Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1420
The Clarks to play Sunday, kick off virtual Allegheny County Parks Summer Concert Series
It might not be that much-missed concert in the park, but Allegheny County Department of Parks kicks off its Summer Concert Series with The Clarks at 7 p.m. Sunday on Pittsburgh’s CW television station. “Although the pandemic is limiting our ability to gather in large groups, Allegheny County is honoring...
Labor, business group says Pittsburgh can become high-tech manufacturing hub
A group of labor, business and civic officials on Tuesday laid out a plan for Western Pennsylvania’s traditional industries to partner with emerging technology companies to create manufacturing jobs. Members of the Pittsburgh Works Together coalition said during a virtual news conference that following the plan could make Western Pennsylvania...
Garrett Rolfe, ex-Atlanta officer who killed Rayshard Brooks, granted bond
ATLANTA — A judge on Tuesday ruled that the former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks can be free on bond while his case is pending. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick set a bond of $500,000 for Garrett Rolfe, who faces charges including felony murder in...
Answering the Call: AHN respiratory therapist helps patients recover from covid-19Video
Just when many people thought the worst of the coronavirus pandemic had passed, covid-19 cases are on the rise again in southwestern Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, Allegheny County reported its highest number of daily cases — 109 — including seven hospitalizations. The numbers are a concern for health care professionals like...
Pittsburgh Council nixes consultant for review of police actions during protests
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday voted down a request by the Citizen Police Review Board to hire a Texas-based company for an independent review of police actions during recent protests. The review board had requested $25,000 to hire Densus Group to assess police use of force during protests Downtown and...
Wall Street tacks more onto its best quarter since 1998
Wall Street capped its best quarter since 1998 Tuesday with more gains, a fitting end to a stunning three months for investors as the market screamed back toward its record heights after a torrid plunge. The S&P 500 climbed 1.5%, bringing its gain for the quarter to nearly 20%. That...
In solar project, Pitt looks to the sky in latest renewable energy endeavor
The University of Pittsburgh has signed an agreement to buy all of the solar energy produced by a planned local solar plant, which amounts to about 13% of the Oakland campus’s energy consumption. The announcement came last week from Aurora Sharrard, Pitt’s director of sustainability. It is part of the...
Hempfield Area lays out preliminary reopening plans
Hempfield Area School District has released plans for reopening schools this fall. The phased approach would welcome students back to physical locations starting Aug. 27, with staggered schedules dictated by grade level, a letter written by Superintendent Tammy Wolicki reads. Under the initial plans, kindergarten students will attend school on...
WPXI’s Cara Sapida reveals breast cancer diagnosis
As a reporter for WPXI, Cara Sapida says that one comment she’s heard repeatedly over the years is, “You just never think it could happen to you.” As a healthy woman in her 30s, she didn’t think she’d be getting a diagnosis of breast cancer, especially after having a negative...
Fauci: U.S. ‘going in wrong direction’ in coronavirus outbreakVideo
WASHINGTON — The nation’s top infectious disease specialist warned Tuesday that the United States could see up to 100,000 new cases per day of the virus that causes covid-19 if the nation does not take steps to control the pandemic. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy...
Pennsylvania to provide $225M in grants to small businesses
Donna Eicher could be a poster child for the economically devastating impacts of the covid-19 restrictions on small businesses. “Even though we’re considered essential because we’re lodging, we haven’t had any business since mid-March. All our bookings for March, April, May and June canceled,” said Eicher, who operates Seams Like...
Family of ‘Baby Marcus’ wants DA Zappala off homicide case, citing ‘repeated failures’
The family of a toddler fatally shot in 2013 is alleging the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office knew for years who killed the child but did nothing, and they’re now calling for the case to be turned over to the state or the U.S Attorney General’s Office. Gregory Parker, 22,...
35 new covid-19 deaths, 618 additional cases reported in Pennsylvania
There were 35 new covid-19 deaths and 618 additional cases reported in the state by the Pennsylvania Department of Health on Tuesday. The statewide total is now 86,606 cases and 6,649 deaths, with 633 patients considered probable cases. According to the Department of Health, the most severe cases are seen...
109 new covid-19 cases reported in Allegheny County, no deaths
Allegheny County health officials reported 109 new cases of covid-19 on Tuesday, along with seven hospitalizations but no new deaths. The figures reported Tuesday were the highest daily number of cases the county has recorded since the beginning of the pandemic. It is the first time the county’s daily number...
Supreme Court lifts ban on state aid to religious schooling
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it easier for religious schools to obtain public funds, upholding a Montana scholarship program that allows state tax credits for private schooling. The court’s 5-4 ruling, with conservatives in the majority, came in a dispute over a Montana scholarship program for private...
Carl Reiner, beloved creator of ‘Dick Van Dyke Show,’ dies
NEW YORK — Carl Reiner, the ingenious and versatile writer, actor and director who broke through as a “second banana” to Sid Caesar and rose to comedy’s front ranks as creator of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and straight man to Mel Brooks’ “2000 Year Old Man,” has died, according...
Lawsuit alleges sex abuse by priest in Greensburg diocese in 1990s
The Diocese of Greensburg and Bishop Edward Malesic are being sued by a man who claims he was sexually abused by a priest who has since died. The lawsuit, filed June 22, claims the Rev. Joseph L. Sredzinski began abusing the victim in 1991 when he was 11 years old...
Pennsylvania extends jobless benefits for 13 weeks
Pennsylvania’s unemployed will become eligible for an extension of their jobless benefits by the end of this week, state officials said Monday. Those who exhausted their regular unemployment compensation benefits — a maximum of 26 weeks — and exhausted their 13-week federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation assistance will be eligible...
Shotspotter leads Pittsburgh police to wounded man in Homewood
Pittsburgh police responding to a pair of Shotspotter alerts late Monday in the city’s Homewood neighborhood found a wounded man lying on the ground, according to authorities. Officers from the city’s Zone 5 station discovered the man in a parking lot near a business in the 7000 block of Frankstown...
3-alarm fire damages Carrick apartment building
A fire caused heavy damage to a three-story apartment building in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood on Monday night. City firefighters responding to the two-alarm fire in the 200 block of Spencer Avenue around 7:45 p.m. encountered flames shooting from the front of the building and heavy smoke inside the building, according...
AP sources: White House aware of Russian bounties in 2019
Top officials in the White House were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported, according to U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence. The assessment was...
Police: Man wanted for 3 stabbings in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood apprehended
A Pittsburgh man wanted in connection with three stabbings in the city’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood is in custody. City police report Melvin Banks, 35, was arrested Monday. He’s charged with aggravated assault, providing false identification to law enforcement, homicide and attempted homicide, according to online court documents. Charges stem from a...
Greensburg Salem keeps taxes flat, cuts librarians and band teacher
Parents, students and alumni who advocated for the preservation of programs at Greensburg Salem School District say they’re disappointed by the district’s decision to keep property taxes flat while cutting library and band positions. “A one-mill tax increase could have fixed so much,” said Sara Deegan, a parent of two...
GOP lawmakers urge action after Russia-Afghanistan briefingVideo
WASHINGTON — Eight Republican lawmakers attended a White House briefing Monday about explosive allegations that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan — intelligence the president himself was said to have not been fully read in on. Members of Congress in both parties called...
Allegheny County bar and restaurant owners say new alcohol restrictions will hurt
Mark Phillippi, owner of Phillippi’s Family Dining and Pizzeria in Harrison, suddenly feels hamstrung by geography. Come this evening, his restaurant at the northern tip of Allegheny County will be barred from serving alcohol to customers by order of the county. “It makes absolutely zero sense,” Phillippi said Monday. “Tell...
