Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1579
Westmoreland County adds 12 new coronavirus cases as total hits 84
Westmoreland County reported 12 new coronavirus cases on Thursday as the statewide total jumped by more than 1,200 cases, Pennsylvania health officials said. There are now 84 patients with covid-19 in Westmoreland County. The case count in Pennsylvania now stands at 7,016. The 1,211 new cases amount to a 21%...
Democratic convention moving from July to August
The Democratic National Committee is delaying its presidential nominating convention until the week of Aug. 17 after prospective nominee Joe Biden said he didn’t think it would be possible to hold a normal convention in mid-July because of the coronavirus pandemic. Convention CEO Joe Solmonese confirmed the decision in a...
Pennsylvania reports 1,211 new coronavirus cases, 16 more deaths
Pennsylvania reported 1,200 new coronavirus cases Thursday, and deaths now stand at 90, according to state health officials. The 1,211 new cases confirmed from midnight Tuesday through midnight Wednesday bring the statewide case count to 7,016. That’s about a 21% increase over the day prior. Sixteen more people have died,...
Allegheny County coronavirus cases jump by 63 as total tops 400
Allegheny County reported 63 new cases of the coronavirus Thursday, an 18% increase from Wednesday, bringing the countywide total to 419. Of that total, two Allegheny County residents have died from complications from covid-19. Over the past week, about 500 people have been tested per day, a significant increase over...
Pittsburgh scientists develop possible coronavirus vaccine, hope FDA can fast-track itVideo
A potential vaccine against the novel coronavirus causing the covid-19 outbreak has been created in a University of Pittsburgh lab. Researchers say the first phase of human clinical trials — which would include healthy volunteers in the Pittsburgh area — could start in the coming months. Scientists at the University...
Pittsburgh pizza shop owner stitching facial masks for employees, neighbors
When Martina Hanoglu saw people in her native Czech Republic making homemade facial masks for possible protection against the coronavirus, she pulled out her small sewing machine. For the past two weeks, Hanoglu stitched together cotton masks and distributed them to employees and Downtown Pittsburgh neighbors from her pizza shop...
PennDOT further extends expirations on licenses, vehicle requirements
Pennsylvanians have until the end of May to renew driver’s licenses, vehicle registrations and inspections that were scheduled to expire between March 16 and April 30. The new May 31 deadline applies to the following, according to PennDOT: • Driver’s licenses, photo identification cards and learner’s permits expiring from March...
Record 6.6 million Americans apply for unemployment in 1 weekVideo
WASHINGTON — More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — doubling a record high set just one week earlier — a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus. The stunning report Thursday from the Labor Department showed that job cuts are mounting...
Trump resists national shutdown, leaving it up to states
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is resisting calls to issue a national stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the new coronavirus despite his administration’s projections that tens of thousands of Americans are likely to be killed by the disease. One by one, though, states are increasingly pushing shutdown orders...
AHN turning Pittsburgh auditorium into covid-19 test kit production siteVideo
The Allegheny Health Network is proactively preparing for a local surge in covid-19 cases by producing test kits at its Highmark Health Penn Avenue Place in Downtown Pittsburgh, an AHN official said Thursday. The network aims to produce 20,000 to 30,000 kits in the coming weeks, continuing production through the...
Police looking for man who spit on Edgewood Giant Eagle manager
Allegheny County detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man accused of spitting on an employee at Giant Eagle’s store in Edgewood Wednesday morning. Store manager Aisha Mariner told the Trib’s news partner, WPXI-TV, that the incident happened when she was trying to help a customer who...
Levin Furniture rescue complicated by Art Van bankruptcy; Pa. attorney general looks to protect customers
Robert Levin’s plans to revive the family furniture chain he sold in 2017 may be on hold until complex bankruptcy proceedings in Delaware unwind, he said. Also involved in those proceedings, with a scheduled hearing on Friday, is Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office, which is representing Levin Furniture customers...
Allegheny County court officials release information on remaining jail population
After 701 inmates were released from Allegheny County Jail to prevent the spread of covid-19, the Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania released an update on the remaining population. As of Tuesday, 1,564 inmates were left in the jail, according to the court administrator’s office. That’s a 30% decrease from the...
Free hotel rooms, boxed lunches, child care money available to hospital workers via St. Margaret Foundation
The foundation that supports UPMC St. Margaret hospital announced Wednesday that it is offering free hotel room stays to workers afraid of spreading covid-19 to their loved ones by bringing the highly contagious disease home. The temporary housing option, now available to certain employees who may have been exposed to...
1 dead in Jefferson Hills steel hauler crash
A 64-year-old man died after his tractor-trailer overturned and went partially over a hillside in Jefferson Hills on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Jefferson Hills police responded to Payne Hill Road just before 4 p.m. Wednesday to find an overturned rig roughly a quarter-mile from Jefferson Boulevard. A downed telephone pole...
Air traffic plummets at Western Pa. airportsVideo
Josh Clevenger didn’t have to worry about having enough leg room or overhead bin space Wednesday on his flight from Fort Myers, Fla., to Pittsburgh International Airport. “I had five rows in front of me completely empty and five rows behind me completely empty,” said Clevenger, 31, of Englewood, Fla....
Harmar company that makes hemp- and algae-based medicines adds hand sanitizerVideo
Another local company has whipped up a new “craft” hand sanitizer in travel-size bottles to donate to the homeless, local police and others. Thar Process follows others including Wigle Whiskey, which has converted production facilities in the Strip District to produce the much in-demand product during the covid-19 pandemic. Thar...
‘Like a battlefield behind your home’: Deaths mount in New York
NEW YORK — New York authorities rushed to bring in an army of medical volunteers Wednesday as the statewide death toll from the coronavirus doubled in 72 hours to more than 1,900 and the wail of ambulances in the otherwise eerily quiet streets of the city became the heartbreaking soundtrack...
Beaver County nursing home’s covid-19 outbreak infects more than 34 residents
A covid-19 outbreak at a Beaver County nursing home has spread to more than three dozen residents since late last week, officials said. As of midday Wednesday, at least 34 residents who tested positive for covid-19 are being monitored in an isolated wing at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in...
Priest at Holy Family Parish in Latrobe tests positive for coronavirus
A Catholic priest in Latrobe tested positive for covid19 and is in quarantine, the Diocese of Greensburg announced. The Very Rev. Daniel Mahoney, pastor of Holy Family Parish at 1200 Ligonier St., tested positive for coronavirus, the diocese said it learned just after 1 p.m. Wednesday. Mahoney “is in quarantine...
Kennywood, Idlewild, Sandcastle delay 2020 season openings
Kennywood Park, Sandcastle and Idlewild Park all announced Wednesday the start of their 2020 seasons will be delayed. In a statement posted Wednesday on the West Mifflin park’s website, Kennywood’s management said while they look forward to welcoming guests this year, “there is a great deal of uncertainty for us...
Census Day brings renewed push for accurate count amid coronavirus fears
Members of Casa San Jose deliver up to 60 prepared lunches to neighborhoods across the Pittsburgh region as part of an effort to help families ordered to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic. Tucked inside the food bags is a piece of paper with a phone number that people can...
Here’s how much Western Pa. will get of the $170 million in federal coronavirus relief money
Pennsylvania will receive an additional $170 million in federal funding during the coronavirus pandemic from the Community Development Block Grant program and Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s office said Wednesday. Local communities will get a significant share. The federal coronavirus relief package includes $27.7 million...
Gov. Wolf orders all of Pennsylvania to stay at home
An expanded stay-at-home order now means that all Pennsylvanians must stay home unless they absolutely must go out, a move that state officials made in an effort to stanch the spread of the coronavirus. Gov. Tom Wolf’s order — which he doubled to include all 67 counties — came the...
From ibuprofen to mosquitoes, Pittsburgh doctor addresses coronavirus myths
There are plenty of myths and rumors circulating online about the coronavirus. There are also many unknowns that doctors are trying to figure out. The Tribune-Review posed some questions to Dr. Nitin Bhanot, Allegheny Health Network’s division director of infectious disease. Here are his responses: Question: There’s been speculation that...
