Site last updated: Saturday, September 26, 2026

Log In

Reset Password
Butler County's great daily newspaper

STATE

SOMERSET — Officials and residents in Somerset County teamed up to mark two events that put the county in the national spotlight within a year of each other — the crash of an airliner hijacked by terrorists and the dramatic rescue of nine trapped miners.

The National Park Service and Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation held back-to-back events at the scenes of the Sept. 11, 2001, plane crash in Stonycreek Township and the mine rescue eight years ago.

At the Dormel Farm near Somerset, Bill Arnold spoke about the efforts of volunteers and fundraisers that have helped start a visitor education center near the 240-foot rescue shaft.

At the Flight 93 crash site, manager Jeff Reinbold said the National Park Service and allies have raised $15 million in donations, triggering a matching amount of federal help. He said that makes up half of the $60 million needed to complete work at the planned 1,000-acre site and protect the surrounding 1,200 acres from dramatic change.

FRANKLIN — Authorities released the names of two men killed in the crash of an experimental plane.Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Holly Baker said the plane went down about 11:20 a.m. Saturday in woods southeast of Franklin/Venango Regional Airport in Sandy Creek Township. The plane was a Nadiq, a fixed-wing, single-engine craft generally built by hobbyists and amateurs.Trevor Hile, chief deputy coroner in Venango County, said David A. Wagner, 57, of Clarion, a former Clarion County commissioner, was pronounced dead at the scene. Hile said the other person in the two-seater aircraft, Rob Carbaugh, 54, of Seneca, was pronounced dead at UPMC Northwest in Cranberry Township.The Federal Aviation Administration FAA is investigating the cause of the crash.

SWISSVALE — A man is behind bars after police say he robbed a bank wearing a blond wig, fake breasts and clown pants.Swissvale police Chief Greg Geppert said Dennis Hawkins, 48, of North Braddock, was sitting in a parked car covered in dye from an exploding packet when he was arrested Saturday.Geppert said Hawkins was spotted in a grocery store and shoplifted a BB gun from another store before entering the bank. Authorities said Hawkins robbed the bank at gunpoint then dropped some of it after the dye pack blew up. Hawkins then allegedly entered a woman's car. She got out, took her keys and alerted police. Hawkins was found sitting in the car.Hawkins is being held on $230,000 bail. It was not clear if he had an attorney.

STROUDSBURG — A judge halted the planned demolition of a historic train depot.Judge Jerome Cheslock issued the emergency injunction pending a hearing on the fate of the Dansbury Depot after a resident sought a 30-day delay Friday.The judge said the 1864 building had historical significance in Monroe County, and a month was not too much to ask. The depot is on the National Register of Historic Places.An October fire destroyed much of the depot, which had been converted into a restaurant. Developer Troy Nauman had planned to raze the structure and build a three- or four-story mixed-use building in its place.

PHILADELPHIA — Health officials in Philadelphia said the deaths of two people Saturday were heat-related, the first in the city stemming from the current heat wave, and a suburban Philadelphia county also is citing heat as a factor in the deaths of two residents earlier in the week.Department of Public Health spokesman Jeff Moran said hyperthermia was a factor in the death of a 90-year-old woman found by a relative in her South Philadelphia home. Moran said relatives told officials the woman had been using a fan with the windows shut despite efforts by family members to persuade her not to do so.Moran said a 56-year-old Northeast Philadelphia resident was taken by a relative to the hospital, where he was treated for hyperthermia but did not survive.

More in Pennsylvania News

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

* indicates required
TODAY'S PHOTOS