Mike Palm stories, Page 21

Covid hospitalizations in Pennsylvania are on a downward trend, decreasing more than 500 in a week. Data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health shows the number of coronavirus patients dropped 544 from 3,768 a week ago to 3,224 Wednesday. The number also shrunk by 57 from Tuesday’s 3,281. There are...

Westmoreland County’s seven-day average of new coronavirus cases (90) remained in double digits for the fourth straight day after averaging triple-digit new cases every day from Nov. 12 through Jan. 30. The county on Wednesday reported 115 additional covid-19 cases, as well as four deaths, according to the Pennsylvania Department...

Allegheny County reported 33 more covid-19 deaths Wednesday, according to the county’s Health Department. The newly reported deaths range from Dec. 19 to Monday, with four of the deaths occurring in December. The county attributed some of the new deaths to data imported by the state from the Electronic Death...

The sale of a Fayette County home made famous by its appearance in “The Silence of the Lambs” couldn’t have been more timely. The Perryopolis home — at 8 Circle St. — sold last week, just a few days shy of the 30th anniversary of the release of “The Silence...

Wilkinsburg author Deesha Philyaw is continuing to rack up literary accolades. Philyaw’s “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies” was named to the longlist for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, America’s largest peer-juried literary prize, on Tuesday. In October, Philyaw’s story collection was named a finalist in the fiction category...

Here’s a list on which Pittsburgh should be relieved it ranks only in the middle of the pack. A survey released Monday by pest control specialists Orkin ranks Pittsburgh as the 19th-worst city for bed bugs. Pittsburgh also ranked 19th last year and 24th the year before that. The worst...

Pennsylvania added 5,874 additional cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the highest number in the past week. The newly added cases from the Pennsylvania Department of Health raise the state’s total to 818,369. Of the 222 deaths newly reported Wednesday, 214 are from January, seven are from December and one is...

Westmoreland County has added triple-digit new coronavirus cases for all but four days this month, but cases are on an overall downward trend. The county had 141 coronavirus cases and three deaths added to its totals Wednesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The county has averaged 106 cases...

Allegheny County added 376 new coronavirus cases to its totals on Wednesday, the second-highest total in the state, but far removed from where it stood a month ago. Allegheny’s new cases trailed only Luzerne County, which added 468, yet the numbers have declined greatly in recent weeks. Just one month...

ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. released his first projections for the 2021 NFL Draft on Tuesday, with the Pittsburgh Steelers choosing Tulsa outside linebacker Zaven Collins at No. 24. In eight games this season, Collins had 53 tackles, including 11.5 tackles for loss, plus four sacks, four interceptions and...

Luxury chocolatier Godiva is closing all of its brick and mortar stores in the United States. The company will exit its 128 physical locations, some through sales and others through closures, by the end of the first quarter of 2021. Locally, Godiva has a store at Ross Park Mall in...

The spicy chicken sandwich wars are heating up with another new entry. Chick-fil-A added a grilled spicy deluxe chicken sandwich to its lineup on Monday, joining a menu that already features a pressure-cooked spicy chicken sandwich. “We know guests are looking to add more variety to their meals, especially after...

Westmoreland County had 173 coronavirus cases and 12 deaths added to its totals Wednesday. The county now has 23,624 cases and 553 deaths, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of the newly reported cases, 93 are confirmed and 80 are probable. The county’s seven-day average of new cases dropped...

Pennsylvania added 401 coronavirus deaths to its total Wednesday, which rose to 19,868, according to the state’s health department. The state also added 5,984 covid cases to raise the total to 783,170 since the pandemic began in March. It’s the third-highest single-day report of deaths, with only 554 on May...

Hospitalizations related to covid-19 have dropped by more than half in the past month in Allegheny County. There are 386 coronavirus patients hospitalized, down from 793 on Dec. 20, according to data released Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The county reached its peak on Dec. 16 when 881...

President Donald Trump on Monday issued an amended executive order that added more than 200 people to be honored with statues in the National Garden of American Heroes. And there just might be enough for a Western Pennsylvania section: • 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks, who later served...

The number of patients hospitalized for covid-19 in Pennsylvania has dropped almost 10 percent since last Wednesday. Pennsylvania’s Department of Health reported 5,069 covid-19 patients on Wednesday, a decline of 544 from last Wednesday’s 5,613. The state has 6,004 ventilators, with 1,912 in use, including 645 by covid-19 patients. There...

Westmoreland County topped 500 deaths related to the coronavirus Wednesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state added 11 new deaths to the county’s total, bringing it to 502. Westmoreland became the 12th county in the state to reach 500 deaths. The county’s death rate per 100,000 residents...

Allegheny County added 74 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday but attributed the large number to a data backlog at the state level. Those deaths bring the county’s total to 1,178. The deaths ranged from Dec. 4 to Jan. 8, with 73 of them from December. The state data includes information imported...

Westmoreland County saw its highest single-day coronavirus death report Wednesday, adding 16 to its total. Those newly reported deaths bring the county’s total to 459, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Deaths have been climbing rapidly in the county after a slow climb to 100 at the end of...

Pennsylvania reported its highest total of new cases of coronavirus in two weeks on Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 9,474 new positive cases of covid-19, raising the statewide total to 683,389. The state also added the most new deaths to its total since May. Wednesday’s addition of 368...

Allegheny County reported the most new coronavirus cases in the state Wednesday. The county’s health department reported 881 new cases, bringing its total since last March to 57,708. Those new cases were the highest reported in the state, followed by Philadelphia (752), Lancaster (459), Montgomery (448) and Bucks (414), according...

Pennsylvania hit a grim milestone over the weekend, topping 15,000 coronavirus deaths. On Sunday the Pennsylvania Department of Health added 127 deaths, bringing the state’s total to 15,010. And 76 more with Monday’s data now puts the total at 15,086. The state’s first coronavirus-related death was reported March 18. The...

Westmoreland County reported 258 additional coronavirus cases over the past two days, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state reported 167 cases on Sunday in Westmoreland County and 91 on Monday to bring the county’s total to 18,389. Of the newly reported cases, 242 are confirmed and 16...