Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1295
Snow showers could make driving dicey north of Pittsburgh
Motorists traveling through the region north of Pittsburgh Tuesday morning are likely to encounter scattered rain and snow showers that could intensify and limit visibility in some areas, according to the National Weather Service. The rain showers are expected to change to snow at around daybreak and continue through much...
WPIAL bans Peters Township band after investigating ‘blackface’ allegations
The Peters Township marching band is prohibited from performing at any WPIAL event until the school district submits a plan to “eradicate the social and racial insensitivity displayed by the marching band and its director/supervisors,” the WPIAL announced Tuesday. The ban lasts at least six months. The discipline was the...
Dangerous Hurricane Iota makes landfall on Nicaragua coastVideo
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Powerful Hurricane Iota made landfall on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast late Monday, threatening catastrophic damage to the same part of Central America already battered by equally strong Hurricane Eta less than two weeks ago. Iota had intensified into an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm early in the day,...
Plum students who attended a parent-sponsored homecoming party Saturday should not come to school
Plum School District officials are asking students who participated in a non-district homecoming dance to stay home from school Tuesday after it was learned one of the students at the dance tested positive for coronavirus. A high school student with the virus attended a Class of 2021 Senior Parent Committee’s...
Georgia elections chief says Sen. Lindsey Graham asked about rejecting more absentee ballotsVideo
ATLANTA — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham asked him if he had the power to reject more absentee ballots as election officials are conducting a recount and audit of the presidential race. Raffensperger, in an interview with The Washington Post on Monday, said the...
2 Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh schools temporarily closing
Two Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh schools are temporarily closing as coronavirus cases continue to spike across the state. Northside Catholic Assumption Academy, located in Brighton Heights, will close for one day after a person associated with the school tested positive for covid-19, officials said. According to Rosanne Kwiatkowski, Northside Catholic...
Pittsburgh man charged with illegally selling endangered, invasive fish
A Pittsburgh man faces federal criminal charges of selling endangered Asian fish, as well as invasive snakehead fish. Anthony Nguyen, 48, who investigators say also is known as JoJo Nguyen and Jackie Lee, faces charges of interstate trafficking in illegally possessed or transported fish and creating a false record filed...
Penn State students leave campus on Friday; some decline free coronavirus tests
Penn State University will close all of its schools to in-person instruction after Friday, and students at its Upper Burrell campus are rolling with those changes. Penn State has been offering in-person and virtual classes since the beginning of the fall semester. However, the rising number of coronavirus cases caused...
Feds reject Pa.’s plan to spend up to $300M in stimulus money for property tax relief
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 — For more than a decade, state lawmakers have sent yearly payments to Pennsylvania’s school districts so they can lower...
Highmark CEO pay climbs to $8.15M, triple what he made in 2016
Highmark Health CEO David Holmberg’s total compensation last year was $8.15 million — more than triple what the nonprofit health system executive made four years ago, newly filed Internal Revenue Service records show. Holmberg’s salary and related compensation increased by about $660,000 in 2019, marking an 8.8% pay hike from...
Trump rushes environmental regulations that could handcuff Biden
The Trump administration is rushing to issue permits, finalize major environmental regulations and even sell the rights to drill for oil in Alaskan wilderness before Inauguration Day in a push that could complicate Joe Biden’s climate and conservation agenda. The 11th-hour regulatory race underscores the extent to which federal agencies...
Bridgeville Rehabilitation and Care Center reports sharp rise in covid-19 cases, 2 deaths
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:23 Nov. 17 with the latest numbers from Bridgeville Rehabilitation and Care Center. A long-term care facility in South Fayette has seen a substantial increase in covid-19 cases among staff and residents since Nov. 4. Bridgeville Rehabilitation and Care Center reported Tuesday that...
‘More people may die’: Biden urges Trump to aid transitionVideo
WILMINGTON, Del. — President-elect Joe Biden on Monday warned of dire consequences if President Donald Trump and his administration continue to refuse to coordinate with his transition team on the coronavirus pandemic and block briefings on national security, policy issues and vaccine plans. The remarks marked Biden’s toughest comments to...
Westmoreland County back in ‘substantial’ virus risk category as cases skyrocket statewide
Last week it appeared Westmoreland County’s coronavirus surge might by on the decline, with its transmission risk dropping just under the threshold that divide a “substantial” risk from a “moderate” one on the state’s Early Warning Monitoring System. That appearance was an illusion. Cases again spiked, and the previous week’s...
About 90K sex abuse claims filed in Boy Scouts bankruptcyVideo
NEW YORK — Close to 90,000 sexual abuse claims have been filed against the Boy Scouts of America as the Monday deadline arrived for submitting claims in the organization’s bankruptcy case. The number far exceeds the initial projections of lawyers across the United States who have been signing up clients...
Pittsburgh doctor: Moderna vaccine may have logistical advantage over Pfizer’sVideo
With the alarming rise of covid-19 cases in Allegheny County and throughout Pennsylvania comes the good news surrounding another vaccine. Moderna said Monday its experimental vaccine is 94.5% effective at preventing illness, according to preliminary data from the company’s still ongoing study. Last week Pfizer Inc. announced its own covid-19...
Export couple arrested after stabbing
An Export couple is in the Westmoreland County Prison after an argument turned into someone getting stabbed early Sunday, according to state police. Devon M. Nuccetelli, 42, is charged by state police with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, harassment, reckless endangerment and simple assault after the 4:20 a.m. altercation...
Trump to order troop reductions in Afghanistan, Iraq
The Trump administration is expected to cut the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan almost in half to 2,500 by Jan. 15, a U.S. official said Monday. The order would stop short of outgoing President Donald Trump’s goal to have all troops withdrawn by the end of the year, which...
Virginia governor pushes to legalize marijuana
RICHMOND, Va. — Gov. Ralph Northam is pushing to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Virginia, which could be the first Southern state to do so. Northam announced his support for legalization Monday, saying he wants a responsible approach that promotes racial equity and preserves youth safety. The Democratic governor...
Philadelphia bans indoor gatherings, broadens coronavirus rules
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia is banning indoor dining at restaurants and indoor gatherings of any size, public or private, as the city battles a resurgence of the coronavirus, officials announced Monday. The city also plans to shutter gyms, museums and libraries, prohibit in-person instruction at colleges and high schools, and reduce...
3rd Breonna Taylor grand juror: Cops ‘got slap on the wrist’
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A woman who sat on the Breonna Taylor grand jury said she believes their investigation was incomplete and that prosecutors wanted to give police “a slap on the wrist and close it up.” The woman is the third grand juror to speak anonymously about the September proceedings,...
North Allegheny moving to full-remote learning for remainder of monthVideo
Starting on Thursday, the North Allegheny School District will move to full-remote learning through the end of the month because of the uptick in the number of positive covid-19 cases in the county. During the past week, there 2,870 positive cases for the virus reported in Allegheny County. Since the...
Levine plans no new Pennsylvania restrictions as covid cases continue to rise
Covid-19 cases continue to rise along with the percentage of people who are testing positive for the virus, but Pennsylvania’s top health official said Monday there are no plans to put harsher restrictions in place again. “We have no plans to go back to red-yellow-green or any type of scheme...
Pennsylvania adds 9,675 new covid cases in 2 days, 51 new deaths
Pennsylvania added more than 9,600 new cases of coronavirus in the past two days, according the state’s Department of Health. There were 5,199 cases added on Sunday and another 4,476 added Monday. Of Sunday’s cases, 4,821 were confirmed; of Monday’s, 4,152 were confirmed. Among Monday’s new cases, 20.7% of those...
Westmoreland County adds 354 covid cases in 2 days, 3 deaths
Over the past two days, Westmoreland County added 354 new covid-19 cases, according to Monday’s update from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The county added 187 cases Sunday and 167 on Monday. Of those, 149 and 132 were confirmed through PCR tests, respectively. On Monday, Westmoreland posted the sixth highest...
