TribLive stories, Page 1754
Online courses offer mental health resources for firefighters, EMS personnel
Pennsylvania’s State Fire Commissioner on Wednesday announced online mental health resources for firefighters and emergency services personnel in a move to help dismantle the stigma surrounding seeking mental health services. “More and more of our first responders are affected by the invisible wounds of traumatic experiences they have been through...
Update: Shaler road reopens after crash
Route 8 in Shaler has reopened after a morning crash. A portion of the road closed around 8:45 a.m. after a vehicle crash at Spencer Lane Extension. Police suggested a detour from Butler Plank Road to Mount Royal Boulevard. According to a social media post from Shaler police, the road...
Ann Sanders and Theodoros Papazekos: Congress must boost SNAP benefits to address hunger crisis
The economic downturn accompanying the pandemic has cost millions their jobs, and millions more have faced reduced hours and wages. The problem is perhaps particularly acute in Pennsylvania. As of June, our state unemployment rate of 13% was the ninth worst in the country and far worse than its peak...
Movie review: ‘Summerland’ a refreshing take on the cozy WWII-era English seaside village dramaVideo
Filmmaker Jessica Swale makes her directorial debut with the poignant “Summerland,” a tale of love and loss, motherhood and myth, set against the sweeping backdrop of Kent, England, and the White Cliffs of Dover during World War II. Gemma Arterton delivers one of her best performances as prickly writer Alice...
Letter to the editor: Masking the country’s bigger problems
I look at people’s eyes above the masks, filled with fear or numbness. What a fine excuse to take a step farther back from having to associate with their fellow human beings. In the digital world we no longer have to deal with social interaction, which can cause distress because...
Painters Run Road paving to take place overnight for roughly 2 weeks
Painters Run Road – just west of its intersection with McMillan Road in Upper St. Clair – was unexpectedly closed today. While completing drainage work there, crews encountered an unmarked underground mine void that might affect the road’s stability. As a result, Public Works will keep that section of road...
Letter to the editor: Memories of Vietnam
Reading Howard Bronder’s letter “Fireworks remind vet of soldier friends in Vietnam” (July 7, TribLIVE) was very uplifting. In Vietnam, I was stationed way up north around Dong Ha, Quang Tri. I share your story very well. The movies “Platoon” and “First Blood” show how it really was. You mentioned...
Professional strippers stage clothing-optional strike at Pa. parkVideo
Community members are angry after getting an eyeful during a stripper protest at Philadelphia’s Malcolm X Park earlier this week. As 6ABC in Philly reports, the irate community members and the group Stilettos Inc. don’t see eye-to-eye on the worth of the flesh-exposing labor strike, aimed at covid-19 restrictions and...
Living with Children: Tough love stuck with me
I recently received a paean to my generation — the so-called “boomers” — that has been circulating on the Internet for some time now. It recalls and celebrates the freedom we enjoyed as children and the personal responsibility our parents enforced upon us — concerning the latter, much to our...
Letter to the editor: We the people … surrender?
When “democratic socialism” comes, we’ll deserve forfeiting America’s signature quality. Not just liberty itself, but our understanding that effort, pride, motivation, failure and success are as essential to the joy of freedom as the outcome. With socialism, effort is secondary. Obscenely taxed workers fund communal support and $93 trillion Green...
Letter to the editor: Send message to officials via your tax payment
Sometimes it seems Pennsylvanians cannot win against Gov. Tom Wolf and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. They are simply too powerful. However, citizens can express their outrage in subtle ways. Wolf closed all public schools in March, citing public safety. Maybe they will reopen this fall. Many property owners are now...
Letter to the editor: Wolf’s decisions hurting Pa.
Once again, dictator Gov. Tom Wolf has made a decision that has negatively impacted the state’s economy. He painted that penalty over the entire state without regard to the counties that are faring well with the covid-19 numbers. He closed all bars and clubs that don’t serve food and placed...
The Stroller, July 29, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Follow @VNDStroller on Twitter for a daily link to The Stroller. Tarentum church to collect used mobility aides Central Presbyterian Church, Tarentum, is collecting mobility equipment to be donated to Global Links, a charity that works to redirect still-useful materials away from landfills to support public health programs in targeted...
Westmoreland community events: July 29
Reunion The 95th reunion of the James and William Ulery families is canceled this year because of the coronavirus. It had been scheduled for Aug. 23 at the Laurel Highlands Campground in Donegal. It will be held at the same location on Aug. 22, 2021. Family members may submit information...
Dirt bike rider killed in crash in Pittsburgh’s Hill District
A dirt bike rider was killed Tuesday after colliding with a parked vehicle in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, public safety authorities said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner identified the victim as Derelle Williams, 32, of Pittsburgh. Police responded to the incident just after 7:30 p.m. along Milwaukee Street at Bryn Mawr...
Editorial: Child care helps babysit the economy
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, there is plenty of debate about opening schools and opening businesses and opening the economy. There are all these questions about getting the millions of people who have been laid off or furloughed back to collecting a paycheck instead of an unemployment check. There has...
Jay Ambrose: Nancy Pelosi is wrong on Trump
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the coronavirus “the Trump virus,” explaining that the president has caused deaths with his initial, ho-hum reaction to it. The verbal assault should be no surprise. After all, she said Republicans “were trying to get away with murder” on a police reform bill and...
On Football: Training camps’ look defines strange timesVideo
Don’t expect any footballs — or players — on fields at NFL training camps anytime too soon. No blocking sleds. No pass-rush drills. No whistles. As teams adhere to the medical protocols that wisely and necessarily have been ordered by the league and the players’ union, any sort of football...
Attorney General Barr defends response to protests, his role in criminal cases of Trump alliesVideo
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday aggressively defended the federal response to violence and protests at the federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., and his decision to inject himself into criminal cases involving President Donald Trump’s close associates. The attorney general’s highly anticipated and contentious appearance before the House...
Trump’s bid for FBI building money draws bipartisan scornVideo
WASHINGTON — The inclusion in the Republican coronavirus relief plan of $1.75 billion for a new FBI headquarters in Washington, a priority for President Donald Trump, drew bipartisan scorn Tuesday that is all but certain to result in the provision being scuttled. Senate GOP leaders and other lawmakers expressed surprise...
Alana R. Sacriponte: ‘The 8-Second Exchange’ on the Pennsylvania Turnpike
As a graduate student looking for a summer job, my mom suggested I apply to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I considered it odd at first. It was 2008 and cash had lost much of its prevalence already. Did people still carry coins? Didn’t everyone use EZPass? I took my mom’s suggestion,...
Latrobe armed robbery suspect being sought by police
Latrobe Police are looking for a man who robbed a gas station at gunpoint Sunday afternoon. The man went inside the BP on Lloyd Avenue at about 3:45 p.m. “He pointed a handgun at the clerk and demanded money and cigarettes,” said Beth Straka, community service officer. “He forced a...
Florida man allegedly spent almost $4M in coronavirus relief aid on Lamborghini, dating sites
A Florida man accused of blowing nearly $4 million in coronavirus relief aid on dating sites, hotel getaways and a brand new Lamborghini has been arrested and charged with three felonies. David Hines is facing one count of bank fraud, one for making false statements to a financial institution and...
Police: Convicted killer from Mt. Oliver area jailed on rape charges
A maintenance worker at a hotel on Pittsburgh’s North Shore is being held without bond on rape and other charges for an assault at the hotel on Sunday. Michael Cooper, 48, who lives on the border of Pittsburgh’s Knoxville and Mt. Oliver neighborhoods, turned himself in to authorities on Wednesday,...
Wendell W. Young IV: Pa. families need Toomey to lead in covid-19 debate
As President Trump and some lawmakers, including Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, debate whether or not additional federal support is necessary to manage the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic, I encourage them to spend just one day with Pennsylvania workers and their families before they make up their mind. They...
