The year 2025 was marked locally by the changing of the guard in the Pittsburgh mayor’s office, the changing of hands of U.S. Steel, uncertainty on college campuses and tragedy at PNC Park and PPG Paints Arena.
We covered the stories, and you responded in droves online.
Here were the 25 most-read stories on TribLive.com in 2025.
1. ‘Broken everything’: Kavan Markwood hasn’t watched his fall from Clemente Wall during Pirates game
Kavan Markwood called TribLive and spoke about the harrowing fall from the Clemente Wall that captivated not only the region but also made national headlines.
Excerpt: Markwood fell while celebrating an Andrew McCutchen double. Under treatment at Allegheny General Hospital, he called TribLive before a physical therapy appointment.
“I’m all right,” he said. “I can’t really sleep. I have a lot of back pain.”
He said he will talk more after he is released from the hospital in about a week.
“Broken everything” is how Markwood described his injuries, which include back and neck injuries and a swollen hand.
2. Pirates fan who fell from above Clemente Wall identified, remains in critical condition
The man who fell 21 feet over the Clemente Wall onto the right-field warning track at PNC Park was identified as Kavan Markwood a day after the incident.
Excerpt: Markwood, 20, remained in critical condition Thursday after falling during the Pittsburgh Pirates-Chicago Cubs game the previous night.
A South Allegheny School District official confirmed that Markwood, a 2022 graduate of South Allegheny High School, is the man who fell.
“Everyone at South Allegheny would say he is a hardworking, highly resilient young man. He’s a fighter. He’s going to need that resiliency now. But he has it,” district spokeswoman Laura Thomson told TribLive. “He’s touched a lot of lives at South Allegheny. We’re a small community. He’s a household name here. Everyone knows him.
3. U.S. Steel sues Canadian company over refusal to honor multimillion-dollar contract
U.S. Steel sued a Canadian steel company alleging that it is refusing to pay for millions of tons of iron ore pellets it agreed to purchase five years ago because of new Trump administration tariffs.
Excerpt: “Now Algoma has buyer’s remorse and wants out of the deal,” the lawsuit said. “It has repudiated the contract by refusing the latest shipment of iron ore pellets and has affirmatively told U. S. Steel that it will not accept any more iron ore pellets or otherwise honor the parties’ contract.
“A deal is a deal.”
4. ‘I only have a semester left’: Carnegie Mellon student among those whose visas were terminated
Jayson Ma was one of two CMU students to have his visa terminated by the federal government, part of the crackdown on international students on college campuses.
Excerpt: “I was looking at it, and I’m like, ‘Shoot, is this for me?’ ” Ma said.
A day later, through a phone call with a university official, he learned it was.
5. Man dies after jumping from Tarentum Bridge
Excerpt: A man who jumped from the Tarentum Bridge into the Allegheny River on Tuesday morning died before he could be taken to a hospital, according to paramedics at the scene.
6. Sheriff: Walmart employee kills co-worker in Georgia store, woman at nearby home, wounds another
A Walmart employee shot and killed a co-worker inside a Georgia store and critically wounded another worker outside while the business was closed to the public, authorities said.
Excerpt: Employees were working inside the Walmart Supercenter in the Covington area, about 35 miles southeast of Atlanta, when the shooting occurred around 1:30 a.m., the sheriff’s office said.
7. Franklin Regional student dies by suicide at high school
A Franklin Regional student was found dead by suicide at the high school in Murrysville, according to school district and community officials.
Excerpt: “This is an unimaginable loss for our school community, and our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the student’s family and friends,” Superintendent Gennaro R. Piraino Jr. wrote in a letter to district families and posted on the district’s website.
8. Mother, daughter accused of stealing $4.4M from Greensburg Beverage CEO’s estate
A mother and daughter were arrested on accusations they stole a relative’s $4.4 million inheritance from the estate of the CEO of Greensburg Beverage.
Excerpt: Angela Lynne Valesky, 26, of Murrysville, and her mother, Lisa Anne Skatell-Valesky, 51, of Jeannette, are charged with theft and dealing in proceeds of unlawful acts involving the estate of Skatell-Valesky’s mother, Bette Iannuzzo.
Westmoreland County Detective Ray Dupilka said in court papers the pair used the money to buy homes in Murrysville and Jeannette. They also purchased a Lincoln Navigator SUV.
9. TV Talk: 2 anchors laid off at KDKA-TV
Evening news anchor Kym Gable and morning news anchor Lindsay Ward were let go by KDKA-TV.
Excerpt: In addition to the KDKA anchors let go, four news photographers and a studio tech recently accepted buyouts, multiple sources familiar with the situation said.
Two international Carnegie Mellon University graduate students, whose ability to study in the U.S. was terminated under a crackdown by the Trump administration, testified in federal court as they sought to restore their status and complete their education.
Excerpt: The students said their appearance in a Downtown Pittsburgh courtroom marked the first time they had left their apartments since their student status was revoked in the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security uses to monitor and track information on international scholars.
Nos. 11-25
• Sen. John Fetterman raises alarms with outburst at meeting with union officials
• Retired KDKA-TV personality Jon Burnett dies
• Police: Feds raid upscale home in Hempfield, find steroid lab making millions of dollars of the drug
• 4 found dead in suspected Hempfield murder-suicide; victims include children ages 1, 5
• Fan suffers life-threatening injuries in fall from upper-level stands at PPG Paints Arena
• Penn Hills teacher dies after plunging down Parkway East hillside near Squirrel Hill Tunnel
• TV Talk: ‘The Pitt’ Season 2 release date, cast and plot details
• Why a stream near Monroeville Mall is glowing bright blue
• Snow is ‘right on schedule’ to hit Western Pa.
• Proposed Pa. minimum wage hike is bitter pill for many business owners
• Drama on Grant Street sparks widespread concerns about Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey
• 2 dead, 320K without power after storms slam region
• Murrysville attorney wounded by self-inflicted gunshot during arrest, police say
• 2 more Pittsburgh restaurants to close their doors