Deb Erdley stories, Page 8
Pitt Greensburg officials pivot on Hempfield campus commencement plansVideo
Two weeks after announcing it would hold a drive-thru commencement, the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg has pivoted and will offer students the opportunity to turn the tassels on their mortarboards and march to “Pomp and Circumstance” at its Hempfield campus on May 1. The change in plans came after...
Greensburg Hempfield Area Library and Youngwood branch to resume normal hours
Citing the increase in vaccination rates, officials at the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library and the Youngwood Area Public Library branch said the facilities will resume regular operating hours Monday. The libraries, which curtailed operating hours and added additional virtual programming during the pandemic, will continue to offer a variety of...
CCAC to return to campus as colleges weigh vaccine requirements
After a year of relying on remote instruction for most classes, the Community College of Allegheny County is preparing to resume normal operations beginning this summer and into the fall semester. Officials said the college, with multiple campuses and centers scattered across Allegheny County, will continue to offer online options...
Cal U offers tuition discounts to Westmoreland Community College grads
Hundreds of Westmoreland County Community College graduates — past and future — may be able to reap significant savings on a four-year degree thanks to a new discount program at California University of Pennsylvania. The university, about 20 miles from the community college’s main campus, is offering a 20% tuition...
Election Code proposals trigger debate in Harrisburg as hearings progress
State lawmakers are weighing sweeping changes to Pennsylvania’s election laws as candidates cautiously test the waters for a 2022 mid-term election that could once again put the state in the bull’s-eye of the national debate over election reform. In Pennsylvania, where unsuccessful court challenges to the 2020 presidential election continued...
More colleges signal fall reopening as stimulus begins to flow
Two more Pittsburgh-based universities — Carlow and Point Park — plan to return to full in-person operations this fall. Friday’s announcements, the most recent in a series at local universities, came as the U.S. Department of Education announced an expanded list of areas new federal stimulus money can underwrite. Those...
Penn State announces in-person commencement plans
Penn State officials say the university will host in-person commencement ceremonies at University Park and at its other campuses across the state. The state’s largest university cited increasing vaccination rates and a relaxation in state guidelines in its decision to move forward with a more traditional graduation for the class...
Pitt plans a return to normal operations at Oakland for fall 2021
In yet another indication of growing optimism surrounding the covid-19 vaccine, officials at the University of Pittsburgh are planning a return to full in-person operations at the university’s Oakland campus as well its campuses in Greensburg, Johnstown, Bradford and Titusville. Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher on Thursday announced that the school,...
Pitt, Carnegie Mellon launch joint center to combat extremist hate
Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh are joining forces in a new research center designed to study and seek ways to halt the proliferation of extremist hate. The announcement comes amid rising fears about ethnic violence against Asian Americans. On Tuesday night in Atlanta, a gunman killed eight people,...
Robert Morris University announces plans for return to normal operations this fall
Citing positive developments in the rollout of the covid-19 vaccine, Robert Morris University President Christopher B. Howard on Tuesday said RMU plans to return to a normal schedule of in-person classes and athletics with fans in the stands this fall. With the announcement, RMU joins a growing list of colleges...
Southwestern Pa. gas prices stabilizing; remain well above national average
After weeks of sharp price spikes, analysts say gasoline price increases in Southwestern Pennsylvania appear to be stabilizing. Regular unleaded gasoline increased only a penny per gallon last week following increases of 25 cents per gallon here over the last month. There were multiple factors behind the increases that drove...
Duquesne man, 21, dead in Saturday night shooting
Authorities are investigating the Saturday night shooting death of a Duquesne man. According to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office, Damont Adams, 21, of Duquesne was pronounced dead at about 7:47 p.m. Saturday of gunshot wounds in the 500 block of Ferndale Ave., Duquesne. Allegheny County homicide detectives are investigating...
Ron Jaye, a longtime fixture in Pittsburgh broadcast news, dead at 86
Ronald Jaye Krauth, a longtime fixture in Pittsburgh broadcast news, known on the air as “Ron Jaye,” died last week in his Allegheny County home. A spokesman for WPXI News, where Krauth spent the better part of three decades on the air, said the news staff there is mourning the...
Colleges weigh a return to in-person commencement
One year after a global pandemic shuttered campuses across the country, colleges and universities in Western Pennsylvania are weighing the return of an annual rite of spring — commencement ceremonies. The University of Pittsburgh, the region’s largest school, has announced it will stagger smaller in-person ceremonies at its Oakland campus...
Carlow University tags Pitt executive as university’s 11th president
Carlow University officials launched a national search effort when university president Suzanne K. Mellon announced her decision to retire on June 30. But they didn’t have to look far to find what they called an ideal leader for the 92 year-old Oakland-based university. On Friday, Carlow trustees announced they have...
Monroeville man dies in Murrysville motorcycle crash
A 24-year-old Monroeville man died Saturday morning of injuries he suffered in a motorcycle crash Saturday in Murrysville. The Westmoreland County Coroner identified the man as Robert S. Mahan. According to Murrysville police, Mahan was headed south on Sardis Road near Cal-Ken Court about 12:45 a.m. when his motorcycle collided...
Mass vaccination programs pave the way for gradual return to school in Pennsylvania
Matt Jones breathed a sigh of relief Friday as he met with Jeannette High School Principal Joe Baker to chart the latest stage in a phased-in return to five-day-a-week in-person classes. Like fellow school administrators across the region, the superintendent of Jeannette schools has spent countless hours on the phone,...
Jeannette, New Kensington among towns that could benefit from new $20M investment fund
A new partnership between the Richard K. Mellon Foundation and Arctaris Impact Investors, a Boston-based impact investment group, is launching a $20 million investment fund to underwrite economic development projects in distressed communities in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. The fund, unveiled Wednesday, will target projects that support economic development, workforce...
Hempfield couple, among the 1st to get covid-19, glad they shared their recovery story
Michael Duffy had some reservations when his wife Lisa decided to go public a year ago after they became the second and third Westmoreland County residents to test positive for covid-19. The Duffys, of Hempfield, contracted the virus during a Caribbean cruise in March 2020, when the world was just...
Saint Vincent College announces 2021 scholarship winners, marks 40 years of Wimmer scholarship awards
Giovanni Cicala is entering a select fraternity this fall. The Kiski School senior from Avonmore hit the books, weathered the pandemic and scored high enough in a competitive scholarship exam to win an opportunity to attend Saint Vincent College tuition-free for the next four years as one of the winners...
Slippery Rock University announces in-person fall semester; Pitt still mulling plans
Add Slippery Rock University to the growing list of colleges projecting a reopening at near normal levels this fall. The announcement Monday that the state university located in Butler County is anticipating near normal operations this fall follows announcements last week from four other State System universities in Western Pennsylvania...
Stimulus bill could bring money to expand high-speed internet in Westmoreland
Officials with the Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland County say the region is on track for growth in the coming year, with the expansion of high-speed internet access a top priority. Connection President and CEO Jim Smith, addressing the economic development group’s annual meeting last week via Zoom, said events...
Life during covid: Westmoreland college professor helps students, families juggle demands
Editor’s note: This is an occasional series examining how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of members of our community. It might have been a matter of life experience or natural resiliency, but whatever it was, Cheryl Miller was positioned to thrive before the coronavirus sent the world spinning....
Toomey censure remains on hold with Pennsylvania Republicans
As former President Trump prepared for his first public appearance before the national Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday, the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee remained stalled on demands by county leaders that the state GOP censure Sen. Pat Toomey for his vote to convict Trump for incitement of insurrection. What...
Philips Respironics to cut jobs at East Huntingdon repair, service center
Officials at Philips Respironics, a medical equipment manufacturer that produces ventilators and sleeping equipment, confirmed Friday that the company plans to close the sleep and respiratory care services at its East Huntingdon facility. A spokeswoman for the international manufacturer said the shutdown is part of an ongoing effort to “enhance...
