Megan Guza stories, Page 35
Post-Gazette files lawsuit claiming Pittsburgh’s discrimination inquiry is ‘unconstitutional’
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this week claimed a discrimination inquiry by the city’s Commission on Human Relations — opened in June after a Black reporter accused the newspaper of violating her civil rights — is unconstitutional. In a lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday, the Post-Gazette asked the court to declare...
2 Pitt students test positive for covid-19
Two University of Pittsburgh students tested positive for covid-19 in the school’s first round of surveillance testing, according to data released by the university. The university had announced it would choose students at random to participate in the self-administered testing. In the first round of testing conducted Aug. 12-13 as...
Slippery Rock, McKeesport school districts contend in lawsuits that Juul created ‘youth vaping epidemic’
Slippery Rock and McKeesport Area school districts have filed lawsuits against the makers of Juul vape products, alleging their marketing tactics have created an epidemic of harmful e-cigarette use among students. The districts are the fifth and sixth area districts to file federal lawsuits against the company. Lawsuits filed by...
Man wanted in Millvale baseball bat attack surrenders to police
A man wanted for allegedly beating his cousin to the brink of death earlier this month has turned himself in to Millvale police on Thursday, authorities said. Julio Armondo Jenaro, 37, has been wanted by Millvale police since the Aug. 1 fight that left Jenaro’s cousin in critical condition. In...
Mother of Duquesne student killed in fall still at odds with university
A woman still searching for answers in the 2018 death of her son at Duquesne University remains at odds with the school and its attorneys who say they have done all that they can to accommodate her demands for information. Dannielle Brown, of Washington, D.C., has been on hunger strike...
‘Where’s the chaos’?: At Pitt’s move-in day, a surreal silence amid a pandemicVideo
The University of Pittsburgh’s move-in day this year was, for perhaps the first time, a quiet one. The usual throngs of students and parents were instead just sporadic groups that trickled across campus. Traffic moved freely on Forbes and Fifth avenues. There were no lines for parking lots, no waiting...
Family of man killed by Wilkinsburg police calls for disbanding department, homicide chargesVideo
The family of a man shot and killed late last year by a Wilkinsburg police officer is calling for the entire department to be disbanded and for the District Attorney’s Office to file homicide charges against the officer. Paul Jubas, who represents the family of Romir Talley, said Monday that...
Police: Monroeville man accused of exposing himself, trying to lure 2 girls in McKeesport
A Monroeville man remained in jail Sunday for allegedly exposing himself to and trying to lure two girls in McKeesport, court records show. Carlos Levy, 30, was allegedly parked on Ross Street late in the afternoon on Aug. 2, according to the criminal complaint filed against him. Two girls, ages...
Police: Dog hurt during arrest of owner in Pittsburgh’s Allentown
Pittsburgh police shot and injured a dog Saturday when it went after officers who were trying to arrest its owner, authorities said. The incident happened about 11:45 a.m. as officers were responding to Helen Way on the border of the city’s Allentown and Knoxville neighborhoods for a report of people...
Plasma from covid-19 survivors at ’emergency level,’ blood donation organizations sayVideo
Blood donation organizations say they are facing a critical shortage of convalescent plasma from covid-19 survivors – a part of the blood that contains antibodies that can help those still critically ill with the virus overcome the infection. “I’d say we’re at an emergency level,” said Regina Bratton Boothe, a...
Gov. Wolf says other states with coronavirus surges are causing Pa. test result delays
Long lags in getting covid-19 test results to patients have Pennsylvania health officials concerned, even as the state’s capacity to perform tests has grown. The delays — some of up to 14 days or more — come in part from what’s happening in other states, Gov. Tom Wolf said during...
Pa. lawmakers propose 1st dog license fee increase in 24 years
State lawmakers on Wednesday called for an increase in the cost of a dog license — the first in more than two decades in Pennsylvania — in an effort to keep the state’s Bureau of Dog Law from going into the red. The bureau, part of the state Department of...
‘Limping along’: Air travel still struggling to get off the ground in Western Pa.Video
Air travel through Pittsburgh International Airport and Arnold Palmer Regional Airport is showing modest signs of improvement but remains largely crippled as the industry continues to grapple with allaying passengers’ fears. Passenger volume at Pittsburgh International in June was up 113% over May, but the number of passengers — about...
Gov. Wolf, GOP critic spar over social media post parroting health secretary’s LGBQT comments
A public back-and-forth between Gov. Tom Wolf and one of his vocal House critics played out Thursday over the Lebanon County lawmaker’s parody of the health department secretary. The feud ended in calls from both parties for censures, resignations and dismissals. The incident started Wednesday with a social media post...
I-579 ‘cap’ project remains on schedule despite pandemic; 1st concrete slabs set into place
Construction of a “cap” linking the Hill District to Downtown Pittsburgh remains on schedule despite restrictions necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, PennDOT officials said Wednesday. The nearly $30 million I-579 Urban Connector, known as the I-579 “Cap,” is still on pace to open in 2022, according to PennDOT. The first...
Feds charge 8 in Pittsburgh protests that turned violent
A federal grand jury indicted eight people in connection with damage and vandalism during protests May 30 in Downtown Pittsburgh. Most of those indicted were in some way connected to the destruction of two Pittsburghpolice cruisers that were set ablaze during protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd in...
Protest over Pittsburgh bar’s dress code results in multiple charges
Multiple activists face charges stemming from a protest outside a Downtown Pittsburgh bar last month over a dress code some called racist and transphobic, court records show. The incident that led to the protest happened June 20 after two men at the 941 Saloon on Liberty Avenue were asked to...
Pittsburgh International Airport gets $3M in federal funding for runway rehab
Pittsburgh International Airport will receive more than $3 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve taxiways and buy new snow removal equipment, federal officials announced Tuesday. The grant is part of more than $273 million awarded to 184 airports across the country for safety and infrastructure improvements by...
Family of Monroeville man says he ‘died happy’ on raceway
James “Big Jim” Baker’s death at Keystone Raceway last week was exactly the way he’d have wanted to go out. For this, his family said, they are grateful. “He’d say, ‘If I die in that car, I’ll die happy,’ ” his daughter, Nichole Baker, said of her father. “He died...
For young adults with nowhere to go after foster care, federal program offers hopeVideo
Leibrynn Russell doesn’t know where in Allegheny County she’ll be living soon, but she knows it will be in a house and not on the streets — a place where a quarter of the 20,000 teenagers who age out of the foster care system each year will end up within...
Emergency order halts in-person criminal hearings in Allegheny County Courthouse
In an emergency order spurred by another covid-19 case in the Allegheny County Courthouse, President Judge Kim Berkley Clark halted all in-person criminal hearings until further notice. She said more positive cases among court system employees are likely. The emergency order came late Friday afternoon, a day after a less...
PennDOT adds 3rd gender identity option for non-binary drivers
Pennsylvanians who identify as non-binary can now make that designation on their driver’s licenses or ID card, and anyone wishing to change that designation can do so without a physician’s or social worker’s signature. Having only male and female as designations “was not meeting the needs of our customers,” PennDOT...
AG Shapiro charges 2 drilling companies with eco-crimes in Washington County
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday charged two drilling companies with environmental crimes for their alleged pollution of a stream in Washington County. The charges stem from a grand jury report released last month that alleged unconventional drilling companies allowed pollutants to fill the water and air around drilling...
Ex-treasurer of West Allegheny hockey boosters accused of stealing $40,000 from club
An Oakdale woman accused of writing herself more than $40,000 worth of checks from the hockey booster club of which she was treasurer has been trying to pay back the money to no avail, according to her defense attorney. Jennifer Layden, 42, was charged in late June with one count...
Tree of Life hires firms to help congregations in rebuilding Squirrel Hill synagogue
Leaders with Congregation Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha took another step toward rebuilding with the hiring of two consulting firms that will help with logistics of getting back inside the Squirrel Hill synagogue. “It’s a next step to returning physically and spiritually to the building,” said Barb Feige, the congregation’s executive...
