Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1291
Allegheny County courts postpone most in-person hearings as covid cases rise
Most in-person hearings in Allegheny County courts will be postponed until after Friday, Dec. 4 due to the rising number of coronavirus cases, according an order issued Friday from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Western District. “Due to the rising number of positive covid tests in Allegheny County, further efforts...
Pittsburgh police: Man in critical condition after being shot in Homewood
A man was hospitalized in critical condition Friday after being shot in the stomach in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood. Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri said city police responded to a 911 call for a man shot around 5:50 p.m. on Alsace Way, just west of North Braddock Avenue. Officers found a...
Overly’s Country Christmas brings holiday tradition to Westmoreland Fairgrounds during pandemicVideo
Almost nothing this year is normal, but at Overly’s Country Christmas, the lights still twinkle, the carols still play and Santa Claus still waves to excited children who lean out their car windows for a better look. The show opened Thursday at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township. The...
Police: 8 injured in Wisconsin mall shooting; suspect sought
WAUWATOSA, Wis. — Police searched Friday evening for the suspect in a shooting at a suburban Milwaukee mall that left seven adults and a teenager injured. Wauwatosa Police Chief Barry Weber gave no motive for the attack at the Mayfair Mall in a brief update about three hours after the...
Fetterman’s flags fly in the face of some Pa. lawmakers
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, Democrat John Fetterman, may have gotten under somebody’s skin. A provision slipped into lame-duck budget legislation Friday would ban flags not approved by lawmakers from flying at the state Capitol — such as the pro-marijuana legalization and LGBTQ- and transgender-rights flags that Fetterman hangs...
Spokesman: Trump’s eldest son tests positive for coronavirus
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of President Donald Trump, was quarantining Friday after learning he has been infected with the coronavirus, a spokesperson said. The younger Trump learned his diagnosis at the beginning of the week and has had no symptoms, said the spokesperson, who was granted...
Pittsburgh schools’ Westinghouse Academy to close after 1 student, 2 staffers contract covid-19
Westinghouse Academy will close until Dec. 1 because a student and two staffers tested positive this week for covid-19, Pittsburgh Public Schools officials said. All three people last were at the campus on Friday, Nov. 13, according todistrict spokeswoman Ebony Pugh. The school, located on Murtland Street in Pittsburgh’s Homewood...
Court decisions loom in tied state Senate race between Brewster-Ziccarelli
Lawyers for the campaigns of Democratic incumbent state Sen. Jim Brewster and Republican challenger Nicole Ziccarelli continued to argue in two different courts Friday over the legality more than 400 ballots cast in two counties that will swing the outcome of the tied race for the 45th District, which straddles...
3 charged with homicide in Wilkinsburg shooting that killed 1, injured 2
Three people have been charged with homicide in connection to a Wilkinsburg shooting last year that killed a 22-year-old man and injured two women, police said Friday. Herbert Lee Walker III, 24, and Kenya Harper, 25, are charged with homicide and conspiracy, court records show. Both were arrested and booked...
Region’s international student enrollment declined with global pandemic
A flood of international students who fueled growth at the region’s colleges and universities for the last decade is waning in the face of the global pandemic. Fall enrollment numbers show international enrollment at nine local universities and Penn State declined by about 2,500, or approximately 12%, this fall as...
Why a vaccine won’t end the covid pandemic
With vaccine distribution likely weeks away, spirits have been buoyed at the thought of a literal shot in the arm after months of covid-19 anxiety and fatigue. While that optimism is just fine, experts say, many states face months of continued mitigation measures before vaccination becomes a reality. “Though these...
Steelers’ Cam Heyward donates cleats in honor of Tree of Life victims
The Squirrel Hill neighborhood is close to Cam Heyward’s heart. The Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle used to live there. He was devastated after the Oct. 27, 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue. Helping the area became his focus in “My Cause, My Cleats,” an initiative throughout the National...
Trump makes late-term bid to lower prescription drug costs
WASHINGTON — Trying to close out major unfinished business, the Trump administration issued regulations Friday that could lower the prices Americans pay for many prescription drugs. But in a time of political uncertainty, it’s hard to say whether the rules will withstand expected legal challenges from the pharmaceutical industry or...
‘Dangerous trajectory’ for Pittsburgh area hospitals as covid cases surgeVideo
A region known for its expansive hospital networks is beginning to see alarming trends in covid-19 hospitalizations and facility capacity. “We’re on a very, very, very dangerous trajectory right now,” said Dr. Tom Walsh, an infectious disease specialist at Allegheny Health Network. “We’re seeing rapid, exponential increases and if we...
Local nurse leaders: Please be vigilant on covid-19
The recent rise in covid-19 cases across the United States is a serious reminder of the strength and longevity of this pandemic. Western Pennsylvania is not immune to the increased number of cases. There have been more than 1,000 deaths and over 45,000 in our 14-county region, and we continue...
Fox Chapel’s Adam Rosenberg pleads not guilty to killing Christian Moore-Rouse in preliminary hearing
A Fox Chapel man accused of killing a Verona man will stand trial after pleading not guilty in a preliminary hearing Friday at Pittsburgh Municipal Court. Adam Rosenberg, 22, was charged in May with criminal homicide, robbery, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in connection to the killing...
9 die in covid-19 outbreak at Washington Township nursing home
Nine residents of Quality Life Services nursing home in Washington Township have died since Nov. 11, and the National Guard has been called in to assist, according to Chief Operating Officer Paul Maguire. About half of the deaths occurred at the nursing home formerly known as West Haven Manor and...
Pennsylvania nears 300K covid-19 cases, records 108 more deaths
Another 6,808 cases of covid-19 were reported in Pennsylvania on Friday, according to a report from the state’s Department of Health. It’s now likely Pennsylvania will surpass the 300,000 case mark over the weekend. The state’s total number of cases — confirmed and probable — since the pandemic began in...
Westmoreland County posts record 8 new covid-related deaths
A day after setting a record for new coronavirus cases, Westmoreland County set a single-day record Friday for covid-related deaths with eight. The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced the deaths along with 189 new cases of the coronavirus. The new deaths bring November’s total to 55, which is one shy...
Allegheny County breaks 7-day covid case record
Allegheny County added 484 more cases of coronavirus Friday, according to the county Health Department. The latest batch of cases brings the county’s seven-day total to a record 3,398 cases, with a record average in that span of 485 cases per day. Since the pandemic began in March, the county...
Owl be darned — Rockefeller Center Christmas tree survival tale not surprisingVideo
It’s actually not unusual, given the circumstances, that a cute Northern saw-whet owl, found in the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center recently, is healthy and still adorable. The saw-whet owl is so named because its call, not the typical hoo-hoo, but rather a mechanical toot-toot, sounds like the sharpening of...
New UPMC campus to open near Century III Mall
A new UPMC campus in West Mifflin will open Dec. 1, specializing in outpatient surgery and specialty care, officials said Friday. The 46,000-square-foot clinic will offer more than 20 outpatient services. Specialists from UPMC Magee, the Hillman Cancer Center and the Heart and Vascular Institute, as well as orthopedic and...
Former Murrysville massage parlor may be getting new tenant
A prime commercial lot and building with a checkered past may soon see a new tenant — and new zoning. The former Tokyo Massage, at the corner of Route 22 and Buena Vista Drive in Murrysville, was the subject of a substantive validity challenge, meaning the new prospective tenant is...
Pfizer, BioNTech seek emergency use of covid-19 vaccine in U.S.
Pfizer formally asked U.S. regulators Friday to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month and eventually an end to the pandemic — but not until after a long, hard winter. The action comes...
The Rink at PPG Place in Pittsburgh opens for a 20th season
It’s 2020 for the The Rink at PPG Place. It opens at 11 a.m. for its 20th season on Friday on what would have been Light Up Night. The pandemic halted the annual kick-off event to the holiday season. But gliding on outdoor ice is still happening. “We are glad...
