Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1491
Allegheny County reports 2 more coronavirus deaths, 19 new cases
Two more Allegheny County residents have died from the coronavirus, bringing the countywide total to 21, health department officials reported Monday. All of those people were over the age of 65. The Allegheny County Health Department also reported 19 new cases of covid-19 Monday, which puts the countywide total at...
IRS online tool tracks when your stimulus money will arriveVideo
For millions of Americans out of work and struggling for cash, the government’s $2.2 trillion economic relief plan can’t come soon enough. The first coronavirus-related stimulus checks have started hitting bank accounts, according to the House Ways and Means Committee. But how can you know when will you get yours?...
Former Senate staffer accuses Joe Biden of sexual assaultVideo
WASHINGTON — A former aide to Joe Biden is accusing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of sexually assaulting her during the early 1990s when he was a senator. Biden’s campaign denies the charges. In two recent interviews with the Associated Press, Tara Reade alleged the assault occurred in the basement...
George Stephanopoulos of ‘Good Morning America’ tests positive for coronavirus
NEW YORK — “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos revealed Monday that he’s tested positive for the coronavirus, but has been relatively symptom-free. The ABC newsman revealed his diagnosis on the show, telling co-host Robin Roberts that, “I feel fine.” Stephanopoulos’ wife, Ali Wentworth, had come down with covid-19 and...
Power mostly restored in Westmoreland County; about 500 remain without service
Electricity has been restored to most of the 1,600 homes that lost power in Westmoreland County Monday, according the West Penn Power. Crews are still working to restore utilities at 518 properties. In Allegheny County, the number of homes affected by strong winds and morning storms was far less, with...
Natrona Heights parishioners go to drive-in for Easter Sunday servicesVideo
Harvest Baptist Church in Natrona Heights, Harrison, hosted a cinematic Easter experience over the weekend. From the comfort of their cars, members and nonmembers alike viewed a special Easter service on the big screen at Riverside Drive-In in Vandergrift. Less than two weeks ago, leaders at Harvest Baptist had a...
Coronavirus clamps down on real estate business
Zach Kocian of Southwest Greensburg might be one of the less lucky homeowners in Western Pennsylvania who is trying to sell his home this spring. Kocian, a behavior specialist at a private school, put the Stanton Street house he bought three years ago up for sale with the hopes of...
Ambridge interim Police Chief Mark Romutis dies
Ambridge interim Chief of Police Mark Romutis died Sunday evening. Romutis, who was admitted to Allegheny General Hospital, had tested positive for covid-19 late last month, the Beaver County Times reported. “Chief Mark Romutis was a very good and kind man,” Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier told the newspaper....
Displaced marathoners hope to reach their goals virtually
In Erin Donahue’s mind, 2020 was the year it would happen. She had been training diligently. She felt good. She would reach her goal to complete the Pittsburgh Marathon in under four hours. Donahue, a distance runner since her days at Blackhawk, had been running at least 30 hours a...
Allegheny County: Third inmate at jail tests positive for covid-19
A third Allegheny County Jail inmate has tested positive for covid-19, according to updated information on the county’s website. The inmate is among 11 inmates and 15 staff members who have been tested for the disease, according to the county. Of those, three inmates and one staffer have tested positive....
Nursing home deaths soar past 3,300 in alarming surgeVideo
NEW YORK — More than 3,300 deaths nationwide have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, an alarming rise in just the past two weeks, according to the latest count by The Associated Press. Because the federal government has not been releasing a count of...
Storm tears through South amid pandemic; at least 30 deadVideo
CHATSWORTH, Ga. — Storms that killed at least 30 people in the Southeast, piling fresh misery atop a pandemic, spread across the eastern United States on Monday, leaving more than 1 million homes and businesses without power amid floods and mudslides. In Alabama, people seeking shelter from tornadoes huddled in...
Wind advisory, warning issued for Pittsburgh region
High winds are expected to buffet the Pittsburgh region for much of the day Monday, a National Weather service meteorologist said Sunday. A wind advisory is scheduled to start at 6 a.m. Monday and will be in effect until 8 p.m, during which a cold front will move through the...
Greensburg Salem middle school students 3D print face shields for first responders
Kristy DiPasquale’s Greensburg kitchen has become more of an assembly line than a place for cooking over the past two weeks. DiPasquale, 40, is helping her 14-year-old son, Adam, build face shields with the 3D printer he received for Christmas. The shields will be donated to first responders to help...
Westmoreland County coroner reports another covid-19-related death, bringing total toll to 12
The Westmoreland County coroner’s office reported one new coronavirus-related death late Saturday night, bringing the countywide total to 12. The coroner’s website was reporting 12 covid-19 deaths as of 11 p.m. Saturday. It was reporting 11 deaths on Saturday morning, the same as it had Friday. The state health department...
Dispatcher: 2 people hurt in Derry Township crash
Two people were taken to a hospital after they were hurt in a crash Sunday afternoon in Derry Township, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. Crews responded to Industrial Boulevard shortly after noon and two people had to be extricated from the vehicle, which was on its side, the dispatcher...
Health Department reports 13 more covid-19 deaths in Pennsylvania
Thirteen more people in Pennsylvania have died from covid-19, bringing the statewide death toll to 507, state health department officials said. The total coronavirus case count is 22,833, according to data provided by the health department on Sunday. “Now more than ever, as we continue to see covid-19 cases and...
No new deaths related to coronavirus reported in Allegheny County
There were no new deaths in Allegheny County from the coronavirus, county health officials said Sunday, leaving the countywide total at 19. The 21 new cases reported Sunday bring the county’s running total to 857. Of those who tested positive for the virus, 130 have been hospitalized at some point,...
Official: Several people rescued from windows after blaze at Brentwood Manor; 8 residents taken to hospitalVideo
Firefighters used ladders to rescue about a dozen people from windows in a fire at a Brentwood apartment building Sunday morning. The fire at Brentwood Manor in the 3300 block of Brownsville Road was reported around 9:30 a.m., said John Balkovec, deputy chief of Brentwood Emergency Medical Services. “The first...
‘SNL’ returns for work-at-home version with host Tom HanksVideo
NEW YORK — “Saturday Night Live” tried its first “quarantine version” of the comedy show, with coronavirus pioneer Tom Hanks, Coldplay singer Chris Martin and the comedy show’s entire cast phoning in with jokes from home. After being gone for more than a month, the NBC comedy institution returned to...
Police: 1 person killed in morning crash in Pittsburgh’s South Side
One person was killed during an early morning crash on Pittsburgh’s South Side, according police spokesperson Maurice Matthews. Officers responded to the 1600 block of West Carson Street around 1:45 a.m. for reports of a vehicle that crashed into a pole and caught fire. Firefighters extinguished the flames and extricated...
Western Pa. companies scramble to make protective equipment in coronavirus fightVideo
On a long table inside a giant complex near New Stanton, where Volkswagen assembled cars and Sony made televisions decades ago, a small crew of workers for a high-tech company is assembling face shields to meet the immediate demand for critical medical supplies. “I heard about the need for shields...
They endured heartbreaking tragedy. Now they’re using their past to cope with the pandemic.
Hope. … On the darkest days, it can be elusive. In the throes of this global health crisis, it is a word spoken by many. · There is hope for a vaccine, hope for a return to normalcy and hope for those sickened by the disease that began a world...
Shooting death in Stowe Township investigated as homicide
Police are treating the shooting death of a 19-year-old man whose body was found Saturday along a trail in Stowe Township as a homicide. According to a news release from Allegheny County Police, paramedics and Stowe police were dispatched to the 200 block of McCoy Road a little before 1...
Fiori’s Pizzaria making masks to combat covid-19
Fiori’s Pizzaria has now joined the mask-making brigade in an attempt to protect the public during the coronavirus pandemic. The restaurant started crafting the masks shortly after Gov. Tom Wolf suggested that Pennsylvania residents, along with practicing social distancing, should wear face coverings when out in public. Amy Rodgers, who...
