Deb Erdley stories, Page 10
New Kensington family recalls Biden sharing their grief, comforting a mother who lost son to brain cancer
Dolly Regoli wiped away a tear, paused and composed herself during an interview Wednesday as Joe Biden prepared to take the oath of office. The new president many hope will heal the nation’s wounds has a special place in the heart of the 81-year-old New Kensington woman. Three years ago,...
Carnegie Mellon postpones start of in-person instruction, citing covid-19 rates in region
Carnegie Mellon University officials announced Tuesday that the school will delay the start of in-person instruction for the spring semester until Feb. 15. “As part of our continuing (covid-19) mitigation efforts, we have decided to delay the start of in-person instruction by one additional week,” CMU spokesman Jason Maderer said....
Colleges, universities in Western Pennsylvania could get more than $200M in new stimulus reliefVideo
Colleges and students struggling to make ends meet in a pandemic economy will get a $21 billion boost from the latest infusion of coronavirus stimulus, with more on the way, should Congress take up President-elect Joe Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus package. The U.S. Department of Education recently released projections...
Pandemic exposes weakness in Pa. counties without health departments, like Westmoreland
When Kim Ward was sworn in as a Westmoreland County commissioner in 2008, one of her first questions was: Who oversees the county’s health department? The former respiratory therapist was stunned to learn there wasn’t one. Westmoreland, like 61 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, leaves the issue of public health to...
Carnegie Mellon to offer covid-19 tests to students, faculty at new testing lab
Weekly covid-19 tests will be a reality this spring for students, faculty and staff at Carnegie Mellon University, as the Pittsburgh research school prepares to open a new testing lab. The school offered tests to returning students as well as those who were traveling this fall and did some random...
Controversy over comments on election, Capitol attack rocks debate at Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie Mellon University officials on Tuesday issued a harsh statement condemning speech that may have incited last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol, as debate over comments by some of its leading scholars raised eyebrows in academic circles across the country. In a letter issued to the university community, a...
Ignoring covid side effects could be deadly, doctors and patients are finding
Sean Kertes says he first began to notice a slight tightness in his chest two days before New Year’s Day. The 34-year-old Westmoreland County commissioner tried to brush off his concerns as he went about activities in his Greensburg home, like taking down the Christmas tree and putting away decorations....
Unity sports bar allowed to reopen following shutdown because of covid violations
John and Jamie Huemme were delighted Friday when a state inspector reversed an order that would have forced Sharky’s Cafe and Pier, one of the region’s largest sports bars, to close during Sunday’s Steelers-Browns playoff game. The landmark sports bar and eatery, located along Route 30 in Unity, was ordered...
McKees Rocks man dead in shooting in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Police are investigating the shooting death of a McKees Rocks man Saturday night. According to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office, Blake Green, 41, was found with gunshot wounds at 10:30 p.m. Saturday on the 1400 block of Chicago Street in Pittsburgh. Green was transported to Allegheny General Hospital...
Pennsylvania Republicans weigh the party’s future post-Trump
Republicans and party leaders are wondering what direction the GOP in Pennsylvania will take in the era of the post-Trump presidency and in the wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol by an angry mob of President Trump’s supporters. Will the party return to its more moderate roots as...
Westmoreland Clerk of Courts to close offices noon to 1 p.m. daily for sanitizing
A covid-19 outbreak has promoted officials to announce new hours at the Westmoreland County Clerk of Courts office. Clerk of Courts Bryan Kline said beginning Monday, Jan. 11, the office will be closed from noon to 1 p.m. daily for cleaning and sanitizing. “We have had another surge of covid...
Blue lights mark human trafficking awareness campaign
The Westmoreland County Courthouse dome will be bathed in blue light every night Jan. 9-15 to drive home the reality that human trafficking cuts across all geographic and social lines. Renee Reitz, a spokeswoman for the Westmoreland Human Trafficking Task Force, said it’s important that people realize these crimes may...
North Versailles shooting leaves woman in critical condition
Authorities are investigating a Friday night shooting that left a 26-year-old woman injured in a car parked along Grandview Avenue in North Versailles. The Allegheny County Police Department’s Homicide unit found the woman when they responded to a reported shooting along the 400 block of Grandview Avenue at 11:24 p.m....
West Mifflin man dead after being hit by a car Friday night
West Mifflin police are investigating the death of a West Mifflin man who was struck Friday night by a vehicle along Camp Hollow Road. Dennis Joos, 69, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident shortly after 9 p.m., according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. No additional information...
Pa. Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward defends election questions as U.S. Capitol stormed
State Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward on Wednesday refused to budge from her position questioning the integrity of Nov. 3 election in Pennsylvania, even as an angry crowd of Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol and Gov. Tom Wolf called out state Republicans for fomenting a “shameful lie.” Ward of...
Westmoreland Commissioner Sean Kertes recovering from blood clot after covid diagnosis
Westmoreland County Commissioner Sean Kertes is at home recovering from a blood clot in his lung that he said was related to his recent coronavirus infection. He was hospitalized over the weekend after having difficulty breathing. Kertes told the Tribune-Review he hopes to be back at the Greensburg courthouse next...
Voters saw presidential campaign like no other in 2020
Editor’s note: Three topics kept us transfixed this year: the deadly coronavirus pandemic, the election and a wave of protests demanding racial justice. As the year comes to an end, the Tribune-Review explores the moments that defined the year. America’s quadrennial exercise in presidential politics took a new twist in...
Lower Burrell woman spent months battling covid long-haul syndrome
When Kristin Giron Stewart was discharged from UPMC St. Margaret hospital after a 13-day battle with covid-19 over the summer, she thought she was well on her way to recovery. The 47-year-old Lower Burrell woman grew frustrated and frightened as the days wore on, and she continued to struggle with...
Postal Service struggles with record demands as Christmas draws near
First it was the election and questions about whether the Post Office could be relied upon to deliver millions of mail-in ballots. Now, barely six weeks later, an unprecedented uptick in packages from online shoppers and staff shortages exacerbated by a rash of covid-19 outbreaks are combining to strain the...
Retired UPMC executive will lead the board at the United Way of Southwestern PA
The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania will welcome a retired UPMC executive as board chair Jan. 1, while it continues efforts to meet growing needs triggered by the ongoing pandemic. The agency’s board of directors voted Robert DeMichiei, who has been a member of the board for nearly two decades,...
Sen. Toomey stands firm on provisions to limit Fed’s emergency lending powers
Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey said his demands that Congress eliminate more than $400 billion in Federal Reserve emergency lending powers approved under the CARES Act and to prohibit such programs in the future should have come as a surprise to no one. “Contrary to what Democrats suggested, this is not...
Leechburg native Msgr. Larry Kulick named new bishop of Diocese of GreensburgVideo
Catholics in the Greensburg Diocese are celebrating an early Christmas gift from Rome: the appointment of one of their own, Msgr. Larry J. Kulick, as bishop-elect. Pope Francis announced the appointment of Kulick, a Leechburg native, as the sixth bishop of the diocese early Friday. The appointment of the 54-year-old...
As covid-19 surges, Pennsylvania colleges urged to delay students’ return
Citing “an alarming increase in covid-19 cases” and yet another surge expected to peak in January, Pennsylvania acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega on Wednesday urged colleges and universities to delay the start of their spring semester. Ortega also suggested colleges and universities use virtual instruction as much as possible....
Voice of Westmoreland to air local public health concerns in Zoom forum
A grassroots activist group will host a public Zoom forum with Westmoreland County commissioners Wednesday evening to air local concerns and urge them to take an active role in battling the region’s growing public health crisis. Although the county does not have an independent public health department, a spokesman for...
Sen. Bob Casey, North Huntingdon mother highlight need for continued pandemic relief
Victoria Murrell had her ducks in a row last winter. The 32-year-old from North Huntingdon had spent four years waiting tables and attending classes at Seton Hill University on a full academic scholarship. She was on track to graduate with a degree in human resources. Then the covid-19 shutdown hit....
