Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1155
Poll: School mask, vaccine mandates supported in U.S.
As covid-19 cases surge around the country, a majority of Americans say they support mask mandates for students and teachers in K-12 schools, according to a new poll, but their views are sharply divided along political lines. About 6 in 10 Americans say students and teachers should be required to...
Overturned truck spills fuel along Route 65 near Downtown
A hazmat team responded to the scene of a tractor-trailer crash along Route 65 in Pittsburgh’s Chateau neighborhood early Monday morning after the vehicle overturned and began leaking diesel fuel onto the roadway, according to authorities. The crash was reported shortly after 2 a.m. Authorities said the driver was able...
Pittsburgh police trying to ID people involved in fight during Steelers preseason game
Pittsburgh Police are investigating after a fight that broke out in the stands Saturday during the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions preseason game at Heinz Field. In a video that is circulating on social media, a woman slaps a man and he hits the woman back and another man in...
Pa. to hire 100 covid contact tracers to replace 1,000 — experts say it’s not enough
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. The Wolf administration will hire at least 100 contact tracers as it rebuilds its depleted team, a dramatic workforce reduction compared...
What’s wrong with Arizona’s 2020 audit? A lot, experts sayVideo
PHOENIX — A cybersecurity firm plucked from relative obscurity to conduct an unprecedented review of ballots in Arizona’s largest county is readying to present its findings to Republican lawmakers. Experts say there should be little anticipation about the revelations from the Maricopa County audit — and whatever those revelations are,...
4 takeaways from new Pa. census data and what it means for redistricting
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania became less white and more concentrated in and near...
How to get involved in Pa.’s pivotal redistricting process
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. It’s an event that comes just once every ten years. No, not...
Norwin alum Shasko Bonnett wins halftime kicking contest at Steelers game
The second kicker up in a three-person contest at Heinz Field on Saturday night — with 40,000-plus looking on — Ariel Shasko Bonnett lined up her field-goal try from the 5-yard line. A chip shot? Not for someone who had only began kicking a week ago. She is much more...
Pittsburgh serves as research site for new test to detect Lyme disease
The difficulty of diagnosing early acute Lyme disease makes things doubly frustrating for Pennsylvanians, who live in a state that has consistently ranked highest in the nation for Lyme cases. But Seattle-based Adaptive Biotechnologies is working with clinical researchers across the country — including in the Pittsburgh area — to...
22 dead, many missing after 17 inches of rain in Tennessee
McEWEN, Tenn. — At least 22 people were killed and rescue crews searched desperately Sunday amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee. Saturday’s flooding in rural areas took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving...
Veterans are prized recruits as congressional candidates
NORFOLK, Va. — With midterm election season rapidly approaching, Republicans and Democrats have something in common when it comes to recruiting candidates they hope will deliver majorities in Congress: a preference for military veterans. Both parties anticipate a significant number of races where veterans will be opposing each other, using...
A higher calling: Catholic priest turns 90, continues to devote life in service to the churchVideo
The Rev. George T. DeVille fills the gold-plated container — called a pyx — with 15 consecrated Holy Communion hosts. He places it in his left jacket pocket. DeVille climbs into his car. After distributing Communion to members of St. Oscar Romero Parish inside Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Cecil...
Man stabbed after argument on Pittsburgh’s South Side, police say
A man was stabbed Sunday on Pittsburgh’s South Side, according to city police. First responders found the man around 2 a.m. in the 2200 block of East Carson Street with multiple stab wounds to his upper body. He taken by ambulance to a hospital and arrived in stable condition, police...
Biden says U.S.-led evacuation from Kabul is accelerating
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Sunday the U.S.-led evacuation of Americans, at-risk Afghans and others from the Kabul airport accelerated this weekend, although it remains vulnerable to threats posed by the Islamic State extremist group. One week after the Taliban completed its takeover of Afghanistan by capturing Kabul, Biden...
Moving inland, Tropical Storm Henri drenches Northeast
WESTERLY, R.I. — Tropical Storm Henri socked the Northeast with heavy wind and rain as it made landfall Sunday on the coast of Rhode Island, knocking out power to over 100,000 homes and causing deluges that closed bridges, swamped roads and left many people stranded in their vehicles. The storm...
Mask debates rage in Western Pa. as schools return to class
The debate over whether students should wear masks to school this fall shows no signs of cooling down at area districts, with the start of classes arriving as the covid-19 transmission rate rises across the region. Officials in Harrisburg have recommended that local districts follow guidance from the Centers for...
Nursing shortage spawns hefty sign-on bonuses in Western Pa.Video
A long-looming nursing shortage — exacerbated by the near-relentless toll of the covid-19 pandemic — means more hospitals and health systems are offering hefty sign-on bonuses and other incentives in an attempt to attract talent and fill in the gaps. Earlier this week, UPMC was advertising nearly 800 open nursing...
State troopers urge motorists to be alert for school buses, pedestrians, bus stopsVideo
As the new school year gets underway, Pennsylvania State Police are reminding motorists to be alert for the bright yellow buses, pedestrians and gatherings at bus stops. Motorists may have become used to fewer school buses on highways in the 2020-21 school year, when many districts adopted remote instruction because...
Hundreds of motorcyclists turn out for 4th annual Officer Brian Shaw benefit ride
When the driver of the lead car for the Officer Brian Shaw motorcycle run Saturday climbed the Route 28 hill near the Tarentum exit, he turned and saw nothing but cycles stretching for more than 2 miles. The run was a spectacle with close to 700 motorcycles traveling through more...
West Penn Hospital’s registered nurses ratify contract with Allegheny Health Network
Registered nurses at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh ratified their first-ever union contract Friday and began working under it immediately, according to a press release. The three-year pact with Allegheny Health Network will expire Aug. 20, 2024. Under the new pact, nurses get pay raises each year and more ability...
Hundreds from Murrysville church perform ‘uncommon’ community service in JeannetteVideo
Millie Warren’s backyard in West Jeannette is recognizable again, thanks to the hard work of volunteers from a Murrysville church. Within a couple hours Saturday morning, a crew from Cornerstone Ministries Church cleared several truckloads of brush and an old fence, leaving behind neatly trimmed trees and grassy space. They...
Biden sees dip in support amid new covid cases: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is facing a summer slump, with Americans taking a notably less positive view of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his job approval rating ticking down. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 54% of Americans approve...
As covid-19 vaccination mandates gain momentum, Pa. health care workers remain largely free to decide
Only one major Pennsylvania health care employer, Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine, has required employees to get vaccinated against covid-19. But mandates are under consideration at others. “We haven’t gotten to the mandate yet. We think about it and we assess where we’re at, but we haven’t made that decision yet,” said...
Coastal evacuations urged as Hurricane Henri heads north
Preparations for a storm grew more urgent Saturday as the newly upgraded Hurricane Henri closed in on the Northeast. The storm’s latest track put it on course to collide Sunday with a long stretch of coastline, with hurricane warnings extending from near the old whaling port of New Bedford, Mass.,...
1 hurt, 1 arrested in shooting at parking garage near Pittsburgh casino
A man was hurt Saturday after a shooting in a parking garage near Rivers Casino, according to Pittsburgh police. The man was found with a gunshot would to the leg around 1 a.m. in the upper level of the garage on Casino Drive, police said. He was hospitalized in stable...
