Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1464
Pittsburgh-area bar put on notice for alleged violation of coronavirus restrictions
A Pittsburgh-area bar was among three licensed liquor establishments in Pennsylvania to receive a notice from the state police’s Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement for violation of covid-19 mitigation efforts. It was the first formal notice a Pittsburgh-area establishment has received from state police since July 1. State police would...
‘Living funeral,’ march held for mother questioning police account of son’s death at Duquesne
A “living funeral” and march were held Thursday as Dannielle Brown continues her search for answers in her son’s death at Duquesne University nearly two years ago. The event began at Freedom Corner in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, where Brown has been staging a hunger strike since July 4. From there,...
Pittsburgh Public Schools plans to postpone fall sports in City League
Pittsburgh Public Schools announced plans Thursday to postpone fall sports in the City League, a move tied to the district’s decision to start classes exclusively online. The delay still requires school board approval. The decision was made before Gov. Tom Wolf recommended all youth sports be delayed until Jan. 1....
Trump bans dealings with Chinese owners of TikTok, WeChat
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered an unspecified ban on “transactions” with the Chinese owners of the consumer apps TikTok and WeChat, although it remains unclear if he has the legal authority to actually ban the apps from the United States. The twin executive orders — one...
West Jefferson Hills students to start first week of school online, gradually return to buildings
West Jefferson Hills School District students will start their first week of the upcoming school year online and slowly transition back into buildings as time progresses. The first day of classes in the 2020-21 school year for the estimated 3,100 students in kindergarten through 12th grade is Monday, Aug. 24....
Sewickley Academy to have staff, students back in buildings Sept. 2
Sewickley Academy officials plan to welcome students and staff back to school during the covid-19 pandemic on Sept. 2. Reopening plans call for a full range of programming to be available on campus for the estimated 600 pre-kindergatern through 12th-grade students. “The academy has a framework to support the health,...
New Kensington-Arnold delays start of school year to Sept. 8
New Kensington-Arnold School District will delay the start of the school year by eight days to provide more time for officials to make coronavirus-related preparations and to help students and staff beat the heat, officials announced late Thursday. School will start Tuesday, Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day, rather...
Allegheny County Jail oversight board to review how inmates are disciplined
The Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board is taking initial steps to review how discipline is meted out at the facility to ensure that all inmates are treated fairly. The decision to begin that process came Thursday evening after an initial motion on the matter made by Allegheny County Councilperson-at-large Bethany...
Pittsburgh’s new FBI head eyeing foreign interference in U.S. election, fraud, cyber crimes
FBI agents based in Western Pennsylvania are among those working to identify and block international attempts to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. Michael A. Christman, a Youngstown native who took the helm as Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office in mid-May, discussed his elections task...
Peduto sends letter to Congress, advocates for bills that help entertainment venues stay afloat
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto issued a letter to Congress in support of three bills that would offer financial relief to independent music and entertainment venues during the covid-19 pandemic. “I’m urging Congress to ensure that our local venues are included in and protected by relief packages,” Peduto said in a...
Playing electoral defense, Trump claims Biden opposes GodVideo
CLEVELAND — President Donald Trump billed his trip to Ohio Thursday as a chance to promote economic recovery, but he quickly pivoted to a deeply personal attack on Joe Biden, even questioning without foundation the former vice president’s faith in God. Even for a president known for his blunt criticism,...
Audit of Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy ‘a little bit concerning,’ Controller Michael Lamb says
The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy pays the City of Pittsburgh $1 per year for Schenley Plaza, the popular five-acre park in the heart of Oakland that bustles with college students and families. City workers cut the grass and provide routine maintenance. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy operates and maintains the plaza, a...
Westmoreland leaders say covid-19 grant awards will take longer than expected
Westmoreland commissioners said Thursday that $10 million in grants for local small businesses and nonprofits hurt by the coronavirus pandemic won’t be awarded until the end of August. The county received 500 grant applications by last week’s deadline. While officials originally suggested that money could begin to flow as early...
First Commonwealth Bank to close 29 locations, including 4 in Alle-Kiski ValleyVideo
Ashley Coudriet wasn’t happy to hear that First Commonwealth Bank on Leechburg’s Market Street is scheduled to close its doors in December. She and her husband own several rental properties in the Leechburg area and do all of the banking for their rental business there. “It’s been so nice. I...
U.S. rescinds global ‘do not travel’ coronavirus warning
NEW YORK — The Trump administration on Thursday rescinded its warnings to Americans against all international travel because of the coronavirus pandemic, saying conditions no longer warrant a blanket worldwide alert. The State Department lifted its level-four health advisory for the entire world in order to return to country-specific warnings....
Gov. Wolf’s recommendation to postpone high school sports gets mixed reactions
Gov. Tom Wolf’s recommendation that youth sports be postponed until Jan. 1 was met Thursday with mixed reactions. Wolf’s suggestion that “we don’t do any sports until Jan. 1” first came during a morning news conference when he was asked about spectators at high school sporting events. By the afternoon,...
Restaurants back down from ultimatum, request meeting with Gov. WolfVideo
The president of a group of restaurant and bar owners on Thursday shied away from threatening to reopen establishments at full capacity. Instead, board members of the newly formed Southwestern Pennsylvania Restaurant and Tavern Association will wait for a sit-down meeting with Gov. Tom Wolf. “If we go on the...
Pittsburgh Promise offering gap year for students during pandemic
The Pittsburgh Promise will offer a gap year for recipients affected by the covid-19 pandemic, the organization announced Thursday. Pittsburgh Public Schools students who graduated high school from 2017 through 2020 will have five years — rather than the usual four — to utilize their scholarship award. “We know that...
Former New Ken-Arnold superintendent kept on as ‘consultant,’ gets a year’s pay in severance agreement
John Pallone’s tenure as superintendent of New Kensington-Arnold School District ended July 31, but for the next four months he’ll collect twice as much money from the district as he did when he was district chief. A severance agreement approved as part of his resignation guarantees him a full-year’s salary,...
Ohio Gov. DeWine tests positive for covid-19 ahead of Trump visit
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine tested positive Thursday for the coronavirus just ahead a planned meeting with President Donald Trump. The Republican governor’s office said Thursday that he took the test as part of standard protocol before meeting Trump at an airport in Cleveland. He had planned to...
New York attorney general seeks to dissolve NRAVideo
NEW YORK — New York’s attorney general sued the National Rifle Association on Thursday, seeking to put the powerful gun advocacy organization out of business over claims that top executives illegally diverted tens of millions of dollars for lavish personal trips, no-show contracts for associates and other questionable expenditures. Attorney...
Allegheny County announces 100 new covid-19 cases, 3 new deaths
There were 100 new cases of covid-19 announced by the Allegheny County Health Department on Thursday. Continuing to drop, the county’s seven-day average of newly revealed cases stands at 109. The county hasn’t seen a double-digit seven-day average since July 1. Allegheny County coronavirus by dayInfogram The new cases —...
Gov. Wolf recommends high school sports be delayed until Jan. 1Video
With fall sports in the balance, will the PIAA treat Gov. Tom Wolf’s recommendation as a suggestion or a mandate? Wolf’s administration wants all youth sports — interscholastic and recreational — postponed until January, a request that jeopardizes football, soccer and other high school sports days before they’re scheduled to...
Port Authority reports 5 more covid-19 cases
Five more Port Authority of Allegheny County employees have tested positive for covid-19, spokesman Jim Ritchie said. The new cases bring the number of covid-19 cases involving Port Authority employees to 37. Last week, Port Authority recorded three covid-19 cases. Three of this week’s cases involved bus drivers based in...
1.2 million seek jobless aid after $600 federal check ends
WASHINGTON — Nearly 1.2 million laid-off Americans applied for state unemployment benefits last week, evidence that the coronavirus keeps forcing companies to slash jobs just as a critical $600 weekly federal jobless payment has expired. The Labor Department’s report Thursday marked the 20th straight week that at least 1 million...
