PITTSBURGH — The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and health insurer Highmark have been feuding for months because UPMC is refusing to renew a contract that expires next year that lets Highmark subscribers use UPMC's doctors at in-network rates.

And now a Pittsburgh newspaper reports the dispute involves insurance stickers Highmark has been trying to post at UPMC-owned doctors' offices.

The stickers say “Highmark. Accepted. Here.” UPMC says the stickers aren't welcome because they violate its corporate signage policy.

Highmark has said UPMC is being unreasonable in not renewing the contract, and some state lawmakers are pushing for a deal because UPMC is Western Pennsylvania's biggest hospital network and Highmark, with 3 million subscribers, its biggest insurer.

But UPMC says Highmark's plan to buy the competing West Penn Allegheny Health System has made Highmark its competitor, too.

PITTSBURGH — A small college in Western Pennsylvania has received a $25 million gift, an amount equal to the school's annual budget.Thiel College officials announced the donation from the late steel executive William Dietrich II on Thursday. Dietrich's parents were alumni.The college in Greenville is the latest in a long list of Western Pennsylvania institutions to benefit from Dietrich's philanthropy.Before he died Oct. 6, Dietrich gave $265 million to Carnegie Mellon University and $125 million to the University of Pittsburgh.Dietrich was born in Pittsburgh and grew a family business into the nation's largest manufacturer of light metal construction framing.

WEST VIEW — A brawl involving costumed combatants at the drive-thru of a Western Pennsylvania fast food restaurant has led to charges against one person and more could be coming.Police say the fight broke out early Sunday morning outside a McDonald's restaurant in West View, Allegheny County. Investigators say the dispute started when one driver yelled that the other was taking too long.During the confrontation, police say a woman dressed as a beer garden girl hit another woman. Police Chief Bruce Fromlak says the victim's injuries triggered a seizure.Another person suffered a broken arm in the scuffle, which was captured by a surveillance camera.The woman dressed as a beer girl told a Pittsburgh television station she was acting in self-defense. Police say charges could be coming against two others.

PITTSBURGH — New preliminary research shows that levels of bromide in Monongahela River drinking water have declined since 2010, but are still a concern.Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University documented alarming levels of the salty compound in 2010. That prompted state officials to push the natural gas industry to stop disposing of drilling water at wastewater treatment plants.But research presented at a Carnegie Mellon conference Thursday shows bromide levels are still significantly above those in a natural, unpolluted watershed. The compound can combine with other substances and then lead to drinking water concerns. Bromides can come from coal plants and other sources, researchers say.A spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection says “nearly all” gas drilling companies have stopped disposing of their wastewater at treatment plants.