Mike Palm stories, Page 24
One of Pittsburgh area’s first Chick-fil-A stores set to close
One of the first Chick-fil-A locations in the Pittsburgh area is closing at the end of the month. March 31 will be the last day of operations for the Chick-fil-A at Ross Park Mall, according to a sign at the business. The mall’s food court eatery first opened in August...
New covid cases for Allegheny, Westmoreland, Pa. remain above 7-day average
Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, as well as Pennsylvania, all reported new coronavirus cases higher than their seven-day averages on Wednesday. Allegheny added 285 cases, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, 38 higher than its seven-day average of 247. Westmoreland’s 73 additional cases are above its average of 65, while...
Pennsylvania hits 1 million mark on full covid vaccinations
Pennsylvania surpassed 1 million residents fully vaccinated on Wednesday, according to the state’s department of health. As of Wednesday morning, the state’s covid-19 vaccine dashboard shows there have been 1,016,979 fully vaccinated and 1,094,679 people partially vaccinated. The state figures do not include Philadelphia County, which is handling its own...
3 Pittsburgh comic book artists join famed artist Rob Liefeld for G.I. Joe issueVideo
Three Pittsburgh comic book artists are joining in on the final issue of “Snake Eyes: Deadgame,” a G.I. Joe comic written and drawn by famed artist Rob Liefeld. Issue five of the IDW Publishing mini-series arrives in April, and it will feature work by area artists Ed Piskor, Jim Rugg...
Allegheny County reports 186 covid cases, 17 deaths
Allegheny County saw 186 additional coronavirus cases and 17 deaths reported on Wednesday, according to the county’s health department. Those cases — 105 confirmed and 81 probable — bring the county’s total to 77,239 since the pandemic began last March. Daily case totals have dropped significantly in the past three...
Pennsylvania adds 2,577 covid cases, 69 deaths
Pennsylvania added 2,577 more coronavirus cases on Wednesday, its highest total in the past four days. The additional cases bring the state’s total to 938,411, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state also added 69 deaths to increase that total to 24,169. Philadelphia had the most new cases...
Westmoreland County covid hospitalizations rise, sit at 5th highest in state
Westmoreland County covid-19 hospitalizations increased for the second straight day on Wednesday, with the county having the fifth-most coronavirus patients hospitalized in the state. The county added four more patients to bring its total to 120, rising from 116 Tuesday and 111 on Monday. Westmoreland sits behind Philadelphia (249), Allegheny...
Westmoreland County adds 84 covid cases, 3 deaths
Westmoreland County on Wednesday added 84 new coronavirus cases and three deaths, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The county’s totals now stand at 25,516 cases and 645 deaths associated with covid-19. Of those newly added cases, 26 are confirmed and 58 are probable. According to the state’s covid-19...
Pennsylvania adds 3,378 covid cases; Fayette County surpasses 10,000 cases
Fayette County became the 27th county in Pennsylvania to surpass 10,000 coronavirus cases on Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 29 additional cases to bring Fayette’s total to 10,022. In the region, Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland have already surpassed that mark. Overall in the state, 3,378 additional...
Allegheny County hits lowest covid hospitalization number since November, adds 35 deaths
Covid-19 patient hospitalizations in Allegheny County decreased by 27 on Wednesday, bringing the total to 249, the lowest since Nov. 11. According to the state’s covid-19 dashboard, there are currently 249 coronavirus patients hospitalized in the county. For perspective, there were 542 patients hospitalized a month ago (Jan. 10) and...
Covid hospitalizations continue to drop in Pennsylvania
Covid hospitalizations in Pennsylvania are on a downward trend, decreasing more than 500 in a week. Data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health shows the number of coronavirus patients dropped 544 from 3,768 a week ago to 3,224 Wednesday. The number also shrunk by 57 from Tuesday’s 3,281. There are...
Westmoreland County shows signs of covid cases dropping
Westmoreland County’s seven-day average of new coronavirus cases (90) remained in double digits for the fourth straight day after averaging triple-digit new cases every day from Nov. 12 through Jan. 30. The county on Wednesday reported 115 additional covid-19 cases, as well as four deaths, according to the Pennsylvania Department...
Allegheny County adds 33 covid-19 deaths to total
Allegheny County reported 33 more covid-19 deaths Wednesday, according to the county’s Health Department. The newly reported deaths range from Dec. 19 to Monday, with four of the deaths occurring in December. The county attributed some of the new deaths to data imported by the state from the Electronic Death...
‘Silence of the Lambs’ house in Fayette County sells again
The sale of a Fayette County home made famous by its appearance in “The Silence of the Lambs” couldn’t have been more timely. The Perryopolis home — at 8 Circle St. — sold last week, just a few days shy of the 30th anniversary of the release of “The Silence...
Wilkinsburg author Deesha Philyaw in running for 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
Wilkinsburg author Deesha Philyaw is continuing to rack up literary accolades. Philyaw’s “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies” was named to the longlist for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, America’s largest peer-juried literary prize, on Tuesday. In October, Philyaw’s story collection was named a finalist in the fiction category...
Pittsburgh ranks 19th-worst city for bed bugs
Here’s a list on which Pittsburgh should be relieved it ranks only in the middle of the pack. A survey released Monday by pest control specialists Orkin ranks Pittsburgh as the 19th-worst city for bed bugs. Pittsburgh also ranked 19th last year and 24th the year before that. The worst...
Munhall comic book creator Ed Piskor launching horror title ‘Red Room’Video
Munhall’s Ed Piskor knows his new comic book series “Red Room” isn’t for everybody. The gore-soaked, sci-fi/horror monthly series launches in May. Here’s the synopsis of “Red Room”: “In Red Room, criminals livestream murders on the dark web for fun and profit. The series will be told through a series...
Pennsylvania adds 5,874 covid cases, highest in a week
Pennsylvania added 5,874 additional cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the highest number in the past week. The newly added cases from the Pennsylvania Department of Health raise the state’s total to 818,369. Of the 222 deaths newly reported Wednesday, 214 are from January, seven are from December and one is...
Westmoreland County covid cases continue downward climb
Westmoreland County has added triple-digit new coronavirus cases for all but four days this month, but cases are on an overall downward trend. The county had 141 coronavirus cases and three deaths added to its totals Wednesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The county has averaged 106 cases...
Allegheny County covid cases continue to trend lower than past months
Allegheny County added 376 new coronavirus cases to its totals on Wednesday, the second-highest total in the state, but far removed from where it stood a month ago. Allegheny’s new cases trailed only Luzerne County, which added 468, yet the numbers have declined greatly in recent weeks. Just one month...
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.’s 1st mock draft shows Steelers selecting OLB
ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. released his first projections for the 2021 NFL Draft on Tuesday, with the Pittsburgh Steelers choosing Tulsa outside linebacker Zaven Collins at No. 24. In eight games this season, Collins had 53 tackles, including 11.5 tackles for loss, plus four sacks, four interceptions and...
Godiva closing its U.S. chocolate stores, including 1 at Ross Park Mall
Luxury chocolatier Godiva is closing all of its brick and mortar stores in the United States. The company will exit its 128 physical locations, some through sales and others through closures, by the end of the first quarter of 2021. Locally, Godiva has a store at Ross Park Mall in...
Chick-fil-A debuts grilled spicy deluxe chicken sandwich
The spicy chicken sandwich wars are heating up with another new entry. Chick-fil-A added a grilled spicy deluxe chicken sandwich to its lineup on Monday, joining a menu that already features a pressure-cooked spicy chicken sandwich. “We know guests are looking to add more variety to their meals, especially after...
Westmoreland County adds 173 covid cases, 12 deaths
Westmoreland County had 173 coronavirus cases and 12 deaths added to its totals Wednesday. The county now has 23,624 cases and 553 deaths, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of the newly reported cases, 93 are confirmed and 80 are probable. The county’s seven-day average of new cases dropped...
Pennsylvania reports 401 coronavirus deaths, 5,984 cases
Pennsylvania added 401 coronavirus deaths to its total Wednesday, which rose to 19,868, according to the state’s health department. The state also added 5,984 covid cases to raise the total to 783,170 since the pandemic began in March. It’s the third-highest single-day report of deaths, with only 554 on May...

