Louis-based grocery chain now that Kuhn's Market has dropped plans for a Hill District store. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015226-192.stm?cmpid=news.xml Representatives of the 27 countries of the European Union chose respected but low-profile leaders Thursday as president of the European Council and chief foreign minister. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015227-192.stm?cmpid=news.xml It was a bad idea in 1997, and it's a bad idea now. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015228-109.stm?cmpid=news.xml For the late-19th-century anarchists, terrorism was the "propaganda of the deed." And the most successful propaganda-by-deed in history was 9/11 -- not just the most desturctive, but the most spectacular and telegenic. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015229-110.stm?cmpid=news.xml Concerning the article "Ravenstahl Says He Has the Votes to Pass Pittsburgh Tuition Tax" (Nov. 19 Web): Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015243-56.stm?cmpid=news.xml A jury on Thursday found a Forest Hills man guilty of strangling his wife earlier this year. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015244-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml Goodwill Industries of Southwestern Pennsylvania announced yesterday it is moving from the South Side to Lawrenceville next summer or fall. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015249-56.stm?cmpid=news.xml Nine people were arrested on drug charges yesterday in the Penn Hills area, according to the Allegheny County district attorney's office. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015250-59.stm?cmpid=news.xml An Indiana County man was killed in a crash yesterday morning on Route 286 in Westmoreland County. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015252-54.stm?cmpid=news.xml A man was killed and two other people were seriously injured when a sanitation truck overturned yesterday on McCalmont Road in Butler Township. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015253-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml Three men were held for trial yesterday in the fatal shooting of a Beltzhoover man during a robbery last month. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015254-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml It took four trials before two men were convicted of killing another in Mellon Square in 2003. Yesterday, they were sentenced to prison. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015255-66.stm?cmpid=news.xml Willie Colon belted out Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Put it this way: As a singer, he is a right oh-ffensive tackle. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015256-66.stm?cmpid=news.xml Last April, upon its public unveiling, Keyaron Fox was a mite juiced. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015257-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml Pittsburgh police made an arrest in the stabbing of a man on the South Side early yesterday morning. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015258-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml The West Virginia Public Service Commission deferred action on a petition for the sale of natural gas utility Dominion Hope to a private investor group, thus delaying the sale of Pittsburgh utility Dominion Peoples to the same buyer. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015260-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml A Shaler man remained free on bond after he was ordered yesterday to stand trial, charged with having been drunk in May when he drove the wrong way onto a Fort Duquesne Bridge ramp and was involved in a fatal crash. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015270-57.stm?cmpid=news.xml Students from Midland, Beaver County, star in a new music video the state Department of Health has developed to teach kids ages 6 to 12 how they can prevent getting or spreading the H1N1 flu virus. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015272-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- After negotiating critical last-minute commitments, Senate Democratic leaders yesterday stood on the verge of achieving the necessary 60 votes to begin consideration of the most expansive health care legislation to go before the Senate in nearly half a century. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015273-323.stm?cmpid=news.xml ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Santa's "elves" at the North Pole have been given their walking papers -- but they're not going quietly. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015274-67.stm?cmpid=news.xml Oprah Winfrey yesterday announced that she is ending her daytime talk show because "it's time to leave." Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015279-298.stm?cmpid=news.xml Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's proposed 1 percent tuition tax came under attack in Harrisburg yesterday, even as students panned it at a City Council meeting. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015282-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml When Allegheny County Controller Mark Patrick Flaherty issued an audit this week citing a human services contractor for misusing more than $300,000, it continued a trend of providers improperly spending county funds over the past five years. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015283-58.stm?cmpid=news.xml What could have been misconstrued as an overzealous pig roast actually did involve dead pigs -- along with a house fire, 10 students in white work suits and a $300,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015284-55.stm?cmpid=news.xml Despite pleas from several residents to allow the new school board that takes office next month to select the next superintendent of the West Mifflin Area School District, the board last night voted to award Assistant Superintendent Janet Sardon the job. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015286-55.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- A Carnegie construction company fraudulently received $39.4 million in federal funds meant for firms owned and operated by disabled veterans, according to a government audit. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015297-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml To really appreciate the tradition of Light Up Night and the transformation it brings to Downtown Pittsburgh, you need the perspective of a veteran participant. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015300-132.stm?cmpid=news.xml Jimmie Johnson's run for his fourth consecutive Cup title starts from the pole. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015306-298.stm?cmpid=news.xml Two Pittsburgh school board members have set up their own citywide meeting for Monday so the public can comment on a school closing proposal and any other issues facing Pittsburgh Public Schools. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015308-175.stm?cmpid=news.xml Pitt senior guard Jermaine Dixon will be out another two to three weeks while he rehabilitates a slow-to-heal foot injury. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015311-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml Travis Moen and Tomas Plekanec scored in a three-minute span early in the second period, Michael Cammalleri added a goal in the third, and the visiting Montreal Canadiens withstood a furious Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015312-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml ATLANTA-- The Penguins' defense corps is slowly coming back together. Barring a late setback, Brooks Orpik expects to return to their lineup tonight against Atlanta. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015313-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml ATLANTA -- You know the Atlanta Thrashers, right? The team that had two winning records in its first nine seasons. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015315-175.stm?cmpid=news.xml Brandon Triche and Arinze Onuaku combined for 13 points in Syracuse's 22-1 run to open the second half and the Orange went on to a 87-71 victory against No. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015316-66.stm?cmpid=news.xml The NFL Players Association opposes commissioner Roger Goodell's call for players to tell their teams' medical staffs if they think a teammate shows symptoms of a concussion, saying that is not an Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015317-175.stm?cmpid=news.xml Welcome back, Jania Sims. Sims, Pitt's enormously talented junior point guard, had appeared in only one game in the past 23 months coming into this season and looked extremely rusty Tuesday in Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09325/1015318-454.stm?cmpid=news.xml Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015233-175.stm?cmpid=news.xml Florida was supposed to provide the Pitt women's team with its first real test of the season tonight when the two teams met at the Petersen Events Center. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:37:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014890-120.stm?cmpid=news.xml Believe the hype. Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe is deserving of all the attention, and comedian Mo'Nique belongs on Oscar's list of supporting actress nominees. Or winners. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:45:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015219-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Amid protests from the public, the West Mifflin Area school board tonight appointed Assistant Superintendent Janet Sardon as the district's next superintendent. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:31:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015094-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Pirates this afternoon cut loose starter-reliever Jeff Karstens and officially added hard-throwing reliever Ramon Aguero, outfielder Gorkys Hernandez plus starters Brad Lincoln and Bryan Morris to their 40-man roster, thus protecting those minor leaguers from being exposed for other teams to choose in the Rule 5 draft Dec. 10. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:13:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015218-175.stm?cmpid=news.xml Pitt senior guard Jermaine Dixon will be out another two to three weeks while he rehabilitates a slow-to-heal foot injury. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:11:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015154-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml An effort to block Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's proposed 1 percent tuition tax has begun in Harrisburg. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:56:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015146-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Penguins have returned defenseman Nate Guenin to their American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:48:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015139-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml The state Department of Education today recognized 1,939 public schools with Keystone Achievement Awards for making adequate yearly progress -- known as AYP -- for two consecutive years, 2007-08 and 2008-09. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:32:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015055-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Pittsburgh police have made an arrest in the stabbing of a man on the South Side early this morning. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:18:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015058-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Two Pittsburgh school board members have set up their own citywide meeting for Monday so the public can comment on a school closing proposal and any other issues facing Pittsburgh Public Schools. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015081-30.stm?cmpid=news.xml Fill out the form to enter the Post-Gazette's Renovation Inspiration Contest. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:33:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015080-323.stm?cmpid=news.xml Going to be out on Black Friday? The PG is looking for your on-the-ground experiences. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:08:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014888-120.stm?cmpid=news.xml I'm not a Twi-hard. Or a Twi-hater. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:07:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015063-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml At least nine people were arrested on drug charges today during a sweep of homes in the Penn Hills area, according to the Allegheny County District attorney???s office. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:53:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015079-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Defenseman Brooks Orpik, who has not played since Nov. 10 because of an unspecified injury, plans to return to the Penguins' lineup when they face Atlanta at Philips Arena Saturday night. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:38:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015073-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Goodwill Industries of Southwestern Pennsylvania is moving from the South Side to Lawrenceville next year. It announced its purchase and sale agreements today. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:07:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015072-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Avonworth School District will dedicate a bench and area for reflection in memory of Jacob Snively at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the middle school. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:56:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015068-286.stm?cmpid=news.xml You don't need me advising you to start Drew Brees and Adrian Peterson, or to bench Bruce Gradkowski and Mike Furrey. So I'll leave the obvious recommendations to the network bozos and focus instead on players typically on the bubble of most fantasy lineups. Here are my picks to roll, and get rolled, in Week 11. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:24:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015067-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml The city plans to meet with St. Louis-based Save-A-Lot to gauge its interest in building a store in the Hill District, now that Kuhn's Market has pulled out. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:19:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015066-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml HARRISBURG -- State House committee assignments are being shuffled in the aftermath of last week's arrest of former House Speaker John Perzel, who has been stripped of his post as top Republican on the Urban Affairs Committee. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:09:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015059-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml After 23 months of negotiations, teachers in the South Allegheny School District have reached a contract settlement with the school board that will give teachers annual raises that average 2 percent. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:27:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015064-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml A Shaler man remained free on bond after he was ordered today to stand trial, charged with having been drunk last May when he drove the wrong way onto a Fort Duquesne Bridge ramp where his car collided with another, killing the other driver and permanently disabling that driver???s passenger. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:18:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015056-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml Three men were held for trial this morning in the fatal shooting of a Beltzhoover man during a robbery in October. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:41:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015057-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml Housing sales in Allegheny County made a dramatic turnaround in October in response to buyers trying to cash in on the $8,000 tax credit that had been set to expire in November. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:43:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015053-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml A man was killed in one-car crash this morning on Route 286 in Westmoreland County. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:27:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014953-488.stm?cmpid=news.xml In the past several weeks, as the H1N1 flu has swept through the nation, questions have been raised about how Pennsylvania chose to handle the process of distributing the limited doses of vaccine. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:53:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014951-153.stm?cmpid=news.xml Forty-six years ago this weekend, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in his motorcade in Dallas. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:06:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015054-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml A Venango County man, injured in a one-vehicle crash in October in Mercer County, died this week in an Ohio Hospital, state police said. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:41:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014926-56.stm?cmpid=news.xml Standing in ponchos and under a canopy of umbrellas, a few hundred people gathered in the rain in front of UPMC Braddock yesterday to decry UPMC's decision to shutter the hospital there, hoping their messages -- conveyed over a crackly portable speaker -- would sway the medical giant to change its mind about closing the facility. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:34:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014943-122.stm?cmpid=news.xml Chances are, if you went to school in Brentwood before 1981, Geraldine Franz Sullivan knew you. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:19:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014940-122.stm?cmpid=news.xml After working an unfulfilling job upon his graduation from Duquesne University, where he helped to manage the club football team, Jon Neiderer decided it was time to get into professional sports. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:18:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015014-143.stm?cmpid=news.xml Penn State athletes continue to graduate well above their peers nationally, earning record-setting academic performances. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:58:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014920-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml A bumpy half-mile missing link on the North Shore Trail will be filled handsomely this winter by a $5 million elevated structure stretching near Millvale. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:13:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014925-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml Downtown buildings and holiday decorations won't be the only things aglow during this evening's celebration of Light Up Night. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:08:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014922-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml Don't bury Mellon Arena just yet. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:59:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015052-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml The proposal would have allowed a correctional organization to house more than 100 adult ex-offenders in a Penn Avenue building that currently houses a program for adolescent females. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:53:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014933-66.stm?cmpid=news.xml It is bounce-back time for Big Ben, his coach says, and that often means trouble for an opposing defense. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:45:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014997-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml OTTAWA -- The early news for the Penguins was pretty good. Likely could not have been any better. After all, Sergei Gonchar and Max Talbot were back in the lineup. Mark Eaton was able to play. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:59:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015030-37.stm?cmpid=news.xml Matanuska Glacier, Alaska -- THE temperature was soaring to 75 degrees, and I was walking on ice. Around me the Matanuska Glacier, about 100 miles from Anchorage, sparkled and shimmered in the afternoon sun. The only sound was an occasional rush of cool wind sweeping down from the towering Chugach Mountains and the crunch of my crampons as I made my way up a crevasse with a group of six other trekkers. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015031-37.stm?cmpid=news.xml SEATTLE-- LIKE a reminder of theater's past, the face of the playwright August Wilson stares out from a gleaming glass door set in a 12-foot steel portal at the top of August Wilson Way here, a sloping side street behind the Seattle Repertory Theater. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015032-96.stm?cmpid=news.xml Once lauded for its nimble operations and quick decision-making, Dell continues to suffer from a sweeping reorganization that resembles something of an endurance test for investors. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015033-96.stm?cmpid=news.xml MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Google began lifting the veil on its planned Chrome operating system on Thursday, but it said that computers powered by the software would not be available for a year. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015034-96.stm?cmpid=news.xml In recent years, amid the fallout from its audacious merger with Time Warner, AOL Inc. has steadily become smaller through subscriber desertions and rounds and rounds of layoffs. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015035-96.stm?cmpid=news.xml MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- In the first major step toward making millions of videos on YouTube accessible to deaf and hearing-impaired people, Google unveiled new technologies on Thursday that will automatically bring text captions to many videos on the site. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015036-115.stm?cmpid=news.xml With less than three weeks remaining before negotiators gather in Copenhagen to hammer out a global response to climate change, a rapid-fire succession of countries are unveiling national plans that serve as opening bids for reining in heat-trapping emissions. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015037-115.stm?cmpid=news.xml Science has never given much credence to claims that you can learn French or Chinese by having the instruction CDs play while you sleep. If any learning happens that way, most scientists say, the language lesson is probably waking the sleeper up, not causing nouns and verbs to seep into a sound-asleep mind. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015038-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml After a rocky start hurt their bottom line, Chicago's new parking meter operators are raking in more than $1.1 million a week and expect even more revenue next year, according to internal company documents obtained by the Chicago News Cooperative. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015039-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml LINCOLN, Neb. -- In an unusual pushback against President Obama's expansion of federal financing of human embryonic stem cell research, the University of Nebraska is considering restricting its stem cell experiments to cell lines approved by President George W. Bush. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015040-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml NEW ORLEANS -- Since the first days after Hurricane Katrina, when the streets were still under water, many residents of New Orleans and its surroundings have maintained that the flood that wrecked their lives was the government's fault, and that the government should pay for it. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015041-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml LOST PINES, Tex. -- After two bleak years, Republican governors gathered here on Thursday to assess their political future -- and they liked what they saw. With 37 governors' seats open in 2010, the party is looking to topple some big-name Democrats. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015042-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml BEIJING -- Like parents everywhere, mothers and fathers in Namibia, an impoverished southern African nation, worry about college costs and opportunities for their children. The Chinese government has stepped forward to help -- for a select and powerful few. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015043-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015044-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml PARIS -- Pirate attacks on shipping lanes around the Horn of Africa have shown no sign of relenting, and the nations policing the seas are struggling to find solutions in a mission that seems to be covering a growing area and time frame. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015045-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml KABUL, Afghanistan -- It is far from clear that President Obama can depend on President Hamid Karzai to bring order to this violent country, but it is becoming clear that he will depend on Hillary Rodham Clinton to be his go-between in dealing with the mercurial Afghan leader. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015046-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml With all the attention being paid this month to the fall of the Berlin Wall, I've found myself thinking of how much India has changed over the last 20 years. Most of the media coverage has, quite understandably, focused on Europe. But the tremors from Communism's collapse were felt far beyond the immediate battlegrounds of the Cold War. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015047-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml BRUSSELS -- Leaders of the 27 countries of the European Union on Thursday night chose Herman Van Rompuy, the Belgian prime minister, as the European Union's first president, and Catherine Ashton of Britain, currently the bloc's trade commissioner, as its high representative for foreign policy. The vote was unanimous. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015048-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml KABUL, Afghanistan -- Tainted by a flawed election and allegations of festering corruption in his government, President Hamid Karzai was inaugurated Thursday for a second term, promising to remedy the country's problems and to have the Afghan Army assume full control of security within five years. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015049-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml Andrea Ballarin, 23, is a self-confident student hoping to graduate soon from Humboldt University in Berlin. But when she starts talking about getting a job once she graduates, her mood changes. The prospects, she said, are slim. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014996-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml OTTAWA -- Defenseman Brooks Orpik did not make it into the Penguins' lineup for their game against Ottawa at Scotiabank Place last night, but he expects to be back soon. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:18:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014932-66.stm?cmpid=news.xml The fans in Houston always have hated the Titans, identifying them as the team that left town without looking back. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014970-63.stm?cmpid=news.xml Tim Lincecum needed just 15 wins to bag another NL Cy Young Award. Throw out those old baseball cards. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014994-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml British Columbia's provincial health officer said Vancouver Canucks players jumped the line when they received swine flu vaccinations this week. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014995-61.stm?cmpid=news.xml Mike Santorelli and Martin Erat scored shootout goals, and Jason Arnott had two goals in regulation in the Nashville Predators' 3-2 home victory last night against the New Jersey Devils. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015003-233.stm?cmpid=news.xml Scoop Jardine scored a career-high 22 points, Wes Johnson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Syracuse raced past No. 13 California, 95-73, last night in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014968-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml Woodland Hills coach George Novak always believed Richard Gray eventually would be a standout football player. It just took a while. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014967-139.stm?cmpid=news.xml JOHANNESBURG -- South African runner Caster Semenya will keep her 800-meter gold medal from the world championships, and the results of her gender tests will be kept confidential, the South Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014965-175.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Pitt women's basketball team will step way up in class in terms of competition tonight when the Panthers (1-0) play host to Southeastern Conference contender Florida. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:59:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015000-175.stm?cmpid=news.xml The most decisive stretch in last night's game between Pitt and Eastern Kentucky came in the final seven minutes of the first half. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:57:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014969-63.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Pirates enter the opening of free-agent season today as patient, prudent investors in pursuit of a bat and bullpen arms. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:56:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014950-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Allegheny County Health Department will have four free H1N1 vaccine clinics for at-risk people tomorrow. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:53:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1006964-37.stm?cmpid=news.xml TORQUAY, County Devon, England -- She has been called England's most prolific serial killer, having disposed of some 300 victims during the course of a lengthy life of crime, in such a variety of ways -- poisoning, garroting, stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning -- that an FBI profiler would have been flummoxed. ... Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1012574-37.stm?cmpid=news.xml GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN, N.C. -- A mainstay of western North Carolina tourism is making a transition from attraction to a portion of a foundation. ... Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014779-238.stm?cmpid=news.xml This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "V," "Scrubs" and baby birthdays on KDKA's morning news. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014801-290.stm?cmpid=news.xml What are the redshirt rules in college basketball? It seems that players can play in a few games, even without injury, and still get a redshirt. Isn't that what Travon Woodall did last year, and Talib Zanna might do this year? Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014802-361.stm?cmpid=news.xml Today is the official start of high school basketball practice in Pennsylvania, and Phyllis Jones will be coaching her Westinghouse girls' team after all. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014804-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml Twenty-seven years ago, Jack McCurry viewed himself as the bad guy, an up-and-coming coach at North Hills who could rub fans the wrong way, but who was trying to complete an improbable championship run. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014809-215.stm?cmpid=news.xml Penn State has always had trouble at Michigan State and Daryll Clark still hasn't won a big game, as far as I can tell. Do you think Penn State will win Saturday? Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014813-117.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Fumbler noticed the PIAA released its new sports classifications this week, and he wanted to know where he fit among the new classes. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014814-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml Freshmen on Thomas Jefferson's football team were fifth-graders the last time the Jaguars lost to a WPIAL opponent. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014815-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml West Allegheny and Thomas Jefferson students sound off on tonight's Class AAA playoff game ... Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014822-125.stm?cmpid=news.xml This injury bug going around is getting ridiculous. It seems every other day, we find out the Pens will be without another player for two or four weeks. Did the team not condition well enough during the pre-season, or is this just bad luck early in the year? Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014829-67.stm?cmpid=news.xml T.J. Lubinsky, the former WQED producer who created the doo-wop-themed pledge specials that proved enormously popular for PBS stations nationwide, has continued to create several PBS programs each Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014830-388.stm?cmpid=news.xml For reasons still unfathomable six months later, Adam Lambert finished second in this year's "American Idol" competition to Kris Allen. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014834-362.stm?cmpid=news.xml If the end justifies the means, then none of the previous seven losses will matter to Seton-LaSalle if it can win the PIAA Class A boys' soccer title tomorrow against Christopher Dock, the District 1 champion. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014835-362.stm?cmpid=news.xml South Park's magic against Springdale from the previous two seasons has apparently run its course. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014838-362.stm?cmpid=news.xml A year after staying home at the end of the regular season, the Hampton High School boys' soccer team is headed to Hershey. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014839-362.stm?cmpid=news.xml Springdale's dream season became twice as nice Tuesday night after the Dynamos beat former nemesis South Park, 2-1, for a second time this month in the PIAA Class AA girls' soccer semifinals at Chartiers Valley. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014840-362.stm?cmpid=news.xml Getting closer to his team ended up being one of the keys to getting his team further for Greensburg Central Catholic boys' soccer coach Tom Kennedy. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014841-362.stm?cmpid=news.xml The 2009 Norwin High School girls' soccer team did not win the section championship. Nor were the Knights WPIAL champions or PIAA champions. They were not runners-up for either title. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014842-362.stm?cmpid=news.xml Throughout the offseason West Allegheny coach Kevin Amos was preaching to his team about "spreading the wealth." Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014843-362.stm?cmpid=news.xml More than any of its 14 regular-season or three playoff wins, the two games that define the Beaver Area girls' soccer season are its two postseason losses. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014854-109.stm?cmpid=news.xml Without cost-control, health-care reform is an empty promise Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014855-109.stm?cmpid=news.xml A proud working mom, she offers nothing for working moms Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014857-109.stm?cmpid=news.xml They need international help to sustain their fragile freedoms Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014861-192.stm?cmpid=news.xml To read the headlines there is no reason to believe President Barack Obama achieved a lot during his trip to East Asia, with stops in Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014862-192.stm?cmpid=news.xml You might call them the invisible 600. That's the estimated number of children in Allegheny County without permanent housing, about half of whom are school-aged. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014863-192.stm?cmpid=news.xml Not every cancellation of a proposed store is big news. But the announcement by Kuhn's Market that it was dropping plans to build a full-service grocery in the Hill District was. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014864-110.stm?cmpid=news.xml Nevermore ... I was one of U.S. Rep. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014866-348.stm?cmpid=news.xml In any case, TLC's reality show "Jon & Kate Plus 8" will end its spectacular but stormy run Monday at 9 p.m. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014867-369.stm?cmpid=news.xml I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Sara Pennypacker, a New York Times best-selling author of 11 books for children. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014882-120.stm?cmpid=news.xml If you're an adult, your Spidey sense tingles when David (Peter Sarsgaard) rolls up to rescue a school girl from the rain in "An Education." Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014883-121.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Post-Gazette reviews movies from a family perspective: Rated: PG-13. Suitable for: Mature tweens and up. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014884-60.stm?cmpid=news.xml Hollywood serves up a heaping of hope in the days before Thanksgiving although one comes in a palatable PG-13 package and the other with a provocative, harrowing R. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014885-120.stm?cmpid=news.xml "The Blind Side" arrives as vampires and global destruction occupy most multiplex screens. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014886-37.stm?cmpid=news.xml Where: Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, 4141 Fifth Ave., for nonstop dancing at the ninth annual PittStop LindyHop How far: 10-15 minutes from Downtown Pittsburgh How much: $20 at door for Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014887-120.stm?cmpid=news.xml "I am continual motion." -- Dziga Vertov "Man With a Movie Camera" is breathlessly brilliant proof of it. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014889-120.stm?cmpid=news.xml "Planet 51" is a victim of bad timing. It arrives in a year when it is one of 20 animated movies submitted for possible Oscar consideration. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014891-60.stm?cmpid=news.xml Actor Kellan Lutz has learned to be careful what "Twilight" fans wish for -- especially when handcuffs are involved. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014900-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml Also in today's headlines: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014901-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml Investors pulled back on Dick's Sporting Goods shares yesterday after the Findlay retailer trounced third-quarter earnings expectations, then hurried to warn there's a lot to worry about in the fourth quarter. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014902-323.stm?cmpid=news.xml Shoppers are expected to shell out some $25 billion for gift cards this holiday season, making the little pieces of plastic cash the No. 1 present for the sixth year in a row. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014904-28.stm?cmpid=news.xml The state Public Utility Commission has approved the sale of Dominion Peoples, Pittsburgh's largest natural gas utility, to Peoples Hope Gas Cos. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014905-30.stm?cmpid=news.xml Howard "Hoddy" Hanna III, chairman and CEO of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, was honored recently by an organization of top real estate brokers for his work toward increasing homeownership and building better communities. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014906-454.stm?cmpid=news.xml In recent months Pennsylvania has been in step with the nation in terms of unemployment, staying about a point behind the national rate as both rates slowly ticked up. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014907-68.stm?cmpid=news.xml Might your family be shunning a federal tax credit of up to $8,000 to buy a home because of a prior bankruptcy or foreclosure? Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014908-456.stm?cmpid=news.xml Gas grills, pacifiers Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014911-67.stm?cmpid=news.xml CHICAGO -- Oprah Winfrey's television talk show will end in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air, her production company said yesterday. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014915-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation yesterday awarded $290 million in teacher-effectiveness grants to schools in Pittsburgh and three other cities, saying the bold initiatives they've proposed have the chance to shape the future of teaching in America. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014919-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml An insurance company for the state police will pay a Penn Hills man and his lawyer $250,000 to settle an excessive force claim against a trooper who has been sued multiple times. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014923-298.stm?cmpid=news.xml A majority of Pittsburgh City Council members said yesterday that they'll vote for a tuition tax, but that won't stop the universities -- and maybe the students -- from trying to derail the effort. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014927-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml Pittsburgh police and the city's Office of Municipal Investigations are looking into allegations of misbehavior by officers at Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's election night party at a North Shore sports bar. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014928-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml Although it's an unusual way to build confidence in a project, the developer of the proposed Valley View Downs harness track in Lawrence County says the company's bankruptcy may help move the project ahead. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014930-87.stm?cmpid=news.xml Some days, you walk into Giant Eagle and want to shout to the world: "I'm here!" Other days ... Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014949-294.stm?cmpid=news.xml He arrived in the mail one bright and sunny December afternoon: a tiny tadpole swimming in a bag of water. He and his accoutrements came in a box marked "Grow a Frog." Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014955-66.stm?cmpid=news.xml The federal government yesterday asked for former Steelers Hall of Fame cornerback Mel Blount to be held in default on more than $600,000 in back taxes that he owes. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014957-59.stm?cmpid=news.xml An armed robber is being sought after the holdup Wednesday of a PNC Bank branch in North Huntingdon, police said. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014958-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml A man who spent 19 years in prison for a rape he did not commit appears to be nearing a settlement in his federal lawsuit against the city of Pittsburgh. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014959-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center in Oakland has received the 2009 HPCwire Reader's Choice Award for Top Supercomputing Achievement, which recognizes the center's work as part of the National Institutes of Health's Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study project. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014960-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml State police in Somerset said a 15-year-old Jennerstown girl, sentenced to a youth facility, fled from a dental appointment in Cambria County yesterday and stole four cars, crashing three of them, before being caught. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014961-365.stm?cmpid=news.xml The Sto-Rox school board last night did not open up the head football coaching position despite rumors that the decision was a done deal. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014962-323.stm?cmpid=news.xml City police have this advice for shoppers who want to keep their holiday purchases: put your junk in the trunk. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014971-132.stm?cmpid=news.xml Will Power won't be waiting around for a ride next year. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014972-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml KABUL -- Taking the oath of office in a solemn ceremony in his locked-down capital yesterday, President Hamid Karzai set an implicit timeline for a drawdown of foreign forces, expressing hopes that by the end of his new five-year term, Afghanistan would see to its own security Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014973-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml BEIJING -- Sometime into his long detention by China's feared state security agents, American geologist Xue Feng had something to show U.S. consular officials on their monthly visit. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the burns where his interrogators pressed lit cigarettes into his arm. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014974-37.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- Flights over much of the eastern United States were delayed yesterday by a predawn failure in a fairly new communications system, which led to the shutdown of a computer that accepts flight plans from the airlines and feeds them to air traffic controllers. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014976-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- As White House observers attempt to read the tea leaves about the timing of President Barack Obama's Afghanistan announcement, one thing becomes clear: There's not much time left. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014977-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml UNITED NATIONS -- UNICEF yesterday urged the world to help the 1 billion children still deprived of food, shelter, clean water or health care -- and the hundreds of millions more threatened by violence -- two decades after the United Nations adopted a treaty guaranteeing children's rights. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014978-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml BRUSSELS -- After years of effort the European Union named its first full-time president and powerful foreign policy chief yesterday -- but handed the jobs to two little-known compromise figures instead of global heavy hitters. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014981-55.stm?cmpid=news.xml A Greene County woman was killed early Wednesday when her pickup truck was struck by a dump truck in Dunkard. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014982-82.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is launching an urgent review of whether military procedures hinder the identification of service members who pose a threat to their fellow troops. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014983-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml NEW ORLEANS -- A landmark court ruling blaming the Army Corps of Engineers' "monumental negligence" for some of the worst flooding from Hurricane Katrina could lead to a new deluge: billions of dollars in legal action from thousands of storm victims. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014984-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- Government auditors raised doubts yesterday about the number of jobs created or saved by the economic stimulus program, but they also said that mistakes reported in recent weeks signal the benefits of government transparency. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014985-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- Women can delay their first Pap test for cervical cancer until they turn 21, and many can wait longer to go back for follow-up screenings, according to new guidelines released today by a major medical group. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014986-114.stm?cmpid=news.xml WASHINGTON -- Flanked by a panoply of health reform advocates in a packed Capitol meeting room i Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid showcased the sweeping plan he had unveiled the day before to overhaul the nation's health insurance system and expand coverage to millions. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1014987-455.stm?cmpid=news.xml Oh, to be Bella Swan. Duquesne University freshman Carly Schlegel has the petite build, the chestnut hair and the alabaster skin. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015004-449.stm?cmpid=news.xml Sophomore guard Paul Williams hit the go-ahead 3-pointer and went 4 for 4 from the free throw line in the last minute to seal No. 18 Dayton's 63-59 comeback win against No. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09324/1015006-233.stm?cmpid=news.xml Pitt cornerbacks Aaron Berry and Ricky Gary were injured in the second half of the 27-22 win against Notre Dame, and that meant the Panthers had to finish the game with a patchwork secondary Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500