[naviga:h3]Judge won’t throw out firing suit[/naviga:h3]

PITTSBURGH — A federal judge has declined to throw out a lawsuit filed by a former newscaster fired after her comments in a Facebook post about a shooting were deemed racially insensitive.

The judge Friday denied an attempt by Hearst Stations Inc. to dismiss the lawsuit by former WTAE news anchor Wendy Bell.

Bell alleges in the suit that the station fired her March 30 because she is white. She is seeking back pay, punitive damages and her old job.

In a Facebook post, Bell speculated that the March 9 killers of five black people in the poor Pittsburgh suburb of Wilkinsburg were young black men with multiple siblings and fathers. Her comments sparked a backlash but also drew defenders.

[naviga:h3]Man released after 20 years[/naviga:h3]

PITTSBURGH — A man granted a new trial on charges he started a blaze that killed three Pittsburgh firefighters has been released from prison after 20 years behind bars.

Gregory Brown Jr., 39, left the Allegheny County Jail, free from state custody for the first time since 1996, when he was charged in the fire at his mother’s East Hills home.