Jack Troy stories, Page 2
Ukrainian Catholic church sues Collier for blocking chapel project
A Ukrainian Catholic church claims Collier’s rejection of a proposed chapel amounts to religious discrimination under the First Amendment. Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church is seeking a preliminary injunction in a 60-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Pittsburgh. The lawsuit argues the planned 13,000-square-foot chapel was subject to...
Highmark, spurred on by state law, offers no-cost breast imaging
Highmark has introduced no-cost breast imaging as part of an above-and-beyond push to comply with a new Pennsylvania law. The Pittsburgh-based insurer, which boasts more than 7 million members, began fully covering advanced mammograms, ultrasounds and MRIs in the new year. Doctors use these tests to investigate possible signs of...
Allegheny County health officials blast new federal childhood vaccine guidelines
Allegheny County health authorities on Wednesday rejected the federal government’s new childhood vaccine guidelines, promising to stick with the science on immunization practices. “Departing from long-standing, evidence-based recommendations deters public trust and weakens the very foundation of public health that communities rely on in moments of uncertainty,” Allegheny County Public...
What you should know about the new federal childhood vaccine guidelines
A dramatic overhaul Monday of childhood vaccine recommendations could confuse parents about which shots their kids should receive and when, Southwestern Pennsylvania medical experts say. The new vaccine schedule, established in a memo from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Acting Director Jim O’Neill, clouds recommendations for several immunizations doctors...
Experts slam CDC guidance to slash childhood vaccination schedule
Pennsylvania medical experts fear vaccination rates will wane after federal health officials issued a nonbinding, but possibly influential, recommendation Monday that kids get fewer shots. Jim O’Neill, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, slashed the number of shots all children should receive to 11 from 17....
WVU Health System’s takeover of Independence Health reflects aggressive expansion spree
Every hospital bought by West Virginia University Health System is photographed, framed and hung on a Mountaineer Blue wall at the nonprofit’s headquarters. The effect is a visual timeline of the system’s rapid growth since its founding in 1996 as a partnership between two of the state’s premier hospitals. WVU...
Flu, respiratory illnesses rising in Pennsylvania
Flu infections are surging across Pennsylvania. The state’s Department of Health has logged more than 35,000 cases since the start of October, with nearly 14,000 coming between Dec. 21 and Saturday. Department spokesman Neil Ruhland described the rise as a “normal annual occurrence” caused by people spending more time indoors,...
U.S. Steel’s contract dispute with Canadian company heads to arbitration
U.S. Steel’s lawsuit accusing a Canadian company of refusing to pay for millions of tons of iron ore pellets is heading to arbitration. The October lawsuit, filed in federal court in Pittsburgh, claimed Ontario-based Algoma Steel violated its agreement to buy the pellets from U.S. Steel. The deal was signed...
Environmental groups call $135,000 fine for U.S. Steel oil spills ‘laughable’
A six-figure expense is a big deal for a lot of businesses. Less so for U.S. Steel, a massive manufacturer with more than $15 billion in annual revenue. That’s why clean water advocates argue the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection missed the mark last month by fining U.S. Steel $135,000...
PJM’s power auction shortfall could lead to increased blackout risks in Pa., other states
Regional grid operator PJM Interconnection says people in Pennsylvania and 12 other states may face increased blackout risks as data centers soak up electricity. In its annual generation capacity auction, PJM asked power producers to guarantee more than 152,000 megawatts of electricity could be available at one time from June...
Mobile home catches fire in North Huntingdon
Firefighters responded to a trailer fire Sunday afternoon at Dusty Rhodes Mobile Home Village in North Huntingdon. Authorities were alerted of the blaze around 2:45 p.m., according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher. It was controlled as of about 3:15 p.m, the dispatcher said. There were no injuries, according to...
Search to continue Monday in Manor Township for missing man believed to be in danger
Search and rescue crews in Armstrong County continued their efforts Sunday to find Cory Dominic Cook, a 31-year-old Avonmore man last seen Thursday and said to be suffering from paranoid delusions and hallucinations. The search, suspended on Sunday at sunset, will continue Monday morning. Authorities began the search on Saturday,...
Annual Christmas Bird Count channels ‘addictive’ activity for scientific good
As Annie Lindsay drove her black Honda CR-V Saturday morning on a road splitting a Cook Township meadow, she had a premonition, earned by roughly two decades of studying birds. “There should be hawks in here,” she said. A few seconds later, the car was in park. Lindsay, 44, of...
UPMC Presbyterian’s billion-dollar tower gets opening date
UPMC’s $1.3 billion hospital tower in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood finally has an opening date. On Jan. 24, 2027, scores of patients at UPMC Presbyterian will be transferred from the existing building to a new, 17-story facility right next door. Once all patients are moved, the old structure will become administrative...
Kraft Heinz names new CEO to oversee its breakup
Steve Cahillane, the food and beverage industry veteran behind Kellogg’s recent split, has been tapped by Kraft Heinz to manage its pending breakup. The packaged food giant with dual headquarters in Pittsburgh and Chicago announced Cahillane’s hire as CEO on Tuesday. He’ll start Jan. 1, replacing Carlos Abrams-Rivera after about...
Highmark loses $69M through 3rd quarter, dragged down by insurance costs
Highmark Health took a $69 million net loss in the first nine months of the year as the Pittsburgh-based company struggled with more frequent and costly health insurance claims. The organization’s insurance arm, Highmark Health Plans, had a $211 million operating loss through September, according to financial results released Monday....
Highmark announces affiliation with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City
Highmark is adding more than 1 million members through an affiliation with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, the health insurers announced Thursday. The deal, which is expected to close next year pending regulatory approval, will make Highmark the third largest Blue Cross Blue Shield-affiliated organization in the country...
Pittsburgh International Airport to offer nonstop flights to Ireland
Pittsburgh International Airport soon will offer direct flights to Ireland for the first time. Irish national airline Aer Lingus will begin nonstop service between Pittsburgh and Dublin in May, local airport officials announced Thursday, further integrating the culturally and economically intertwined cities. Dublin also serves as a connector for flights...
Robert Friedlander, longtime head of neurological surgery at UPMC, steps down
Dr. Robert Friedlander, longtime head of neurological surgery at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh, has stepped down from his post, the hospital system confirmed Tuesday. A UPMC spokesperson offered no additional details about Friedlander’s abrupt departure from his position, which he’s held since 2010. Pitt referred TribLive to UPMC’s...
Expiring Obamacare subsidies prompt thousands to drop Pennie health insurance
For every new enrollment, two Pennsylvanians are dropping Obamacare coverage as steep government subsidies are set to expire at year’s end. About 38,000 people who have Affordable Care Act coverage through Pennie, the state’s health insurance exchange, have opted not to renew their plans for next year. That’s compared to...
U.S. Steel fined for leaking oil into Monongahela River
U.S. Steel must pay $135,000 and establish stronger pollution controls after environmental regulators found the steelmaker’s West Mifflin facility was leaking oil into the Monongahela River. An agreement announced Tuesday between U.S. Steel and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection requires the company to monitor wastewater from the Irvin Works...
Study favors medication, stents over major surgery for clogged neck arteries
Pennsylvania heart specialists welcomed the results of a decade-long study reinforcing their belief in minimally invasive techniques to treat clogged neck arteries versus major surgery. Researchers examined nearly 2,500 patients across five countries and 155 medical centers, including several UPMC hospitals and the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System. The patients...
Driverless cab service Waymo coming to Pittsburgh
Driverless cabs are coming to Pittsburgh. Autonomous ride-hailing service Waymo is expanding into the Steel City along with Baltimore, St. Louis and Philadelphia, the company announced in a blog post Wednesday. Human-led test drives will start this week in Downtown Pittsburgh as Waymo confirms its technology works on the city’s...
Shapiro visits Verona to tout $25M in funding for child care workers
Gov. Josh Shapiro visited a Verona day care Monday to tout $25 million in new state-funded bonuses for industry workers, which he says will help attract and retain staff. The initiative, part of the state budget passed last month after a lengthy legislative impasse, gives about $450 annually per employee...
Unseasonably cold weather to persist in Southwestern Pa.
Get cozy, because frigid temperatures are here to stay in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The National Weather Service expects the cold weather that rolled into the region Wednesday to bring weeks of highs mostly hovering in the 30s. Friday’s forecasted high is 35 degrees. Sunday could offer a short respite, with temperatures...
