Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1236
Department of Justice watchdog to probe if staff tried to alter election outcomeVideo
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s inspector general has opened an investigation into whether department staff members sought to use the agency to alter the outcome of the 2020 election and overturn President Joe Biden’s victory. The department didn’t say what prompted Inspector General Michael Horowitz to open the inquiry, but...
Greensburg parolee charged with assault, strangulation after battered woman shows up at police station
A man who was released from state prison after pleading guilty to brutally assaulting a woman in Latrobe is now charged with another alleged attack in Greensburg. A woman went to the city police station around 8 p.m. Saturday to report that Glenn J. Whittier assaulted her at his Walnut...
Covid contact tracing still challenging in Pennsylvania
Contact tracing remains a challenge in Pennsylvania, officials said Monday. From Jan. 10 to Jan. 16, only 18% of the 46,708 covid cases reported had a case investigation started within 24 hours, according to the Department of Health. An additional 5% had a case investigation started within 48 hours. “We...
Godiva closing its U.S. chocolate stores, including 1 at Ross Park Mall
Luxury chocolatier Godiva is closing all of its brick and mortar stores in the United States. The company will exit its 128 physical locations, some through sales and others through closures, by the end of the first quarter of 2021. Locally, Godiva has a store at Ross Park Mall in...
Former Catholic school on Mt. Washington poised to become loft apartments
A former school atop Mt. Washington with a commanding view of the Downtown Pittsburgh skyline is set to be converted into loft apartments. Grandview Lofts would be located in the former Bishop Leonard-St. Mary of the Mount Academy building at 115 Bigham St. Its rooftop deck would offer the skyline...
Former Westmoreland County driver claims racial discrimination in suit against transit authority
A Jeannette woman who drove for National Express Transit and the Westmoreland County Transit Authority is suing both, alleging race discrimination and a hostile work environment. Ashley Oliver, who is Black, began working for the Illinois-based transit company in June 2019. Her employment then switched to the transit authority in...
Covid cases continue to drop in Pennsylvania, fewer deaths starting to follow
With new coronavirus cases on the decline in Pennsylvania, a report from the state Department of Health shows covid-related deaths are also beginning to slow slightly. Over the past two days, the state added 7,910 new cases of covid-19 — a 21% drop from the same two-day period last week,...
Westmoreland County reports fewer new covid cases, deaths
Westmoreland County added 213 new covid-19 cases over the past two days, according to a report Monday from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The two-day total — from cases added Sunday and Monday — were just one less than last week’s report (214). It’s the lowest Sunday-Monday tally since Nov....
New coronavirus cases continue to decline in Allegheny County
Over the past two days, another 620 cases of coronavirus were added to Allegheny County’s total, according to a report Monday from the county’s Health Department. The report shows there were 22% fewer new covid cases reported this week than the last Sunday-Monday period (796) in the county, and 30%...
Dominion Voting Systems sues Giuliani for $1.3B over election claimsVideo
Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who led the former president’s efforts to question the results of the 2020 election, including in Pennsylvania. The lawsuit seeks more than $1.3 billion in damages for the voting machine company, a target for conservatives...
Pittsburgh police seek tips to find Beechview man last seen Saturday night
Pittsburgh police are seeking the public’s help in the search for a Beechview man who hasn’t been seen since late Saturday night. Investigators say Thomas Hughes, 25, was last seen at around 11 p.m. on Jan. 23. He is 6-feet 1-inch tall, weighs 260 pounds and has blonde hair and...
Budweiser joins Coke, Pepsi brands in sitting out Super Bowl
NEW YORK — For the first time since 1983, when Anheuser-Busch used all of its ad time to introduce a beer called Bud Light, the beer giant isn’t advertising its iconic Budweiser brand during the Super Bowl. Instead, it’s donating the money it would have spent on the ad to...
Biden plans to sign order for government to buy more U.S. goods
BALTIMORE — President Joe Biden plans to sign on Monday an executive order that aims to boost government purchases from U.S. manufacturers, according to administration officials. The United States has shed roughly 540,000 factory jobs since last February as the coronavirus pandemic hurled the world’s largest economy into recession. The...
High covid numbers could delay return to hybrid classes until April for Pittsburgh students
The Pittsburgh Public Schools Board is scheduled to vote this week on a measure to delay the return to partial in-person instruction until at least April 6 because of the high number of people in Allegheny County testing positive for the coronavirus, district officials announced. Delaying the planned return to...
TV Talk: Eureka! Syfy debuts comedic drama ‘Resident Alien’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. With media companies prioritizing streaming services over their basic cable networks, the number of original scripted shows on cable has started to decline. Other than “The Magicians,” which ended last year, Syfy’s scripted originals have...
Biden to reinstate covid travel rules, add South Africa
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday will formally reinstate covid-19 travel restrictions on non-U.S. travelers from Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and 26 other European countries that allow travel across open borders, according to two White House officials. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss...
Winter storm warning for ridges of Westmoreland, Fayette counties
A winter storm warning goes into effect Monday afternoon for the ridges of Westmoreland and Fayette counties, according to the National Weather Service. This might be upgraded to an ice storm warning as up to a quarter-inch of ice could accumulate on some roads, making driving conditions dangerous and threatening...
Bamboo Garden restaurant in North Versailles cited by health departmentVideo
Bamboo Garden Chinese Buffet in North Versailles has been cited for 17 health code violations by the Allegheny County Health Department. The unannounced Friday retail food inspections found, among other things, mouse droppings in the back corner of a storage area behind and under soda syrups, a bag of potatoes...
5, including pregnant woman, fatally shot in IndianapolisVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Five people, including a pregnant woman, were shot to death early Sunday inside an Indianapolis home in an apparent targeted attack, the city’s police chief said, decrying the “mass murder” killings as a “different kind of evil.” The fatal shootings were discovered by police who had been called...
Extended unemployment benefit payments to restart, Pa. officials say
Thanks to a new federal CARES Act extension, payments for the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program will resume Monday. Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier made the announcement on Saturday. “Since receiving the information we needed from the federal Department of Labor two weeks...
Growing number of GOP senators oppose impeachment trialVideo
WASHINGTON — A growing number of Republican senators say they oppose holding an impeachment trial, a sign of the dimming chances that former President Donald Trump will be convicted on the charge that he incited a siege of the U.S. Capitol. House Democrats, who will walk the impeachment charge of...
Pa. Democrats call for Rep. Scott Perry to resign after reports he urged Trump to use a lawyer against Biden win
They couldn’t beat him at the polls in November, but leaders of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party on Sunday called for Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, an outspoken Donald Trump supporter who represents Harrisburg, Hershey and York, to resign following news reports he urged Trump to use a lawyer from Philadelphia to...
Thousands of drug, alcohol recovery homes in Pa. still operate without state oversight
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 — In December 2017, Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation to increase oversight for drug and alcohol recovery houses — a...
Police: McKeesport man beaten, strangled in home invasion
A McKeesport man died over the weekend, days after he was beaten and strangled during a suspected home invasion that left a woman in the home with injuries as well, according to police. David Gutierrez-Faust, 66, died Saturday, four days after police say he was beaten and strangled in his...
John Fetterman talks marijuana, voters, style in CBS interviewVideo
In a national interview that aired Sunday morning, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman spoke about his push to legalize marijuana, getting working-class people back to the Democratic Party, his political past and future, and being named a style god. Fetterman spoke to Mark Whitaker for “CBS Sunday Morning” from his Braddock...
