Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1281
U.S. virus deaths top 3,100 in a single day for the first time
The U.S. recorded over 3,100 covid-19 deaths in a single day, obliterating the record set last spring, while the number of Americans hospitalized with the virus has eclipsed 100,000 for the first time and new cases have begun topping 200,000 a day, according to figures released Thursday. The three benchmarks...
Norwin covid-19 cases top 100; 21 new cases reported
Norwin School District officials said Wednesday the district has 21 new covid-19 cases among its students and staff, pushing the total number of cases since school began Aug. 31 to more than 100. The reports of 21 new cases, pushing the total to 114 cases of the coronavirus, is the...
In video, Trump recycles unsubstantiated voter fraud claimsVideo
WASHINGTON — Increasingly detached from reality, President Donald Trump stood before a White House lectern and delivered a 46-minute diatribe against the election results that produced a win for Democrat Joe Biden, unspooling one misstatement after another to back his baseless claim that he really won. Trump called his address,...
Unusual Steelers’ game time makes for odd scene on Pittsburgh’s North ShoreVideo
How strange was Steelers football on a Wednesday afternoon without a crowd? Even Ben Roethlisberger’s mom, Brenda, was weirded out. She showed up at Heinz Field about an hour before game time with two of her grandchildren in tow. “It’s very weird. It seems like a ghost town out here,”...
Western Pa. congressmen join rebuke of U.S. Attorney General William Barr
A bloc of 39 congressmen — including five Pennsylvania Republicans who were reelected Nov. 3 — lashed out at Attorney General William Barr in a letter expressing dismay at “the shocking lack of action” stemming from the Justice Department’s investigation of allegations of fraud in the election. The letter was...
Covid-19 outbreak infects more than half of inmates at Pa. prison for elderly and infirm
The State Correctional Institution Laurel Highlands, housed in a former state psychiatric hospital, is part prison, part long-term-care facility for many of the oldest and sickest men in Pennsylvania’s prisons. Now, it’s the epicenter of a covid-19 outbreak tearing across the state prison system. In the last month, 444 prisoners...
Allegheny County sheriff says firearms division closed because of covid
The day after a federal lawsuit was filed against Allegheny County Sheriff Bill Mullen for shutting down the firearms division, he said in a Facebook post that it was necessary because an employee there tested positive for covid-19, and the rest of the staff had to quarantine. On Monday, three...
Health officials: 40% of Allegheny County’s covid cases came in November
Forty percent of Allegheny County’s nearly 30,000 covid-19 cases came in November. The case numbers increased despite Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen’s “stern warning” two weeks ago for people to avoid large Thanksgiving gatherings. Her announcement piggybacked on a statewide halt to alcohol sales at bars and restaurants on the...
Pennsylvania seeks money from 11,000 who received jobless aid
Pennsylvania wants about 11,000 residents to repay money officials say they never should have received — either by an honest mistake or fraud — through the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. About 88% of the claims that have been processed for identity through the IDME verification system for PUA funding...
Nurses wanted: Swamped hospitals scramble for pandemic helpVideo
OMAHA, Neb. — U.S. hospitals slammed with covid-19 patients are trying to lure nurses and doctors out of retirement, recruiting students and new graduates who have yet to earn their licenses and offering eye-popping salaries in a desperate bid to ease staffing shortages. With the virus surging from coast to...
ATI to invest up to $85M in Vandergrift facility, phase out production of standard stainless steel
ATI said Wednesday it will phase out production of standard stainless steel sheet products and end finishing operations at its Brackenridge plant in Harrison as it shifts its focus to specialty rolled products. While finishing operations will end at the massive Brackenridge works, the $1.1 billion Hot Rolling & Processing...
Pittsburgh council tweaking covid-related sick leave legislation before final voteVideo
People who work in Pittsburgh and need to take time off because they test positive for covid-19 or are asked to quarantine would be given paid sick leave under legislation Pittsburgh City Council will consider for adoption next week. Mayor Bill Peduto spearheaded the proposal, which was introduced last week...
Trump supporters plan rally from Unity to Greensburg Saturday
President Trump’s supporters are gathering again Saturday outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg to protest the results of the election. The rally, which will feature speakers, starts at 2 p.m., said co-organizer Tony Naples. But the day will begin at the Trump House in Unity at 1 p.m. with...
Rep. Mike Kelly, Sean Parnell continue to pursue legal challenge to Pa. election results
A congressman and the challenger to Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb on Wednesday asked Pennsylvania’s highest court to stay its own order from last week as they wait to hear if the U.S. Supreme Court will take their case challenging the state’s mail-in voting law. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court,...
Baby girl overdoses on heroin in East Deer while woman caring for her slept, police say
A 9-month-old girl overdosed on heroin Tuesday after police said she ingested the drug while the East Deer woman who was supposed to be caring for her slept. Paramedics who responded to the incident injected the baby with 2 milligrams of Narcan before rushing her to UPMC Children’s Hospital in...
10% of City of Pittsburgh’s employees are in covid quarantine, officials say
About 10% of the City of Pittsburgh’s workforce is off work because they are quarantining for possible covid-19 exposure, the city announced Wednesday. That amounts to about 330 of the city’s 3,300-person workforce. A smaller but unspecified number of workers are off because they’ve tested positive for covid. The workers...
Lawsuit: Allegheny County Jail staff beat, restrained women inmates
Three women formerly incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the facility and several officers alleging that they were “brutally assaulted” by a sergeant, who beat them, and improperly used a restraint chair and pepper spray on them. The purpose of the lawsuit, filed by...
Pennsylvania reports 2nd most new covid-19 cases, most new deaths since May
Pennsylvania reported 8,291 new covid-19 cases Wednesday, per the state Department of Health. The new cases represent the second-highest amount of new daily cases reported. To this point, the most new cases came Nov. 26 when 8,425 were reported. For the second consecutive day, the state also reported the highest...
Westmoreland County sets record for new covid-19 deaths
A day after Westmoreland County reached 200 covid-19 deaths, a new daily record was set. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported Wednesday the county has 15 new coronavirus-related deaths, a single-day record. It brings the total deaths to 219. The seven-day death total (Nov. 26 through Wednesday) reached 47 deaths,...
Allegheny County nears another covid-19 milestone with new cases
Allegheny County reported 508 new covid-19 cases Wednesday, according to the county Health Department. Ages of new cases range from 3 months to 100 years old, with a median age of 47 years old. Dates of positive tests are from Nov. 14 through Tuesday, with only 14 positive tests being...
New Kensington shot-and-a-beer bar transformed into foodie havenVideo
Three self-described foodies have created a new dining and drinking experience in New Kensington. Friends and business partners Dante Cicconi, Corey Pistininzi and Sean Watson have opened botL, which Watson describes as “a restaurant with a bar.” The menu features 19 wines and 14 beers. Pistininzi makes a signature Old-Fashioned...
Editorial: Keeping hospitals from being swamped is a collective responsibility
The great fear with any disease is always death. We worry about how many people it will steal. But with a pandemic — a rising tide of illness that isn’t confined to one school district, one town or even one country — there is another concern that can be a...
U.K. authorizes Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for emergency use
British officials authorized a covid-19 vaccine for emergency use on Wednesday, greenlighting the world’s first shot against the virus that’s backed by rigorous science and taking a major step toward eventually ending the pandemic. The go-ahead for the vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech comes as the...
Day-long snow total tops forecast, falls shy of record
The Pittsburgh area got a bit more snow than had been expected on Tuesday, but no records were broken, according to the National Weather Service. Nearly 7 inches, 6.8 to be precise, was measured at the National Weather Service office in Moon, where the official reading is taken, meteorologist Mike...
Tarentum Night Market organizers cancel December event, citing covid stay-home advisory
Organizers of the Tarentum Night Market have canceled the scheduled December event, citing Allegheny County’s advisory for residents to stay home unless going out for essential reasons because of the covid-19 pandemic. Allegheny County Health Department Director Debra Bogen issued the advisory Nov. 18. The last Night Market, for which...
