Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1451
Gov. Wolf: Restaurants in yellow counties can begin outdoor dining services June 5
Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday released new guidelines for outdoor dining during the yellow phase, as well as general guidelines for the green phase as counties gradually reopen. Restaurants and retail food services in yellow counties, including Allegheny andWestmoreland, can begin outdoor dining services June 5, with some restrictions. Indoor...
Pittsburgh police union says city overcharged members ‘millions’ for medical benefits
Pittsburgh is seeking to recover more than $250,000 it mistakenly provided police officers for 2019 uniform costs, but a union official on Wednesday said the city should first reimburse officers “millions” it has overcharged since 2017 in co-pays for medical benefits. On Tuesday, the city reported its Human Resources Department...
Gov. Wolf order: Pittsburgh pro sports teams may return to practice, play without fans
Gov. Tom Wolf issued an order Wednesday afternoon that allows Pittsburgh’s pro sports franchises to return to using their team facilities, albeit without spectators. The order, which provides guidelines for pro teams in counties in the yellow or green phase of the governor’s plan for reopening, paves the way for...
PWSA repairing Pittsburgh’s infamous Downtown sinkhole
Pittsburgh is finally filling the sinkhole that swallowed a bus and nearly ate a vehicle last year. Contractors for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority were on the job Wednesday working on the hole that has closed 10th Street, Downtown, between Penn and Liberty avenues since October. The city and...
Court approves Robert Levin’s bid to revive Levin furniture brand
A federal judge Wednesday signed an order green-lighting Mt. Pleasant native Robert Levin’s plan to begin reviving the century-old family furniture chain he sold three years ago. Judge Christopher Sontchi’s order filed in U.S. District Bankruptcy Court in Delaware approved Levin’s $25.7 million bid to buy back the Levin brand...
Biden: Wolf doing ‘one hell of a job’ during coronavirus pandemic
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Gov. Tom Wolf traded compliments Wednesday morning while discussing what the country needs to overcome the coronavirus pandemic. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and a Scranton native, spoke with the governor just hours after Wolf formally endorsed the Democrat’s bid to oust President...
Lower Burrell man identified as motorcyclist who died in Murrysville crash
A motorcyclist died Wednesday when his vehicle collided with a car along Route 380, about one-quarter mile west of the Route 366 intersection in northern Murrysville, police said. The Westmoreland County coroner’s office identified the motorcyclist as Gregg A. Leipertz Jr., 24, of Lower Burrell. Leipertz was pronounced dead at...
Giant Eagle sued over its pandemic mask policy
At least seven lawsuits have been filed against Giant Eagle claiming the grocery store chain’s mask policy during the coronavirus pandemic is discriminatory toward disabled shoppers who cannot wear them. The customers filed the lawsuits in federal court under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In a statement Wednesday, Giant Eagle...
113 new coronavirus deaths reported in Pennsylvania, state adds 780 cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Wednesday reported 113 new deaths and 780 additional cases of the coronavirus. The state has now had 69,417 total cases and 5,265 deaths. Deaths have been recorded in 54 of the state’s 67 counties, and every county has had a positive case. More than...
Disney plans to reopen parks beginning July 11Video
Looks like a lot of people are about to get a whole lot happier. Disney announced Wednesday it is hoping to reopen all four of its parks — the Happiest Place on Earth — in Orlando, Fla., by mid-July, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The phased reopening would begin July 11...
U.S. deaths from coronavirus surpass 100,000 milestoneVideo
HARTFORD, Conn. — The United States surpassed a jarring milestone Wednesday in the coronavirus pandemic: 100,000 deaths. That number is the best estimate and most assuredly an undercount. But it represents the stark reality that more Americans have died from the virus than from the Vietnam and Korea wars combined....
Allegheny county adds 12 new coronavirus cases, 1 death
Allegheny County on Wednesday reported 12 new cases of the coronavirus and one additional death. This brings the total number of confirmed and probable cases in the county to 1,828 and deaths to 151. The county previously reported three days in a row with no new deaths. The state reported...
Mail-in ballots expected to drive high turnout in Allegheny, Westmoreland
Allegheny County is on track to see high voter turnout as mail-in and absentee ballot applications for the June 2 primary exceeded expectations. The county has processed more than 280,000 ballot applications, with a little fewer than 5,000 applications coming in just before the deadline Tuesday, said Elections Division Manager...
Coroner IDs 15-year-old McKeesport boy found in South Huntingdon creek
A 15-year-old McKeesport boy drowned in Jacobs Creek, a Pennsylvania State Police spokesman confirmed Wednesday. The Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office identified the boy as NaDarrius W. Lundy, a resident of Mc-Keesport’s Crawford Village apartment complex. Lundy’s body was recovered in the Creek Falls section of South Huntingdon shortly after 10...
New requirements for dentists could raise prices for patients
PHILADELPHIA — When the dentist’s office called to cancel Laura Lizcano’s appointment for a crown and cavity filling in March because of the coronavirus, she wasn’t terribly worried. The 25-year-old freelance musician didn’t know at the time that the pandemic would keep medical offices closed for months — and prevent...
Historic SpaceX launch postponed because of stormy weather
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The launch of a SpaceX rocket ship with two NASA astronauts on a history-making flight into orbit has been called off with 16 minutes to go in the countdown because of the danger of lightning. Liftoff is rescheduled for Saturday. The spacecraft was set to blast...
Poll: Half of Americans would get a covid-19 vaccineVideo
Only about half of Americans say they would get a covid-19 vaccine if the scientists working furiously to create one succeed, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s surprisingly low considering the effort going into the global race for a vaccine against...
Trump threatens social media after Twitter fact-checks him
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened social media companies with new regulation or even shuttering after Twitter moved a day earlier to add fact checks to two of his tweets. Claiming tech giants “silence conservative voices,” Trump said, “We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we...
Woman dies in early morning fire in Munhall
A woman died early Wednesday morning when flames quickly spread through her Munhall home, according to authorities. Firefighters arriving at the home in the 1200 block of Ravine Street shortly after 1 a.m. encountered heavy smoke pouring from the windows of the one-story frame house, according to emergency dispatchers. Within...
Pennsylvania preps short-term budget amid coronavirus uncertainty
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania state government began advancing a temporary, no-new-taxes budget plan Tuesday that maintains current spending levels while budget makers watch to see how badly coronavirus-related shutdowns damage tax collections and whether the federal government sends another aid package to states. Officials in the House and Senate Republican majorities...
Police: Missing girl from West Mifflin found safe
An 11-year-old girl who was reported missing on Tuesday afternoon has been found safe, according to West Mifflin police. Authorities said Haley Hanson was last seen in the area of the Auto Zone along Homeville Road Tuesday afternoon. The police department posted a notice on its Facebook page late Tuesday...
Greensburg pool to remain closed for season
Veterans’ Memorial Pool in Greensburg will not open this season. The city announced the decision on Facebook Tuesday. There are several reasons for the closure, all of them related to the coronavirus pandemic. CDC guidelines suggest swimmers should maintain 6 feet of social distancing even when in the water, which...
Hempfield supervisors ask Gov. Wolf to end phased plan and reopen economy
Hempfield supervisors are asking Gov. Tom Wolf to allow the township to reopen without mandated restrictions put into place because of the coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday, supervisors voted unanimously to send a letter asking Wolf to lift restrictions put in place in March. Supervisor Tom Logan was not present at...
Westmoreland County man found stabbed to death in Virginia
A Westmoreland County man was found over the weekend stabbed to death on the side of a road in Virginia, authorities said. Bruce M. Ritchie, 57, of Herminie, was found near his car Saturday afternoon in Bland County, Virginia, near the exit of I-77, according to Virginia State Police. A...
Food box delivery to bring U.S. agriculture secretary to Westmoreland Fairgrounds
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will visit the Westmoreland Fairgrounds on Wednesday morning as pantry staples are delivered to area food banks in response to the covid-19 pandemic. Perdue will be on hand as part of the federal Farmers to Families Food Box Program. The program is purchasing up...
