Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1194
Fitzgerald vetoes Allegheny County paid sick leave bill
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald on Tuesday vetoed the paid sick leave legislation passed last week by county council, saying it did not follow the correct process laid out by county law. Council on March 10 voted 10 to 4 to approve the legislation, which orders businesses in the county...
Advocates seek Biden push on gun bills, but prospects iffy
WASHINGTON — After President Joe Biden’s giant covid-19 relief bill passed Congress, he made a prime-time address to the nation and presided over a Rose Garden ceremony. But there wasn’t so much as a statement from the White House after the House passed legislation that would require background checks for...
Allegheny County Health Department adds new vaccination sites
The Allegheny County Health Department announced Tuesday that it will be opening three new covid-19 vaccine locations before the end of March. The sites will include a temporary site in Oakland, a site for targeted outreach in the Central Hill District and a community vaccine location in Ross, according to...
Southwestern Pa. gas prices stabilizing; remain well above national average
After weeks of sharp price spikes, analysts say gasoline price increases in Southwestern Pennsylvania appear to be stabilizing. Regular unleaded gasoline increased only a penny per gallon last week following increases of 25 cents per gallon here over the last month. There were multiple factors behind the increases that drove...
‘I don’t need the vaccine’: GOP worries threaten virus fight
FRONT ROYAL, Va. — In this rural swath of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, former President Donald Trump remains deeply admired, with lawn signs and campaign flags still dotting the landscape. The vaccines aimed at taming the coronavirus, however, aren’t so popular. Laura Biggs, a 56-year-old who has already recovered from the...
5 things to know about the expanded Child Tax Credit
While hefty stimulus payments have been the focus of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, parents can expect to see even more money over the course of the next year. The plan expands the Child Tax Credit to ensure more parents get more cash and get it sooner than they...
Man burned in Wilkinsburg apartment fire
A man was burned in a fire at a Wilkinsburg apartment early Tuesday morning. The fire in the 900 block of Wood Street was reported shortly after 2 a.m., an Allegheny County 911 dispatcher said. It was reported under control just over an hour later, but Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV...
Conor Lamb, Democrats’ 2018 Trump Country hero, faces hard political path
HARRISBURG — In 2018, Conor Lamb wasn’t just a candidate — he was a symbol. Barely a year into Donald Trump’s presidency, Democrats were desperate to show they could reconnect with the white, working-class voters who had turned against them. By eking out victory in a congressional district stretching across...
Deb Haaland confirmed at Interior, 1st Native American Cabinet head
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Monday confirmed New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as interior secretary, making her the first Native American to lead a Cabinet department and the first to lead the federal agency that has wielded influence over the nation’s tribes for nearly two centuries. Haaland was confirmed by...
Still green and mean, Mr. Yuk turns 50Video
Mr. Yuk is still Mean. Mr. Yuk is still Green. Mr. Yuk still can be seen. He’s turning 50. That fluorescent green face inside the circle means: Stay away. Created by Dr. Richard Moriarty in Pittsburgh, Mr. Yuk’s menacing mug continues to be placed on the outside of bottles and...
Pa. House spends $445,000 for 2 meeting rooms, but conservatives said it was needed
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives spent nearly $500,000 to allow it to do more of what government does a lot: hold meetings. That money was used to renovate two old courtrooms that had been sitting vacant for over a decade and transform them into large meeting rooms to accommodate more...
Westmoreland DA candidate Ziccarelli a no-show for jury duty
Nicole Ziccarelli, a candidate for Westmoreland County District Attorney, was a no-show Monday morning for jury duty at the courthouse. Court officials confirmed Ziccarelli, a lawyer from New Kensington, was one of 160 prospective jurors summoned to appear the first day of the March criminal trial term. Ziccarelli, a Republican,...
3 die when car hits 9 people in San Diego; driver in custodyVideo
SAN DIEGO — A driver plowed through a crowd on a sidewalk under an overpass with homeless tents on a rainy Monday morning in downtown San Diego, killing three people and injuring six others, including two who are hospitalized in critical condition, police said. The driver — whom authorities identified...
Pa. lawmakers launch new push for child sex abuse lawsuit window
Pennsylvania lawmakers on Monday launched a rarely used emergency process to amend the state constitution, advancing a proposal that would give victims of child sexual abuse a two-year window to file otherwise outdated civil lawsuits. The House Judiciary Committee voted for the amendment, drafted because the Department of State under...
Partisan Pa. websites masquerading as local news threaten trust in journalism, new report finds
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The majority of news outlets in Pennsylvania rank high on trustworthiness, but there is a growing crop of digital...
Peduto endorses bill to provide pathway to citizenship for ‘dreamers’
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is joining more than 1,400 mayors in supporting legislation to help DACA recipients — non-citizens brought by their parents to the U.S. as children — become citizens. The bill, called the American Dream and Promise Act, includes provisions of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), a...
Wolf: Bar service in Pa. to return, alcohol curfew to lift on Easter
Pennsylvania bars and restaurants can resume bar service, sell alcohol without a food purchase and operate at 75% capacity beginning April 4, Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday. The curfew on alcohol sales also will be lifted. Currently, bars and restaurants must stop serving alcohol at 11 p.m. and clear tables...
Familiar face from Fort Ligonier moving to The Westmoreland
A familiar face at Fort Ligonier will soon be a familiar face at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art. Erica Nuckles, the fort’s director of history and collections, will join the Greensburg museum’s staff in April as director of learning, engagement and partnerships. “I am thrilled and honored to join...
Arbitrator upholds termination of former Pittsburgh cop with troubled history
A former Pittsburgh police officer who’s been in trouble dozens of times throughout his career will not return to the force. An arbitrator recently upheld the termination of Paul Abel Jr., who was fired after an incident involving a homeless man on the North Side in December near Heinz Field,...
Men from Morgantown, State College charged in assault of Capitol officer who died after riotVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials have arrested and charged two men with assaulting U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick with bear spray during the Jan. 6 riot, but they do not know yet whether it caused the officer’s death. George Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, W.Va., and Julian Khater, 32, of State...
Revamped Bakery Square in Pittsburgh includes 4 new restaurants
Comfort food, Asian cuisine, fresh pasta and burgers will be cooked up at the new Bakery Square food hall, slated to open in May. Galley Bakery Square is being developed by the same company that launched Smallman Galley in Pittsburgh’s Strip District in 2015. The new East End location has...
Pennsylvania surpasses 11% fully vaccinated for covid
More than 1.4 million Pennsylvanians have now been fully vaccinated against covid-19, according to the latest data released Monday. That means more than 11.2% of every resident — including the 20.6% that are under 18 and not eligible for the vaccine — have received either both doses of the Pfizer...
New Jersey man arrested after attempted break-in at Hempfield home
A New Jersey man is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison after state police said he tried to break into a Hempfield home Friday, according to court papers. Colin Daniel O’Connor, 19, of Clarksboro, is charged with attempted burglary, harassment, resisting arrest, false identification and flight to avoid apprehension....
Allegheny County launches program to provide rent, utility relief
Allegheny County residents struggling to pay rent or utility bills can apply for help through a program that launched Monday. The program is a cooperative effort by the county, the City of Pittsburgh, Action Housing and Dollar Energy. It will distribute nearly $36 million in federal coronavirus appropriations to help...
Giant Eagle clinic at Heinz Field extended, open to more teachers
Giant Eagle’s mass vaccination clinic at Heinz Field was again extended, this time for all PreK-12 teachers in Western Pennsylvania. The chain will be holding clinic hours, by appointment, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. As with...
