Deb Erdley stories, Page 14
Super PACs turn to Western Pa. voters for testimonials in presidential contest
On the surface, Janie and Shawn share little beyond their small-town Western Pennsylvania roots. But now, they are sharing 15 minutes of fame, thanks to their testimonials in ads supporting Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Identified only as 82-year-old Janie from Westmoreland, the tiny, blue-eyed woman who sports a halo...
Trump House creator savors president’s acceptance speech on the White House lawn
Leslie Baum Rossi still is amazed with everything she saw and heard Thursday night. Known far and wide as the “Trump House Lady,” Rossi, 49, of Unity was among the invited guests seated on the south lawn of the White House for President Trump’s nomination acceptance speech. “It was an...
Union members join industry groups to rally against state caps on power plant emissions
Union workers — seeking a voice at the table in fossil fuel policies at the state and national level — rallied Wednesday at the coal-fired Cheswick Generating Station. Organized by the Power PA Jobs Alliance, a coalition of labor and business groups spanning Southwestern Pennsylvania, the event targeted the negative...
Retired Allegheny County, state judge praises Donald Trump in Tuesday’s RNC broadcast
Retired Superior Court Judge Cheryl Allen of Hampton was among a half dozen “ordinary Americans” who offered testimonials to President Donald Trump during Tuesday night’s Republican National Convention. A portion of a video that featured conversations with Vice President Mike Pence included Allen. The segment also included testimonials from five...
Seton Hill schedules remembrance of ‘March on Washington’
Seton Hill University students, faculty and staff will join community leaders to mark the 57th anniversary of the famous “March on Washington,” at 3 p.m. Friday on the McKenna Lawn at the Greensburg school’s hilltop campus. University officials said the event, modeled on the historic 1963 March on Washington for...
Trump supporters eschew formal platform at RNC
While Republican party leaders were gathering in a socially distanced ballroom in Charlotte, N.C., to nominate President Donald Trump for a second term this week, a steady stream of Trump supporters from far and near were lining up in Unity to troop through the Trump House. The old two-story frame...
Most of W.Pa. delegation will watch GOP convention from home
When he was elected as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, Scott Avolio was looking forward to being part of the conversation about the party platform going forward to President Trump’s reelection campaign. Now, like hundreds of other delegates, Avolio, a Greensburg lawyer and first-time convention delegate, has found...
Citing pandemic concerns, Greensburg bishop to offer public farewell in a virtual Mass
Citing the ongoing public health threat of the coronavirus, Bishop Edward C. Malesic will make his public farewell to the diocese’s 138,000 Roman Catholics in a virtual Mass. Officials with the Greensburg Diocese said Friday the Mass will be livestreamed at 3 p.m. Aug. 30 from Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in...
Professors question Penn State reopening as study projects problems
A faculty group at Penn State says the university’s plan to reopen its University Park campus could culminate in thousands of cases of covid-19 and quickly overwhelm its capacity for quarantine. As students began to move into dorms this week, the Coalition for a Just University at Penn State released...
AG Shapiro, Sen. Casey won’t back down on Postmaster General, even as changes scrappedVideo
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s announcement that he is suspending changes to the postal system until after the November election was met with skepticism by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. The announcement Tuesday afternoon came as Shapiro and Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson were announcing a pair of multi-state federal...
Western Pa. women played pivotal roles in passage of 19th Amendment a century agoVideo
Tennessee tipped the scales to codify women’s suffrage in the U.S. Constitution 100 years ago Tuesday, becoming the 26th state to ratify the 19th Amendment on Aug. 18, 1920. Long before that, however, the battle to give women the right to vote played out in communities large and small. Women...
Pittsburgh Foundation ramps up for fund drive to benefit nonprofits as pandemic exacerbates needs
Dan Carney is growing more anxious by the day. Carney is executive director of the Union Mission, an agency that oversees a Latrobe homeless shelter and provides housing assistance in Westmoreland County. His phone keeps ringing these days with inquiries from residents hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic...
Community Bank names John Montgomery president and CEO
CB Financial Services, Inc., the parent company of Community Bank, on Friday announced the appointment of John H. Montgomery as its new president and CEO, replacing Barron “Pat” McCune, Jr. McCune, a longtime Community Bank officer who led the bank from 2005 until 2018, came out of retirement in January...
Poll worker needs ranked critical in Washington, Westmoreland, Fayette counties
Westmoreland County, as well as Fayette and Washington counties, face an uphill battle when it comes to recruiting poll workers for the presidential election this fall, researchers found. A study produced by Boston-based bipartisan nonprofit The Voter Protection Corps and Carnegie Mellon University found the counties were among 15 across...
Students moving back to Seton Hill University for face-to-face classes
Slowly but surely students began moving in at Seton Hill University on Wednesday for what the school hopes will be a largely traditional semester — despite a global pandemic that has prompted many of the nation’s college campuses to remain largely shuttered. Unlike some local universities that have transitioned to...
Community college leaders tout cost advantages as 4-year schools go online
As families weigh the rapidly evolving landscape at colleges across the state, officials at Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges say they are ready to accommodate students faced with last-minute decisions about the fall semester. “We estimate a student could save as much as $20,000 on the cost of an education if...
Western Pa. colleges awarded federal funds to underwrite reopening costs
Seven local colleges and trade schools were awarded more than $900,000 in federal grants to help underwrite public health and safety plans for reopening shuttered campuses. The grants that flowed through the state are part of a $28 million pool of federal CARES Act money state officials set aside to...
As eateries across the country shutter, Dunkin’ launches a new shop in East HuntingdonVideo
In an era marked by closed signs at eateries across the country, a Forest Hills-based restaurant group is betting against the odds in the midst of a pandemic in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The Heartland Restaurant Group is opening its 59th Dunkin’ franchise today in the Countryside Plaza in East Huntingdon, on...
Students’ college plans change as virus drives changes on campus
When Ethan Wyman graduated from Fox Chapel Area High School a semester early last winter, his plans were pretty much set. The O’Hara Township teen would keep working at Giant Eagle and then head to the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg campus this fall. He and his family liked the...
Loves Furniture hiring to staff some of former Levin’s sites acquired in bankruptcy court
Loves Furniture, a new retail chain that formed when a private equity firm recently bought 27 Art Van, Levin and Wolf outlets in bankruptcy court, is looking to hire 1,000 workers in three states — including people to staff at the Mt. Pleasant store that for a century served as...
Pitt to launch study of medical marijuana use to ease pain in sickle cell patients
Finding a way to use medical marijuana to treat sickle cell anemia will be the focus of a $3 million research program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. It is part of a 10-year agreement with Goodblend Pennsylvania LLC, Pitt’s new affiliate in medical marijuana research. State officials...
IUP limits campus access for fall classes
Thousands of students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania who thought they would head back to campus this fall learned Monday that will not be the case. IUP will be offering both in-person and online learning when classes resume Aug. 24. But only incoming freshmen, international students, graduate students and those...
PNC to close 52 branches, including 9 in Western Pa.
PNC Financial Services plans to permanently close 52 branch offices. In a filing with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the financial powerhouse said it intends to close nine branch offices in Western Pennsylvania, including offices in downtown Greensburg, Indiana, North Versailles, Elizabeth, Mt. Lebanon, West Mifflin, Bridgeville...
Pitt reopening plan spurs questions, concerns from student newspaper, neighborVideo
The University of Pittsburgh’s plan to reopen its Oakland campus in phases beginning Aug. 11 is raising questions among students and neighborhood residents. The hybrid plan, which calls for a mix of in-person and online classes, was months in the making. Among other features, the plan includes measures to reduce...
Ohio joins Pennsylvania in statewide mask mandate
Effective Thursday, it will take more than a trip across the Ohio state line for Pennsylvanians seeking to escape orders requiring face masks in public places. Ohio will join Pennsylvania in having a statewide mask mandate. One day after President Trump took to the airwaves endorsing masks and conceding that...
