Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1324
Burrell High School student tests positive for covid-19
A Burrell High School student has tested positive for covid-19 and some students in the district have been asked to quarantine, said Shannon Wagner, superintendent for Burrell School District. Wagner sent a letter to parents Friday, saying, “We are following the Health Department recommendations and have notified families that need...
GOP, Dems hope Supreme Court fight bolsters Senate prospects
WASHINGTON — For Republicans, the nomination fight over Amy Coney Barrett is a chance to seal conservative control of the Supreme Court for decades. For some GOP senators, it’s also a lifeline they hope will preserve their political careers and their party’s control of the chamber in November’s elections. The...
FBI probing if Russia involved in Hunter Biden email story
WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating whether emails that were published by the New York Post related to Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, are connected to a possible Russian influence operation to spread disinformation, according to a person familiar with the matter. The newspaper said in its story Wednesday that it...
Norwin holds to Nov. 4 school reopening; no students, staff got virus at school, district says
Norwin school officials said that the district still is planning to resume the five-day in-person instruction on Nov. 4, even though the number of covid-19 cases are rising in the North Huntingdon-Irwin area and Westmoreland County. School Superintendent Jeff Taylor said in an email statement this week that the district...
Pennsylvania breaking records in voter registration by mail and in person
More than 2.7 million Pennsylvanians are approved to vote by mail in the upcoming election, and about a quarter have mailed in their ballots, state officials said Friday. “We are right on track to end up right around 3 million, which was our estimate after the primary (election),” Secretary of...
Westmoreland County reports triple-digit covid-19 cases for 2nd day
Westmoreland County on Friday reported 109 new cases of covid-19 after the previous day’s record high of 148. The county’s 7-day average is at a high of 90 cases. The 7-day total of 630 cases is also a record since the coronavirus outbreak began in March. One new death was...
Wendy Bell, KDKA Radio officially part ways
Controversial radio host Wendy Bell has officially left KDKA Radio, a spokesman for the station’s parent company said Friday. “Wendy Bell is no longer with KDKA, and we mutually agreed to part ways,” Entercom said in a statement. Bell declined to comment further about the situation with KDKA Radio, but...
5 takeaways from the dueling presidential town hallsVideo
Voters got to see a presidential debate after all Thursday night. But it wasn’t between President Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. It was between Trump and NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie, who moderated one of the dueling town hall meetings held simultaneously in place of a...
Allegheny County reports 149 new cases of covid-19
Allegheny County on Friday reported 149 new cases of coronavirus. Of those, 107 cases are confirmed from 1,385 PCR tests. The remaining 42 are listed as probable, with 28 of those resulting from positive antigen tests. The county has a total of 13,821 cases since the pandemic began in March,...
Shoppes at Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer to be sold at online auction
Shoppes at Pittsburgh Mills, a shopping plaza near the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer, is going up for auction. The property is a six-tenant retail center, comprising 9,907 square feet. Current tenants include Mattress Firm, Bob’s Sub, Sports Clips Haircuts, SweetFrog and American Discount Uniform. The property, built in...
Phil Bourque serves up Dunkin’ in Avalon for World Food DayVideo
Former Pittsburgh Penguin Phil Bourque had 111 assists in his NHL career. He added another one of a different nature Friday morning. The left winger was invited to help man the drive-thru window from 7 to 9 a.m. at the Dunkin’ in Avalon. He worked overtime because he was having...
Deadline looms to defuse Pennsylvania’s budget time bomb
HARRISBURG — Months after passing a partial budget that avoided some hard decisions, Pennsylvania’s Legislature and governor face a deadline at the end of November to finish the job and plug a multibillion-dollar deficit. The partially funded budget that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf signed in May was incomplete by design....
Pittsburgh’s NOLA on the Square restaurant on the market
The former location of NOLA on the Square in Market Square in Downtown Pittsburgh is up for lease. Ron Sofranko of Sofranko Advisory Group, the restaurant broker handling the location, called it a turnkey operation. “A chef could go in there tomorrow and clean it up and get it all...
Chili is the ultimate comfort food; 3 recipes to tryVideo
When the weather turns chilly, it’s the perfect time for chili. The comfort food can be a meal in itself. What’s great about this dish is there isn’t just one recipe, said Anita Copelli, owner of South Greensburg Restaurant in South Greensburg. “Chili is so versatile, because it can be...
New granite panels installed at Harrison World War II memorial, rededication scheduledVideo
New granite slabs making up the rejuvenated Harrison Honor Roll memorial have been installed, years after efforts to preserve and restore the memorial recognizing the township’s World War II veterans began. “It’s been a long time,” Bill Rudolph, a member of the memorial’s restoration committee, said as he watched the...
5 things to watch in Week 6: Some WPIAL conferences may crown no champion
Some WPIAL football conferences may have no champion this season. The WPIAL announced this week that no conference champion would be recognized if canceled games could have changed the outcome. In the Class 2A Allegheny for example, Apollo-Ridge and Serra Catholic are both undefeated but their head-to-head matchup was canceled...
FestivalAFRICANA fashion and art show reaches from Paris to PittsburghVideo
A trip to Paris turned into a collaboration with the city of Pittsburgh. “When I went to Paris I met so many creative people, and we talked about ways we can continue to support black creativity and equity when it comes to fashion,” said Pittsburgh-based Demeatria Boccella, who founded FashionAFRICANA...
Frost advisory issued for Friday night into Saturday
If the last few plants from your summer garden are still hanging on, it’s time to bust out the row covers. That is literally the first piece of advice — “take steps now to protect tender plants” — in the National Weather Service’s preparedness section, for a frost advisory starting...
Trump, Biden go at it — from a distance — in town halls
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden squared off, in a way, Thursday night, their scuttled second debate replaced by dueling televised town halls that showcased striking differences in temperament, views on racial justice and approaches to the pandemic that has reshaped the nation. Trump was defensive about...
Giuliani targeted by Russian intelligence in his dubious probes over Bidens’ Ukraine links, report says
WASHINGTON — Intelligence officials warned President Donald Trump that Rudy Giuliani — hero of 9/11 and once New York’s and America’s mayor — was likely a Russian dupe, a bombshell Washington Post story reported Thursday. The report came as Giuliani came under fire over the authenticity of an “October surprise”...
Charges filed, arrest warrant issued in North Huntingdon cat-hoarding case
An arrest warrant has been issued for a North Huntingdon man accused of hoarding more than 70 cats that were malnourished and infested with fleas when authorities rescued them from a township home in September. Since being rescued, the cats have been cared for at Frankie’s Friends, a cat rescue...
Split decision on motions in misconduct case against Allegheny County Judge Tranquilli
The judge presiding over the upcoming misconduct trial of an Allegheny County judge accused of making racist remarks issued rulings on Thursday adverse to both sides of the case. Conference Judge John H. Foradora heard argument on various motions on Wednesday in Brookville, Jefferson County. He issued his order in...
DOJ charges Texas billionaire in $2 billion tax fraud scheme
SAN FRANCISCO — Federal prosecutors charged Texas billionaire Robert Brockman on Thursday with a $2 billion tax fraud scheme in what they say is the largest such case against an American. Department of Justice officials said at a news conference that Brockman, 79, hid capital gains income over 20 years...
Gisele Fetterman won’t press charges against woman in verbal assault
The woman who berated Pennsylvania second lady Gisele Fetterman outside a Forest Hills grocery store will not be prosecuted at the request of the Fetterman family, which includes Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. The incident happened Sunday at the Aldi on Route 30. Fetterman said she was waiting in line...
‘A really destructive scenario’: Pennsylvania could hold up outcome of presidential election
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania, one of the states most likely to decide the presidential election, is bracing for one of the slowest ballot counts in the country. The coronavirus pandemic has driven a record 2.6 million Pennsylvanians to request mail-in ballots. But state law bars the processing of those ballots until...
