Jack Troy stories, Page 5
Experts see huge appetite for new supermarket chains in Western Pa. as Meijer, Wegmans move in
Western Pennsylvania shoppers will have their appetites for new grocery stores put to the test once supermarket chains Wegmans and Meijer arrive in the region. Experts believe customers have room to spare. “You still have one of the most acute shortages of supermarket chains anywhere in the continental United States...
Grocery wars heat up as Midwestern chain Meijer pushes into Western Pa.
Meijer, the Michigan-based grocery chain known for its sprawling supercenters, is coming to Western Pennsylvania. Fresh off its expansion in Northeast Ohio, Meijer is pushing across the state line and acquiring properties in Western Pennsylvania, spokeswoman Erin Cataldo confirmed Tuesday to TribLive. The stores do not have opening dates. “Our...
Older, disabled Pennsylvanians bear brunt of home care staffing crisis
Lisa Sprague does what she can on her own, but nerve damage caused by multiple sclerosis means she needs help getting out of bed, bathing and completing other daily tasks. The state pays for 13 hours of care every day at her Harmar home, a bungalow retrofitted with a wheelchair...
Fed-up Starbucks baristas stage ‘practice picket’ in Pittsburgh
Unionized Starbucks baristas say sudden store closures last weekend, including three in Pittsburgh, prove they need a contract with the coffeehouse chain. Lack of a contract leaves little legal recourse to hold the company accountable for closings and layoffs, said Cas Borowitz, a Workers United staff organizer and barista at...
$100M recycling facility to replace ‘primitive’ slag pits at U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson plant
U.S. Steel’s notoriously outdated Edgar Thomson Works handles the molten substance left behind by smelting iron ore the same way it did 150 years ago: by dumping it into slag pits. They’re as low-tech as they sound. First, molten iron comes flowing from the blast furnaces. The slag, which rides...
Giant Eagle plans to invest $100M in strategic push amid heavy competition
Flush with cash after selling GetGo for $1.6 billion, Giant Eagle is prepared to spend more than $100 million to renovate stores and show customers it’s serious about lowering prices. The investment spree started Thursday and will run through 2026, marking the start of a “new era” for Giant Eagle,...
Pa., wary of federal guidance, turns to medical groups for vaccine advice
Pennsylvanians should get vaccine advice from professional medical associations, not Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services, state officials said Monday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health is telling patients and doctors to consult three organizations for guidance on shots: the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy...
Leo Gerard, United Steelworkers’ longest-tenured leader, dies at 78
Leo Gerard spent nearly two decades running the United Steelworkers, a Pittsburgh-based union with profound ties to American industry, but it was his frequent gaze abroad that labor figures say best defined his leadership. He set the tone early in his tenure, backing Liberian rubber workers in their fight for...
Bracing for the worst: Allegheny County agencies, nonprofits fear further federal cuts
Already hamstrung in numerous ways by the Trump administration, state and local government agencies as well as nonprofits are bracing for the worst in the upcoming federal funding bill. “Everything has been destabilized with the work that we do,” Jordan Golin, president and CEO of Jewish Family and Community Services...
Experts weigh in on new federal childhood vaccine guidance
A federal recommendation against giving youngsters a single catchall shot for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox falls in line with existing practices, medical experts told TribLive Friday. The combined vaccine, abbreviated as MMRV, should no longer be given to children under 4 years old, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices...
Fetterman breaks with party over tactics to keep Obamacare subsidies
Congressional Democrats won’t get any help from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman as they risk a government shutdown in a bid to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. The Braddock Democrat, who has a habit of breaking with his party at inopportune times, said Tuesday his philosophical opposition to shutdowns comes before his...
Chat with Trump at wrestling match helped salvage U.S. Steel deal, McCormick says
Just days after being sworn into office, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick had lunch with a group of U.S. Steel workers who favored the company’s sale to Nippon Steel. That January meeting convinced the Pittsburgh Republican of the controversial deal’s merits, McCormick said Wednesday at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C....
Highmark study: Surgery beats drugs like Ozempic for those looking to lose weight
Weight loss surgery is a cheaper and more effective way than medications like Ozempic for obese patients to shed pounds, according to a Highmark Health study released Wednesday that tracked thousands of people. Patients with severe obesity lost 28% of their weight on average, compared to just 10% with the...
Orr’s Jewelers leaving Squirrel Hill for Strip District bustle
Orr’s Jewelers is closing its Squirrel Hill store after more than two decades and opening a new one in the Strip District to capitalize on the neighborhood’s rapid redevelopment. The 10,000 square-foot Strip District shop will open by the end of the year in a converted warehouse on the 1600...
BNY AI lab coming to Carnegie Mellon as $10M investment in on-campus research
Bank of New York Mellon is creating an artificial intelligence lab at Carnegie Mellon University as part of a $10 million investment into research and recruiting at the school. The partnership was unveiled Thursday just before the start of Pittsburgh’s AI Horizons Summit, a two-day event for government and industry...
PRT asks Shapiro to shift $107M in funds to stave off cuts, fare hikes
Pittsburgh Regional Transit wants to use $107 million set aside for critical maintenance and repairs to stave off service cuts and fare hikes. The agency on Thursday asked Gov. Josh Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation if it can pull from a pot of money dedicated to transit infrastructure...
Darrin Kelly, fiery union leader, to step down from Western Pa. labor post
An electric passion for organized labor and a constant coffee drip have fueled Darrin Kelly in his seven years as boss of the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council. But the job has worn on him, Kelly told TribLive at his office in Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Heights neighborhood, the nerve center of a...
Dick’s Sporting Goods takes over Foot Locker in $2.4B deal
Dick’s Sporting Goods has officially bought Foot Locker for $2.4 billion. Already one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the U.S., the Findlay-based company has gone global by adding about 2,400 Foot Locker locations in 20 countries. The deal was unveiled in May and finalized Monday. Foot Locker and...
Giant Eagle to open pharmacies at former Rite Aid stores in Mt. Washington, Sewickley
Giant Eagle will open standalone pharmacies at former Rite Aid locations in Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington neighborhood and Sewickley, the company confirmed to TribLive on Monday. These will be similar to traditional drugstores, according to the Cranberry-based grocery chain, with a pharmacy counter as well as a wide selection of health...
PNC to acquire FirstBank for $4.1B, adding branches in Ariz., Colo.
Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank is buying a competitor in Arizona and Colorado for $4.1 billion. The bank announced Monday morning it’s absorbing 95 FirstBank branches and $27 billion in assets. FirstBank has a “leading” market position in Colorado and a “substantial presence” in Arizona, according to PNC. The number of PNC...
‘A true Italian festival:’ Local eats at Latrobe event draw hundreds
Latrobe can’t compete in size with the best-known Italian festival in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Little Italy Days in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood. But what the fourth annual Latrobe Italian Festival lacks in scale, attendees and vendors say it more than makes up for in local charm. “I consider this a true Italian...
102-year-old Avonmore woman killed in crash
A 102-year-old woman from Avonmore was killed after a driver ran a red light Friday along Route 22 in Burrell Township. The Indiana County Coroner’s Office has identified the woman as Mary Lutz. The vehicle in which Lutz was a passenger made a left turn out of Resort Plaza around...
Pedestrian fatally struck in White Township was lying across dark road, police say
A man was run over by a pickup truck Friday night while lying along a poorly lit road in White Township. The Indiana County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Bryan Boyd, 30, of Homer City. Just before midnight, troopers got word of a hit-and-run crash involving a pedestrian near...
2nd caretaker of 9-year-old girl found dead in Youghiogheny River charged
A second woman was charged in connection with the death of Renesmay Eutsey, a 9-year-old girl whose body was found in the Youghiogheny River on Thursday. Sarah Shipley, 35, of Dunbar Borough was charged with homicide as well as aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, abuse of a corpse,...
Volunteers pull around 200 tires from Youghiogheny River to stop chemical leaching
Digging rotting tires out of the mud might sound like a strange idea of fun, but it’s one shared by the 20-some volunteers who helped clean up the Youghiogheny River on Saturday morning. “You get a little exercise and you get to do something cool,” said Lindsay Forney, 39, of...

