Jack Troy stories, Page 8
UPMC to stop gender-affirming care for patients 18 and under by month’s end
UPMC has confirmed it will end gender-affirming care for patients 18 and younger in response to the Trump administration’s policies aimed at transgender youth. A spokesperson for UPMC, the region’s largest hospital network, said federal guidance has made it clear clinicians who provide care such as puberty blockers and hormone...
Highmark joins major insurers in prior authorization reform
Highmark was among more than 50 health insurers who pledged Monday to speed up and slim down prior authorization, the process through which patients and their doctors must seek insurance approval for certain care before it’s administered. “It’s all about decreasing the administrative burden,” said Highmark Chief Medical Officer Tim...
‘Roller coaster’: High-stakes drama marked Nippon’s winning courtship of U.S. Steel
Three Mon Valley mayors remember it well: A series of mid-December meetings with union leaders and Nippon Steel executives as Japan’s largest steelmaker aggressively courted U.S. Steel, the storied American manufacturer. Relations between the United Steelworkers union and Nippon — never friendly, exactly — had deteriorated over the course of...
U.S. Steel, Nippon finalize $14.9B merger, security agreement
Japan’s Nippon Steel has finalized its $14.9 billion takeover of U.S. Steel, the companies announced Wednesday, as they unveiled details about the deal, which amounts to a tightly monitored merger. To win government approval, the companies also have entered a national security agreement meant to mitigate worries about Nippon having...
Organizers hope Freeport’s 6th annual Pride celebration can be a low-key safe space for LGBTQ+ people
Pittsburgh’s boisterous Pride parade may soak up a lot of attention, but Freeport Pride Stroll and Festival is a chance for LGBTQ+ people in the Alle-Kiski Valley to feel supported in their own community, organizers say. “You don’t have to go to a big city to feel safe,” said Sidney...
Fire damages multiple mobile homes in Buffalo Township
A shed fire spread to two mobile homes in Buffalo Township on Thursday night, seriously damaging them. A Butler County dispatcher said crews were alerted of a fire around 9:45 p.m. in Jack’s Mobile Homes park along Shaner Drive. No injuries were reported, the dispatcher said, but the Red Cross...
Vandergrift’s Casino Theatre still a beacon of culture after 125 years
The Casino Theatre in Vandergrift could have become anything over the years — a parking lot, like the theater on Longfellow Street did, or maybe basketball courts. Yes, that almost happened. It even survived a 13-year period of neglect, between 1982 and 1995, after the company that ran it as...
Freeport’s 1st manager reflects on defining the role as he readies to resign
Zachary Filous described his 2½ years as Freeport borough manager, especially early on, like “drinking from a fire hose.” He’s done more than just send emails and direct personnel. His hiring roughly coincided with the departure of the borough’s treasurer, public works director and sewage plant operator — roles he...
Doubled steel and aluminum tariffs leave W.Pa. businesses uneasy
Christian Klanica’s gut told him President Donald Trump wasn’t done raising steel and aluminum tariffs, so he turned down long-term production contracts and stocked up on supplies throughout the spring for his tool-and-die shop in Hempfield. Already, the 25% tariffs on these metals imposed in March have inflated the cost...
Freeport Area School Board OKs $55 million high school renovation, tax hike
After years of planning and debate, the Freeport Area School Board moved ahead Wednesday with a $55 million high school renovation project — and approved a tax increase to help fund it. Both measures passed 5-4. The school directors who voted for both were Christine Davies, Michael Huth, Gregory Selinger,...
Vandergrift officials won’t let damaged roof in business district be ignored
Vandergrift officials are going after the owner of a building with a prime location on Grant Avenue for failing to fix its partly collapsed roof. Council voted Monday to pursue a nuisance complaint in Westmoreland County Court, which could result in the borough completing the repairs itself and billing the...
UPMC reports $237 million operating income in Q1 2025
UPMC is off to a strong financial start in 2025, with both its health care and insurance services in the black last quarter for a total operating income of $237 million. The health care network made $142 million, while the insurance side — a drag on many recent quarterly reports...
Retirees live it up at retired school buildings
Catholic school taught Jim Scafuri as much about how to take a beating from a nun as math or reading, so when he started at the public Morningside Elementary School in the 1960s, it came as a welcome reprieve. “I started to learn for the first time in my life,”...
Highmark ekes out $15 million margin in first quarter of 2025
Highmark Health brought in more money than it lost in the first quarter of 2025, but just barely. Financial results released Thursday show the health care and insurance provider made $15 million in operating income on $8 billion in revenue between January and March. The success, to some extent, was...
‘Cup family is forever:’ Ex-Pens coach Mike Sullivan takes out billboards to thank city
Former Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan plastered a parting message this week on a handful of billboards around the city. “Thank you, Pittsburgh,” they read. “Cup family is forever.” The signs feature a photo of Sullivan lifting the Stanley Cup, a feat he accomplished back-to-back behind the Penguins bench...
Morning Roundup: Armstrong Tunnel reopens; boy shot in Wilkinsburg
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, May 29: Armstrong Tunnel reopens The Armstrong Tunnel is fully open to drivers for the first time since March 2023. Crews spent more than two years reconfiguring lanes, repairing deteriorating masonry and modernizing safety systems on the connector...
Roundup: Clemente Bridge to close for concert; Dick’s charity arm ends support to McKeesport schools
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, May 28: Roberto Clemente Bridge to close Thursday The Roberto Clemente Bridge will close from 7 a.m. to just before midnight Thursday for a Post Malone concert at PNC Park, according to the Pittsburgh Department of Public Works....
Walmart adds Bethel Park Shopping Center to sprawling real estate portfolio
Walmart has bought the Bethel Park Shopping Center for $39.6 million, reflecting its longstanding strategy of owning its stores and, often, surrounding properties. Allegheny County property records show the 22-acre lot changed hands May 5. The previous owner, Texas-based commercial real estate firm Tabani Group, bought the center in 2023...
Contractor fatally run over by truck in Rochester
A 71-year-old man died Tuesday after trying to stop a tractor-trailer from rolling away in Rochester. Beaver Valley Regional police Chief Michael Priolo told TribLive news partner WTAE contractors were unloading a trailer at the Sherwin-Williams plant on Cleveland Street when their truck began to move. The man was hit...
Parkway East outbound restrictions to last the week as part of larger bridge project
Drivers on the Parkway East will see outbound lane and shoulder restrictions from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday between the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and the Edgewood/Swissvale interchange, weather permitting. Crews are building a retaining wall outside of the tunnel near the site of the new Commercial Street...
Morning Roundup: 3 out-of-state men charged with trespassing at vacant Pittsburgh school
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, May 27: 3 out of state men charged with trespassing at vacant Pittsburgh school Pittsburgh police said three men traveled halfway across the country to break into an abandoned school Monday in the city’s Knoxville neighborhood. Sean Alvarez,...
Lower Burrell man dead after motorcycle crash in city
A Lower Burrell man died Monday after his Harley Davidson motorcycle collided with a sedan in the city. The incident occurred just before 4 p.m. The motorcycle rider, William Hartman, 20, died about an hour and a half later, according to a report from the Westmoreland County Coroner’s office. The...
Allegheny Township OKs stormwater fee to meet MS4 compliance
Allegheny Township approved a stormwater fee Tuesday as the deadline looms to meet state and federal mandates on runoff management. The ordinance saddles homeowners with an $8.50 monthly payment to help fund about $1.6 million in improvements needed to make good on the township’s MS4 plan, short for Municipal Separate...
Trump announces ‘planned partnership’ between U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel
President Donald Trump on Friday announced an agreement between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, which both steelmakers have confirmed. “I am proud to announce that, after much consideration and negotiation, U.S. Steel will REMAIN in America and keep its headquarters in the great city of Pittsburgh,” the president wrote on...
National security panel split on risks of U.S. Steel deal — again
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) remains divided on whether U.S. Steel’s proposed sale to Tokyo-based Nippon Steel presents a national security risk, but most panel members think there’s a path forward for the deal. Reuters broke the news Thursday, citing an anonymous White House official....
