Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1379
Penn-Trafford school staffer tests positive for covid-19
A Penn-Trafford School District staff member has tested positive for covid-19, district officials announced Friday. The staff member had been in close contact with other staffers, district Superintendent Matthew Harris said in a notice posted on the district website. “As soon as we became aware of the positive case, we...
Braddock restaurant owner apologizes for comparing Gov. Wolf, Levine to Nazis
A Braddock business owner made a Facebook post this week comparing Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Rachel Levine to Nazis. Levine is Jewish. Robert Portogallo, owner of Portogallo Peppers N’AT, on Wednesday posted the photo of Nazis on Facebook, with Levine and Wolf’s faces superimposed. “Thursday’s lunch special...
New Kensington junior firefighter advances in ranks with plans to go proVideo
Mark Jackson had just finished talking about his plans to become a professional firefighter on Friday when an alert on his phone went off, telling him there was a fire just down the street from his station, New Kensington Fire Department Company 2. A heartbeat later, the deafening siren went...
Head of U.S. Small Business Administration visits Pittsburgh restaurantVideo
Cilantro & Ajo, a modest Venezuelan restaurant on the South Side, might seem an unlikely poster child for the U.S. government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). However camera crews from all three Pittsburgh-area TV news stations and others descended on the small eatery Friday morning. The attraction was an appearance by...
Jeannette woman jailed after allegedly making numerous threatening calls to Westmoreland 911
The Westmoreland County Emergency Operations Center was placed on lockdown late Thursday after a Jeannette woman repeatedly threatened call takers and police over seven hours, according to court papers. Precious Linda Gantt, 36, called Westmoreland 911 16 times between 3 p.m. Thursday and midnight, sometimes yelling at the call taker...
Pitt researchers collect stories of covid-19 patients in Story Booth project
University of Pittsburgh researchers are gathering the personal accounts of patients who have recovered from covid-19 as part of an ongoing project called Story Booth. The archive of stories will be used as a tool to promote patient-centered outcome research — a mentality that focuses attention on patient experience and...
States can’t afford Trump’s jobless aid plan, Gov. Wolf says
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania does not have the money to provide $100 a week as President Donald Trump pushes states to help pay for a new round of federal unemployment assistance, Gov. Tom Wolf told the state’s members of Congress. In a Thursday letter, Wolf, a Democrat, urged Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation...
The Coop Chicken & Waffles opens brick-and-mortar spot in Pittsburgh
The Coop Chicken & Waffles, which operates a local food truck, on Friday opened a brick-and-mortar location in Pittsburgh’s North Side. Nicki Cardilli and her partner started with a food truck about four years ago. Business steadily increased every year, Cardilli said, prompting them to open their new location at...
Westmoreland County adds 7 new coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County on Friday reported single-digit new coronavirus cases for the fourth time this month. The seven new cases bring the county’s total reported cases to 1,593, with 1,549 of those confirmed and 44 probable. Westmoreland County coronavirus by dayInfogram There were no new deaths attributed to covid-19 in the...
Pennsylvania reports 829 new coronavirus cases, 36 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Friday reported 829 new coronavirus cases, just slightly above the seven-day average of 810. The Department of Health reported 36 new deaths attributed to coronavirus. That’s the most in more than a week. One of those deaths was from June and one from July. The rest were in...
Slippery Rock, McKeesport school districts contend in lawsuits that Juul created ‘youth vaping epidemic’
Slippery Rock and McKeesport Area school districts have filed lawsuits against the makers of Juul vape products, alleging their marketing tactics have created an epidemic of harmful e-cigarette use among students. The districts are the fifth and sixth area districts to file federal lawsuits against the company. Lawsuits filed by...
Allegheny County reports 90 new coronavirus cases, 5 additional deaths
Allegheny County on Friday recorded 90 new coronavirus cases and five additional deaths. The Allegheny County Health Department raised its case total to 9,282 since March 14. Of the 90 new cases, 49 are confirmed and 41 probable. The positive test results came from tests from July 31 through Aug....
Latrobe sex offender who served time for 2009 sex assault accused in new rape
A Latrobe man who previously was jailed for sexual assault is accused of raping a woman last year after she requested his help to move a piece of furniture, police say. Jonathan Michael Pollard, 31, was arrested this week on charges of rape, sexual assault, stalking and related offenses. He...
Tim Benz: Gov. Wolf’s latest high school sports quotes are even more absurd and dismissive than last week’s
Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf made an out-of-nowhere recommendation that scholastic sports be postponed until at least Jan. 1. The PIAA didn’t know that statement was coming. Wolf provided no context for how his office came to that decision. And he put forth no explanation for the logic behind the...
Inbound lane of Parkway East reopened following crash
One lane of the Parkway East was blocked early Friday morning due to a vehicle crash. The crash blocked the left inbound lane near the Forest Hills ramp, Tribune-Review news partners WPXI-TV reported. It was reported around 4:40 a.m. Traffic was still able to flow through the right lane, but...
Man transported to hospital after shooting in Pittsburgh’s Elliott neighborhood
One person was transported to the hospital after a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Elliott neighborhood, officials said. Pittsburgh police responded to a home in the 700 block of Lorenz Avenue around 10 p.m. Thursday where they found a man who was shot in the hip. He was alert and conscious. The...
Pittsburgh police: Man shot multiple times in Hazelwood
A man was hospitalized in stable condition Thursday after being shot multiple times in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood, according to police. Authorities said officers responded to a Shotspotter alert and 911 calls for a man shot along the 100 block of Alluvian Street around 10:30 a.m. The found the victim suffering...
Highmark CEO: Covid-19 pandemic has not deterred growth across Pa., neighboring states
Despite recent plunges in hospital revenues statewide, the covid-19 pandemic has not thwarted Highmark Health from strengthening its overall financial position and increasing its reach across Pennsylvania and neighboring states, Highmark CEO David Holmberg said Thursday. “We believe that we are very well-positioned for the long term,” Holmberg told reporters...
More U.S. churches sue to challenge covid-19 restrictions
Churches in California and Minnesota, backed by a conservative legal group, filed lawsuits this week against the governors of their states challenging restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak that they contend are violations of religious liberty. They’re the latest in a long series of legal challenges, many of them...
As deadline approaches, restaurants vary on defying Wolf’s capacity order, other restrictionsVideo
Push has come to shove, and some restaurant and bar owners in the region are ready to shove a little harder than others. “To make a blanket ruling for everybody just doesn’t make sense,” said Joseph Tambellini, owner of the eponymous restaurant in Highland Park. “We’re cornered. Tell me what...
Fawn police email account hacked, recipients should disregard messages
No, Fawn police are not asking anyone if they have an Amazon account. The Comcast email account used by the township’s police department has somehow been hacked, and was being used to send phishing emails on Thursday, Supervisor David Montanari confirmed. It comes less than two months after the township’s...
Dozens of clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed in Allegheny, Westmoreland courts as possible deadline looms
More than two dozen lawsuits that allege sexual abuses by priests were filed Thursday ahead of what lawyers suggest could be a deadline to file legal action two years after the release of a grand jury report that detailed claims involving Catholic dioceses throughout Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh lawyer Alan Perer filed...
Allergy season plagues Western Pennsylvania, thanks to grass, ragweed, pollution
Seasonal allergies are plaguing Western Pennsylvania again this year with ragweed pollen on the rise. Dr. Thomas Mertz, an allergist at Allergy and Asthma Associates of Pittsburgh, said this allergy season seems to be severe as mid-August arrives. Mertz blamed poor air quality and lots of pollen for the severe...
Diocese of Pittsburgh to delay elementary school reopening
The first day of elementary school for the Diocese of Pittsburgh will be Tuesday, Sept. 8, school administrators announced . The diocese said the change is in response to some elementary school teachers requesting more time to implement new health and safety protocols. High schools in the diocese will reopen...
EPA relaxes greenhouse gas emission limits on oil and gas industry
HARRISBURG — President Trump’s administration is undoing Obama-era rules designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas fields and pipelines, formalizing the changes Thursday in the heart of the nation’s most prolific natural gas reservoir and in the premier presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania. Andrew Wheeler, the Environmental...
