Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1349
Pa. officials say winter storm won’t hinder vaccine distribution
Severe winter weather Wednesday won’t delay covid-19 vaccine shipments in Pennsylvania, state officials said, as more shipments of the vaccine arrived at hospitals across the commonwealth. “We’re not making changes (to distribution) according to the forecast, but we will make changes if the weather turns out to force us to...
Talks escalate on new covid-19 relief, top lawmakers to meetVideo
WASHINGTON — Talks on a long-delayed covid-19 aid package intensified Tuesday as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi summoned other top congressional leaders for a potentially critical meeting. Pelosi, D-Calif., spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for more than an hour, her office tweeted, and Mnuchin will join the make-or-break meeting of...
Biden to pick Pete Buttigieg as transportation chiefVideo
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is expected to pick former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg to head the Transportation Department, according to three people familiar with the plans. Buttigieg, one of Biden’s rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, was a breakout star of the primaries, sharing victory in the...
Westmoreland’s Torrance psychiatric hospital can’t recruit enough workers, jeopardizing funding
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 — A state-run psychiatric hospital with a long history of struggling to employ enough workers is now so short-staffed that...
Over-the-counter home test for covid-19 gets U.S. green light
WASHINGTON — The first home test for covid-19 that doesn’t require a prescription will soon be on U.S. store shelves. U.S. regulators Tuesday authorized the rapid coronavirus test, which can be done entirely at home. The announcement by the Food and Drug Administration represents another important — though incremental —...
Masks, social distancing can’t stop the fun of Westmoreland Shop With A CopVideo
The smiles were evident Tuesday even behind the protective masks worn by young shoppers and their chaperones — police officers — at the Westmoreland County Shop With a Cop event at the Walmart in East Huntingdon. “This is by far my favorite day of the year,” said veteran Westmoreland sheriff’s...
Pa. passes 500,000 covid cases
Pennsylvania reported 9,556 new covid cases and 270 new deaths Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health. Total cases and total deaths in the state are now 509,320 and 12,890, respectively. There have been 147,856 covid-19 cases and 2,507 deaths reported in December. With the state passing 500,00 covid-19...
Lawsuits contend Gov. Wolf has no authority to issue new restrictions
A Butler County attorney who previously won a federal lawsuit against the Wolf administration over the spring covid-19 shutdown orders filed two new suits over the governor’s most recent orders. The lawsuits — one filed by the Butler Area School District and the other by two indoor water parks —...
More than 30% of Westmoreland County covid cases, deaths have come in December
December continues to become the worst month of the pandemic statistically in Westmoreland County. With Tuesday’s new reported covid cases and deaths, there have been 5,541 cases and 105 deaths reported so far this month. The December figures make up 37% and 34% of totals, respectively. There were 542 new...
Pittsburgh International Airport to offer on-site covid-19 testing
Travelers passing through Pittsburgh International Airport can soon opt to pay for a covid-19 test before or after their flight, joining airports worldwide now offering the tests to passengers, according to airport officials. Testing will be voluntary for ticketed passengers and available from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to...
‘The Pavilion at Star Lake’ concert venue in Burgettstown goes back in time
The name has been changed several times, but some people have always called it by its first name. And now they can again. Tribune-Review News Partner WPXI-TV reported that the concert space in Burgettstown is returning to its roots. The venue’s Facebook page said it is now being called “The...
Allegheny County reports more than 1,000 new covid cases for 6th time this month
Allegheny County reported 1,059 new covid cases Tuesday, marking the sixth time 1,000 or more cases have been announced by the county 15 days into December. There were 10 new coronavirus-related deaths reported, as well. Total cases and total deaths in the county are now 41,933 and 675, respectively. There...
Moderna vaccine found safe, effective ahead of key FDA review
Moderna Inc.’s vaccine is safe and effective for preventing covid-19, U.S. regulators said, clearing the way for a second shot to quickly gain emergency authorization and add to the country’s sprawling immunization effort. The Food and Drug Administration’s staff said in a report on Tuesday that the experimental vaccine is...
Winter storm could bring up to 9 inches of snow; PennDOT, Turnpike Commission enact restrictions
Ahead of the major snow storm expected to dump as much as 9 inches across the region today, PennDOT is advising motorists to avoid unnecessary travel. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission enacted restrictions that begin at 1 p.m. on several portions of the toll road, as well as other highways that...
Teen shot and killed in Penn Hills
A teenage boy was shot to death early Tuesday in Penn Hills, according to Allegheny County police. Officials identified the victim as 15-year-old Jafar Brooks of Churchill. Officers responded to a call at just about 12:45 a.m. in the 1900 block of Garden Drive and found the teen with gunshot...
Editorial: Do what’s best and take the covid-19 vaccine
On Monday, the first health care workers rolled up their sleeves and accepted a shot in the arm of the Pfizer/BioNTech cocktail that offers hope against the coronavirus pandemic. In Pittsburgh, five front-line UPMC employees, including a critical care nurse and a patient transporter, had their injections livestreamed. This is...
Trib Total Media announces $1 million Shop Local Marketing Grant program
It’s the season of giving, and Trib Total Media wants to show its gratitude to locally owned businesses. The Trib announced Monday it will give new matching grants to local small businesses recovering from the covid-19 pandemic and ensuing economic downturn. With the Shop Local Marketing Grant 2021, Trib Total...
‘Democracy prevailed’: Biden aims to unify divided nationVideo
WILMINGTON, Del. — President-elect Joe Biden told Americans on Monday that “democracy prevailed” as electors nationwide cast votes affirming his victory in last month’s election, saying the country’s governing principles withstood being “pushed, tested, threatened” by repeated, baseless claims of fraud championed by President Donald Trump. In a speech from...
Restaurant owner sues Braddock mayor, claims defamation
Braddock Mayor Chardaé Jones admits she had the borough police check on the capacity at Portogallo Peppers N’At during the pandemic to ensure they weren’t exceeding the governor’s orders. Also, she said, she forwarded to the county health department a Facebook ad Portogallo’s posted in which they said they would...
Covid quarantines in Allegheny County jail raise nutrition, staffing concerns
In the video, an inmate at the Allegheny County Jail holds up his dinner tray and describes his meal. “This is bologna with applesauce in it and Teddy Grahams,” he says. “That’s the only thing that’s on our tray for dinner tonight. No juice, no vegetables, no fruit, no nothing.”...
Trump says AG William Barr resigning, will leave before Christmas
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr, one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies, is resigning amid lingering tension with the president over the president’s baseless claims of election fraud and the investigation into President-elect Joe Biden’s son. Barr went Monday to the White House, where Trump said the attorney general...
Biden clears 270-vote mark as electors affirm his presidential victory
WASHINGTON — The Electoral College gave Joe Biden a solid majority of its votes Monday, confirming his victory in last month’s election in state-by-state voting that took on added importance this year because of President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede he lost. California’s 55 electoral votes put Biden over the...
Who is next in line to get the covid vaccine?
Some health care workers at UPMC received Pittsburgh’s first doses of the newly approved covid-19 vaccine, but widespread availability is still months off. State Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said Monday the state will receive 97,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week, and the allocations to hospitals and...
U.S. agencies, companies secure networks after huge hackVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. government agencies and private companies rushed Monday to secure their computer networks following the disclosure of a sophisticated and long-running cyber-espionage intrusion that experts said almost certainly was carried out by a foreign state. It was not yet clear who was responsible for the intrusion, though it...
‘Stop the Violence Fund’ shifted from Pittsburgh police budget after outcryVideo
About $5.3 million in the 2021 Pittsburgh budget will be moved from police to public safety to fund a new Stop the Violence initiative spearheaded by city councilmen Ricky Burgess and R. Daniel Lavelle. The initiative is among the police reforms adopted by council this year and is in part...
