Megan Guza stories, Page 10
Motorcyclist killed in West End Bridge crash
One man died in a motorcycle crash Saturday evening in Pittsburgh, according to police. Police responded to the West End Bridge about 7:30 p.m. and found a motorcyclist on the roadway. Two other vehicles were also involved in the crash, a police spokesman said. The motorcyclist, who was wearing a...
Hundreds celebrate St. Patrick’s Day early at New Kensington pub crawl
Green beer, Irish whiskey, and everything in between flowed a week early in New Kensington on Saturday as hundreds turned out for the Pre-Patty’s Pub Crawl event that saw patrons shuttled from bar to bar, decked out in as much green as possible. The event was put together by the...
Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh region hit record high gas prices
Pennsylvania gas prices hit a record high Saturday, according to AAA. The average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline in the state rose to $4.08, topping the previous high of $4.05 set in June 2008. Officials with AAA said earlier in the week that increases in demand for gas...
Man accused of killing Karli Short and their unborn child ordered to stand trialVideo
Percy Quinn Rees said the last time he saw his niece, 26-year-old Karli Short, they were watching television together. Or rather, he said, she was watching television. He wasn’t much interested in the program, but Short always had control of the remote. Rees spoke of those moments Friday during a...
U.S. Steel hit with $859K in fines by Allegheny County Health Department
U.S. Steel on Thursday was hit with more than $800,000 worth of fines by the Allegheny County Health Department for alleged pollution and permit violations at the Clairton Coke Works last year. The health department said the violations happened during the second, third and fourth quarters of the year. U.S....
Father searching for answers after son shot and killed in Homestead
The father of a man killed last week in Allegheny County is searching for answers and justice in his son’s death. Jason Sterling Chavis said he was at his Johnstown home Friday morning when police knocked on his door to tell him that his son, 25-year-old Jason Nicholas Chavis, had...
Allegheny County has ‘turned a corner’ in covid pandemic, health official says
Allegheny County’s top health official said Wednesday that she is optimistic the county has “turned a corner” in the covid-19 pandemic, though disparities remain high among Black residents in every metric, including vaccination rates. “I am an optimist at heart, and I am optimistic that we have turned a corner,”...
CDC loosens mask guidance, Pa. health chief says state moving into ‘next phase’ of living with covid
As the federal government loosens masking guidance for a majority of healthy Americans, Pennsylvania officials said they will follow suit while keeping an eye on covid-related hospital admissions and case counts should they begin to rise again. “Pennsylvania is moving in the right direction,” said Acting Secretary of Health Keara...
Pa. officials address concerns about vaccination data
State health officials on Thursday said there should not be concern over the veracity of federal data they used to tout the state’s covid-19 vaccination rate among adults as 95%. In a release from Gov. Tom Wolf’s office Wednesday, officials celebrated the milestone that a spokesperson said was based on...
Police: Verona woman took daughter she didn’t have custody of to Illinois
A Verona faces woman kidnapping and other charges for taking a daughter over whom she did not have custody to Illinois, according to police. Brandi Bailey, 34, is charged with kidnapping, burglary, interfering with the custody of a child, concealing the whereabouts of a child and endangering the welfare of...
Hospital worker survey will help Gainey administration understand industry challenges
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s transition team plans to undertake a massive survey of Pittsburgh hospital workers, hoping the information gleaned will help the city lessen the challenges that are driving health care workers away from the bedside. Jake Pawlak, Gainey’s transition director and head of the city’s Office of Management...
Nonprofit Every Child named Champion in Action by Citizens Bank
A nonprofit providing support and clinical services to families in the region will embark upon a campaign advocating for children with obsessive-compulsive disorder with the help of a $35,000 award from Citizens Bank, officials announced Wednesday. The award, from the bank’s Champions in Action program, will go toward Every Child’s...
Pa. touts high covid vaccine rate using questionable data
Pennsylvania officials on Wednesday touted a milestone in covid-19 vaccinations based on federal data, though some experts have for months cast doubt on the veracity of those numbers. Gov. Tom Wolf, using numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, declared on Twitter and in a press release that...
Pittsburgh Diocese: Bishop David Zubik surgery successful, injury worse than thought
Bishop David Zubik underwent successful shoulder surgery Monday, but Diocese of Pittsburgh officials said the bishop’s injury was worse than initially thought. The surgery to repair a “significant tear” in Zubik’s left shoulder took two hours, said diocesan spokesperson Jennifer Antkowiak. The surgeon at UPMC Mercy found the damage more...
Police: Teen charged in Squirrel Hill Tunnel crash had gun, marijuana
A teenager ran out of his shoes when he fled from state troopers after a brief chase and crash in the Squirrel Hill Tunnel on Wednesday, according to the charges against him. Cash Jones, 18, is charged with carrying a firearm without a license, fleeing police, driving under the influence...
Police: Shots fired in Downtown Pittsburgh road rage incident
An apparent road rage incident ended in gunfire in Downtown Pittsburgh early Thursday, authorities said. The incident happened about 12:20 a.m. near the intersection of Smithfield Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard, police said. A man told officers he was driving behind a red Chevy Impala that was blocking two lanes,...
Allegheny County’s covid-19 stats ‘headed in a favorable direction,’ health director says
All of the covid-19 metrics in Allegheny County right now are “headed in a favorable direction” as average daily case counts, testing positivity rates and hospitalizations tick downward after a particularly deadly January, county Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said Wednesday. “As we come out of the omicron surge,” she...
Repairs to Port Authority bridge likely to take up to 3 months, cost $2M
Repairs to Port Authority of Allegheny County’s bridge over Saw Mill Run Boulevard in Pittsburgh could take up to three months and cost more than $2 million, transit officials said Wednesday. An engineer discovered part of the bridge structure had shifted earlier this month, causing an “abnormally large gap” at...
Diocese of Pittsburgh to lift mask mandates for church and school at month’s end
Mask mandates will end in Catholic schools and parishes in the Diocese of Pittsburgh at the end of the month, diocesan officials said Tuesday. The mask requirement will be lifted Saturday, Feb. 26 for parishioners and Monday, Feb. 28 for students at diocesan elementary and high schools. Masks will still...
Audit finds Bethel Park School District received $200K in overpayments from state
A state audit of the Bethel Park School District turned up poor record-keeping and inaccurate reporting that led to the district receiving overpayments of more than $200,000 in state reimbursements. The overpayment — $220,913 in total – came from inaccurate numbers regarding student transportation reported to the state Department of...
Police: Turtle Creek mother found in woods dead was shot
An Uber driver with four children who was found dead Saturday in a wooded area in Monroeville had been shot, Allegheny County Police said Monday. Christi Spicuzza, 38, of Turtle Creek, was reported missing by her family Friday night after she did not return home from driving several Uber fares,...
McKeesport’s Versailles Avenue Bridge shut down because of safety concerns
McKeesport officials shut down the Versailles Avenue Bridge on Friday, citing safety concerns over the already deteriorating condition of the bridge combined with the wild temperature swings of late. “One day, our temperatures are in the teens, and the next, they’re in the 50s,” Mayor Michael Cherepko said. “There’s a...
Couple injured in Fern Hollow Bridge collapse to sue Pittsburgh, Port Authority, PennDOT
A Penn Hills couple injured when Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed last month will sue Port Authority of Allegheny County, PennDOT and the city of Pittsburgh, attorneys said Friday. Tyrone Perry was driving with his wife, Velva, across the bridge over Frick Park when it collapsed around 6:40 a.m. Jan....
Covid continues decline in Western Pa., expert says ‘worst of pandemic is largely over’
Covid-19 cases dropped by more than half over the past week in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties as well as statewide, and an infectious disease expert says the statistics likely signal the omicron-driven surge has reached its peak. From Jan. 30 to Feb. 5, Allegheny County recorded 3,850 cases, an average...
Brief standoff ends with arrest of man on Allegheny County Sheriff’s ‘most wanted’ list
A brief standoff Tuesday morning ended in the arrest of a Pittsburgh man on the Allegheny County Sheriff’s “most wanted” list with four outstanding warrants, according to Sheriff Kevin Kraus. Authorities said Carlos L. Hart Jr., 27, of Stanton Heights, was wanted on three arrest warrants and a bench warrant....
