Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1333
Mother of Jamain Stephens blasts Trump’s statements about covidVideo
The mother of Jamain Stephens, the California University of Pennsylvania defensive lineman and former Central Catholic High School standout, has confirmed that her son died of complications of covid-19. Kelly Allen made the statement about her son’s Sept. 8 death Tuesday on MSNBC. At the time of Stephens’ death, Central...
Prosecutors: Retired steelworker from Pittsburgh, 80, shoved over mask request at N.Y. bar, dies
WEST SENECA, N.Y. — An 80-year-old man, a retired steelworker from Pittsburgh, who authorities say confronted another patron at a bar for not wearing a mask and was shoved to the ground has died. Rocco E. Sapienza, who was also a retired Marine, confronted another patron at a bar in...
Gov. Wolf eases crowd restrictions, but not many shows ready to go on
Pennsylvania’s easing of restrictions on large gatherings provides some breathing room to event organizers during the pandemic — but don’t expect to see the likes of concerts, Broadway shows, parades and other crowd-drawing entertainment to resume in force anytime soon. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, one of the region’s largest nonprofit...
White House staff, Secret Service eye virus with fear, angerVideo
WASHINGTON — The West Wing is a ghost town. Staff members are scared of exposure. And the White House is now a treatment ward for not one — but two — covid-19 patients, including a president who has long taken the threat of the virus lightly. President Donald Trump’s decision...
FDA releases high coronavirus vaccine standards despite White House resistance
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration issued long-awaited guidance Tuesday on the data it expects from drug companies seeking emergency authorization of covid-19 vaccines, rejecting White House pressure for lower standards intended to push out vaccines quickly. The 18-page guidance was released a day after reports suggested the White...
Stocks drop after President Trump calls off stimulus talksVideo
Stocks dropped Tuesday on Wall Street when President Donald Trump ordered a stop to negotiations with Democrats on a coronavirus economic stimulus bill until after the election. The S&P 500 index slid 1.4% after having been up 0.7% prior to the president’s announcement, which he made on twitter about an...
Guitar rock legend Eddie Van Halen dies at 65Video
NEW YORK — Eddie Van Halen, the guitar virtuoso whose blinding speed, control and innovation propelled his band Van Halen into one of hard rock’s biggest groups, fueled the unmistakable fiery solo in Michael Jackson’s hit “Beat It” and became elevated to the status of rock god, has died. He...
Trump halts covid-19 relief talks until after electionVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday called an abrupt end to negotiations with Democrats over additional covid-19 relief, delaying action until after the election despite ominous warnings from his own Federal Reserve chairman about the deteriorating conditions in the economy. Trump tweeted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was “not...
Auditor General: Pennsylvania’s pandemic business waiver program is subjective
During the statewide covid-19 shutdown and business closures this year, there was no consistency in granting waivers to those wishing to stay open, an ongoing investigation by the auditor general has found. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale gave an update Tuesday on an audit started in May. The investigation so far...
Allegheny County reports 4 new covid-19 deaths, 77 new cases
Allegheny County reported 77 new covid-19 cases Tuesday. The new cases, reported by the Allegheny County Health Department, bring the total number of cases to 12,854. Four new deaths and 11 new hospitalizations were also reported, bringing the death total to 390 and total hospitalizations to 1,240 in Allegheny County....
Can’t find canned pumpkin? Holiday staple should return to shelves soon
Bakers hunting for canned pumpkin have found it to be a hit-or-miss proposition lately. They’ve even taken to sharing sightings on social media. The good news, according to allrecipes.com, is that there isn’t really a shortage. The bad news is that it doesn’t make the Thanksgiving pie staple any easier...
Pennsylvania reports 1,036 new covid-19 cases
Pennsylvania reported 1,036 new covid-19 cases Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health. There were 17 new coronavirus-related deaths, as well. Of those, one is from May, 11 from September and five from October. The new figures bring total cases to 165,243 and total deaths to 8,244 in Pennsylvania....
Westmoreland County sees highest 7-day covid-19 case total, reaches 2,500 cases
Westmoreland County reached its highest seven-day covid-19 case total after Tuesday’s new reported cases. The county has 39 new cases Tuesday, bringing the total to 240 cases over the past seven days. Total cases now stand at 2,500. No new deaths were reported Tuesday, leaving the death total at 57....
Trump back at White House; doctor says president has ‘no symptoms’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is back at the White House, dramatically returning from the military hospital where he was receiving an unprecedented level of care for covid-19. Trump’s physician says the president is experiencing “no symptoms” of covid-19 after returning home from the hospital Monday night. His physician, Navy...
North Allegheny School Board votes to return to full-time, in-person learning
North Allegheny elementary and middle school students will return to full-time in-person instruction in November, two months after starting the year in a hybrid instructional mode to stem the spread of covid-19. Elementary students in kindergarten through fifth grade will be back in class beginning Nov. 4; middle schoolers are...
Labriola’s Italian Store in Penn Hills to remain closed; site will be used as kitchen for other locations
The Penn Hills landmark Labriola’s Italian Store will stay closed to the public and instead be used as a storage facility and kitchen, the owner announced on social media Oct. 5. “We explored renovated space and new services, but in the end, we decided that the store will remain closed...
Gov. Wolf eases gathering restrictions with formula tied to capacity limits
Gov. Tom Wolf increased gathering-size limits for events statewide Tuesday, revealing a new formula that’s based on a percentage of a facility’s capacity rather than the 25-person indoor and 250-person outdoor restrictions previously imposed. Indoor events are limited to 10% to 20% of capacity, depending upon the venue’s size, and...
Westmoreland Commissioner Doug Chew has coronavirus; some courthouse offices closed
Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew tested positive for coronavirus, causing county leaders to shut down their courthouse offices and cancel three public meetings this week. Chew, a first-term Republican from Hempfield, confirmed the diagnosis in text message Tuesday morning. “I was last in the commissioners’ suite on Wednesday afternoon/evening. I...
Pittsburgh officer returns to work 2 years after Tree of Life shooting
It was a long road back from the Tree of Life shooting, but Pittsburgh Police SWAT Officer Timothy Matson is on the job once again. Matson returned to work Monday, according to a social media post. He return comes nearly two years after he suffered multiple gunshot wounds in the...
Lifelong Pirates fan writes book on 1960 championship season
Wayne Stewart remembers running home from school in Donora on Oct. 13, 1960. He was 9 years old and was hoping to make it in time to catch the end of Game 7 of the World Series between the Pirates and the New York Yankees on TV. The game was...
CDC says coronavirus can spread indoors in updated guidance
NEW YORK — The top U.S. public health agency said Monday that the coronavirus can spread more than 6 feet through the air, especially in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials maintained that such spread is uncommon and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. However, several experts...
Community spread blamed for spiking covid-19 cases in Westmoreland County
Coronavirus infections in Westmoreland County jumped by nearly 600 cases over the past month, a statistic that county and state officials said Monday was attributed to a general community spread of the virus. The Pennsylvania Department of Health disclosed that more than 100 cases were identified in the county over...
Westmoreland Manor sees administrative changes as coronavirus cases creep higher
As the coronavirus outbreak continues to rock Westmoreland Manor, the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield, leaders on Monday announced a change to the facility’s administration. According to a news release, county commissioners said Assistant Administrator Abby Testa was named the Manor’s acting interim administrator, effective Oct. 2. “At this time,...
Pat Toomey’s announced exit sends Pennsylvania politicos scrambling
Monday’s confirmation by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, that he will call it quits in 2022 and not run to become the next governor of Pennsylvania set the stage for an early scramble among candidates now that two statewide seats will be open. “All of the Republican politicos just...
Police: New Kensington man strangles woman, dog during argument
A New Kensington man grabbed a woman by her neck and lifted her off her feet during a fight Monday morning, according to city police. New Kensington police said that Damian Ryan Terrace, 23, also choked one of the woman’s dogs and threatened to kill them. According to a criminal...
