Pittsburgh news

• So Long, Dandelion: Crayola Retiring Crayon Color

  30-03-2017 23:55
  
  EASTON, Pa. (AP) – Dandelion has gone to seed.
  Crayola is removing the color from all of its crayon boxes to make way for a new color that it plans to announce on Friday – National Crayon Day. The company announced dandelion’s departure via Twitter on Thursday.
  It’s only the third time in Crayola’s long history that it has retired one or more colors, and the first time it’s removing one from the box of 24.Our beloved Dandelion decided to announce his retiremen
  
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• Trial ordered for woman accused of sexually assaulting mentally disabled man

  30-03-2017 23:45 via post-gazette.com
  
  A Mt. Lebanon woman will stand trial for sexually assaulting a mentally disabled man more than a dozen times over the past year.
  
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• Vivid dreams help Bethel Park author create superhero series

  30-03-2017 23:35
  Some people seem to have a hard time remembering their dreams, but not Dominic A. Bianco. His dreams are so vivid and exciting, he's turned them into a fictional series of superhero books.
  
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• Whole Foods Withdraws From East Liberty Development Project

  30-03-2017 23:29
  
  PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Affordable housing advocates have protested the plan to tear down the low-income Penn Plaza Apartments to make way for 200 luxury apartments.
  Now the developer confirms that Whole Foods has decided to withdraw from the project.
  The city and the developers have faced off in court ever since the planning commission rejected the project in January.
  The Peduto administration has demanded the project include affordable housing units and has objected to the eviction of low-in
  
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• Bullet Holes Found In Firefighters’ Vehicles In Hazelwood

  30-03-2017 23:12
  
  PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Security is being beefed up at a fire house in the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood following a shooting incident.
  Station 13 sits at the intersection of Flowers Avenue and Gertrude Street.
  On Thursday night two firefighters’ cars were shot, and it’s happened before.
  Officials say there have been shootings near the fire house at least five times over the past two years.
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• Jury foreman: Spanier verdict a 'mistake'

  30-03-2017 22:32 via post-gazette.com
  
  HARRISBURG — The foreman of the jury that convicted former Pennsylvania State University President Graham B. Spanier of child endangerment said Thursday that he believes the verdict was a "mistake," and that he was conflicted about not changing his vote and possibly forcing a mistrial.
  
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• Pittsburgh police searching for drug suspect in Brighton Heights

  30-03-2017 22:17 via post-gazette.com
  
  Pittsburgh police arrested one male and were searching for another after two people suspected of dealing drugs ran from officers Thursday afternoon in Brighton Heights. 
  
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• Suspected Drug Deal Sparks Search On North Side

  30-03-2017 22:16
  
  PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A suspected drug deal sparked a search Thursday afternoon on the North Side.
  Officers in an unmarked car were in the area of Hiawatha Street when they witnessed a suspected drug deal and attempted to stop a vehicle by pulling in front of it.
  Two males inside the vehicle jumped out and ran, allowing the vehicle to roll into the police car.Pittsburgh police going door to door on Winshire St looking for a suspect who ran from police who saw a suspected drug deal. @CBS
  
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• Police: 19-Year-Old ‘Serial Rapist’ Brutally Attacked 9 Women

  30-03-2017 21:35
  
  CHESTER, Pa. (AP) – Police in suburban Philadelphia have arrested a 19-year-old man they’re calling a serial rapist accused of brutally attacking at least nine women.
  Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan says DeJohn Lee, of Chester, has been in police custody since early January, when one of his accusers saw in him in a grocery store and called police.
  Whelan says nine women were attacked in separate incidents from 2014, when Lee was 16, to early 2017.
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• Penn State trustee 'running out of sympathy' for Sandusky victims

  30-03-2017 21:24 via post-gazette.com
  
  A day after the conviction Friday of former Penn State University President Graham Spanier on a child endangerment charge in the Jerry Sandusky scandal, a university trustee said he was "running out of sympathy" for the case's "so-called victims," The Chronicle of Higher Education reported Thursday
  
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• Hall Of Fame Coach Scotty Bowman Says Murray Over Fleury In Playoffs

  30-03-2017 20:32
  
  PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan)-The Penguins/Blackhawks game last night could have been a preview of the Stanley Cup Final.
  Former Penguins Coach and Hall of Fame, nine-time Stanley Cup Champion coach Scotty Bowman joined the “Cook and Poni Show” on Thursday to recap the game and discuss just how hard it is to repeat as a Cup champion.
  “It’s more difficult even now because of the salary cap,” Bowman said of repeating.
  He was the last to do in 1997 and 1998 with the Detroi
  
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• Good Samaritan Who Handed Over $15K Gets The Unclaimed Cash

  30-03-2017 20:25
  
  UPPER DARBY, Pa. (AP) – A suburban Philadelphia transit worker who found $15,000 and turned it in to police has been given the cash since no one ever claimed it.
  Bob Tracey was driving home from work last March when he spotted a black bag in the middle of the road. When he opened it, he saw dozens of $100 and $20 bills and immediately called police.
  The Philadelphia Inquirer reports a judge on Monday ordered the money returned to Tracey.
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• Dunlap: Stop The Panic About The Penguins

  30-03-2017 20:12
  
  PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) – Dear Goodness, Pittsburgh — relax. Calm down.
  Have a beer, go for a walk, read a book, get some exercise, go outside in your backyard and yell at the top of your lungs, squeeze a stress ball, do some yoga, fly to Colorado, I don’t know. Something. But calm down.
  Too many people as March is winding to a close are too darn jammed up about the recent form of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
  Yeah, I have seen the games, too.
  Yep, I have witnessed this team get e
  
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• North Carolina OKs Rolling Back Of Controversial ‘Bathroom Bill’

  30-03-2017 19:51
  
  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on a compromise proposal to overturn North Carolina’s “bathroom law” (all times local):
  1:35 p.m.
  A bill rolling back North Carolina’s contentious LGBT “bathroom bill” has passed the General Assembly and is now headed to the governor’s desk.
  Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has said he supports the measure. Republican legislative leaders announced a compromise with the governor late Wednesday night and the measure passed q
  
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• Penn State Bans Frat Where Student Was Fatally Injured

  30-03-2017 19:32
  
  STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Penn State University is permanently banning a fraternity where a pledge was fatally injured last month and is promising to step up its enforcement of a ban on underage drinking throughout the university system.
  The university said Thursday it made the decision to revoke its recognition of Beta Theta Pi after an investigation found “a persistent pattern” of excessive drinking, hazing and drug use and sales.
  The announcement comes amid a law enforcement
  
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• Owner planning apartments at One Chatham Center

  30-03-2017 19:30 via post-gazette.com
  
  The new owner of One Chatham Center, a nearly vacant Uptown office building erected during the city's first renaissance, is planning to convert it to apartments.
  
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• Something Completely Different Coming To McDonald’s: Fresh Beef

  30-03-2017 19:10
  
  NEW YORK (AP) – Coming soon to McDonald’s: Fresh beef.
  The fast food giant says it will swap frozen beef patties for fresh ones in its Quarter Pounder burgers by sometime next year at most of its U.S. locations. Employees will cook up the never-frozen beef on a grill when ordered.
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  It’s a major shift for the world’s largest hamburger chain, which has been trying to update its image as m
  
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• Top Aide To President Donald Trump Leaves Administration

  30-03-2017 18:58
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) – A top aide to President Donald Trump is leaving his administration.
  Two senior White House officials said Thursday that Deputy Chief of Staff Katie Walsh is leaving her job.
  The officials were not authorized to speak before a formal announcement is made and spoke on condition of anonymity.
  Walsh has been Chief of Staff Reince Priebus’s top lieutenant for years now, working as his right hand both at the Republican National Committee and now at the White House.
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• Hertzog’s 2-Goal Performance Earns USL Player Of The Week Honors

  30-03-2017 18:58
  
  PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Corey Hertzog was named USL player of the week for his two-goal performance against defending champion New York in the Hounds’ 3-3 draw to open the 2017 season.
  Hertzog, the Penn State alum and Hounds returning leading scorer won 42 percent of the votes for player of the week from various national soccer outlets.
  He scored a highlight reel goal just 10 minutes in to the season to jump start the Hounds’ attack, scooping the ball over the defender before smash
  
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• One charged, another held for trial in connection with slain Butler County boy

  30-03-2017 18:49 via post-gazette.com
  
  A Butler County woman was held for trial Thursday afternoon on charges that she helped her adult son evade police while they investigated the death last week of his girlfriend's 4-year-old boy.
  
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• Mother of slain Butler boy, suspect's mother both charged with endangerment

  30-03-2017 18:49 via post-gazette.com
  
  A Butler County woman was held for trial Thursday afternoon on charges that she helped her adult son evade police while they investigated the death last week of his girlfriend's 4-year-old boy.
  
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• Mother of slain Butler boy charged with endangerment

  30-03-2017 18:49 via post-gazette.com
  
  The woman whose boyfriend is accused of raping and killing her 4-year-old son was charged today with not seeking medical treatment for a severe burn to the boy’s hand earlier this month.
  
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• Wiz Khalifa offers apology for visiting grave of Colombian drug lord

  30-03-2017 18:01 via post-gazette.com
  
  Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa offered an apology - of sorts - on his Instagram page, following outrage over his recent visit to a murderous Colombian drug lord’s grave.
  
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• Woman out of jail but confined to home after being shot while on bond

  30-03-2017 17:58 via post-gazette.com
  
  A McKees Rocks woman who was accidentally shot while free on bond on charges related to a homicide must now be held on electronic home monitoring.
  
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• Gov. Wolf Names Ex-Senator To Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission

  30-03-2017 17:47
  
  HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A former Democratic state senator is being nominated to fill an opening on the five-member Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
  Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday announced his choice of John Wozniak for a seat recently vacated when Sean Logan was appointed to the Pennsylvanian Gaming Control Board.
  Wozniak did not run last year for another term in a Johnstown-area Senate seat.
  He’d been in the Legislature since 1980 and had served as the ranking Democrat on the
  
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• ‘Angel Of Death’ Serial Killer Dies After Attack In Prison

  30-03-2017 17:35
  
  TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) – Ohio authorities say a serial killer who admitted killing three dozen hospital patients in Ohio and Kentucky during the 1970s and ’80s has died after being attacked in his cell.
  A prisons spokeswoman says 64-year-old Donald Harvey died Thursday, two days after state troopers say he was found beaten at the state’s prison in Toledo.
  Harvey became known as the “Angel of Death” after pleading guilty in 1987 to 37 murders.
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• VW To Pay More Than $157M To Settle Emissions Claims By 10 States

  30-03-2017 17:29
  
  DETROIT (KDKA/AP) – Volkswagen is paying more than $157 million to 10 states to settle environmental lawsuits over the company’s diesel emissions-cheating scandal.
  The company says the money will go to Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. All 10 states follow California’s clean air standards.
  According to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the state received $30.4 million in the settlement.
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• Report: More Than 130 Kilos Of Cocaine Seized From Aircraft At Ohio University Airport

  30-03-2017 17:27
  
  ALBANY, Ohio (KDKA) — Reports indicate that investigators seized a massive amount of cocaine from a plane that landed at the Ohio University airport Wednesday.
  According to CBS affiliate WBNS, Homeland Security officials say 132 kilos, or 300 pounds, of cocaine was recovered from the unauthorized plane.
  Two people accused of smuggling the drugs into Gordon K. Bush Airport on an international aircraft will face a federal judge.
  Ohio University Police said the plane landed at the airport aro
  
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• Police: Florida Man Hugs, Fatally Stabs Roommate Who Came To Say Goodbye

  30-03-2017 17:07
  
  WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man is accused of fatally stabbing his roommate when she stopped by his home on Saturday morning to say goodbye before moving back to Pennsylvania where she grew up, according to sheriff’s investigators.
  Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies said in an arrest report that Brooke Preston, 21, had recently moved out of the home she’d shared with Randy Herman Jr., 24. Preston hugged Herman, who gave her a T-shirt commemorating the death o
  
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• 13 Killed, 2 Hurt When Church Bus And Truck Crash In Texas

  30-03-2017 16:55
  
  CONCAN, Texas (AP) — Federal investigators will get their first look Thursday at the scene of a head-on collision between a pickup truck and small church bus in southwest Texas that crumpled the front of the bus and killed 13 senior adults returning from a church retreat.
  The Texas Department of Public Safety refused to speculate on the cause of the Wednesday afternoon crash outside Garner State Park, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of San Antonio, although one spokesman says the truc
  
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• Mother Charged In 4-Year-Old Butler Boy’s Death

  30-03-2017 16:45
  
  BUTLER (KDKA) – More charges have been filed in the suspicious death of a 4-year-old boy in Butler County.
  This morning, the child’s mother, Mackenzie Peters, was charged with two felony counts of endangering the welfare of children.
  Earlier this week, 20-year-old Keith Jordan Lambing was charged with homicide in the death of 4-year-old Bentley Miller.
  Lambing is not Miller’s father, but he and Peters have a 4-month-old child together.
  On March 21, Lambing was watching Bentley
  
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• 30 Players: Alex Bregman Can Do It All For Astros

  30-03-2017 16:34
  
  By Rich Arleo
  CBS Local Sports, in our 30 Players 30 Days spring training feature, profiles one young player from each Major League Baseball team leading up to opening day. 
  2016 season (Minors): 80 G, 314 AB, .306 BA, 20 HR, 61 RBI, 7 SB, .986 OPS
  2016 season (Majors): 49 G, 201 AB, .264 BA, 8 HR, 34 RBI, 2 SB, .791 OPS
  There are players who progress quickly through the Minor Leagues, and then there’s Astros third baseman Alex Bregman.
  Drafted second overall in 2015 out of Louisiana
  
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• Ford Recalls 570K Vehicles For Fire Risk, Door Latch Trouble

  30-03-2017 16:18
  
  DETROIT (AP) – Ford is recalling more than 570,000 vehicles in North America and Europe to fix separate problems that can cause engine fires and doors to fly open unexpectedly.
  The recalls will hit the company’s bottom line in the first quarter of this year. Ford said in a Wednesday filing with securities regulators that the recalls will cut pretax earnings by $295 million.
  The engine fire recall covers over 360,000 vehicles in North America and Europe. In North America it includes E
  
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• PTL Links: March 30, 2017

  30-03-2017 14:34
  
  Visit the links below for more on today’s guest & topics:
  DiAnoia’s Eatery
  Butcher On Butler
  “The Amazing Race”
  Instill & Inspire Exhibit At The August Wilson Center
  Seen – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  Doug Oster
  Andy Amrhein At Evey True Value Hardware
  Kidsburgh
  Next Pittsburgh
  
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• One critically injured in Washington County crash

  30-03-2017 14:31 via post-gazette.com
  
  One person was critically injured in a vehicle crash that left a road closed for more than two hours Thursday morning.
  
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• State Senate Moves Bill To Fix Unemployment Compensation Mess

  30-03-2017 14:25
  
  HARRISBURG (News Radio 1020 KDKA) – The state Senate has passed and sent to the House legislation that would pump money into Pennsylvania’s troubled unemployment compensation claims processing system.
  In mid-December a dispute between Senate Republicans and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf over state funding for the system led to hundreds of layoffs and the closure of several unemployment call centers.
  The Senate Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to authorize $15 million to at least temporarily
  
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• Driver Runs Out Of Gas Again After Stealing Squad Car

  30-03-2017 14:03
  
  TULARE, S.D. (AP) – A driver who called for help after running out of gas is accused of stealing a deputy’s squad car in South Dakota and leading authorities in a pursuit before once again running out of fuel.
  Troy James is charged with felony grand theft. Officials say James called for assistance early Monday on Highway 281 near the town of Tulare, saying his car had stopped and he apparently ran out of fuel.
  Sheriff Kevin Schurch tells the Aberdeen American News the responding depu
  
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• Birds Blamed For Fire At Massachusetts Water Treatment Plant

  30-03-2017 13:44
  
  PEABODY, Mass. (AP) – A fire that knocked a Massachusetts city’s water treatment plant out of commission has been blamed on birds.
  Peabody Fire Lt. Chris Dowling tells The Salem News it appears the March 13 blaze was caused by nesting birds that chewed the insulation on an electrical wire on an exterior light fixture.
  That exposed the bare conductors in the wiring, which heated up the nesting material and ignited the roof.
  The plant’s roof was destroyed, and there was heavy dam
  
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• Peduto: County Controller’s Plan To Fix Lead Problem Is Too Expensive & Illegal

  30-03-2017 13:03
  
  PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is reacting to comments by the Allegheny County Controller claiming the city isn’t doing enough to address problems with lead in the water in PWSA lines.
  Peduto said Chelsa Wagner’s suggested plan to fix the problem is far too expensive and is also illegal.
  Peduto said state law prohibits the PWSA from replacing lines on private property and would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to do so.
  During a press conference on Tuesday
  
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• TRAFFIC: Liberty Bridge, Clemente Bridge closures set this weekend

  30-03-2017 12:05 via post-gazette.com
  
  The Liberty Bridge and Tunnel will close this weekend so crews can get ready for continued deck reconstruction work. Closures begin Saturday night for the Liberty Bridge in both directions and for the inbound/northbound Tunnel: 
  
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• TRAFFIC: Driver flown to hospital after Beaver County roll-over

  30-03-2017 12:05 via post-gazette.com
  A driver was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital following a roll-over crash in Beaver County Thursday morning.
  
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• TRAFFIC: Downed power lines close Verona Rd. in Penn Hills

  30-03-2017 12:05 via post-gazette.com
  
  Downed power lines have closed Verona Road in western part of Penn Hills Thursday morning.
  
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• Strike averted for Keystone Oaks schools; teachers union, district reach tentative deal

  30-03-2017 07:36 via post-gazette.com
  
  The Keystone Oaks teachers union has reached a tentative contract agreement with the school district, averting a strike that was scheduled to start Thursday.
  
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• Keystone Oaks teachers union will not strike after reaching tentative deal

  30-03-2017 07:36 via post-gazette.com
  
  The Keystone Oaks Education Association reached a tentative contract agreement with the school district, fending off a strike that would have started after midnight Thursday.
  
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• Keystone Oaks Officials Say School In Session Thursday After Hours Of Negotiations To Avoid Strike

  30-03-2017 06:56
  
  MOUNT LEBANON (KDKA) — After hours of negotiations late into the night and past the midnight deadline, the Keystone Oaks teachers’ union and district have reportedly reached a tentative deal to avoid a strike.
  That means there will be school on Thursday for students in the district.
  The Keystone Oaks School District released this statement:
  “Following nearly 14 hours of negotiations over the past two days, the Keystone Oaks School District and the Keystone Oaks Education Associ
  
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• Allegheny Executive Fitzgerald traveling to Asia in effort to boost air travel

  30-03-2017 06:32 via post-gazette.com
  
  Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and the CEO of the county’s airport authority are among those who left for China on Wednesday in the latest quest to bring more flights to Pittsburgh International Airport.
  
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• As Pittsburgh mortgage rates go up, home buyers scope for better options

  30-03-2017 06:26 via post-gazette.com
  
  The Beaver Falls home that Linda Neely was raised in and inherited from her parents began showing its age in recent years, forcing her to make some expensive updates and repairs.
  
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• Obituary: Eileen M. Carlins / Loss of infant daughter led her to advocacy in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

  30-03-2017 06:17 via post-gazette.com
  
  Eileen Carlins lost her daughter to sudden infant death syndrome in 1980, when Rachel was two months old. She spent the next 36 years helping similarly grieving families and educating mothers, nurses and students on the proper way to put a baby to bed.  
  
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• Toomey: GOP should change rules if needed to confirm Gorsuch

  30-03-2017 06:10 via post-gazette.com
  
  If it comes to a showdown in the U.S. Senate next week to confirm Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, count Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey among those prepared to change the chamber’s rules.
  
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• Pat Toomey: GOP should change rules if needed to confirm SCOTUS nominee

  30-03-2017 06:10 via post-gazette.com
  
  If it comes to a showdown in the U.S. Senate next week to confirm Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, count Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey among those prepared to change the chamber’s rules.
  
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