Deb Erdley stories, Page 21
Pa. bumping up outreach to workers left unemployed by coronavirus pandemic
Pennsylvania officials are bumping up outreach efforts to workers facing unemployment from the rising coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, state Secretary of Labor & Industry Jerry Oleksiak said workers facing a job loss may be eligible for unemployment and workers’ compensation benefits. That prospect has hit home for millions nationwide as...
Move to online classes continues as colleges across the region shutter classrooms
The move to online education at colleges and universities across Western Pennsylvania was nearly universal by the end of Thursday. Residential colleges and universities concerned about the potential for the spread of coronavirus as students returned from spring break were among the first institutions in the nation to react to...
Pitt, Duquesne, Carnegie Mellon, Penn State among colleges nationwide canceling face-to-face classes over virus fears
Colleges across the country are extending spring breaks, shuttering classrooms and transitioning to online formats as fears of coronavirus spread. Unprecedented, sweeping changes have reached from the halls of the oldest Ivy League institutions to sprawling land grant institutions and the tiniest community colleges, said Brad Farnsworth, vice president for...
The college that almost wasn’t: WCCC marks 50 yearsVideo
Fierce opposition took aim at its approval and controversy dogged its first years, but the college that almost wasn’t marked its 50th anniversary on Tuesday. From its start as a night school in rented classrooms at Jeannette High School, Westmoreland County Community College has expanded to serve nearly 5,000 students...
Elections officials take steps to limit the spread of coronavirus
Call this one voting in a pandemic. All three states with big delegate prizes in today’s Democratic primary — Michigan with 125 delegates, Missouri with 68 and Washington with 89 — are taking steps to limit the spread of coronavirus among voters and election workers. The top candidates are former...
Coronavirus prompts Carnegie Mellon to go to online-only classes at Silicon Valley, Qatar campuses
Carnegie Mellon University has moved to online classes only at its Silicon Valley and Qatar campuses, university officials announced Monday night. In a letter to the university community, CMU Provost Jim Garrett said although there have been no cases of coronavirus at the school’s Silicon Valley campus, CMU decided to...
Ahead of coronavirus, Saint Vincent College bumps up safety measures in dining areas
Saint Vincent College is bumping up safety measures in dining areas as a precaution against coronavirus, officials said Monday. College spokesman Jim Berger said there are no suspected cases at the school located near Latrobe. “In the interest of precaution and in an effort to reduce the number of frequently...
Pennsylvania logs few reports of price gouging related to coronavirus so far
A week after widespread reports of price gouging for hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes as consumers across the nation emptied store shelves as the coronavirus spread, actual consumer complaints remain low in Pennsylvania. An email to report price gouging (pricegouging@ attorneygeneral.gov) set up Friday by office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh...
Robot season gets underway at Cal U
There is a fall sports season, a winter sports season and a spring sports season at most colleges. At California University of Pennsylvania, there’s a fourth sports season: robot season. The state university in Washington County, which broke ground more than a decade ago when it began hosting high school...
Penn-Trafford to host Princess Party fundraiser
The show must go on and so must the fundraisers. The Penn Trafford Drama Guild’s cast of “Footloose” will host a Royal Sing-A-Long with your favorite princes and princesses on Friday, March 13, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Penn Trafford High School cafeteria. The event will feature...
Wonderful Life: Mt. Pleasant, workers relish return of Robert Levin to family furniture businessVideo
Robert Levin might take issue with it, but longtime Mt. Pleasant Mayor Jerry Lucia says the scion of Levin’s furniture company is his small town’s answer to George Bailey. Like the star of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Levin has stepped away from his own life — twice now — when...
‘Stay home,’ Cal U tells students who become ill during spring break
Stay at home. That’s the advice California University of Pennsylvania is giving students who become ill during spring break next week . “If you experience flu-like symptoms during or after spring break, please do NOT return to Cal U until you have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use...
Biden’s revived campaign puts Pennsylvania primary in play
Super Tuesday’s Democratic primary results and the continued whittling of the party’s presidential hopefuls mean Pennsylvania’s primary could matter for the first time in years. Experts say the stage is set for the battle between former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to carry into...
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to return retiree’s $82K in seized cash
An Allegheny County retiree who lost his life savings when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency seized $82,373 in cash from his daughter as she attempted to board a flight at Pittsburgh International Airport late last summer will get his money back, his lawyers said Wednesday. Attorneys with the Institute for...
Pennsylvania drivers 40th in the nation in gas consumption
Could that pesky gas tax be taking a toll on Sunday drivers in the Keystone State? Could drivers here be turning to more fuel efficient vehicles, or is pothole avoidance syndrome taking a toll? Regardless of the cause, it looks as though gas consumption here may be edging down ever...
Pitt-Greensburg students hold annual Super Tuesday mock primaryVideo
As voters in 14 states streamed to the polls Tuesday for the nation’s biggest single-day contest in the 2020 presidential primaries, Katherine Hope tried to drum up enthusiasm among rain-drenched students at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Pennsylvania’s April 28 presidential primary may be nearly two months away, but...
Point Park University adds 2 to board
A state lawmaker and a Highmark Health executive are the newest members of the Point Park University Board of Trustees. University officials said Point Park appointed Saurabh Tripathi, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Highmark Health, and state Rep. Austin Davis to three-year terms on the private university’s...
Edinboro University launches honors college
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania will bump up its quest for the best and brightest next fall with the official launch of an honors college. The university, one of the 14 schools in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, previously offered an honors program for high-achieving students. A university spokesman...
Carnegie Mellon tops list of U.S. universities pulling in foreign cash
What a difference a generation and a billion dollars or so can make. Four decades ago, when economist Robert Strauss landed at Carnegie Mellon University, the Pittsburgh school Andrew Carnegie launched as a training center for the children of mill workers in 1900 was a small, well-regarded private research university....
Former Uniontown funeral director sentenced to prison for scamming elderly clients
A former Uniontown funeral director who pleaded guilty to stealing from more than 80 elderly clients on Tuesday was sentenced to four to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $555,000 in restitution. Authorities said Stephen E. Kezmarsky III, 52, the former owner and operator of the Kezmarsky Funeral...
Allegheny Intermediate Unit taps North Allegheny superintendent as executive director
The Allegheny Intermediate Unit on Monday night named North Allegheny School District Superintendent Robert Scherrer to lead the agency beginning July 20. Officials said Scherrer will bring a diverse background in the classroom and administration at local school districts to his new post as AIU executive director. Prior to his...
Monongahela native, Purdue president wants civics test as graduation requirement
Let’s hope they paid attention in high school civics. If students at Purdue University didn’t master civics back then, they might find themselves in a bit of a bind. Inside Higher Ed, a publication that follows higher education, is reporting Purdue President Mitch Daniels wants to make a passing grade...
Pennsylvania launches webpages to school voters on new procedures
State officials are making good on a promise to get out the word about Pennsylvania’s new voting systems — at least online. On Monday, three weeks before the new date when voters may apply for a no-excuse absentee ballot, the Pennsylvania Department of State launched a new website (www.votespa.com/readytovote), complete...
Regional health care systems set a national pace in elder care
Health systems like to tout new facilities and innovative treatment protocols, but some of their most significant advances in Southwestern Pennsylvania are happening quietly in medical schools, hospital rooms and homes where they are setting new standards in geriatric health care. In a nation struggling to contain health care costs...
Casey, Toomey toe party lines as presidential election looms in Pennsylvania — a critical swing stateVideo
Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators Bob Casey, a Democrat from Scranton, and Pat Toomey, the Lehigh Valley Republican, were among the more muted voices throughout acrimonious impeachment proceedings against President Trump. But with no political races of their own this year, their voices are growing as they line up along party positions...
