Megan Guza stories, Page 32
Many covid positive Pennsylvanians ignoring contact tracing questions
Fewer than a quarter of Pennsylvania residents who tested positive for covid-19 in late October answered questions from contact tracers as to whether they’d been to any restaurants, bars or mass gatherings, according to data released Monday by the Department of Health. “You might save a life by being honest...
Graffiti vandals strike Rep. Conor Lamb’s Mt. Lebanon office
Vandals struck the Mt. Lebanon office of U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, according to a Monday morning tweet from the congressman, a day after similar graffiti was sprayed across the home of Lamb’s Republican challenger and the office of Rep. Mike Doyle. “Our office is open today,” Lamb, a Democrat, tweeted...
Pittsburgh police detail policy on undercover officer drinking limits
Pittsburgh police leaders on Tuesday night detailed for the first time new policies regarding alcohol consumption by plainclothes officers, more than two years after a brawl between members of the Pagans and officers on an undercover detail. The changes were made in response to the Oct. 12, 2018, incident at...
Police raid ‘illegal speakeasy’ in Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes
Authorities searching an unlicensed bar in Pittsburgh last week turned up more than 60 liters of liquor, illegal gambling machines, cash and 10 gallons of beer, according to state and local police. The Nuisance Bar Task Force executed a search warrant at Bridgez, an Arlington Avenue bar in the South...
‘It seems like yesterday’: Pittsburgh marks 2 years since Tree of Life massacreVideo
Joyce Fienberg. Richard Gottfriend. Rose Mallinger. Jerry Rabinowitz. David and Cecil Rosenthal. Bernice and Sylvan Simon. Daniel Stein. Melvin Wax. Irving Younger. Some days, two years feels like two days. Others, it feels like two lifetimes. “Sometimes, it feels like it was just yesterday,” said Carol Sikov Gross, president of...
TSA agents catch 19th gun this year at Pittsburgh airport
Security agents at Pittsburgh International Airport caught a man with a gun in his carry-on bag Monday, authorities said, marking the 19th firearm caught so far this year. Transportation Security Administration screeners spotted the 9mm handgun shortly before 1:30 p.m., according to Allegheny County Police. Authorities said the 52-year-old man...
Pa. health secretary Levine says covid can be contained through masking and other efforts
The Pennsylvania Secretary of Health on Monday had a pointed response to a political declaration that “we’re not going to control the pandemic” as Pennsylvania and most other states see surges in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. “Despite what has been reported in the last day or so, we can control...
Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro seeks second term in race against Republican Heather Heidelbaugh
Attorney General Josh Shapiro calls himself “the people’s lawyer.” Heather Heidelbaugh, his Republican challenger in the Nov. 3 election, refers to herself as “a lawyer’s lawyer.” While Shapiro has garnered national headlines for his impassioned challenges against the Trump administration, Heidelbaugh says the office is one that should focus on...
U.S. Marshals arrest man wanted in fatal Wilkinsburg shooting
U.S. Marshals on Friday arrested an Edgewood man wanted for an alleged homicide in Wilkinsburg earlier this year, authorities said. Tieriq Pinnix, 27, faces homicide and other charges in connection with the Aug. 31 killing of Marque Yellets. Police responded to a home on Penn Avenue in Wilkinsburg shortly before...
Feds arrest 15 foreign students for work-status fraud in ‘Operation OPTical Illusion’
Federal immigration authorities have arrested 15 nonimmigrant students for alleged education-related fraud, authorities said Wednesday. The arrests took place in a number of cities, including Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Boston, Houston and more, the federal authorities said. The 15 arrested allegedly claimed they worked for companies that did not exist. “Nonimmigrant” status...
Pittsburgh police officer positive for covid-19, in-person training canceled
A Pittsburgh Police officer has tested positive for covid-19, causing “a number of other officers and supervisors” to isolate and quarantine, officials said Wednesday. In addition, Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich suspended all in-person training programs and inter-unit rotations for police, fire and EMS until sometime next month. “Protecting Public...
Future of Race for the Cure in question as Komen Foundation closes local chapters
The Susan G. Komen Foundation will close all of its local offices across the country by year’s end, leaving the future of Pittsburgh’s annual Race for the Cure up in the air, the nonprofit announced Tuesday. The foundation, which raises money for breast cancer research, screenings and treatment, plans to...
Officials: Greene County prison inmate dies of covid-19
A 35-year-old inmate in Greene County has died from covid-19, marking the 13th inmate death within the Department of Corrections since the pandemic began, officials said. The man, who was taken to the hospital Oct. 7 for an issue not related to covid-19, tested positive Oct. 13, according to Department...
Task force issues recommendations for reforming Pittsburgh police
A task force charged with coming up with avenues for meaningful change in the way Pittsburgh polices its residents released a slew of recommendations Monday, choosing eight main topics and offering dozens of pages worth of ideas and data to back them up. “There were a lot of different ideas...
Covid resurgence is here, Pa. officials say after 14 days of new cases topping 1,000
Pennsylvania’s statewide percentage of positive covid-19 cases has risen to 4.3%, the highest it’s been since August, state officials said Monday, and nearly a third of the state’s 67 counties have a percent positivity of more than 5%. “We all knew there was … going to be an upsurge in...
Quaker Valley moves to online learning after mass quarantine of students, staff occurs
More than 100 Quaker Valley students and staff are in quarantine after possible covid-19 exposures, and the middle and high school will be 100% virtual for at least two weeks, district officials said Saturday. The move to all-online classes comes as officials also announced nine new cases of the virus...
Portions of Pittsburgh’s Garfield, Stanton Heights neighborhoods under flush and boil advisory
Around 300 homes in Pittsburgh’s Stanton Heights and Garfield neighborhoods are under a flush and boil water advisory Saturday. A tank near Garfield experienced a pump failure while T-Mobile was completing utility work around 11 a.m., according to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority. The result was low or no...
Police: Kiski Township teens arrested after 1 found with meth, other knocks officer to the ground
A suspicious vehicle investigation in Kiski Township ended with one teen charged for allegedly knocking an officer to the ground and another facing drug charges, authorities said. A township officer spotted what he deemed to be two suspicious cars about 6:50 p.m. along Brownstown Road near McCartney Road, according to...
Carlow University president set to retire at school year’s end
Carlow University President Suzanna Mellon will retire at the end of the academic year, according to an announcement made at Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting. Mellon, 69, came to the university in 2013. The former executive vice president of St. Anselm College in New Hampshire was Carlow’s 10th president. In...
Pennsylvania breaking records in voter registration by mail and in person
More than 2.7 million Pennsylvanians are approved to vote by mail in the upcoming election, and about a quarter have mailed in their ballots, state officials said Friday. “We are right on track to end up right around 3 million, which was our estimate after the primary (election),” Secretary of...
Gisele Fetterman won’t press charges against woman in verbal assault
The woman who berated Pennsylvania second lady Gisele Fetterman outside a Forest Hills grocery store will not be prosecuted at the request of the Fetterman family, which includes Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. The incident happened Sunday at the Aldi on Route 30. Fetterman said she was waiting in line...
Swissvale bar closed again for covid violations
A Swissvale bar is shut down for the second time for violating covid-19 restrictions meant to safeguard against the spread of the virus, Allegheny County records show. Wilson’s Nite Out, on Denniston Street, can reopen Friday if owners and management submit a covid-19 safety plan. Owners had previously submitted a...
Details emerge on suspected Taco Bell bandit charged in Southwestern Pa. burglaries
An Ohio man accused of burglarizing more than 30 Taco Bells across four states now faces charges for similar crimes in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Joshua John Logue, of Columbus, Ohio, is accused of hitting Taco Bell restaurants in the Waterworks Mall complex, Scott and South Strabane in Washington County. All of...
Pa. health officials aim to avoid shutdown despite covid uptick
A recent uptick in covid-19 cases and a likely cold-weather resurgence of the virus will not lead to another state shutdown, Pennsylvania health leaders said Wednesday. Instead, current mitigation measures and increased testing will be used to combat the spread as cool weather drives people indoors. “We have no plans...
Death toll reaches 10 in covid outbreak at Kane in Scott, with 78 active casesVideo
Ten residents of Kane Community Living Center’s Scott location have died from covid-19 in an outbreak that was first detected in mid-September, facility officials said Oct. 9. Kane has three other facilities, in Ross, Pittsburgh’s Glen Hazel neighborhood and McKeesport. Residents range from young people with disabilities to older patients...
