Natasha Lindstrom stories, Page 14
Pandemic cancels some National Nurses Week events, celebration takes new forms
The coronavirus pandemic and related social distancing rules have prompted Western Pennsylvania hospitals to cancel a slew of activities scheduled to begin this week to recognize nurses. Plans are still in the works, however, to celebrate the region’s thousands of nurses working on the front lines, hospital officials say. “This...
No commencement? How about a parade, Deer Lakes community says
West Deer police and fire trucks led about 50 cars filled with graduating Deer Lakes High School seniors in a parade through the residential streets surrounding the high school on Saturday, May 2, 2020. Parents and community members decorated yards, held signs and cheered them as they drove past. The...
Westmoreland County adds 3 new covid-19 cases; coroner’s death tally remains at 30
Westmoreland County’s covid-19 cases have climbed to at least 396 — including three new cases reported by early Saturday, state health data show. About 40% of the county’s cases are linked to nursing homes and other senior care facilities. The state health department cites at least 129 residents and 30...
Pennsylvania reports 64 more covid-19 deaths, total cases top 48K; nursing home cases approach 10K
Pennsylvania health officials reported 1,334 new cases of covid-19 and 64 more deaths as of Saturday morning, bringing the statewide coronavirus death toll to 2,418. Hospitals now are treating 2,673 patients with the disease, and 555 people are on ventilators — six fewer patients than were on ventilators as of...
14th defendant pleads guilty in heroin ring case tied to South Side Street gang
A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty to buying and selling large amounts of heroin and fentanyl as part of a drug ring linked to the “DS44” street gang, marking the 14th defendant convicted in the case since last summer, federal prosecutors said . St. John Williams, 29, who has prior ties...
Wilkinsburg man suspected of pulling knife on Family Dollar employee in Pittsburgh’s South Side
A Wilkinsburg man was arrested Friday afternoon in connection to an incident at the Family Dollar store in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood, officials said. An Allegheny County Sheriff’s deputy spotted Laberne Martin, 53, on foot near 20th and Jane streets shortly before 3 p.m., Chief Deputy Kevin Kraus said. According...
Police: Teen hospitalized after being shot in Homestead
A 17-year-old boy was hospitalized Wednesday afternoon after being shot in Homestead, officials said. Emergency dispatchers received a 911 call about a shooting in the 200 block of 14th Avenue shortly before 2 p.m., Allegheny County Police said in a statement. Medics found the wounded teen and rushed him to...
1-year-old boy dies after ingesting heroin-fentanyl mix in Sharpsburg home; no charges, arrests
A 1-year-old boy died in September after ingesting a mix of heroin and fentanyl at a Sharpsburg home, authorities said Wednesday. Few details are available regarding the death of the boy, who was identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office as Latayvis Kane LeRoy Gervasoni. Emergency dispatchers received a...
10 of Port Authority’s 12 covid-19 cases linked to West Mifflin garage
The Port Authority of Allegheny County reported Tuesday its 12th employee has tested positive for covid-19. The vast majority of the public transit agency’s coronavirus cases reported so far — including the latest one — are linked to the same West Mifflin maintenance garage. “We are concerned,” Port Authority spokesman...
2 more die of covid-19 at Glen Hazel nursing home, outbreak grows to 93 cases
Two more residents of Allegheny County’s nursing home in Pittsburgh’s Glen Hazel neighborhood have died of covid-19, bringing the facility’s death toll to nine as officials scramble to contain the outbreak, county health data show. Another 60 residents and 33 employees at the Glen Hazel location have tested positive for...
Westmoreland County covid-19 cases jump by 43; nursing homes account for 40% of cases
Westmoreland County added 43 new cases of patients with covid-19 as of Saturday morning, for a 13.5% increase from the previous day, state data show. The county’s total number of confirmed and probable cases has reached 360, up from 317 as of Friday and 307 on Thursday, the state health...
Pennsylvania’s covid-19 cases crest 40K; 60% of deaths in nursing homes, senior living facilities
Pennsylvania’s covid-19 cases crested 40,000 by Saturday morning, with 45 new deaths and 1,200 new cases of the coronavirus disease reported by state health officials. People age 65 and over make up about 26% of all cases, but continue to account for the majority of covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations. More...
Families displaced, 2 dogs killed when fire rips through Lawrenceville housesVideo
A fire ripped through three houses Tuesday night in Pittsburgh’s Upper Lawrenceville neighborhood, displacing multiple families and killing two pet dogs, initial reports indicate. Emergency dispatchers received a report of the residential fire on Wickliff Street, between 54th Street and McCandless Avenue, at about 7 p.m., an Allegheny County 911...
Baldwin man awaiting rape trial arrested in Robinson, faces charges of assaulting teen girl
A Baldwin man awaiting trial on allegations that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Robinson on charges of violating his bond conditions, officials said. Charles Lantzy, 48, is being held at Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, county Sheriff Chief Deputy Kevin Kraus said. A bench...
Pennsylvania to reopen some liquor stores for curbside sales
Pennsylvanians can buy a limited amount of liquor or wine from state stores starting Monday, marking their first chance to do so in more than a month because of the coronavirus pandemic-spurred lockdown. A limited number of stores across the state will take orders by phone and provide curbside pickup...
6th Port Authority employee tests positive for covid-19; West Mifflin garage closed for ‘deep clean’
A Port Authority of Allegheny County maintenance worker has tested positive for covid-19, marking the second employee at the West Mifflin garage to contract the disease in two days, officials said Saturday. The latest employee to learn of the positive test result last worked on Monday, Port Authority spokesman Adam...
Westmoreland County adds 31 new cases of covid-19; state, local death tolls still don’t match
Westmoreland County reported 31 new cases of covid-19 on Saturday, for a total of 280 confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease, state health department data show. The state continues to under-report the number of deaths attributed to covid-19 when compared to local data. As of midday Saturday, the state health...
Pennsylvania reports 80 new deaths from covid-19, total cases now crest 31,000
Eighty more people in Pennsylvania have died of covid-19, hiking the statewide death toll from the coronavirus disease up to 836, state health officials said Saturday. The state’s total number of confirmed cases has crested 31,000, with 1,628 new cases reported between Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday. Positive cases of...
Youth minister at St. Bonaventure in Shaler tests positive for covid-19
A youth minister at St. Bonaventure Parish in Shaler has tested positive for covid-19, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh reported Friday. The person tested positive for the coronavirus disease on Thursday, but has not been around any parish youth members or involved in any parish gatherings since March 15...
Allegheny County to send mail-in ballot forms to every voter; Gov. Wolf mulls pleas for mail-only election
Allegheny County elections officials have begun sending every resident eligible to vote in the June 2 primary election an application for a mail-in ballot — whether or not they requested one. Citing concerns over the highly contagious coronavirus , Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is urging everyone to consider voting...
Feds OK boost for some food stamp recipients, deny Pa.’s request for broader increase
Federal officials green-lighted Pennsylvania’s request to boost the payments for some food stamp recipients — but rejected the state’s attempt to send extra money to all of them. The state Department of Human Services received approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service to issue a limited...
Gov. Wolf: No specific date for ending covid-19 shutdown, getting ‘back to life as we once knew it’
Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday he has not yet decided precisely when to end Pennsylvania’s pandemic-spurred lockdown, and he warned that a persisting shortage of testing capacity remains a major hindrance to doing so. ”I have been considering when we end this phase from the time I put it into...
Man sues Pittsburgh diocese, alleging sexual abuse by priests decades ago
A New Hampshire man is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh based on allegations that three priests sexually assaulted him in the 1960s and early ’70s, court records show. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court further accuses the diocese and co-defendant Bishop David Zubik of...
Covid-19 crisis could cost Pennsylvania hospitals $2 billion per month, health advocates warn
Pennsylvania’s hospitals stand to lose as much as $2 billion every month the pandemic-spurred shutdown goes on, the state’s largest hospital advocacy group said Wednesday. Gov. Tom Wolf’s order canceling elective medical procedures as part of the covid-19 measures is estimated to rack up $1.5 billion in collective monthly hospital...
Rite Aid in Monroeville to begin self-swab testing for covid-19
Rite Aid pharmacies are joining the effort to help Western Pennsylvanians get tested for covid-19. Starting Thursday, the Rite Aid at 4111 William Penn Highway in Monroeville will begin drive-up testing by appointment for people showing possible symptoms of the highly contagious coronavirus disease, the company announced Wednesday. The person...
