Joe Napsha stories, Page 88

A Penn Township employment agency is giving job seekers the chance to drop off their resumes Thursday without ever leaving their car, thus maintaining safe social distancing while enhancing their chances for a new job. The drive-through job fair at Express Employment Professionals will give those who are laid off...

Pennsylvania’s farmers and ranchers who have lost revenue because of the covid-19 pandemic can apply for federal aid to compensate for their losses. The federal government is making $16 billion available for agricultural producers through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. The direct payments to farmers and producers are limited to...

The state’s poultry, swine, lamb, goat and sheep processors who purchased coronavirus-related equipment for their workers can get reimbursed under a new state program. The state agriculture department and PennAG Industries Association, a Harrisburg-based trade organization, have made $280,000 available through the Center for Poultry and Livestock Excellence for reimbursement...

About $10.6 billion in unemployment compensation and special federal covid-19 funding has been distributed to Pennsylvania’s jobless workers since businesses deemed nonessential were shut down in mid-March, officials said Tuesday. Of that money, $6.2 billion came through regular unemployment compensation, while $3.8 billion comprised extra $600 weekly payments funded by...

For sale: One shuttered elementary school building on nearly 5 acres in Mt. Pleasant Township and 10 acres of surrounding land. The Mt. Pleasant Area School District is selling Lloyd F. Rumbaugh Elementary School at 2414 School St., a year after it closed as part of a realignment. The district...

Visitors to Ohiopyle State Park over Memorial Day weekend will experience traffic delays caused by road repaving and work on the Route 381 bridge over the Youghiogheny River. The state hoped the $12.4 million multimodal project in Ohiopyle would be finished by June 12, but the completion date was pushed...

Sewickley Township’s Crabapple Pool outside Herminie will be closed this summer because of the fear of covid-19, one of several municipal pools that will not be available for swimmers to beat the heat on a hot summer afternoon. The Sewickley Township Supervisors made the decision this week not to open...

Pennsylvania’s jobless rate soared to a record 15.1% in April as the full impact of the covid-19 shutdowns slammed the state’s economy, the state said Friday. The state counted 976,000 workers out of a job last month, an increase of almost 600,000 from March when the unemployment rate was 4.1%,...

Amtrak will resume its service from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and New York City on June 1, the first time the passenger trains will have run the route since March 18 because of the state’s covid-19 shutdowns. The twice daily service service on the Pennsylvanian route from Pittsburgh to New York,...

Almost 2 million Pennsylvanians have filed initial unemployment claims since Gov. Wolf ordered the shutdown of non-essential businesses in mid-March, according to the latest figures from the state. The state has seen 1.9 million workers file for first-time jobless claims as of May 20, even though the number of initial...

With libraries in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties closed since mid-March to stem the spread of the coronavirus, more patrons are using the electronic resources — books, audiobooks, movies and music, a trend that likely will continue when they reopen, library officials and library directors say. “There has been a significant...

GNC Holdings, Inc. reached a last-minute deal with creditors that allows it to avoid bankruptcy for at least 30 days but no more than 90 days under a deal announced Friday, the Pittsburgh-based health and wellness company said. GNC was facing a Saturday deadline to pay down debt to under...

Norwin made it official Friday for the class of 2020 — no graduation ceremonies as initially scheduled on May 22 because of the restrictions against gatherings of more than 25 people. Even though Westmoreland County has moved from the yellow phase of the state’s reopening plan, Superintendent Jeff Taylor said...

North Huntingdon joined other municipalities in directing its police force not to cite or take any legal action local businesses that open in violation of the state’s coronavirus-related shutdown orders — as long as they follow the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for wearing personal protective equipment, keep social distancing...

What does a non-profit do when it has to postpone its primary fundraiser because of government-ordered restrictions against large gathering during a covid-19 pandemic? In the case of The Lamp Theatre in Irwin, it sells popcorn, just like it does during concerts, shows and other events that would be held...

Jim Murphy said the coronavirus restrictions imposed by the government are killing his business at the Rostraver Ice Garden and Murphy’s Pub off Route 51 in Rostraver. “I’ve lost $100,000 in bookings that’s not ice-related. I can’t open Murphy’s Pub. I’ve lost the home show, lost graduation parties, pro wrestling...

Kennametal Inc. is turning to a virtual auction next week to sell equipment from its shuttered Carbidie plant along Arona Road in Hempfield. A two-day auction of the plant’s equipment — such as sintering furnaces, a 120-ton press, computer-controlled and conventional machine tools, grinders and dust collectors, forklifts and various...

A 19-year-old man was reported hospitalized in stable condition after being shot in Duquesne early Wednesday night, Allegheny County Police said. The teenager was shot in the 100 block of Apricot Alley at about 6:50 p.m., and ran to the 200 block of Hamilton Avenue, where he was found. County...

Battered by the coronavirus-shutdowns of its stores that pushed net losses to $200 million in the first three months of the year, Pittsburgh-based GNC Holdings Inc. may file for bankruptcy protection if it can not convince lenders to delay payments due May 16 on $50 million in debt, company officials...

Penn Township’s secretary-manager for the past six years resigned earlier this month and an interim replacement has been named. Alexander Graziani, 49, of Greensburg, resigned from his post on May 4, said Michael Korns, township solicitor. “The township will do well and it has good leadership,” Graziani said when contacted...

UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh will be the only hospital in Western Pennsylvania to receive dosages of an antiviral medicine that is being used to treat the symptoms of patients with covid-19, the state Department of Health said Tuesday night. The health department stated it will distribute the first shipment...

Amtrak extended its suspension of passenger rail service until June 1 on the Pennsylvanian route between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and the Keystone route between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, a PennDOT spokeswoman said. Amtrak previously announced that service would be suspended until May 18, said PennDOT spokeswoman Alexis Campbell. The state provides...

Irwin Borough Council is joining with other municipalities when it holds a virtual meeting for its government business at 6 p.m. Wednesday . The meeting will be streamed live on the Irwin Borough Facebook page. Borough offices remain closed to the public during the coronavirus-related shutdowns, but borough officials are...

Pennsylvania workers who refuse to report to any business that opens in violation of Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders will not lose their unemployment benefits, a state official said Monday. “If a business opens in defiance of the governor’s orders … those employees may stay home and not lose their benefits,”...