Natasha Lindstrom stories, Page 9
Penn Hills Elementary closes after 4 more covid cases in a week
Penn Hills Elementary School will close its campus a week after to reopening to students because four people associated with the school tested positive for covid-19, district officials said Sunday. The Allegheny County Health Department advised the school to switch to all-virtual learning for at least a week, according to...
Police investigate shooting in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood
Police are investigating an apparent shooting early Saturday in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood. Shortly before 3 a.m., authorities received a ShotSpotter alert of gunshots fired in the 200 block of Estella Street, Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said. Police officers from the city’s Zone 3 station arrived to find “a...
Western Pa. officials prep for possible violence prior to Biden’s inauguration
Public safety leaders and police in Western Pennsylvania are preparing for possible demonstrations and violence in the Pittsburgh area in the days leading up to the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden as Twitter warns of a potential “secondary attack” on the U.S. Capitol. Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich confirmed...
Pa. Republicans to delay Sen. Brewster’s oath of office for ‘time to digest’ Ziccarrelli’s election dispute
Pennsylvania’s top Republican in the Senate called Monday night for holding off on swearing in Democratic state Sen. Jim Brewster, spurring staunch criticism from Democrats who argue doing so defies state-certified election results and multiple court rulings. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, a Centre County Republican, defended his decision...
Harrison fire captain: Hoarding contributes to stubborn house fireVideo
Firefighters spent more than two hours knocking down a fire that broke out Thursday night at a Harrison home because of “very heavy hoarding conditions,” Harrison Hills Fire Captain Jules Beer said. No one was seriously injured in the fire that ripped through the house, according to Beer. Two firefighters...
Dick Thornburgh remembered by Western Pa. dignitaries for leadership, empathy, intellect
Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all state and American flags at public buildings statewide to fly at half-staff Thursday upon learning of the death of former U.S. Attorney General and Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh. Wolf, a Democrat, described Thornburgh, a Republican, as “an unequaled public servant.” “He guided Pennsylvania through a...
Allegheny County ‘getting faster’ at distributing covid-19 vaccines, health director says
Allegheny County Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen pledged that the region’s vaccine distribution is on track to ramp up as 2021 begins. “We’ve now got a rhythm and we’re getting faster,” Bogen said during a virtual news conference Wednesday afternoon. Bogen shrugged off criticism over the local pace of administering...
Man accused of shooting McKeesport police officer arrested in West Virginia
The man accused of shooting a McKeesport police officer was nabbed Tuesday evening by U.S. Marshals, bringing a nine-day manhunt to an end at a West Virginia apartment complex. Koby Lee Francis, 22, of McKeesport was found at a Clarksburg apartment and arrested shortly after 6 p.m. in connection to...
Troy Hill man accused of stabbing man in face arrested after SWAT standoff
Police arrested a man accused of stabbing another man in the face during a street fight Tuesday afternoon in Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill neighborhood. Edward Terle, 32, of Troy Hill was detained and charged with aggravated assault after a nearly 45-minute SWAT standoff. Authorities received a report at about 1:15 p.m....
UPMC reports $17B revenue despite pandemic
The covid-19 pandemic does not appear to be threatening the financial strength nor slowing the growth of UPMC, according to the health giant’s executives and newly released documents. Buoyed by federal aid and insurance revenue gains, UPMC’s total revenue from January through October reached nearly $17 billion — 11% higher...
Pa.’s new ‘Pennie’ health exchange in jeopardy if Trump’s ACA lawsuit prevails
Pennsylvania’s new state-run health exchange is among the many pieces of the Affordable Care Act that would be in peril if the Trump administration’s attack on it prevails in the Supreme Court, consumer advocates warn. The state’s insurance enrollment system, called Pennie, debuts this season’s open enrollment period, which runs...
Pittsburgh schools’ Westinghouse Academy to close after 1 student, 2 staffers contract covid-19
Westinghouse Academy will close until Dec. 1 because a student and two staffers tested positive this week for covid-19, Pittsburgh Public Schools officials said. All three people last were at the campus on Friday, Nov. 13, according todistrict spokeswoman Ebony Pugh. The school, located on Murtland Street in Pittsburgh’s Homewood...
3 charged with homicide in Wilkinsburg shooting that killed 1, injured 2
Three people have been charged with homicide in connection to a Wilkinsburg shooting last year that killed a 22-year-old man and injured two women, police said Friday. Herbert Lee Walker III, 24, and Kenya Harper, 25, are charged with homicide and conspiracy, court records show. Both were arrested and booked...
Hill District residents, firms tapped to guide $1B redevelopment of former Civic Arena in Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Penguins and a private developer behind the $1 billion redevelopment project in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District have tapped four Hill District residents and firms to guide the years-long project’s final planning stages. The additions come as the long-discussed project on 28 acres of the former Civic Arena site...
Covid spike prompts Carnegie Library system to halt in-person visits
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is closing all branches to visitors in response to Allegheny County’s newly imposed stay-at-home advisory to thwart the spread of the coronavirus. In a statement Wednesday night, Carnegie Library officials described the decision, effective immediately, as a “preventive measure” while covid-19 cases continue to climb...
Police: Beltzhoover man sprays police dog with stain remover before South Side arrest
A Beltzhoover man ran from the site of a shooting on Pittsburgh’s South Side, forced his way into a family’s basement and sprayed a police dog with fabric stain remover before he was arrested Tuesday night, officials said. Deonte Donald Kidd, 26 was charged with criminal trespass, resisting arrest and...
Sunnyside public school closes after 2nd staffer tests positive for covid
Pittsburgh Public School’s Sunnyside campus in the city’s Stanton Heights neighborhood will close for the next two weeks after a second staffer tested positive for covid-19, officials said Wednesday. The employee at the Stanton Avenue school — which enrolls pre-schoolers through eighth-graders — was last at the Sunnyside building on...
Police: 1 killed, 1 injured after being shot in Pittsburgh’s Hill District
One person was shot and killed and a second person was injured Tuesday morning in the city’s Hill District. Police and medics responded to 911 calls about a shooting and a ShotSpotter alert in the 2500 block of Bedford Avenue at about 11 a.m., Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews...
Highmark CEO pay climbs to $8.15M, triple what he made in 2016
Highmark Health CEO David Holmberg’s total compensation last year was $8.15 million — more than triple what the nonprofit health system executive made four years ago, newly filed Internal Revenue Service records show. Holmberg’s salary and related compensation increased by about $660,000 in 2019, marking an 8.8% pay hike from...
Pittsburgh man gets 4 years for supplying heroin, fentanyl to South Side street gang
A former Pittsburgh man will spend four years and nine months behind bars for supplying heroin and fentanyl to a drug trafficking gang linked to the South Side, federal prosecutors said. Rico Taylor, 35, also must spend three years on probation following his release from prison, U.S. District Judge William...
Polling industry again faces criticism, but most got it right in presidential race
Days before President-elect Joe Biden declared victory, with millions of votes still being counted, pundits as well as regular voters were quick to condemn the polling industry for failing to gauge just how tight the 2020 presidential race initially seemed to be. Democrats hoping to watch a blue wave roll...
Homestead heroin dealer caught laundering drug money while behind bars
A former Homestead man has been sentenced to an additional three years and five months in prison for scheming to launder drug money while behind bars on a prior heroin trafficking conviction, federal prosecutors said Friday. Thomas Hopes, 29, already was serving a decades-long sentence when he was caught committing...
Grand jury indicts Pittsburgh man accused of extorting minors for nude photos
A federal grand jury has indicted a former Pittsburgh resident who confessed to threatening to kill the families of minors around the country unless they sent him sexually explicit photos via Instagram. Markell Smith, 24, formerly of the city’s Hill District faces charges of child sexual exploitation and making threats...
1 hospitalized after van strikes Port Authority bus in Pittsburgh’s Strip District
A minivan crashed into a Port Authority of Allegheny County bus Friday night in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, sending the van’s driver to the hospital in serious condition, officials said. The crash happened shortly before 6:30 p.m. in the 1600 block of Liberty Avenue, a couple blocks from the 16th Street...
Rep. Davis to chair Allegheny County Democratic Delegation; Rep. Miller to helm Pa. House Caucus
State Rep. Austin Davis said Friday that after addressing the pandemic’s impact, he plans to prioritize investing in infrastructure and economic development in his new role as chair of the 2021-22 Allegheny County House Democratic Delegation. The 31-year-old, third-term lawmaker from McKeesport told the Tribune-Review that he will focus on...
