Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1315
Biden to reinstate covid travel rules, add South Africa
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday will formally reinstate covid-19 travel restrictions on non-U.S. travelers from Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and 26 other European countries that allow travel across open borders, according to two White House officials. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss...
Winter storm warning for ridges of Westmoreland, Fayette counties
A winter storm warning goes into effect Monday afternoon for the ridges of Westmoreland and Fayette counties, according to the National Weather Service. This might be upgraded to an ice storm warning as up to a quarter-inch of ice could accumulate on some roads, making driving conditions dangerous and threatening...
Bamboo Garden restaurant in North Versailles cited by health departmentVideo
Bamboo Garden Chinese Buffet in North Versailles has been cited for 17 health code violations by the Allegheny County Health Department. The unannounced Friday retail food inspections found, among other things, mouse droppings in the back corner of a storage area behind and under soda syrups, a bag of potatoes...
5, including pregnant woman, fatally shot in IndianapolisVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Five people, including a pregnant woman, were shot to death early Sunday inside an Indianapolis home in an apparent targeted attack, the city’s police chief said, decrying the “mass murder” killings as a “different kind of evil.” The fatal shootings were discovered by police who had been called...
Extended unemployment benefit payments to restart, Pa. officials say
Thanks to a new federal CARES Act extension, payments for the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program will resume Monday. Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier made the announcement on Saturday. “Since receiving the information we needed from the federal Department of Labor two weeks...
Growing number of GOP senators oppose impeachment trialVideo
WASHINGTON — A growing number of Republican senators say they oppose holding an impeachment trial, a sign of the dimming chances that former President Donald Trump will be convicted on the charge that he incited a siege of the U.S. Capitol. House Democrats, who will walk the impeachment charge of...
Pa. Democrats call for Rep. Scott Perry to resign after reports he urged Trump to use a lawyer against Biden win
They couldn’t beat him at the polls in November, but leaders of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party on Sunday called for Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, an outspoken Donald Trump supporter who represents Harrisburg, Hershey and York, to resign following news reports he urged Trump to use a lawyer from Philadelphia to...
Thousands of drug, alcohol recovery homes in Pa. still operate without state oversight
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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. HARRISBURG — In December 2017, Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation to increase oversight for drug and alcohol recovery houses — a...
Police: McKeesport man beaten, strangled in home invasion
A McKeesport man died over the weekend, days after he was beaten and strangled during a suspected home invasion that left a woman in the home with injuries as well, according to police. David Gutierrez-Faust, 66, died Saturday, four days after police say he was beaten and strangled in his...
John Fetterman talks marijuana, voters, style in CBS interviewVideo
In a national interview that aired Sunday morning, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman spoke about his push to legalize marijuana, getting working-class people back to the Democratic Party, his political past and future, and being named a style god. Fetterman spoke to Mark Whitaker for “CBS Sunday Morning” from his Braddock...
Suspect arrested in Turtle Creek shooting that critically wounded another man
Allegheny County police detectives have arrested a man suspected in a Saturday night shooting in Turtle Creek that left another man in critical condition. Turtle Creek police were called to the 300 block of Mercer Street around 8:15 p.m. for the shooting. First responders found a man with gunshot wounds,...
Police departments weigh officer discipline after rally, Capitol riot
For two Virginia police officers who posed for a photo during the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection, the reckoning has been swift and public: They were identified, charged with crimes and arrested. But for five Seattle officers the outcome is less clear. Their identities still secret, two are on leave and...
At 78 and the oldest president, Biden sees a world changed
WASHINGTON — When Joe Biden took the oath of office as the 46th president, he became not only the oldest newly inaugurated U.S. chief executive in history but also the oldest sitting president ever. Biden was born Nov. 20, 1942, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was 78 years, two months and...
Getting vaccinated: What you need to know
How many people have been vaccinated? In Pennsylvania, nearly 520,000 people — mostly health care workers — had received at least one vaccine dose as of Saturday. Of those people, 106,000 are fully vaccinated, state data show. However, those figures don’t include long-term care residents and staff being vaccinated via...
Leechburg mansion once home to steel, tin industrialist now great digs for family of 11
A historic residence in Leechburg has new owners. The three-story mansion at 701 First St. was purchased by Ashley and Quinto Martin in August. According to Armstrong County records, the property was sold for $210,000. Money doesn’t stretch as far as it used to. It was built in 1866 —...
How do physicians verify patients’ vaccine eligibility?
Health care workers administering covid vaccines will rely mostly on the honor system to verify that new patients outside of their hospital systems are eligible to get the shot. Pennsylvania officials have expanded eligibility of those who can move to the front of the vaccination line. The top priority group,...
Frustration grows with Pennsylvania’s ‘confusing’ vaccine rollout
In the hours after the big announcement, the region’s health systems were inundated with phone calls and emails to clinics, physicians and call centers. Thousands of people were suddenly eligible to get the covid-19 vaccine. They wanted it fast. But the announcement by Pennsylvania officials — expanding the vaccination eligibility...
History pitches challenges as experts, activists express hopes for Joe Biden’s time in White House
A new day, and a new moment for America. Time to let the healing begin. Republicans, Democrats and people across the nation echoed those themes when expressing their hopes for Joe Biden’s new administration and a future less fraught with anger and division in the United States. “There are times...
Officials: More skiers, tubers at Boyce Park in opening month compared to last season
The Boyce Park ski slopes and tubing area have seen about a 14% increase in usage in this season’s opening month compared to last season in spite of the raging pandemic, according to Allegheny County officials. Parks department records show nearly 4,700 skiers took to the slopes in Plum from...
FBI: Texan charged in Capitol riot tweeted ‘Assassinate AOC’
DALLAS — A 34-year-old Texas man has been arrested for allegedly taking part in the storming of the U.S. Capitol this month and posting violent threats, including a call to assassinate Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Garret Miller, who is from the Dallas suburb of Richardson, was arrested...
Mexican leader says Biden offers to give $4B to Central America
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s first calls to foreign leaders went to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at a strained moment for the U.S. relationship with its North American neighbors. Mexico’s president said Saturday that Biden told him the U.S. would send $4...
Greater Latrobe School District starts vaccinating staff, sees ‘light at the end of the tunnel’
The Greater Latrobe School District staff members who lined up Saturday to get covid vaccines said the shots gave them a glimmer of hope that the pandemic could be nearing its end. “I was thrilled,” said Renee Gyory, a secretary and one of the first district employees to be vaccinated....
3,400 arrested at protests demanding Navalny’s release
MOSCOW — Russian police arrested more than 3,400 people Saturday in nationwide protests demanding the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin’s most prominent foe, according to a group that counts political detentions. The protests in scores of cities in temperatures as low as minus-58 F highlighted how Navalny...
Ligonier businesses welcome 30th annual Ice Fest
The 30th annual Ligonier Ice Fest was a happy occasion for business owners who have seen many of the borough’s other signature events canceled or curtailed due to the coronavirus, but this weekend’s rare live event attracted people to see dozens of ice sculptures, ride a horse-drawn carriage and pop...
Pa. legislator mocks trans state health secretary who is a Biden nominee
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania legislator from Armstrong and Indiana counties shared on Facebook an image mocking the appearance of the state’s recently departed health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who has been nominated to serve in the Biden administration, and then offered a general apology Saturday. State Rep....
