Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1201
Police: 1 person in critical condition after Clairton shooting
Allegheny County police are investigating a shooting in Clairton that left one person in critical condition Sunday night, officials with the department said. First responders were called to the 500 block of Farnsworth Avenue around 9:50 p.m. after Allegheny County dispatchers were notified of the shooting. On scene, officials said...
Pandemic weighs on mental health as people cope with anxiety, fears
Almost a year into the covid-19 pandemic, feeling stressed is an understatement, Jenn Sillett said. The 42-year-old mother of three has not set foot inside a store or restaurant for the better part of the past year, only leaving her Hempfield home to take her 19-year-old daughter, Sierra Williams, to...
Pittsburgh launches Opioid Overdose Dashboard
Pittsburgh officials on Friday launched the Opioid Overdose Dashboard, a new tool that can help form and guide policies and programs to address unsafe opioid use in the city. The dashboard compiles data from the Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS to map monthly opioid overdose calls and Public Safety’s responses. Data...
As Peace Corps turns 60, volunteers reflect: ‘It changed me tremendously’
As the Peace Corps commemorated its 60th anniversary this month, the agency launched a virtual celebration, and local residents who have volunteered over the years reflected on their service. Established by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1960, the Peace Corps has sent about 240,000 Americans to serve in...
Homeschooling parents unite in Vandergrift for program where kids can socialize — without computers
Yoga, painting, gardening and storytime await home-schooled youngsters at a new program in Vandergrift. The Homeschool Co-op class meets every Friday in the lower level hall at The Center on Franklin Avenue in Vandergrift. It’s two hours of creative and nontechnology focused activities for children who are home-schooled. It’s taught...
Pandemic can’t stop annual Greensburg Open bowling tournamentVideo
Noah Suidron was good-natured Sunday as he was outscored frame after frame by girlfriend Kayla Murphy. “I’ve been bowling for four years, and as soon as I showed her bowling she was better than me,” said Suidron, 23, of Latrobe during the first session of the 32nd annual Greensburg Open...
George Floyd’s cause of death, ex-cop’s force will be keys at trial
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis police officer was swiftly fired and charged with murder after bystander video showed him pressing his knee into George Floyd’s neck, ignoring the Black man’s cries that he couldn’t breathe. But even with that powerful footage, legal experts say the case isn’t a slam dunk. Jury...
Police: Shots fired from several cars along Route 28, 2 people hit
State police are investigating a shooting along Route 28 that left two people hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Police said the incident occurred Saturday around 3:30 p.m. near the Route 8 exit in Sharpsburg. When troopers arrived, Pittsburgh police were on the scene with a vehicle “which had several indications of...
Want to see 80,000 snow geese? No problem for Harrison photographer at Middle CreekVideo
A Harrison couple recently witnessed one of the state’s most dramatic natural spectacles — tens of thousands of migrating snow geese at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Lancaster and Lebanon counties. The Pennsylvania Game Commission, which manages Middle Creek, reports large crowds visiting to see the massive migration of...
Workers worry about safety, stress as states ease mask rules
JACKSON, Mississippi — Leo Carney worries that bigger crowds and mask-less diners could endanger workers at the Biloxi, Mississippi, seafood restaurant where he manages the kitchen. Maribel Cornejo, who earns $9.85 an hour as a McDonald’s cook in Houston, can’t afford to get sick and frets co-workers will become more...
PennDOT to begin Tarentum Bridge repairs, no traffic disruptions — yet
PennDOT will begin preservation work on the Tarentum Bridge from March 15 to mid-April. Crews will replace deteriorating concrete in the structure underneath the bridge, said Yasmeen Manyisha, PennDOT spokeswoman. No traffic disruptions are planned. However, some traffic restrictions are expected later this year when PennDOT works on other bridge...
U.S. states look to step up wolf kills, pushed by Republicans
BILLINGS, Mont. — Payments for dead wolves. Unlimited hunting of the animals. Shooting wolves from the air. Wolf hunting policies in some states are taking an aggressive turn, as Republican lawmakers and conservative hunting groups push to curb their numbers and propose tactics shunned by many wildlife managers. In Montana,...
Casting a wide intrusion net: Dozens burned with single hack
BOSTON — The SolarWinds hacking campaign blamed on Russian spies and the “grave threat” it poses to U.S. national security are widely known. A very different — and no less alarming — coordinated series of intrusions also detected in December has gotten considerably less public attention. Nimble, highly skilled criminal...
Biden marking ‘Bloody Sunday’ by signing voting rights order
WASHINGTON — A new executive order from President Joe Biden directs federal agencies to take a series of steps to promote voting access, a move that comes as congressional Democrats press for a sweeping voting and elections bill to counter efforts to restrict voting access. His plan was being announced...
Kiski Area Upper Elementary sixth-grader brightens Fridays with his dance movesVideo
An autistic pre-teen with a big heart and even bigger dance moves is causing a stir at school. Cash Malobicky, a sixth-grader at Kiski Area Upper Elementary School, is a featured dancer each week during the schoolwide video announcements broadcast. “My parents named me after the singer Johnny Cash,” said...
1 year later: The coronavirus response, missteps and what we have learned
Think about one year ago. On Feb. 2, the Super Bowl was played in front of more than 62,000 fans packed into Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. A month later, 18,548 watched the Penguins play the Carolina Hurricanes on March 8 at PPG Paints Arena. A few days after that, the...
Doing what’s right: Inside restoration begins on tomb of Sutersville founderVideo
Frank Barbera knew if he was going to get inside the Suter mausoleum at West Newton Cemetery, it wasn’t going to be through the bricked-over front door. Instead, the former Sutersville mayor in November removed bricks covering the windows and shimmied his way into the structure that entombs Sutersville’s founder,...
Another ex-aide calls Cuomo’s office conduct inappropriate
NEW YORK — Another woman who worked for Gov. Andrew Cuomo is describing conduct she felt was inappropriate for the workplace. Ana Liss, 35, told The Wall Street Journal in a story published Saturday that when she worked as a policy aide to the governor between 2013 and 2015, Cuomo...
Editorial: Keep on rolling up sleeves for the vaccines to beat down covid
The coronavirus pandemic has been a yearlong war. There have been front lines and battle plans, equipment deployed and troops activated. There have been far too many casualties. It has been approached as a national security issue because that is exactly what it is — a catastrophic event that threatens...
Leechburg church partners with Lower Burrell area charity to bolster food distributions
A Leechburg church has partnered with a Lower Burrell- area nonprofit to ensure food supply is not a problem in future free distributions. Twice last month, volunteers from Kiski Valley Community Church had to turn away families who waited for hours at the Leechburg Fire Hall for boxes of food....
Westmoreland County posts 61 more coronavirus cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 61 new cases of the coronavirus in Westmoreland County, as the area continues to stay below triple digit case counts. The county last saw a triple-digit count Feb. 3, and 18 of the 31 days since then have remained below 75 new...
Editorial: Total testing for covid at Allegheny County Jail is worthy goal
Jails check for a lot of things when processing someone who has been arrested. Suspects are checked for weapons or other potentially dangerous items. They are checked for contraband such as drugs. They are photographed, fingerprinted, patted down and looked over. During the course of a stay in jail, there...
Cleveland rocker, radio star Michael Stanley dead at 72
CLEVELAND — Michael Stanley, a Cleveland-based rocker who with his namesake band reached the Top 40 in the 1980s with the hits “He Can’t Love You” and “My Town” before going on to a long career as a radio disc jockey, has died. He was 72. Stanley died Thursday after...
1 year after covid hit Pa: nearly 1 million cases, more than 24,000 deaths
Pennsylvania health officials on Saturday reported 2,789 new coronavirus cases, exactly one year after the virus was first discovered in the Keystone State. Two people were reported quarantined on March 6, 2020 in the eastern part of the state after they were presumed positive to have contracted covid-19. Saturday’s data...
Biden, Dems prevail as Senate OKs $1.9T virus relief bill
WASHINGTON — An exhausted Senate narrowly approved a $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill Saturday as President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies notched a victory they called crucial for hoisting the country out of the pandemic and economic doldrums. After laboring all night on a mountain of amendments — nearly...
