Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1070
City of Pittsburgh begins disciplining unvaccinated employees
The city of Pittsburgh announced Thursday that it has begun disciplining employees who have yet to be vaccinated against covid-19. Mayor Bill Peduto in November issued an executive order requiring all city employees — except those with an accepted medical or religious exception — to be fully vaccinated by Dec....
Wilkinsburg severs ties with borough development group over annexation debate
Wilkinsburg Borough Council has voted to sever all ties with the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation, the organization calling for Pittsburgh to annex the neighboring borough. The Wilkinsburg CDC — which initially was tasked with revitalizing Wilkinsburg’s main business corridor when it was formed in 2008 — has “failed in its...
Several Westmoreland municipalities sign on to proposed opioid suit settlement
Westmoreland County’s largest municipalities are beginning to line up to join the county in a proposed national settlement of lawsuits against drug companies stemming from the ongoing opioid epidemic. Unity Township, in a special meeting Thursday, was one of the latest to sign on for the proposed $26 billion national...
Lab-confirmed cases of omicron variant detected in Allegheny County
A day after the Allegheny County health director said the covid-19 omicron variant had been found in the county’s wastewater, lab testing has identified two confirmed cases of the quick-spreading variant, officials said. One test was collected from a man Dec. 7, and it was confirmed to be the omicron...
Former Penn Township policeman cited for hunting violations
A retired Penn Township policeman was cited by the state game commission this month for five summary hunting violations. Authorities said Augustine DeGuffroy, 66, illegally shot an antlerless deer on Dec. 1 along Richmond Drive in Penn Township. DeGuffroy, a township resident, did not have a hunting license at the...
U.K. data suggest hospitalization is less likely with omicron
LONDON — Preliminary data suggest that people with the omicron variant of the coronavirus are between 50% and 70% less likely to need hospitalization than those with the delta strain, Britain’s public health agency said Thursday. The U.K. Health Security Agency findings add to emerging evidence that omicron produces milder...
Trump asks Supreme Court to block release of documents
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump turned to the Supreme Court on Thursday in a last-ditch effort to keep documents away from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol led by his supporters. Trump’s attorneys asked the Supreme Court to reverse lower court rulings against the...
Pittsburgh argues that Italian-American group has no right to challenge Columbus statue removal
Attorneys for the City of Pittsburgh said that a lawsuit filed against it last year to save the Christopher Columbus statue at Schenley Park ought to be dismissed because the organization that filed it doesn’t have standing. In documents filed last week in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, the city...
Pittsburgh police recover car stolen at New Kensington Sheetz
A car stolen Wednesday night from New Kensington was recovered about five hours later by Pittsburgh police, New Kensington police Chief Bob Deringer said. The car, a 2021 Audi S5 sport sedan, was taken from the parking lot at Sheetz on Freeport Street shortly before 10 p.m., Deringer said. It...
U.S. adds Merck’s covid pill as 2nd easy-to-use drug against virus
WASHINGTON — U.S. health regulators on Thursday authorized the second pill against covid-19, providing another easy-to-use medication to battle the rising tide of omicron infections. The Food and Drug Administration authorization comes one day after the agency cleared a competing drug from Pfizer. That pill is likely to become the...
Consumer prices up 5.7% over past year, fastest in 39 years
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years, as a surge in inflation confronts Americans with the holiday shopping season under way. The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in...
Westmoreland County DA-elect Nicole Ziccarelli says transition team not getting cooperation from predecessor
Westmoreland County District Attorney-elect Nicole Ziccarelli said Wednesday she and her new administrative team are set to begin work Jan. 3 to replace outgoing prosecutor John Peck, who she said has so far refused to cooperate with the transition. “My predecessor is not interested in creating a transition team with...
Ligonier man’s Christmas story takes on new life
Carl Smith was a young father, worried about disappointing his children 50 years ago when he spun a Christmas tale that became a family tradition. At the time, he had no idea the tale would take on a life of its own, going so far as to be featured in...
Kiski police arrest Vandergrift woman in North Apollo stabbing
Kiski police have arrested a woman accused of stabbing a man in North Apollo early Thursday morning. Police said the suspect, Amy Hepler, 38, of Vandergrift turned herself in at approximately 9 a.m. Police said officers responded around 2:15 a.m. to a report of a domestic assault at a home...
Crashes, diesel spill cause traffic headaches on inbound Parkway East
Crashes and a diesel fuel spill caused the inbound Parkway East in Pittsburgh to be closed for a time Thursday morning. There were believed to be at least two separate crashes after the Squirrel Hill tunnel between Bates Street and the Boulevard of the Allies, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV reported....
Pittsburgh region won’t see a white Christmas, like most years
If you are pining for that nostalgic white Christmas depicted on holiday greeting cards with billowing swirls of clean snow, don’t look to the Pittsburgh region this weekend. Christmas Day will be unseasonably warm, with a potential high of 57 degrees and a low of 42, said David Shallenberger, lead...
Kim Potter guilty of manslaughter in Daunte Wright’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — A suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for her Taser was convicted of manslaughter Thursday in the death of Daunte Wright, prompting tears from the young Black man’s parents and a jubilant celebration by supporters outside the courthouse who chanted “Guilty, guilty, guilty!” The...
Supreme Court will hear arguments on Biden vaccine requirements
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says it will hold a special session in just over two weeks to hear arguments on the Biden administration’s vaccine or testing requirement for large employers and a separate vaccine requirement for healthcare workers, an announcement that comes amid rising coronavirus cases. The high court...
Experts say more must be done by Pittsburgh in response to Jim Rogers’ death
From the initial stop to the decision to frisk. From the way the frisk was executed to the decision to pull out a taser. From how the taser was deployed to how all of the officers at the scene responded, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police failed in its handling of...
Lost dog Scoobee found in Wilkins, owners rejoice
Call it a Christmas miracle. Scoobee, the 60-pound shepherd/pitbull mix that escaped from the Banfield Veterinary Hospital in Monroeville on Friday - and had been on the run - was found by a man in Wilkins on Wednesday. He called police who came to pick her up and notified the...
Allegheny health director: More than 400 covid deaths since October
More than 400 people have died in Allegheny County covid-related deaths in the past three months, including 97 in December, county Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said Wednesday. Covid-19 case counts remain at a daily average of 600 per day, while “hospitalizations remain high, as do deaths,” Bogen said. “I...
Gov. Wolf vetoes GOP bill to post school course materials online
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a bill on Wednesday that would have required school districts to post information about textbooks, course material and state academic standards online. The Democratic governor said the legislation “politicizes what is being taught in our schools” and that state regulations already require public...
Holiday travel on Pennsylvania Turnpike expected to jump by 40% over last year
Officials predict more than 5.4 million motorists will take to the Pennsylvania Turnpike between the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year’s Day holidays, approaching pre-pandemic travel figures. “Our holiday traffic projections are coming close to matching those of 2019 with an increase of 40% over last year,” PA Turnpike CEO...
Jan. 6 committee seeks interview with GOP Rep. Jim Jordan
WASHINGTON — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection requested an interview and information from Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio on Wednesday, the second time this week the committee publicly sought to interview a sitting member of Congress. In a letter to Jordan, Mississippi Rep. Bennie...
Proposal would add 6 parks, more than 300 acres to Pittsburgh park system
A proposal before Pittsburgh City Council would designate six greenways as city parks, adding more than 300 acres to the city’s park system. The measure would move the city closer to its goal of increasing the number of residents who live within a half-mile – or roughly a 10-minute walk...
