Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1324
Peduto makes it official, seeks 3rd term as Pittsburgh’s mayorVideo
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto made it official Thursday: He will seek a third term as mayor. Peduto made the announcement in a video streamed on Facebook. During the video, which debuted at 1 p.m., 14 supporters from several of the city’s neighborhoods gave testimonials about the work that Peduto has...
Pennsylvania Capitol closing; more security being added
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday ordered the Pennsylvania Capitol closed for two days next week around the swearing-in of three statewide officials and the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. The complex is already closed to the general public because of the coronavirus pandemic, and most Capitol employees under...
Trump impeachment trial could begin on Inauguration Day
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial could begin on Inauguration Day, just as Democrat Joe Biden takes the oath of office in an extraordinary end to the defeated president’s tenure in the White House. The trial timeline and schedule are largely set by Senate procedures and will start as...
Pennsylvania records 313 additional covid deaths, 7,175 more cases
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health on Thursday reported 313 additional covid deaths and 7,175 cases. With the day’s report, there have been 2,764 deaths counted this month, though not all the deaths occurred this month. Of the deaths counted this month 1,201 are from January, 1,547 from December, 12 are from...
Westmoreland County adds 14 covid deaths
Westmoreland County on Thursday added 14 additional covid deaths and 203 cases, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported. The newly-reported deaths bring the county’s death toll to 516. The county passed 500 reported deaths on Wednesday. There have been 93 deaths attributed to the virus this month in the county....
Allegheny County reports 499 additional covid cases, 3 deaths
Allegheny County on Thursday reported three new coronavirus deaths, bringing the total number of deaths related to the virus for the county to 1,181. This comes after the county on Wednesday reported 74 deaths, but attributed the large number to a data backlog at the state level. The health department...
State police cite 8 restaurants for covid violations in Allegheny, Westmoreland counties
Pennsylvania State Police cited eight restaurants in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties for allegedly violating covid-19 restrictions last month, and the Allegheny County Health Department has shut down several establishments in the first two weeks of the year. The number of violations issued by state police was down across the two...
5 things to know about your covid stimulus check
The $600 stimulus checks approved by Congress and President Trump last month were meant to provide much-needed economic relief to Americans battered by the coronavirus pandemic. Most already have received their money, but technical glitches and administrative challenges left millions wondering when theirs would arrive. Here’s what you need to...
U.S. unemployment claims jump to 965,000 as virus takes toll
WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking unemployment aid soared last week to 965,000, the most since late August and evidence that the resurgent virus has caused a spike in layoffs. The latest figures for jobless claims, issued Thursday by the Labor Department, remain at levels never seen until the...
Lady Gaga to sing anthem at Biden’s inauguration
Joe Biden’s Inaugural Committee announced today that Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez will appear during his Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol. Lady Gaga will sing the national anthem while Lopez will provide a musical performance. Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States...
34 House Democrats call for investigation into Jan. 5 tours by fellow members ahead of Capitol attackVideo
WASHINGTON — Rep. Mikie Sherrill and 33 other House members want an investigation into access given by fellow House lawmakers to visitors to the Capitol on Jan. 5 before the violent attacks on Congress the next day. The New Jersey Democrat alleged Tuesday night that members of Congress led guests...
Pennsylvania firearms background checks shatter record in 4th quarter 2020
Word that Pennsylvania State Police saw a record surge in firearm license background checks in 2020 didn’t surprise Mark Boerio, owner of Latrobe’s Army Navy & Indoor Pistol Range. Business soared last year — and has continued into 2021, he said. “It’s the same everywhere,” Boerio said. “First you had...
Burrell schools fight Arconic assessment appeal that would result in $500K hit
Burrell School District and Upper Burrell plan to fight a real estate assessment appeal filed in a Westmoreland County court by Arconic Inc. that could reduce tax revenue to the school district by almost $500,000 annually. “We plan to fight this vigorously,” said Anthony Giglio, an attorney with Andrews &...
Man killed in Wilkinsburg shooting
A man was shot and killed inside a Wilkinsburg home, according to Allegheny County Police. First responders were called to the 1900 block of Wright Street shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday for a report of shots fired. They arrived to find the victim inside a home. He was pronounced dead...
WHO team arrives in Wuhan to search for pandemic originsVideo
WUHAN, China — A global team of researchers arrived Thursday in the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic was first detected to conduct a politically sensitive investigation into its origins amid uncertainty about whether Beijing might try to prevent embarrassing discoveries. The 10-member team sent to Wuhan by the World...
Enduring 2nd impeachment, Trump stands largely silent, aloneVideo
WASHINGTON — His place in the history books rewritten, President Donald Trump endured his second impeachment largely alone and silent. For more than four years, Trump has dominated the national discourse like no one before him. Yet when his legacy was set in stone on Wednesday, he was stunningly left...
Western Pa. lawmakers hold party lines in vote to impeach TrumpVideo
Western Pennsylvania’s congressional representatives stuck to party lines in Wednesday’s vote by the U.S. House to impeach President Trump. Reps. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, and Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, voted yes on impeaching the embattled president for his role inciting last week’s violent storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump...
Man pleads guilty to stealing Ross woman’s safe filled with cash
A Philadelphia man already serving a 10-to-20-year prison term for burglary will serve an additional 3-1/2 to seven years for his theft of more than $140,000 from an 82-year-old Ross woman five years ago. Steve Mitchell, 62, pleaded guilty to burglary, conspiracy and receiving stolen property on Wednesday before Allegheny...
Older adults in Allegheny County will have to wait for covid vaccine, officials sayVideo
People 75 and older in Allegheny County will have to wait longer to get their shots of covid vaccine as county officials await guidance from the federal government. “We’ve been getting a lot of calls and emails from individuals wanting to know when it will be their turn to be...
Police: Men meet on Grindr, beat each other up in New Kensington
Two men who met on the dating app Grindr face assault charges after they got into a fistfight and bit each other after hooking up at one of the men’s houses, according to a criminal complaint. New Kensington police charged Ryan Christopher Grabigel, 40, of New Kensington with aggravated assault...
Soldiers flow into Capitol in a scene reminiscent of the Civil WarVideo
WASHINGTON — Soldiers took up positions in the U.S. Capitol in a scene reminiscent of Civil War deployments as Washington braced for the inauguration of a new president and a vote to impeach the current one. With more than 20,000 National Guard units summoned, the Capitol and its park-like campus...
Mix of extremists who stormed Capitol isn’t retreatingVideo
BOISE, Idaho — As rioters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol, the seat of American democracy became a melting pot of extremist groups: militia members, white supremacists, paramilitary organizations, anti-maskers and fanatical supporters of President Donald Trump, standing shoulder to shoulder in rage. Experts say it was the culmination of...
Trump impeached by U.S. House for historic 2nd timeVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House for a historic second time, charged with “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly mob siege of the U.S. Capitol in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office. With the Capitol secured by armed National Guard...
Counting of lost ballots underway in Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County elections officials Wednesday morning started counting more than two dozen provisional ballots cast in November but just recently discovered by staff during routine inspections of voting equipment. Elections bureau staffers, serving as appointed members of a reconstituted provisional board, reviewed and qualified 20 ballots cast in North Huntingdon...
Powerball, Mega Millions jackpots grow after no big winnersVideo
Billions of dollars are up for grabs this week as jackpots for Mega Millions and the Powerball lotteries continued to grow after players did not win the top prize for months. In all, nearly $1.4 billion is available: A $750 million jackpot is expected in Friday’s Mega Millions drawing, and...
