Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1588
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto ending self-quarantine
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is ending his self-quarantine Wednesday and will begin working in his office, according to a city officials. Peduto spokesman Tim McNulty said the mayor “feels great” and will be conducting media interviews Wednesday by phone and Skype. Peduto, 54, of Point Breeze, has been working from...
Pennsylvania reports 207 new coronavirus cases, bringing total to 851
Pennsylvania recorded more than 200 new cases of the coronavirus in one day, state health officials said Tuesday. The 207 new cases brought the statewide total to 851, including 58 cases in Allegheny County. Deaths in the state are now at seven — a second person in Allegheny County died...
Pennsylvania State Police issue 17 new warnings Tuesday to businesses that failed to close
Pennsylvania State Police issued 17 more warnings Tuesday to businesses deemed “non-life-sustaining” that were still operating, bringing the two-day total to 44. Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday ordered any Pennsylvania business that does not serve a life-sustaining purpose to close in an effort to slow the spread of covid-19. “As...
Corrections officers push Pennsylvania to stop inmate transfers
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state corrections officers’ union wants the state prison system to stop all transfers of inmates as a preventative measure against potential spread of the new coronavirus from one institution to another. Meanwhile, more businesses are challenging Gov. Tom Wolf’s order closing the physical locations of businesses determined...
Where to get tested for covid-19 in Western Pa.
Hospital systems and clinics in the region have started offering drive-thru and walk-in covid-19 testing for patients and members of the public who meet certain conditions. Here are the sites where testing is available in the region: UPMC UPMC will test “select, symptomatic” cases, according to the system’s website, at...
Dr. David Dausey: America, brace for impact
David Dausey, Ph.D., an epidemiologist, is provost and vice president of academic affairs at Duquesne University and a professor in Duquesne’s John G. Rangos School of Health Science. He is also a distinguished service professor of health policy at Carnegie Mellon University. If Italy is any guide, in the upcoming...
PennDOT reopens 23 rest stops on Pennsylvania interstates
PennDOT has reopened 23 of the state’s 30 rest areas, which had been closed to slow the spread of coronavirus. The department partially reopened 13 facilities last week but kept indoor restrooms closed while providing portable restrooms and handwashing facilities. Those 13 are among the 23 rest areas returned to...
Allegheny County identifies 2nd covid-19 fatality; active cases up to 58
A second Allegheny County resident has died because of complications from covid-19, Allegheny County Health Department officials announced Tuesday. The victim was identified as Ofelia Rousseva, 78, of the Greenfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. She was found unresponsive in a residence along the 800...
Mark Cuban unleashes on Twitter, imploring Congress to pass stimulus bill
Pittsburgh-area native and billionaire Mark Cuban unloaded on Congress in a profanity-laced Twitter tirade Tuesday, imploring Democrats and Republicans to come together on a stimulus deal to help save the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Mt. Lebanon entrepreneur and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks unleashed after a tweet...
Olympics to be postponed until 2021Video
TOKYO — The IOC announced a first-of-its-kind postponement of the Summer Olympics on Tuesday, bowing to the realities of a coronavirus pandemic that is shutting down daily life around the globe and making planning for a massive worldwide gathering in July a virtual impossibility. The International Olympic Committee said the...
Park police locate woman who nearly drove into water at Twin Lakes
Westmoreland County Park Police said they located a woman who nearly drove a vehicle into the lower lake at Twin Lakes Park on Friday after asking the public for help identifying her. Chief Henry Fontana said a witness reported seeing the vehicle travel from E parking lot near the spillway...
Sheetz reveals menu changes to curb spread of coronavirus
Sheetz officials announced menu changes Monday in response to the coronavirus. The Altoona-based convenience store chain temporarily eliminated self-serve coffee and beverages along with bakery items like doughnuts and muffins to help stop the spread of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The changes went into effect at 4...
Fighting the coronavirus with disinfecting sprays and solutions: What works?
Brand-name disinfectants are flying off store shelves, snatched up by shoppers looking for effective weapons against the novel coronavirus. But some disinfectants are better than others; some probably aren’t necessary at all; and some can actually be harmful, spawning antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We reviewed recommendations for the general population from the...
Allegheny Technologies Inc., steelworkers union agree to 1-year contract extension
Allegheny Technologies Inc. and the United Steelworkers union have agreed to a one-year extension of their expired contract, the company and union confirmed . The extension through Feb. 28, 2021, is “due to the unprecedented global business and human impacts of the covid-19 virus,” ATI spokeswoman Natalie Gillespie said. “This...
Trump says he intends to reopen country in weeks, not monthsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that he wants to reopen the country for business in weeks, not months, and he claimed, without evidence, that continued closures could result in more deaths than the coronavirus pandemic. “We can’t have the cure be worse than the problem,” Trump told reporters...
New Kensington-Arnold employee hospitalized with coronavirus
A Valley Junior-Senior High School employee hospitalized with covid-19 may have had contact with students and staff for up to four days, according to a notice issued Monday evening by New Kensington-Arnold School District. The district first announced Sunday that the employee had tested positive. The employee was not identified....
Hempfield church pastor apologizes for open services on SundayVideo
The pastor of a Hempfield church apologized Monday after roughly 200 people attended a Sunday service at Word of Life Church, against the advice of government and health officials. “Please believe me when I say it was not out of arrogance or defiance, but solely for the purpose of praying...
Western Pa. school district leaders react to Gov. Tom Wolf’s closure extension
Public schools will be closed for two more weeks, the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced Monday, extending Gov. Tom Wolf’s mandated closure to at least April 6. “The number of positive cases increases daily, and we’re seeing it spread to more counties,” Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera said in a...
More than 130 people receive covid-19 drive-thru testing in Pittsburgh Zoo lot
Cars wrapped around the main parking lot Monday at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, a new covid-19 drive-through testing site. The Central Outreach Wellness Center offered drive-through testing in the lot between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. But the vehicles were lining up well before 10:30 a.m. The line...
Pittsburgh official: Virus will have ‘deep, long lasting’ impact
The financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Pittsburgh city government will be “deep and long lasting,” potentially changing the course of capital projects and other initiatives for years to come, a city official said Monday. Dan Gilman, Mayor Bill Peduto’s chief of staff, said the budget office is working...
Hempfield couple who tested positive for covid-19 after cruise describe what it’s like to have virus
Lisa Duffy thought the cigarette smoke in the casino of the Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship was responsible for the nagging cough she developed late in her trip to the Caribbean. When the ship docked March 14 in Port Canaveral, Fla., she felt great, with none of the fatigue she usually...
Long line of people in cars at Kennywood wait to get food donations
Kennywood Park was closed, but a long line of cars snaked their way into its parking lot Monday. Normally, when this many people show up at the West Mifflin amusement park, they are anticipating a day of fun. Instead, on a dreary Monday morning, they were here for food. For...
Westmoreland police departments begin ‘non-life-sustaining’ business checks
are enforcing Gov. Wolf’s order similar to all the other Westmoreland County Departments. Local police investigated a small number of reports of non-life-sustaining businesses still operating after Gov. Tom Wolf ordered enforcement of their closures starting at 8 a.m. Monday to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Wolf’s order prohibits...
Police: Jeannette man threatened to stab state troopers after shoplifting arrest at Walmart
A Jeannette man angry after his arrest for shoplifting at a Walmart on Sunday threatened to stab police with a pen before troopers confiscated a knife hidden in his waistband, according to court documents. Anthony M. Inks, 32, was arraigned Monday before Export District Judge Charles R. Conway on charges...
PLCB: Wine, liquor sales set record day before state stores closed
Pennsylvania’s decision to close its Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores on March 17 because of the coronavirus pandemic triggered the highest single-day sales in at least a decade, according to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. The PLCB reported about $29.9 million in sales on March 16, the day the...
