Deb Erdley stories, Page 17
Wolf says he will go to court to uphold his disaster declaration
Gov. Tom Wolf says he’s ready to go to court to defend his disaster declaration. Wolf’s announcement came as state lawmakers ramped up attacks on the validity of the declaration. On Tuesday, they passed a resolution ordering the governor to rescind his June 3 extension of the 90-day disaster declaration...
Municipalities across Pittsburgh region face bleak budget forecasts in wake of coronavirus
Buffeted by stay-at-home orders and growing unemployment, Pennsylvania municipalities are facing a revenue hole that could result in fewer police and firefighters, more potholes and crumbling highways, as well as shuttered parks and pools. As many as 249 municipalities across the state, including 112 in the 10-county southwestern region, will not...
Cal U reorganizes academic colleges, departments
California University of Pennsylvania will consolidate colleges and departments in a move officials said will streamline academic operations and save $700,000 a year. Plans call for the consolidation of three undergraduate colleges to form the College of Education and Liberal Arts and the Eberly College of Science and Technology. The...
Fulbright scholar refuses to let a pandemic end her fellowship in Western Pennsylvania
Loubna Zohra Aissioui was excited when she learned she had been selected to come to the U.S. in a Fulbright international teaching exchange program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Studying in the U.S. was the fulfillment of a dream for the married mother of three who has taught high school...
Pitt expert, others warn coronavirus remains lethal despite falling numbers
Suggesting the coronavirus is less lethal now than it was two months ago — as a UPMC doctor appeared to do on Thursday — would be a mistake, other experts warned. Although the prevalence and severity of covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, has declined across the region,...
Stimulus grant adds $30 million to Pennsylvania college aid program
Pennsylvania college students will be eligible for an additional $400 in state grant aid this fall, officials with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) said Friday. State Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline, vice chairman of the PHEAA board, said an additional $30 millionfrom the federal CARES Act, part of the...
Doctors say covid-19 at UPMC is declining in virulence, infection levels
Covid-19 is declining in both virulence and infection levels among patients at the state’s largest health care system, UPMC officials said Thursday. Dr. Donald Yealy, who heads emergency medicine at the system that has hospitals across the state, said both the ratio of patients testing positive for the virus and...
Robert Morris furloughs staff, cuts budget by $3M
Robert Morris University is scrambling to make up for an estimated $10 million loss from the covid-19 shutdown. Officials at the private university in Moon said they have furloughed staff, including unnamed coaches and members of the athletic department, reduced the budget by $3 million and frozen wages that are...
Wolf lifts stay-at-home order, renews disaster declarationVideo
The stay-at-home order that has governed life in Pennsylvania since early March will expire at day’s end Thursday as the entire state moves into the yellow and green reopening phases, Gov. Tom Wolf said. But Wolf said he will renew the 90-day disaster declaration that was set to expire along...
Stalwart supporter of Western Pa. journalism dies of covid-19 complications
Ginny Frizzi was a stalwart pillar of the journalism community in Western Pennsylvania. A native of Pittsburgh, Ms. Frizzi began her career in journalism before launching a 25-year career in public relations at Point Park University. But she always kept her hand in the news business as a freelance writer,...
Catholic worshippers return as Diocese of Greensburg resumes public Masses
Before the covid-19 shutdown, Ruth Morelli on three or four days a week found her way to weekday Mass at St. James Roman Catholic Church in New Alexandria. “It really is my second family,” the Blairsville resident said. “After things closed, my husband and I would watch Mass online most...
Laurelville announces day camp launch on June 22
Laurelville Retreat Center will offer week-long day camps for children ages 5-12 beginning June 22 as the region moves into green status. Although sleep-away camp sessions have been canceled for the summer, a camp spokeswoman said day camp events — which have been fashioned to meet CDC guidelines — will...
Sen. Bob Casey tests positive for covid-19 antibodies, donates plasma
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey said he donated plasma Friday after he learned he had antibodies to covid-19, hoping it will help others fighting covid-19. Casey, D-Scranton, said an antibody test he took last week suggested that the mild flu-like symptoms and low-grade fever he experienced earlier this spring were caused...
Pennsylvania House virus notification dispute mirrors growing divide in state politics
The growing divide in the Pennsylvania Legislature loomed large this week with the news that a Republican House member’s coronavirus diagnosis was not shared with Democrats. House Democrats say they were stunned to learn Wednesday that state Rep. Andrew Lewis, R-Dauphin County, was diagnosed with covid-19 on May 20. Political...
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...
Duquesne administrator named to state’s Judicial Conduct Board
A Duquesne University administrator has been named to Pennsylvania’s Judicial Conduct Board. A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said the court has appointed the Rev. James P. McCloskey to a four-year term on the 12-member board. McCloskey is a senior adviserto Duquesne University President Ken Gormley. The Judicial Conduct...
The Kiski School announces residential, online options for 2020
A Westmoreland County boarding school says it will open its campus this fall with a hybrid program that will provide for simultaneous in-person and online learning. The Kiski School, a 132-year-old boarding school with 187 boys in grades 9-12 last year, was forced to shutter its campus and go to...
Zachary’s Mission celebrates 10 years of caring with Facebook giveaway
Patricia and Robert Vince could have let grief consume them when their son, Zachary, died 15 days after his birth. Instead, the Greensburg couple reached out to help others. Over the years, they’ve built a lasting memorial to their middle son and assisted thousands of families with medically fragile children...
Robert Levin makes 2nd bid to revive family furniture business
Robert Levin is back in the furniture business. Almost two months to the day after his deal fell through to repurchase the family-owned furniture chain he sold to Art Van Furniture in 2017, Levin has negotiated a deal in bankruptcy court to buy back the Levin brand. His $25.7 million...
Pandemic throws campaign challenges in way of candidates looking to win June 2 primaries
When he decided to run for state auditor general, Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb thought he had retail politics down to an art form. After all, the 57-year-old was born into a political family. The affable Democrat had run seven successful campaigns in Allegheny County, made his bona fides as...
Election security experts urge Pennsylvania to begin planning for expanded mail-in voting this fall
With the Pennsylvania primary three weeks away, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security say the state must begin planning immediately for secure balloting in the Nov. 3 presidential election. “Bold action is needed on nearly every front here in Pennsylvania, in the United...
Pandemic put $1 billion hole in Pennsylvania’s transportation budget
PennDOT is delaying new construction and downgrading resurfacing to patching and sealing as state highway workers return to work after a seven-week coronavirus pandemic shutdown. Acting Secretary of Transportation Yassmin Gramian said the shutdown that halted driver’s license renewals and triggered a dramatic reduction in travel and a corresponding loss...
McKeesport woman remembered as extraordinary teacher, friend of community
No one was surprised when Jamie Brewster Filotei came back to McKeesport after college, first earning a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s. Friends say the woman who attended Mansfield University of Pennsylvania on a basketball scholarship could have gone anywhere, but her roots were in McKeesport. And the city...
Community foundations work to shore up nonprofit infrastructure to meet needs
Within days of the coronavirus shutdown in mid-March, community foundations kicked into high gear to shore up the nonprofit infrastructure of Southwestern Pennsylvania. From the 75-year-old Pittsburgh Foundation to a newer ring of smaller county and regional community foundations, there was little hesitation to reach out and tap donors to...
Texas firm eyes several Levin Furniture stores in bankruptcy deal
The Mt. Pleasant flagship store that was the foundation for the century-old Levin Furniture empire may reopen — but only as part of a new furniture chain under a pending bankruptcy court deal. A Texas-based private equity firm bid $6.7 million to buy leases and unsold furniture in 27 Art...
