Deb Erdley stories, Page 19
State Sen. Ward says covid-19 induced pain reaches across the state economy
The coronavirus is cutting a swath from hospital executive suites to Westmoreland County residents waiting weeks for unemployment checks, state Sen. Kim Ward told constituents during a teleconference Wednesday. The Westmoreland County lawmaker said she has reservations about the transparency of some of the decisions surrounding the state shutdown and...
Lawsuit claims IUP manager fired for notifying staff of possible covid-19 exposure
A former supervisor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania claims in a lawsuit he was fired for telling employees a fellow worker had been exposed to coronavirus. Donald Woolslayer, the school’s director of facilities since 2016, claims he was terminated on March 31 — the day after he emailed a notification...
Pitt plans for fall could include hybrid semester
University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher is broaching the possibility that Pitt, one of the region’s biggest universities and a major factor in the local economy, may not be able to reopen for business as usual this fall. Like schools across the nation, Pitt was forced to close its campuses...
IUP partners with Indiana hospital to provide same-day testing for covid-19
Indiana University of Pennsylvania is joining Indiana Regional Medical Center to bring same-day testing for covid-19 to the rural hospital. University officials said Dr. Narayanaswamy Bharathan, chairman of the biology department at IUP, will be working at the hospital to conduct covid-19 tests. Using equipment from his IUP laboratory, Bharathan...
Pitt researchers join American Lung Association’s national research network
The University of Pittsburgh’s Emphysema COPD Research Center will participate in two new national lung health studies, including one that focuses on covid-19, as it partners with the American Lung Association’s Airways Clinical Research Centers Network (ACRC). Long on the forefront of research in asthma and COPD, the network includes...
Hospitals looking for more help; lawmakers say Pennsylvania shorted on CARES Act relief
Hospitals across the region that are looking to recover revenue they lost while preparing to meet a surge in covid-19 cases say they need more help and are seeking a more equitable piece of the pie as the federal government rolls out the remaining $70 billion of a $100 billion...
Mt. Pleasant Area ratifies 5-year teachers contract
The Mt. Pleasant Area School Board and teachers ratified a new five-year contract Wednesday, even as students and teachers — separated by the coronavirus shutdown — worked from their homes. The board approved the contract retroactive to Sept. 1, 2018, and extending through Aug. 31, 2023, by an 8-1 vote....
Excela retiree answers the call for personal protective equipment
When covid-19 began spreading across the United States, Excela Health officials looked to someone who had helped in the past to plan for the future. “Our Quality and Safety Departments asked Dave Byers, who retired last year as Excela Health’s director of safety, if he would be willing to join...
How should you spend your stimulus check? Here is what experts say
The check is not in the mail. But that big coronavirus stimulus check — up to $1,200 for singles, $2,400 for married couples and an extra $500 for each qualified child — might be in your bank account if the IRS has direct deposit information on you. Some families will...
Coronavirus pandemic continues to impact financial health of colleges, universities
Less than a month into a shutdown that forced colleges and universities across the country to transition to online classes, covid-19 is exposing new fractures in higher education. When students were forced to leave campus months before the end of the spring semester, residential campuses had to come up with...
5 things to know on what would have been Tax Day
It’s tax day, or at least it would have been. When coronavirus turned the world on its axis, Congress and the Pennsylvania General Assembly reacted quickly to provide temporary relief. So, here are five things you need to know today: 1. The deadline for filing federal income tax returns has...
Dr. Louis Falo talks Southwest Greensburg, Pitt coronavirus vaccine and Dr. Anthony Fauci
He learned teamwork on the football field at Greensburg Central Catholic High School more than 40 years ago. Like three classmates on that 1977 team, Louis Falo went on to medical school. Today, the Southwest Greensburg native and researcher at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine leads an elite...
Pa. Department of Health to provide county EMS agencies more details on covid-19 cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health will release additional information about the location of covid-19 patients to county emergency management agencies beginning Friday. Citing the privacy provisions of the 1955 Disease Prevention and Control Act, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which holds daily briefings on the statewide case count, previously refused...
Applications for mail-in ballots surge as lockdown continues
Applications for mail-in ballots are surging across Pennsylvania, even as President Trump repeatedly condemns mail-in voting as a scheme that could hamper GOP chances to prevail at the polls. According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, the number of applications for mail-in ballots increased from 179,172 on April 1 to...
Westmoreland struggles to get a handle on covid-19 infections as county logs first death
Westmoreland County officials struggled to get a handle on the local impact of covid-19 infections Wednesday, even as the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced the county’s first death related to the disease caused by the coronavirus. County officials learned of the death when local media reported on the state’s daily...
Pennsylvania prison industries converted to produce personal protective equipment
Add Pennsylvania’s sprawling state prison system to the list of manufacturers now producing personal protective equipment to ward off infection during the coronavirus pandemic. Inmates working 12-hour shifts at garment factories within the prison system made more than 185,000 masks since March 17, Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said. All Department...
Levin’s hope for rescue likely over after Art Van Furniture bankruptcy liquidation
A federal judge has approved a petition to liquidate Art Van Furniture, the Michigan-based chain that in 2017 acquired the Levin’s and Wolf’s furniture stores scattered across Pennsylvania and Ohio. The order handed down in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware is effective Tuesday. It apparently quashes any opportunity for Robert...
Coronavirus resets political calendar
Fears of coronavirus are resetting the political calendar in Pennsylvania and across the nation as the 2020 presidential election nears. Officials with the Democratic National Committee announced Thursday the party’s presidential nominating convention, previously scheduled for July 13 in Milwaukee, is rescheduled for Aug. 17. That announcement came as the...
Philips Respironics ramping up ventilator production, soon to include a lower-cost unit
A Dutch manufacturer says it hopes to triple the production of hospital ventilators being assembled in Murrysville and Carlsbad, Calif., between now and the end of September. “In March, our production capacity was 1,000 ventilators per week. In two months, we hope to double that … and by the end...
Levin Furniture rescue complicated by Art Van bankruptcy; Pa. attorney general looks to protect customers
Robert Levin’s plans to revive the family furniture chain he sold in 2017 may be on hold until complex bankruptcy proceedings in Delaware unwind, he said. Also involved in those proceedings, with a scheduled hearing on Friday, is Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office, which is representing Levin Furniture customers...
Pennsylvania prisons ratcheting up efforts to combat covid-19 outbreaks
A second inmate tested positive for covid-19 at a state prison located just outside of Philadelphia Tuesday night, Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel announced Wednesday. Four prison staffers also have tested positive for the virus, he said. Citing Department of Health privacy concerns, Wetzel declined to say where those...
Sen. Kim Ward seeks state law change to provide covid-19 info to first responders
A Westmoreland County lawmaker wants to amend state law to require the Pennsylvania Department of Health to release the general location of covid-19 cases to first responders. State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, is seeking co-sponsors for an amendment to require state health officials to release information about coronavirus cases by...
Sen. Jim Brewster wants to exempt stimulus checks from state, local taxes
Stimulus checks, already exempt from federal taxes, would be exempt from state and local taxes as well under legislation state Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, expects to introduce Tuesday. Under the recently passed $2.2 trillion federal stimulus bill, individuals earning up to $75,000 a year will receive a $1,200 check sometime...
IUP cancels May commencement
Indiana University of Pennsylvania is joining the growing list of colleges that have canceled spring commencement ceremonies. Citing ongoing coronavirus threats and concern for public health, IUP President Michael Driscoll announced the university’s decision to call off the ceremony, previously scheduled for May 9, in an email to the university...
Schools collaborate to deliver services during shutdown
When fear of the coronavirus separated K-12 students from school buildings, the need to continue teaching brought school officials in Westmoreland County’s far-flung school districts closer than ever. For the last two weeks, every morning at 8 a.m., top administrators from the county’s 17 school districts, three career and technical...
