Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1310
Route 28 reopens after 2 died in head-on crash near Pittsburgh’s North SideVideo
Two people were killed and another person was critically hurt in a head-on crash involving a wrong way driver Saturday morning on Route 28 near Pittsburgh’s North Side. The southbound lanes fully reopened around 12:30 p.m., after having been closed for more than five hours between the 31st Street Bridge...
Western Pa. dentists: Delaying dental care during pandemic can lead to problemsVideo
Dentists in Western Pennsylvania are worried about the pandemic’s impact on people’s dental health, saying there’s no good reason for delaying check-ups, cleanings or more serious procedures. “It’s troubling to hear that patients have that perception and are feeling that anxiety,” said Andrew Matta, co-founder and chief medical officer of...
Blame game begins over Pennsylvania’s slow vaccine rollout
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Republicans are faulting the administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf for Pennsylvania’s slow covid-19 vaccine rollout even as Wolf himself says insufficient supply is the real culprit, setting up a fresh political fight over who’s to blame for the frustrations of eligible residents trying to get inoculated....
Biden warns of growing cost of delay on $1.9T econ aid plan
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden warned Friday of a steep and growing “cost of inaction” on his $1.9 trillion covid relief plan as the White House searched for “creative” ways to win public support for a package that is getting a cold shoulder from Senate Republicans. In the age of...
ATI union reports ‘no progress’ on contract talks amid sagging morale
Allegheny Technologies Inc. has resumed negotiations with the United Steelworkers, but union leaders reported Friday having made “no progress” a month before their existing contract is set to expire. Todd Barbiaux, president of United Steelworkers Local 1196, which represents union employees at ATI’s Brackenridge facility in Harrison, said lingering uncertainty...
Angela Reese, wife of Mike Reese, to run for late husband’s state House seat
Angela Reese said she hopes to carry on her late husband’s legacy by running for his former seat in the state House. Mike Reese, 42, a Republican, died of an apparent brain aneurysm Jan. 2. He was reelected in November to a seventh term representing the 59th Legislative District after...
Workers escaped deadly leak by going through nitrogen fog
GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Workers at a northeast Georgia poultry plant said they escaped through a fog of vaporizing liquid nitrogen that killed six of their coworkers, as an investigation continued Friday into the cause of the leak at Foundation Food Group. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims on...
Pandemic forces fire departments to continue creative fundraising in 2021
For fire departments, fundraising took many different forms in 2020 as they adapted to a changing environment in the era of the coronavirus pandemic. There are the ones that found a following for raffles on the department’s Facebook page. Some events that typically bring in a ton of cash —...
Philadelphia’s problematic vaccine rollout raises larger questions
PHILADELPHIA — When Philadelphia began getting its first batches of covid-19 vaccines, it looked to partner with someone who could get a mass vaccination site up and running quickly. City Hall officials might have looked across the skyline to the world-renowned health providers at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University...
Army: Sick soldiers drank compound found in antifreeze
FORT BLISS, Texas — An investigation into what sickened 11 soldiers who ingested an unauthorized substance shows they drank an industrial compound found in antifreeze believing it was alcohol following a 10-day field training exercise at Fort Bliss in Texas, U.S. Army officials said Friday. Lt. Col. Allie Payne, public...
Checked by reality, some QAnon supporters seek a way out
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Ceally Smith spent a year down the rabbit hole of QAnon, devoting more and more time to researching and discussing the conspiracy theory online. Eventually it consumed her, and she wanted out. She broke up with the boyfriend who recruited her into the movement, took six months...
Fauci sees covid vaccination for kids by late spring or the summer
WASHINGTON — The government’s top infectious disease expert said Friday he hopes to see children being vaccinated starting in the next few months. It’s a needed step to securing widespread immunity to the coronavirus. “Hopefully by the time we get to the late spring and early summer we will have...
Pennsylvania’s vaccine allocation could increase slightly by next week
Pennsylvania’s vaccine allocation is expected to increase in the next week, a Department of Health spokeswoman said Friday. President Joe Biden said this week that his administration is working to buy another 200 million doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, and announced steps to increase the allocations going to...
Weather advisories issued for Western Pa. as winter storm approaches
Brace yourself for the possibility of significant snow headed this way. A winter weather advisory has been issued for Southwestern Pennsylvania beginning at 10 p.m. Saturday and running until 10 p.m. Sunday for a storm system that could drop a half-foot of snow or more. A winter storm watch for...
Westmoreland County reports 8 additional covid deaths, the most in a week
Westmoreland County on Friday reported 120 new cases of coronavirus, above the seven-day average of 108 cases. The number of total cases reported in the county is now 24,576, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of the newly reported cases, 69 were confirmed from PCR tests and 51 are...
Covid cases in Pennsylvania surge with 9,643 newly reported, the most in 3 weeks
Pennsylvania on Friday reported 9,643 additional cases of coronavirus, the most in nearly three weeks. Many of the newly reported cases were attributed to Berks, Lancaster and Montgomery counties, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state notes that today’s cases include backlogged antigen testing data from urgent care...
Allegheny County adds 364 new coronavirus cases, 39 new deaths
Allegheny County on Friday reported 364 additional cases of coronavirus, slightly above the seven-day average of 352, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of the newly reported cases, 287 are confirmed from 1,314 new PCR tests and 77 are recorded as probable, according to the Allegheny County...
Judge orders detention for South Fayette man accused in Capitol riot
A federal judge has ordered an South Fayette man accused of using a baseball bat to break windows in the Capitol building during this month’s insurrection to remain in custody pending trial. Jorden Mink, 27, is charged with six counts, including destruction of government property, which qualifies under the law...
Police say Connellsville woman attacked cheating boyfriend’s mistress with knife
A Fayette County woman who allegedly caught her boyfriend cheating is charged with breaking into the man’s East Huntingdon home and cutting the other woman with a knife, state police said. Lindsey J. Stout, 32, of Connellsville, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, simple assault and harassment...
Covid vaccine misinformation target of Pitt study
University of Pittsburgh researchers are investigating online misinformation relating to the covid-19 vaccines, thanks to a grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation. The goal is to create “beneficial and educational messaging about vaccines,” the university said. “We wanted to see what are some of the reasons why we’re seeing...
AstraZeneca covid vaccine authorized for all adults by European Union
BERLIN — Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population. The European Medicines Agency licensed the vaccine to be used in people 18 and over, though concerns had been raised...
GameStop soars again; Wall Street bends under the pressure
NEW YORK — Stocks were broadly higher in afternoon trading Tuesday, but shares of closely watched companies like GameStop and AMC Entertainment were falling sharply. The S&P 500 rose 1.8% with each of its 11 sectors making gains. Banks and and a mix of companies that rely on direct consumer...
Remdesivir, given to half of hospitalized covid-19 patients in U.S., is big win for Gilead — boosted by taxpayers
It was the end of April — just as the U.S. confirmed its millionth covid-19 case and 50,000 deaths — when White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci announced “highly significant” news about a drug called remdesivir. That was surprising because the antiviral drug, owned by Gilead Sciences and developed with...
Will double-masking better protect you from covid?
When it comes to face masks, are two better than one? Some health experts — including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert — have recently suggested wearing two face masks for extra protection during the covid-19 pandemic. “It just makes common sense that it likely would be more...
Johnson & Johnson’s 1-dose shot prevents covid-19, but less than some others
Johnson & Johnson’s long-awaited vaccine appears to protect against covid-19 with just one shot — not as strong as some two-shot rivals but still potentially helpful for a world in dire need of more doses. J&J said Friday that in the U.S. and seven other countries, the single-shot vaccine was...
