Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1546
US approves new coronavirus antigen test with fast results
U.S. regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday announced emergency authorization for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corp. of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect fragments of...
Go native: Local Audubon Society will deliver plants for hummingbirds, butterflies
Although its doors have been closed during the pandemic, the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania is taking orders for native plants from its nurseries and bird seed that it will deliver to area homes. Audubon offers more than 70 species of native plants that attract birds, butterflies and a range...
Pennsylvania reports 72 new covid-19 deaths; total coronavirus cases now top 55K
Pennsylvania reported 72 more deaths from covid-19 and more than 1,000 newly confirmed cases as of Saturday morning, pushing the statewide coronavirus case count above 55,000. Hospitals are treating 2,283 patients with the disease, and 482 of those patients are on ventilators. Another 20 patients are on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation,...
Allegheny County reports 1 covid-19 death, 31 new cases
Another person in Allegheny County has died from covid-19, raising the death toll to 120, the Allegheny County Health Department said Saturday. Thirty-one more people were confirmed as having covid-19 or were probable over the past day, raising the total number on Saturday to 1,486 cases that were either confirmed...
Little Richard, flamboyant rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, dead at 87
NASHVILLE — Little Richard, the self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, has died Saturday. He was 87. Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated Press that...
State lawmakers say there is pain ahead as coronavirus restrictions begin to ease
State lawmakers say the social and economic pain from the coronavirus shutdown is not over and that there are still many questions as Southwestern Pennsylvania prepares to move from red to yellow zone status Friday. Gov. Tom Wolf, who imposed statewide stay-at-home orders as covid-19 cases began cropping up in...
White father, son charged with murder in Ahmaud Arbery case
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The white father and son stood quietly Friday as the judge read murder and aggravated assault charges against them in the fatal shooting of a black man who was running through their Georgia neighborhood. In just a few minutes, their first court appearance was over. It was...
Roy Horn, dark-haired half of flamboyant illusionists Siegfried & Roy, dies of complications related to coronavirus
Roy Horn, the dark-haired half of Siegfried & Roy, the flamboyant, German-born illusionists whose lavish stage productions and trademark disappearing white tigers and lions made them one of the biggest draws on the Las Vegas Strip, died Friday. He was 75. Horn, who suffered a severe wound to his neck...
Pennsylvania business owners worry about ability to bounce back from covid-19 lockdown
Bob Sodini’s small accounting firm in Harrison was in its busiest month of the year — tax filing season — when Gov. Tom Wolf imposed a statewide lockdown to thwart the spread of covid-19. With the doors closed to Sodini & Co.’s office on Freeport Road, the firm’s four employees...
Wolf: More than 6K business owners granted waivers during covid-19 shutdown, nearly 13K denied
More than 6,000 Pennsylvania businesses received waivers to operate during the pandemic-spurred lockdown, or about 14% of those who applied for the exemption, data released Friday show. Among them were car washes, bike shops, furniture and appliance stores, lumberyards, sheet metal manufacturers, and toilet rental services. Also approved were bookkeepers,...
Homicide charges filed against New Kensington man in death of 2-year-old stepson
A New Kensington stepfather whose 2-year-old boy died last month has been charged with murder. Keith Dale Lilly Jr., 31, was previously charged with aggravated assault, child endangerment and reckless endangerment. Online court documents show Lilly faces additional charges of homicide, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, recklessly endangering another person, possession...
Greensburg, Pittsburgh Catholic dioceses announce slightly relaxed rules starting May 15
Catholic churches in both the Greensburg Diocese and Pittsburgh Diocese will be permitted to reopen their doors for private prayer beginning May 15, diocese officials have announced. Pittsburgh Diocese officials also eased restrictions on weddings and funeral Masses from having no more than 10 people in attendance to no more...
Western Pa. colleges making plans for online, face-to-face learning in fall semester
Universities that bring thousands of students to Southwestern Pennsylvania every fall are offering reassurances that they hope to reopen shuttered classrooms and dormitories in August. Although the region is scheduled to begin reopening on May 15, colleges and universities are not yet permitted to resume face-to-face operations in classrooms and...
New Pennsylvania dental guidelines spark confusion
Pittsburgh orthodontist David Pechersky knows he has a lot of patients who need him right now and, like many in his profession, he’s been frustrated by his inability to see them. “I’ve got patients with braces who haven’t been seen for three or four months, because we schedule eight to...
IRS sets Wednesday deadline for direct deposit stimulus payments
WASHINGTON — The IRS said it will accept bank account information until noon Wednesday for people who want to receive stimulus payments by direct deposit. After that, the IRS will send the money by check to the address on file, with those payments expected to arrive in late May and...
87-year-old Unity golfer scores 1st hole-in-one after coronavirus banVideo
At 87, Don Ferlin thought he’d never sink a hole-in-one. Heck, with the coronavirus pandemic dragging on and golf courses declared off-limits by Gov. Tom Wolf until May 1, the Unity man wondered whether he would ever tee off again. But Thursday, Ferlin and his longtime golfing buddies, Sonny Baughman...
Stocks rise on hopes that awful jobs report marks the bottom
Wall Street doubled down on its bet that the worst of the recession has passed, sending stocks higher again on Friday despite another historic, crushing report on the job market. Stocks around the world were already rising before the U.S. government gave its monthly report on jobs, in part on...
Beaver County officials blast Wolf’s decision to keep county under heavy coronavirus restrictions
Beaver County officials blasted Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday for his decision to keep their county under the most restrictive pandemic-related guidelines, while the county’s district attorney declared he wouldn’t prosecute business owners who choose to flout the continued restrictions. Commissioners and lawmakers got ahead of Wolf’s 2 p.m. announcement...
Aide to Vice President Mike Pence tests positive for coronavirus
WASHINGTON — An aide to Vice President Mike Pence has the coronavirus, marking the second person in the White House complex known to test positive this week. The latest positive test was confirmed by a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters....
Was sand dumping at Pittsburgh City Hall in retaliation to shuttered skateboard park?
Someone dumped sand in a revolving door at Pittsburgh’s City Hall on Thursday night, hours after city officials reported a public works crew put sand in a shuttered neighborhood skateboard park to prevent repeated break-ins. Public safety spokesman Chris Togneri said police were investigating the sand dumping in a doorway...
Gov. Wolf announces most of Western Pa. moving to yellow phase May 15
Allegheny and Westmoreland are among the counties Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday can begin the first phase of a gradual reopening and easing of coronavirus-related restrictions. A majority of the Southwest and South-Central counties will proceed to the yellow phase of the tiered reopening plan on May 15. That includes...
Hundreds of suspected marijuana plants worth $500K seized in Penn Hills
Authorities seized hundreds of suspected marijuana plants during a raid on the home of a 66-year-old Penn Hills man, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office. Kenneth Creekmore will face charges of drug possession and possession with intent to deliver, District Attorney spokesman Mike Manko said. Police from numerous...
Pennsylvania reports 200 more coronavirus deaths, more than 1,300 new cases
Pennsylvania added 200 more coronavirus deaths to its toll on Friday along with more than 1,300 new cases of the virus, state health officials said. The new numbers bring the statewide death toll to 3,616. Of those deaths, 2,458 — 68% — have been in long-term care facilities. The total...
Market Square farmers market moving to new Pittsburgh location
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is changing the location and day of operation for its popular Market Square farmers market as a safety precaution during the coronavirus pandemic. The partnership announced Friday that the market will open May 17 in a parking lot at 11th Street and Waterfront Place in the...
Locked-down stores, shoppers emerge in parts of Pennsylvania
People across a swath of Pennsylvania began opening stores Friday that had been shut down since March as some coronavirus restrictions were lifted, while residents began leaving their homes unfettered by a just-expired stay-at-home order that had been in place since April 1. Located in a primarily rural swath of...
