Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1145
As GOP restricts voting, Democrats move to expand access
Last year, for the first time in more than a quarter-century, Democrats in Virginia took control of the statehouse and the governor’s mansion. Since then, one priority has become clear: expanding voting rights. Once home to the capital of the Confederacy, Virginia has made Election Day a state holiday, repealed...
CDC’s big mask change went from science to secret to surprise
WASHINGTON — For a nation mired in a pandemic for more than a year, the biggest step toward a return to normal came suddenly, even to President Joe Biden. After warning the country on Monday to stay vigilant amid the threat of coronavirus variants, the president found himself three days...
Afghan cease-fire ends amid calls for fresh peace talks
KABUL, Afghanistan — A three-day cease-fire marked by violent attacks — most claimed by the Islamic State group — ended Sunday in Afghanistan amid calls for renewed peace talks between the government and Taliban. Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the negotiating teams of the government and the Islamic Emirate,...
Israel stages new round of heavy airstrikes on Gaza CityVideo
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli warplanes unleashed a series of heavy airstrikes at several locations of Gaza City early Monday, hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled the fourth war with Gaza’s Hamas rulers would rage on. Explosions rocked the city from north to south for 10 minutes...
Police: Coraopolis man falls to his death on West Carson Street
Pittsburgh police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a man’s fatal fall early Sunday morning on the South Side. Authorities say they responded to a report of a fall about 4:20 a.m. in the 1200 block of West Carson Street. The man was identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office...
Fire destroys landmark Murrysville restaurant
Spaghetti & Steakhouse, a landmark on Route 22 in Murrysville for more than 50 years, was destroyed Sunday in an early morning fire. The restaurant that has fed generations of local families and survived the pandemic was a total loss. A dispatcher for Westmoreland 911 said a caller reported the...
Help wanted: Western Pa. businesses hurting from lack of worker interest to fill open jobs
Dino’s Sports Lounge is in the same boat as so many other employers — competing to attract workers in a market made all the harder by covid-19 and an extra $300 a week in benefits being pocketed by eligible jobless workers. “I can’t get people to apply,” said Dino DeCario,...
Is extra $300 in federal unemployment assistance stopping people from applying for jobs?
With about 56,000 people in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties reporting they are without a job, businesses still find themselves scrambling to fill vacancies. One reason cited for the challenge is the extra $300 a week in federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Assistance that people have collected since the end of December....
Trib Total Media names Luis Fabregas as next executive editor
A veteran, award-winning journalist and longtime Trib Total Media editor has been named the company’s next executive editor. Luis Fabregas will assume the role Sept. 16, succeeding Executive Editor Susan McFarland, who announced she will retire in the fall. “I am so pleased that we have someone with Luis’ talent,...
Cheswick hunter nails triple trophy for big game
Nathan Sipes of Cheswick not only bagged three big-game animals during the 2020-21 hunting season, but he also nailed two of them on Sundays. Sipes, 24, has been hunting since he was 11. Like many hunters, he never had such a sensational season. He harvested an eight-point buck in Upper...
Mural project in New Kensington meant to inspire community, invite participation
Organizers of Murals on a Mission were expecting as many as 100 people to turn out Saturday for the first of several events promoting the painting of six murals in New Kensington over the next few months. Held at the Voodoo Brewing Co. on Fifth Avenue, Saturday’s event offered a...
Israeli strike destroys Gaza building with AP, other media
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike on Saturday targeted and destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed offices of the Associated Press and other media outlets. AP’s president said the agency was “shocked and horrified” at the strike. AP staffers and other tenants safely evacuated the...
Allegheny County surpasses 100,000 covid-19 cases, half-million residents fully vaccinated
Allegheny has become the second county in Pennsylvania to surpass 100,000 cases of coronavirus. In its covid-19 report released Saturday, the Allegheny County Health Department reported 186 new cases of the virus. That brings the county’s total since the pandemic began to 100,039. Only Philadelphia, with 146,238 cases, has more....
Pittsburgh’s green fleet bolstered by 9 electric vehicles, including bucket truck
The City of Pittsburgh is getting its first all-electric bucket truck for its Forestry Division. It’s just one of nine new electric vehicles the city plans to buy with the help of a $160,000 state grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants program (AFIG). In...
Pittsburgh police free elderly couple from car on railroad tracks
Pittsburgh first responders on Saturday morning freed an elderly couple from a car that was found on railroad tracks on West Carson Street. A Pittsburgh police officer noticed the car, a four-door Mercury, on the tracks shortly before 9 a.m. Medics and firefighters were able to get the man and...
Burrell passes preliminary 2021-22 budget to raise school taxes by 3.5%
Property owners in Burrell School District will pay 3.5% more next school year. The school board unanimously approved a preliminary budget of $32.7 million that includes a tax hike of 3.5 mills. For a home assessed at $22,900, the district’s average home tax assessment, the homeowner would pay an additional...
Man critical after McKeesport shooting
A man is in critical condition after a shooting early Saturday morning in McKeesport. First responders were called to the 2300 block of Grandview Avenue about 12:55 a.m. where they found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body, police said. The victim was transported to an...
Walmart, Sam’s Club to begin offering youth vaccinations
Following recommendation by the Federal Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control, Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacy locations will be extending its vaccine supply to children ages 12 to 15, company officials announced Friday. “This is great news, not just for the newly eligible cohort, but for the entire...
Bald eagle chicks thrive along Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers
All three bald eagle nests along the Monongahela River and Youghiogheny River near McKeesport in Allegheny County have chicks this spring, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. At the Youghiogheny River nest, near McKeesport, there is at least one young bird on private property, said Douglas Bergman, a game warden...
IRS records: UPMC CEO Jeffrey Romoff made $9.5M in 2019; pay tops $1M for 32 employees
UPMC CEO Jeffrey Romoff reaped a $530,000 pay increase in 2019, bringing his annual compensation before the covid-19 pandemic struck up to $9.5 million, records filed Friday show. The 2019 pay hike follows a $430,000 increase in 2018, when Romoff made $8.97 million, according to UPMC’s Form 990s required by...
Jury seated in Pirates pitcher’s sexual assault trial, testimony to begin Monday
Testimony in the sexual assault trial of former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez will begin Monday morning in a Westmoreland County courtroom. Twelve jurors and two alternates were seated Friday for what is expected to be a three-day trial after Vazquez was accused of having sexual relations with a 13-year...
Fully vaccinated parishioners can shed masks in Pittsburgh Diocese churches
The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Friday that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask in church. According to the Centers for Disease Control, fully vaccinated is defined as being two weeks after a second dose in a two-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines,...
Kasperowicz suing Pine-Richland School District for defamation of character
Former Pine-Richland High School head football coach Eric Kasperowicz on Friday filed a lawsuit for defamation of character against Pine-Richland School District and several district officials for comments school officials made in the wake of his dismissal. Kasperowicz, who was informed on April 14 that his contract would not be...
Kennywood, Hersheypark ditch mask requirements for fully vaccinated
Kennywood Park announced Friday that fully vaccinated visitors do not have to wear masks, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s easing of restrictions. The park posted on Facebook on Friday that fully vaccinated patrons do not have to wear a mask, and those who have not been vaccinated...
Penguins CEO David Morehouse: Team trying for 100% capacity by Game 5 of Islanders series
Things are changing quickly in terms of capacities in Pennsylvania during the pandemic. They may change even more quickly if the Pittsburgh Penguins get a request granted. On an episode of “The Pomp and Poni Podcast,” Penguins CEO David Morehouse joined KDKA’s Bob Pompeani and 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi...
