Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1359
‘Mistakes were made’ at maskless election hearing held by covid-positive lawmaker, Pa. Senate leader says
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 — The top Republican in the Pennsylvania Senate acknowledged Wednesday “mistakes were made” and necessary coronavirus safety precautions were ignored...
Westmoreland County sees record 400 new covid-19 cases, surpasses 10,000 total cases
Westmoreland County added a record 400 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported, pushing the total number of cases over the 10,000 mark. The state also reported that there were six new deaths in the county. The total number of cases in the county now stands...
Pennsylvania reports over 11,000 new coronavirus cases
Pennsylvania on Thursday reported its highest number of new single-day covid-19 cases since the pandemic started in March with 11,406 cases. The state also reported 187 new deaths attributed to the coronavirus. The new cases bring the total number in the state to 386,837. The state’s seven-day average climbed to...
Pa. Supreme Court denies Mike Kelly, Parnell mail-in voting challenge
The state Supreme Court on Thursday denied an emergency motion to stay an earlier order about a challenge against Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting system. On Wednesday, attorneys for U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, and others filed the claim last month against Pennsylvania’s governor, General Assembly and secretary of state over Act...
Staffing shortages threaten Western Pa. hospitals
More than one-third of hospitals in Southwestern Pennsylvania anticipate staffing shortages in the coming week. It’s a threshold that, if paired with a further surge in hospital admissions, could force a cutback in elective surgeries. Secretary of Health Rachel Levine noted the rising number of covid-19 hospital admissions across the...
Optimism growing for covid relief bill as pressure buildsVideo
WASHINGTON — Optimism about delivering long-sought covid-19 relief is building on Capitol Hill after additional rank-and-file lawmakers voiced support for a bipartisan, middle-of-the-road plan taking shape in the Senate and as top congressional leaders connected on the topic for the first time in months. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate...
North Park and South Park ice rinks to open
Skaters can take the ice at North Park and South Park ice rinks beginning Friday. Face masks and social distancing are required. The Allegheny County Parks Department announced the ice rinks will open Friday, with the season running through mid-March, weather permitting. There will be several restrictions and operational changes...
12 Days of Christmas cost drops in 2020, but you’re not getting all the gifts
The 12 Days of Christmas will cost you less than half of what it did in 2019. But you’re getting less gifts because of covid-19. “The true cost of Christmas decreased in 2020, as this year’s index accounts for cancellations of many live performances,” PNC said on their rundown of...
State loan could help add jobs at industrial park housing former Volkswagen, Sony plants
A state loan of $2.25 million could bring more than 100 new jobs to the RIDC Westmoreland industrial complex near New Stanton. The low-interest loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority to the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania will help with a proposed $5.6 million renovation. The work...
Pittsburgh museums receive state grants for support during pandemic
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Carnegie Science Center and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh were among several local museums to receive grants to support them during the covid-19 pandemic. The three museums, along with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, each received a $40,000 grant from the Pennsylvania...
U.S. virus deaths top 3,100 in a single day for the first time
The U.S. recorded over 3,100 covid-19 deaths in a single day, obliterating the record set last spring, while the number of Americans hospitalized with the virus has eclipsed 100,000 for the first time and new cases have begun topping 200,000 a day, according to figures released Thursday. The three benchmarks...
Norwin covid-19 cases top 100; 21 new cases reported
Norwin School District officials said Wednesday the district has 21 new covid-19 cases among its students and staff, pushing the total number of cases since school began Aug. 31 to more than 100. The reports of 21 new cases, pushing the total to 114 cases of the coronavirus, is the...
In video, Trump recycles unsubstantiated voter fraud claimsVideo
WASHINGTON — Increasingly detached from reality, President Donald Trump stood before a White House lectern and delivered a 46-minute diatribe against the election results that produced a win for Democrat Joe Biden, unspooling one misstatement after another to back his baseless claim that he really won. Trump called his address,...
Unusual Steelers’ game time makes for odd scene on Pittsburgh’s North ShoreVideo
How strange was Steelers football on a Wednesday afternoon without a crowd? Even Ben Roethlisberger’s mom, Brenda, was weirded out. She showed up at Heinz Field about an hour before game time with two of her grandchildren in tow. “It’s very weird. It seems like a ghost town out here,”...
Western Pa. congressmen join rebuke of U.S. Attorney General William Barr
A bloc of 39 congressmen — including five Pennsylvania Republicans who were reelected Nov. 3 — lashed out at Attorney General William Barr in a letter expressing dismay at “the shocking lack of action” stemming from the Justice Department’s investigation of allegations of fraud in the election. The letter was...
Covid-19 outbreak infects more than half of inmates at Pa. prison for elderly and infirm
The State Correctional Institution Laurel Highlands, housed in a former state psychiatric hospital, is part prison, part long-term-care facility for many of the oldest and sickest men in Pennsylvania’s prisons. Now, it’s the epicenter of a covid-19 outbreak tearing across the state prison system. In the last month, 444 prisoners...
Allegheny County sheriff says firearms division closed because of covid
The day after a federal lawsuit was filed against Allegheny County Sheriff Bill Mullen for shutting down the firearms division, he said in a Facebook post that it was necessary because an employee there tested positive for covid-19, and the rest of the staff had to quarantine. On Monday, three...
Health officials: 40% of Allegheny County’s covid cases came in November
Forty percent of Allegheny County’s nearly 30,000 covid-19 cases came in November. The case numbers increased despite Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen’s “stern warning” two weeks ago for people to avoid large Thanksgiving gatherings. Her announcement piggybacked on a statewide halt to alcohol sales at bars and restaurants on the...
Pennsylvania seeks money from 11,000 who received jobless aid
Pennsylvania wants about 11,000 residents to repay money officials say they never should have received — either by an honest mistake or fraud — through the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. About 88% of the claims that have been processed for identity through the IDME verification system for PUA funding...
Nurses wanted: Swamped hospitals scramble for pandemic helpVideo
OMAHA, Neb. — U.S. hospitals slammed with covid-19 patients are trying to lure nurses and doctors out of retirement, recruiting students and new graduates who have yet to earn their licenses and offering eye-popping salaries in a desperate bid to ease staffing shortages. With the virus surging from coast to...
ATI to invest up to $85M in Vandergrift facility, phase out production of standard stainless steel
ATI said Wednesday it will phase out production of standard stainless steel sheet products and end finishing operations at its Brackenridge plant in Harrison as it shifts its focus to specialty rolled products. While finishing operations will end at the massive Brackenridge works, the $1.1 billion Hot Rolling & Processing...
Pittsburgh council tweaking covid-related sick leave legislation before final voteVideo
People who work in Pittsburgh and need to take time off because they test positive for covid-19 or are asked to quarantine would be given paid sick leave under legislation Pittsburgh City Council will consider for adoption next week. Mayor Bill Peduto spearheaded the proposal, which was introduced last week...
Trump supporters plan rally from Unity to Greensburg Saturday
President Trump’s supporters are gathering again Saturday outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg to protest the results of the election. The rally, which will feature speakers, starts at 2 p.m., said co-organizer Tony Naples. But the day will begin at the Trump House in Unity at 1 p.m. with...
Rep. Mike Kelly, Sean Parnell continue to pursue legal challenge to Pa. election results
A congressman and the challenger to Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb on Wednesday asked Pennsylvania’s highest court to stay its own order from last week as they wait to hear if the U.S. Supreme Court will take their case challenging the state’s mail-in voting law. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court,...
Baby girl overdoses on heroin in East Deer while woman caring for her slept, police say
A 9-month-old girl overdosed on heroin Tuesday after police said she ingested the drug while the East Deer woman who was supposed to be caring for her slept. Paramedics who responded to the incident injected the baby with 2 milligrams of Narcan before rushing her to UPMC Children’s Hospital in...
