Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1109
Nurse shortage is crippling hospitals, centers that provide care in Western Pa.
A long-predicted shortage across the continuum of nursing and direct care workers has come home to roost in the coronavirus pandemic. Shortages are rippling across the country, fueled in part, experts say, by pandemic trauma and burnout. The issue is critical in Western Pennsylvania. In a region characterized by a...
Used car prices jump as new car production dropsVideo
Those looking to buy a late-model car, truck or sport utility vehicle may suffer from sticker shock when they see the price of used vehicles, which the U.S. government’s consumer price index calculates have risen by about 30% since May 2020. “It’s all about the inventory. There’s a high demand...
Armstrong coroner: Butler man dies when motorcycle hits flat bed truck on Route 422
A Butler man was killed Saturday afternoon when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a truck on Route 422 in Armstrong County. Coroner Brian K. Myers identified the victim as Kenneth Robert Shaffer, 60, of Butler. According to Myers, Shaffer was traveling east on Route 422 and a Ford...
VFD: Firefighter injured during vacant house blaze in Monessen ‘in good spirits’
A Charleroi firefighter was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital Saturday after falling through the floor of a burning house in Monessen, officials said. The fire at 418 Parkway Ave. was reported about 2:45 p.m., said municipal Fire Chief Delmar Hepple. Although the house is vacant, Hepple said firefighters were told...
Harmar eaglets take first flights; young Crescent Township eagle collides with car
A Fox Chapel photographer documented the first flights of the two young bald eagles from a nest above Route 28 in Harmar this week. The bald eagle couple, which is in its eighth year of nesting on the same hillside, has produced 13 young birds in total that have successfully...
Steelworkers union says it achieved its goals in proposed pact with ATI
The United Steelworkers union is scheduling meetings to explain a tentative, four-year contract agreement with Allegheny Technologies, Inc. to its members and for them to vote on ratifying it. ATI and the union announced Friday that they had reached the tentative agreement. If approved, it would end a strike that...
Hundreds of motorcyclists join 2nd Patriot Thunder/Back the Blue ride in LatrobeVideo
Anyone who slept in late Saturday morning in Latrobe was likely awakened to the sound of a couple hundred motorcycles rumbling through town. And that’s exactly what city resident Zeke Barr was hoping for. “That’s the whole idea: Patriot Thunder — a whole lot of noise,” said Barr, who serves...
Failure by Pa. officials to clarify rules around medical marijuana, addiction treatment had serious consequences
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. BENSALEM — Tyler Cordeiro slept on a couch outside his mother’s Bucks County home, suffering from opioid withdrawal. His sister took a photo of his mother, Susan...
Plans advance for 20-story apartment complex in Downtown Pittsburgh atop YWCA building
A proposed 20-story tower with 300 apartments atop an existing Downtown Pittsburgh building was approved for a zoning variance on Thursday. The developer, City Club Apartments, LLC, is seeking to purchase and build upon the YWCA of Pittsburgh building at 305 Wood Street, near Point Park University. The three members...
‘So sweet’: Farms anticipate abundant corn season
After a challenging growing season in 2020, local farms are returning to normal levels of success with this year’s weather to produce much-anticipated sweet corn. Greg Forejt Jr. of Windy Heights Farm Market in East Huntingdon said last season was too dry, resulting in the loss of about half of...
Lottery spokesperson: Cluster of major area scratch-off prizes likely ‘pure luck’
Pennsylvania’s second-most-famous groundhog urges lottery players to “keep on scratchin’.” That advice resulted in some major scratch for Indiana County resident Randy Lytle. He won $3 million on a Monopoly 100X scratch-off ticket he purchased on Memorial Day at the Giant Eagle supermarket in Ligonier. He cashed in by risking...
Harrison family displaced by fire; kids’ fears of trapped mom unfoundedVideo
As fire engulfed their Fourth Street house Friday, Antoine and Alyssa McDaniel of Harrison thought their mother was trapped in her bedroom. “We were freaking out and screaming,” said Alyssa McDaniel, 20. “But we couldn’t go in her bedroom. It was all in flames.” It turns out their mother, Dana...
ATI, Steelworkers reach tentative pact
Specialty steelmaker Allegheny Technologies Inc. reached a tentative contract Friday with its striking steelworkers, which could end a walkout that began March 30, if ratified by those on strike. The tentative contract with the United Steelworkers and the 1,300 ATI employees at nine plants was reached after three days of...
Florida condo building deemed unsafe, evacuation ordered
NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — The city of North Miami Beach ordered the evacuation of a condominium building Friday after a review found unsafe conditions about 5 miles from the site of last week’s deadly collapse in South Florida. An audit prompted by the collapse of Champlain Towers South in...
Ransomware hits hundreds of U.S. companies, security firm says
WASHINGTON — A ransomware attack paralyzed the networks of at least 200 U.S. companies on Friday, according to a cybersecurity researcher whose company was responding to the incident. The REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack, said John Hammond of the security firm Huntress...
Living Dead Weekend brings zombies back to Monroeville MallVideo
Shoppers encountered an unusual sight at the Monroeville Mall on Friday as the “Zombie Capital of the World” made an appearance for the Living Dead Weekend. The zombified event had its first day full of living dead activities starting at noon and will continue through Sunday. VIP ticket holders were...
Pennsylvania: All adults fish for free on Sunday
For those who don’t have a fishing license, but would like to try it, the state Fish and Boat Commission is offering adults the chance to fish for free for Sunday. While people don’t need a fishing license Sunday, all other fishing regulations, including season and creel limits, still will...
U.S. vacates key Afghan base; pullout target now ‘late August’
WASHINGTON — Nearly 20 years after invading Afghanistan to oust the Taliban and hunt down al-Qaida, the U.S. military has vacated its biggest airfield in the country, advancing a final withdrawal that the Pentagon on Friday said will be completed by the end of August. President Joe Biden had instructed...
WPIAL graduates give back by organizing, working football clinic in WilkinsburgVideo
The voice was as loud and distinctive as it was during his three seasons at Pitt. Only, this time, it was a bit playful. Clearly, Paris Ford was enjoying himself. A few boys weren’t getting in a straight enough line to suit Ford, one of five NFL players with WPIAL...
Allegheny County family’s overdose loss inspires law designed to ‘save lives’
Heather’s Law was signed this week by Gov. Tom Wolf, ending a four-year effort to provide an extra tool in the battle against overdose deaths. Authored by Rep. Eric Nelson (R-Hempfield), the legislation is named for an Allegheny County family’s daughter who died of an overdose. Formally titled Act 41...
Pittsburgh beefing up security presence for Downtown celebrations this weekend
With full-blown Fourth of July celebrations back for this year’s holiday weekend, Pittsburgh Public Safety officials are stepping up security for events Downtown and in Point State Park. After the pandemic canceled celebrations in the city last year, Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said as many as 200,000 people...
RV sales continue to surge for Western Pa. dealers, fueled by 1st-time buyers
Dealerships across Western Pennsylvania are cashing in on growing demand for RVs, a 2020 national trend that has continued through this year. John Park, general manager of Meyer’s Shreck RV in Washington Township, said his dealership sold 450 RVs last year, compared to 150 the year prior. This year, he...
Michigan boy dies 3 days after getting Pfizer covid-19 vaccine; CDC is investigating
DETROIT — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the case of a 13-year-old Saginaw County, Mich., boy who died in his sleep three days after getting his second dose of a covid-19 vaccine in mid-June. The county health department confirmed the investigation, telling the Free Press...
Where to watch fireworks this weekend in Western Pennsylvania
Though many Fourth of July celebrations were nixed last year, fireworks are back throughout Western Pennsylvania this weekend. Here are some spots to watch the fireworks and enjoy other celebrations during the holiday weekend: Pittsburgh The City of Pittsburgh is hosting a Fourth of July celebration on Sunday from 6...
Cook disputes Guy Fieri; says discrimination charges not resolved at Hempfield casino eatery
A former line cook who alleged racial discrimination at Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen + Bar at Live! Casino Pittsburgh in Hempfield this spring said the situation has not been resolved. The denial by Nate Ridley, 46, of East Pittsburgh came days after Guy Fieri in an interview with The New...
