Health care union calls on McCormick to oppose ambassadorship for nursing home magnate
Unionized care workers are pushing U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick to reject an ambassadorship nomination for a scandal-plagued nursing home magnate who owned facilities in Western Pennsylvania. Service Employees International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania staged a small press conference Wednesday morning outside the Republican lawmaker’s office in Downtown Pittsburgh, calling on him...
WVU Health System seeks to add children’s psychiatric hospital in Wheeling
West Virginia University Health System’s Wheeling Hospital said Tuesday it’s working to acquire a children’s psychiatric hospital just a couple of miles away. The target is Orchard Park Hospital, a provider of inpatient mental health services for youth ages 5 to 18. The 30-bed facility has signed a letter of...
CMU scores 1st tenant for $100M Hazelwood Green robotics center
Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Innovation Center has secured its first tenant ahead of the $100 million facility’s opening celebration Friday. California-based FieldAI will establish a small lab and office suite in the 150,000-square-foot building, the university announced Monday. The Robotics Innovation Center is located at Hazelwood Green, site of a...
Most Pittsburgh Water customers face rising tide of higher bills
Pittsburgh Water is raising rates for most customers March 8. The utility’s typical customer will see monthly bills climb to $115 from $100, reflecting a roughly 15% increase. Nearly 9,000 low-income ratepayers enrolled in a discount program are facing much smaller average hikes, and may even see their costs go...
U.S. Steel secures permit to build $100 million slag recycler
U.S. Steel announced Monday it secured permission from the Allegheny County Health Department to build a $100 million slag recycler at the Edgar Thomson Works. A critical air quality permit arrived Friday, U.S. Steel said, allowing the company to start site preparation at the facility straddling Braddock and North Braddock....
Tariff ruling bolsters Supreme Court’s credibility in eyes of Duquesne President Ken Gormley
The Supreme Court dealt a major blow Friday to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plan — and notched a major victory for believers in checks and balances, according to Duquesne University President Ken Gormley. Gormley, a law professor and nationally recognized constitutional scholar, took the 6-3 decision as a clear...
Pitt, CMU offer inside glimpse of Pittsburgh’s cutting-edge biotech hubs
Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh offered rare looks Thursday into two cutting-edge research facilities during a showcase for the U.S. National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology. Congress created the commission in 2022 to analyze the national security implications of novel biotechnologies, which manipulate cells and genetic material...
For peat’s sake: Persian Gulf sheikh explores deal with Ambridge maker of artificial peat moss
PittMoss says its paper and cardboard-based peat moss alternative can do a lot: reduce waste, cut carbon emissions and, critically, grow plants better than the real thing. The proprietary mixture of shredded recyclables and organic fertilizers might even be able to “totally transform” the soil of one of the driest...
Aurora’s driverless trucks soon to be a common sight across the Sun Belt
Aurora Innovation plans to have more than 200 driverless tractor-trailers on the road by the end of the year as part of a rapid expansion across the Sun Belt. The anticipated growth would mark a new era of commercialization for the company, which is headquartered in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, after...
Police say ex-Rankin manager, Woodland Hills president, unlawfully used borough credit card
Former Rankin manager Terri Lawson racked up nearly $10,000 in unauthorized purchases on a borough credit card, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday. Court papers accuse her of using the First National Bank card more than 130 times between August and the start of December at restaurants, grocery stores,...
Morning Roundup: Former nursing home employee charged with theft of over $100K; water main break in Dormont
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Feb. 13: Former nursing home worker charged with theft An ex-employee of a nursing home in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood is accused of buying more than $102,000 worth of food that was never served to residents. Vincent Jones,...
PennDOT awaiting warmer weather before lifting lane restrictions near Route 28 rock slide
A southbound lane of Route 28 in Harmar will remain closed until further notice due to the potential for rock slides, according to PennDOT. Debris tumbled from a hillside onto the highway Tuesday evening between the Hulton Bridge in Oakmont and Powers Run Road in O’Hara. No one was hurt...
Nemacolin named top hotel in Pennsylvania, 28th in the U.S. in annual report
Nemacolin, the exclusive Fayette County resort known for its luxury accommodations, fine dining and expansive grounds, was named Pennsylvania’s top hotel Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report. The Laurel Highlands destination earned the No. 28 spot nationwide — one of only two businesses in Pennsylvania to crack the top...
California man accused of sexually extorting Pitt student
A California man is accused of using a University of Pittsburgh student’s intimate photos as blackmail in a monthslong pattern of coercion. Michael Vaca, 19, was charged Wednesday with 55 counts of sexual extortion, terroristic threats, stalking, harassment and other crimes. Police say he obtained these images last summer while...
Kraft Heinz pauses split as new CEO calls challenges ‘fixable’
Kraft Heinz said Wednesday it’s pausing a planned split and launching a $600 million investment campaign to tackle what new CEO Steve Cahillane called “fixable” challenges. The company announced in September it will divide its roughly 200 brands into one firm focused on high-performing sauces and spreads and another made...
Morning Roundup: Duquesne Light launches precise outage detectors; woman charged in fatal Bullskin Township crash
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, Feb, 11: Duquesne Light rolls out smart sensors to detect outages Duquesne Light has installed over 1,700 smart grid sensors on utility poles across Allegheny and Beaver counties to help quickly pinpoint power outages, the company said Wednesday....
Sly Fox Brewing space at Highline on South Side available, equipment up for sale
A realty company is looking for someone to serve out the remainder of Sly Fox Brewing’s lease in Pittsburgh’s South Side, suggesting the Pottstown-based company’s only production facility in Western Pennsylvania is winding down. Legacy Realty Partners announced last week the nearly 6,000-square-foot space in the neighborhood’s Highline complex —...
Morning Roundup: Braddock fire victim identified; Code Orange extended for Mon Valley
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Feb. 10: Man killed in Braddock fire identified The man killed Friday in a Braddock house fire has been identified as 63-year-old Antwon Abram. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office named Abram in a report Monday. Authorities say...
Police identify driver killed in wrong-way crash on Parkway West
Police have identified the man killed in a wrong-way crash Sunday on the Parkway West as Serghei Ganaciuc, 45, of Pittsburgh. Ganaguic was traveling east in the westbound lanes of Interstate 376 in Collier just before 4 a.m. when his Toyota Prius collided with a Mercedes-Benz GLB SUV, Pennsylvania State...
Morning Roundup: Code Orange issued in Mon Valley; woman shot in McKees Rocks
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, Feb. 9: Code Orange alert issued Several Mon Valley communities are under a Code Orange air quality alert Monday by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Clairton, Glassport, Lincoln, Liberty and Port Vue may see pollution levels that...
Boil water advisory lifted in parts of Allegheny, Washington counties
A weekend boil water advisory for roughly 95,000 Pennsylvania American Water customers in Allegheny and Washington counties has been lifted after testing showed no signs of bacterial contamination. The notice went into effect Saturday after a power surge interrupted pumping, causing a 4-foot-wide water main to break near the Aldrich...
TrumpRx aids some who seek lower drug prices, but experts say impact is limited
President Donald Trump is touting the federal government’s new direct-to-consumer drug platform, TrumpRx, as a health care revolution. The reality is more complicated, with only a narrow set of consumers poised to benefit from reduced prices on dozens of medications. Some of the markdowns are eye-popping. Injectable weight-loss drug Ozempic...
Independence Health continues to narrow operating losses
Hefty losses have slowed for Independence Health System in the months leading up to its acquisition by West Virginia University Health System. The five-hospital network said Wednesday its operating losses fell to $7.3 million in the second half of last year, down from $16.3 million over the same span in...
Sprawling data center campus proposed next to old Bruce Mansfield power plant in Beaver County
The data center boom has arrived in small-town Beaver County with little of the fanfare that’s accompanied similar proposals across Southwestern Pennsylvania. Shippingport Council granted several zoning modifications last week that allow Texas-based Aligned Data Centers to build a sprawling campus — dubbed “Project Phoenix” — next to the old...
Pitt researcher studies lingering health impacts from East Palestine train derailment
University of Pittsburgh researcher Juliane Beier is a leading authority on how colorless, sweet-smelling vinyl chloride can cause cancer and worsen liver disease. Her expertise meant she feared the worst when vinyl chloride vapors — the result of a controversial vent-and-burn operation by first responders — began billowing from derailed...
