Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1358
Jupiter and Saturn to form ‘Christmas Star’ in sky this month
Two giant worlds are about to collide. Sort of. Jupiter and Saturn are meeting up this month. It’s something they do every 20 years, only this year the neighboring planets will appear closer to each other on the dome of our sky than at any point since the Middle Ages....
AHN donors may have been exposed to data breach, officials say
Donors to Allegheny Health Network might have had their personal information exposed during a ransomware attack earlier this year on an IT company used by hundreds of hospitals, universities and other nonprofits, officials said Friday. Blackbaud, a global tech company, provides cloud computing services to a slew of institutions including...
Supreme Court sets date for state response in Mike Kelly election suit. Is it a day late?Video
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito late Thursday set a deadline for Pennsylvania officials to respond to a request to throw out the state’s mail-in voting results — or possibly the entire election. But the date set — Dec. 9 — is the day after the “safe harbor” deadline, the...
Gilpin tree farm offers personal touch to help make Christmas a little brighterVideo
A rural family-owned and operated Christmas tree farm in Gilpin has served the Alle-Kiski Valley for more than 80 years. Habe’s Nursery co-owners and husband-and-wife team John and Janie Sterosky work overtime during December, making hundreds of homemade pine custom wreaths, grave blankets and kissing balls. “We make our own...
House votes to decriminalize marijuana at federal level
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled House on Friday approved a bill to decriminalize and tax marijuana at the federal level, reversing what supporters called a failed policy of criminalization of pot use and taking steps to address racial disparities in enforcement of federal drug laws. Opponents, mostly Republicans, called the bill...
WOW Outlets property for sale in Hempfield for $2.5 million
After about 30 years under the ownership of the Maskowitz family, WOW Outlets in Hempfield is for sale. The building, which houses World of Values and Central Westmoreland Habitat for Humanity, among others, has been on the market for about a year, said owner Barry Maskowitz. He noted that the...
Pa. posts new high for daily covid cases, nears 400K total cases
Pennsylvania reported the most new covid-19 cases in a single day Friday. The state’s 11,763 new cases eclipse Thursday’s 11,406 case count, which was the previous high. In the past two days, there have been 23,169 cases reported. From the start of the pandemic in March, it took the state...
Preliminary Pittsburgh Public Schools budget won’t hike taxes; $32 million deficit projected
Pittsburgh Public Schools doesn’t intend to increase taxes to support its 2021 budget. But the $668.5 million spending plan includes a $32 million deficit that needs to be addressed, Superintendent Anthony Hamlet said in a statement. “We recognize the need to take steps to increase our revenue to the extent...
Westmoreland County sets record (again) for new covid-19 cases
Westmoreland County set another high for new covid-19 cases Friday, marking a second straight day a record was set. There were 412 new cases reported Friday, following Thursday’s 400 case count. In the past two days, the county has recorded more covid cases (812) than it did in its first...
Allegheny County reports most new covid-19 deaths in a single day
Allegheny County saw a new high Friday for covid-19 deaths. There were 26 deaths reported, according to the county Health Department. This comes a day after a previous high (20) for coronavirus-related deaths were reported Thursday. Ages of new deaths are 50 and older, with two people in their 50s,...
U.S. hiring slows sharply to 245,000 jobs as virus intensifies
WASHINGTON — America’s employers sharply scaled back their hiring last month as the viral pandemic accelerated across the country, adding 245,000 jobs, the fewest since April and the fifth straight monthly slowdown. At the same time, the unemployment rate fell to a still-high 6.7%, from 6.9% in October as many...
More record highs for stocks as hopes grow for economic aid
Stocks returned to record highs Friday on Wall Street as traders took a discouraging jobs report as a sign that Congress may finally move on delivering more aid for the pandemic-striken economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%. In another bullish signal, small-company...
3 hospitalized, 45 displaced after fire at Greene County apartment building
Three people were taken to hospitals and 45 were displaced after a fire early Friday at an apartment building in Greene County. The fire at Parkview Knoll Apartments, off of Ceylon Road in Cumberland Township south of Carmichaels, was reported around 2:30 a.m. It was brought under control around 4...
Lori Falce: Monolith is 2020 puzzle we needed
I love a puzzle. Give me a stack of crosswords and a pen and I can entertain myself for hours. I am the reason they put those little peg brain-teasers on the table at Cracker Barrel. I have spent more than 30 years turning an unsolved murder over and over...
Among first acts, Biden to call for 100 days of mask-wearingVideo
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden said Thursday that he will ask Americans to commit to 100 days of wearing masks as one of his first acts as president, stopping just short of the nationwide mandate he’s pushed before to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The move marks a notable shift...
Supreme Court again asked to block Biden win in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — Fresh off another rejection in Pennsylvania’s courts, Republicans on Thursday again asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the battleground state, while the state’s lawyers say fatal flaws in the original case mean justices are highly unlikely to grant it. Republican U.S. Rep....
AHN nurses featured in new Marvel comic book: ‘The Vitals’
When Allegheny Health Network nurse Andrew Cleary was growing up, he loved Spider-Man and identified with the character in the way that many children do. But he never imagined one day being on the same Marvel comic book pages as his favorite superhero. Until now. On Thursday Marvel Comics unveiled...
Next for Biden: Getting the right health team as coronavirus rages
WASHINGTON — Up soon for President-elect Joe Biden: naming his top health care officials as the coronavirus pandemic rages. It’s hard to imagine more consequential picks. Already two Democratic governors seen as candidates for health and human services secretary have faded from the frame. Rhode Island’s Gina Raimondo told reporters...
Ohio to get nearly 100K doses of virus vaccine this month as cases rise
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio will receive close to 100,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine by mid-December, Gov. Mike DeWine announced during a briefing Thursday. The brief but promising details provided the first look at what vaccine distribution will look like in Ohio as the number of cases, deaths and hospitalizations...
Vaccine rollout could ease crisis, but who gets it first?
Getting a covid-19 vaccine to the right people could change the course of the pandemic in the United States. But who are the right people? As the decision looms for President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration, a new analysis argues for targeting the first vaccines to the same low-income Black, Hispanic...
Wisconsin high court declines to hear Trump election lawsuit
MADISON, Wis. — A split Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday refused to hear President Donald Trump’s lawsuit attempting to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the battleground state, sidestepping a decision on the merits of the claims and instead ruling that the case must first wind its way...
Trump aide banned from Justice Department after trying to get case info
WASHINGTON — The official serving as President Donald Trump’s eyes and ears at the Justice Department has been banned from the building after trying to pressure staffers to give up sensitive information about election fraud and other matters she could relay to the White House, three people familiar with the...
Kiski Township man loves his train display so much, he custom-built his house to fit itVideo
Russ Fry built a house around his beloved hobby. Fry, 86, of Kiski Township, is a second-generation train display enthusiast. He designed and constructed a new home on his rural property in Armstrong County about 10 years ago. Key to the design was including a large, custom basement and storage...
Allegheny County passes 30,000 coronavirus cases
Allegheny County on Thursday reported 1,028 new coronavirus cases and 20 new deaths. The county has seen an average of 656 new cases per day over the past seven days, while adding 4,591 new cases in that time. It took Allegheny County 166 days to hit 10,000 cases of coronavirus...
Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese pays $19.2 million to settle 224 clergy abuse claims
Signaling an end to the latest chapter in the Catholic Church’s struggle to heal from scathing revelations of child sexual abuse in a 2018 grand jury report, an independent mediator for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Thursday that it has completed two years of work and awarded more than...
