Stephanie Ritenbaugh stories, Page 5
Life sciences company brings corporate headquarters to Lawrenceville
A drug development company is sinking its roots further into the region, moving its corporate headquarters to Lawrenceville after expanding its laboratory in the neighborhood. Predictive Oncology Inc., a publicly traded company that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to accelerate oncology drug discovery, recently expanded its footprint to nearly...
Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh workers seek to unionize
About 100 workers at the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh are seeking to unionize with the United Steelworkers union. It’s the latest in a series of efforts to organize workplaces in the region and nationally at a time when more workers are going on strike — or have been on...
‘There’s a mismatch’: Office vacancies continue to climb in Pittsburgh region
The lights have gone out in more office buildings in the Pittsburgh area, resulting in a new record high for vacancies in the region. It’s a continuing trend that’s throwing the local market out of whack as everyone figures out what a post-pandemic workplace should be. “With the office market...
Beaver County communities to receive $5 million from Shell cracker settlement
Beaver County will receive $5 million as part of a settlement over air quality violations at Shell Chemical Appalachia’s cracker plant to use for community projects. The funding is due to a consent order announced in May in which Shell Chemicals Appalachia agreed to pay nearly $10 million for air...
UPMC appoints physician to senior vice president role
UPMC has named Dr. Oscar Marroquin as senior vice president, UPMC, and president of UPMC Physician Services Division, including president of University of Pittsburgh Physicians. He will oversee UPP and Community Medicine, which includes more than 5,000 employed physicians and staff. Marroquin is currently UPMC’s chief health care data and...
Medical marijuana company to close Pennsylvania operations, laying off 76
A medical marijuana company, Goodblend Pennsylvania LLC, is closing its operations in the state, affecting 76 jobs. The company has a facility on Beaver Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Chateau neighborhood, which is expected to shutter by Sept. 15. It also has dispensaries along Baum Boulevard in Friendship and one in Erie,...
Deadline to get Real ID in Pennsylvania is pushed back again
If you vaguely recall hearing something about Real ID requirements, you haven’t imagined it. It’s still happening. The new deadline is May 7, 2025. Previously, the deadline to get your Real ID, identification that will be necessary to fly or access some federal facilities, was in 2020. The covid-19 pandemic...
Report: Rising gambling revenue for June closes out record haul for fiscal year
June proved to be another lucrative month for Pennsylvania’s gambling joints. Last month, the combined total revenue generated from all forms of gaming clocked in at nearly $440.5 million, a 13% increase compared to June 2022, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Still, it was a drop compared to...
Fitch downgrades Heritage Valley’s rating
Fitch Ratings has downgraded its rating that assesses Heritage Valley Health System’s vulnerability of default to A+ from AA-. The downgrade of the hospital system’s reflects “several years of sizeable operating losses” and ongoing challenges that emerged before the covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020. The report cited pressures due to...
The unemployment rate is low. So why is the Fed worried about the economy?
The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in June. While it was a smaller increase than expected, it still lowered the unemployment rate to a solid 3.6%. For the Pittsburgh region, whose figures lag behind the national data, the unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point to a 47-year-record low...
Wilkins Starbucks workers seek to decertify union representation
Some workers at the Penn Center East Starbucks in Wilkins Township are petitioning the National Labor Relations Board to hold a vote to decertify the union representing employees at the coffee shop. Penn Center East joined Starbucks Workers United last year. The employee who submitted the petition, Elizabeth Gulliford, is...
AGH nurses urge call for staffing, safety improvements as negotiations loom
Citing an ongoing shortage of nurses and concerns for patient safety, the unionized registered nurses of Allegheny General Hospital urged health care workers throughout the region to demand improvements to staffing levels. At a news conference Wednesday at Allegheny Commons Park North in Pittsburgh, the RNs represented by SEIU Healthcare...
Report: Shell’s ethane plant in Beaver County has not spurred growth
Shell’s massive petrochemical plant in Beaver County has yet to spur major economic growth in the region, according to a recent study by nonprofit research group. “Since 2012, when the project was first announced, the most recent economic data available show Beaver County has lagged both the state and the...
AHN, Cigna ink 1-year contract, working on longer deal
Allegheny Health Network and Cigna Healthcare reached a deal on a one-year contract while the two organizations work over the next two weeks on a longer, multi-year agreement. The deal is meant to ensure that Cigna Healthcare customers will continue to have in-network access to the Pittsburgh-based health care system’s...
Fitzgerald takes county minimum wage increase to court
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is asking a court to weigh in on whether the executive’s office or council can determine wages for public employees. The move follows a vote by county council last week that overrode Fitzgerald’s veto of an ordinance that would raise the minimum wage for county...
Marc Fogel Act seeks transparency in wrongful detainment designations for Americans
A bipartisan group of Pennsylvania congressmen on Tuesday introduced the Marc Fogel Act, a bill named for an Oakmont teacher who was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison for possessing a small amount of medical marijuana. The lawmakers said the legislation would require the State Department to be...
NICU reunion brings together former patients of all ages to celebrate survival
Treating infants in the neonatal intensive care unit means caring for babies who are the “sickest of the sick” and the “tiniest of the tiny.” For the doctors, nurses and others treating little patients at such a fragile stage, seeing those kids grow up is a chance to celebrate. “Sometimes,...
Rachel Carson Trail serves up adversity, accomplishment
Overcast skies were a welcome sight for the hundreds of hikers who braved the Rachel Carson Trail on Saturday. It kept the brutal sun from beating down on folks traversing the physically demanding 36-mile stretch between Harrison Hills Park and North Park. But the occasional rain meant some paths on...
Diocese of Pittsburgh welcomes salesman, butcher, pilgrim into priesthood
A salesman, a butcher and a pilgrim — three men who chose to exit the secular world and don the priest’s collar. On Saturday, a morning Mass marked the ordination into the priesthood of Daniel James D’Antonio, Thomas Glynn Kadlick and Jacob Henry Gruber at St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh’s...
Programming changes could be coming to WESA, WYEP radio during ‘challenging times’
Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation plans to offer voluntary buyouts to two of its reporters and programming changes could be forthcoming along with staffing adjustments. PCBC owns WESA-FM, the local NPR affiliate, and WYEP. The employees are represented by SAG-AFTRA, a national union for broadcasters. In a letter sent to members,...
UPMC partners with Florida company to develop cancer medicines
UPMC is partnering with a Florida pharmaceutical company to build a manufacturing center in Oakland to create novel medicines that could be a new way to treat cancer and other diseases. The Pittsburgh health care system is collaborating with PharmaLogic Holdings Corp. to develop radiopharmaceuticals, an emerging field in health...
UPMC plans to acquire Washington Health System
UPMC is acquiring Washington Health System, adding to the Pittsburgh health care giant’s massive footprint. WHS announced the deal on Tuesday, saying the two health care providers have signed a nonbinding letter of intent to integrate the Washington-based health system into UPMC. “Our primary focus is to ensure the residents...
Atria’s in O’Hara to close as new restaurant moves in
After about 20 years serving pasta, steaks and seafood in O’Hara, Atria’s will be closing its doors. The restaurant, which has been operating since 2003, plans to close Sunday. Incoming is Tepache Mexican Kitchen and Bar, which has a location in Mars. “We own that particular location and had an...
New management to take over Galley Bakery Square food hall
New management is taking over Galley Bakery Square, the popular food hall concept meant to be an incubator for chefs starting up in the restaurant industry. The changes at the East End destination came as a surprise to some and brought frustration. Ashley McCoy’s restaurant Revival — one of four...
UPMC contractor detects patient data breach
A contractor for UPMC said it discovered a data breach that could have impacted customer and patient information. Tennessee-based Intellihartx LLC said it found that its secure file transfer service provider, Fortra, “experienced a data security incident.” The company undertook an investigation to figure out the scope of the incident....
