A bomb squad was called, Downtown streets were cleared, traffic was stalled, buildings were emptied, an ambulance was dispatched -- all because of a coughing fit. (Today)

A 6-year-old boy playing with a lighter inside a Friendship apartment early Wednesday sparked a fire that killed two people and left his own family homeless, investigators said. The boy torched a piece of paper just before 2 a.m. and set it atop a pillow on a couch in his mother's second-floor apartment, one of three units in a converted house in the 100 block of South Graham Street. (Today)

A small, lingering contingent of Occupy Pittsburgh protesters marched out of Mellon Green Wednesday -- two days after a court-appointed eviction deadline -- declaring victory and vowing not to let their cause die. The one or two dozen people who had remained in the park left behind damaged tents and a wooden "trojan horse" as a final act of defiance. (Today)

A crisp romaine salad with chicken or tofu and Kraft Creamy Italian dressing led the menu Wednesday. Scattered around the tray were raw carrots, cooked corn and peas, an apple and a whole wheat roll. The drink of the hour was milk -- skim, 1 percent or soy. (Today)

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has entered Pittsburgh into a competition to land one of three new satellite locations of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, saying the office would complement the city's history of innovation and fuel efforts to grow the high-tech economy. (Today)