Natasha Lindstrom stories, Page 16
Pennsylvania reports 103 new covid-19 cases, large clusters in Allegheny County
Pennsylvania reported more than 100 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the statewide total to 371 confirmed cases and two deaths. Officials expect to see an “exponential increase” in cases in coming days and weeks, said Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine. “What is most important for Pennsylvanians to remember is...
Drive-thru covid-19 testing to begin Monday at the Pittsburgh Zoo
Drive-thru testing for covid-19 will be available next week at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Starting Monday morning, testing by the Central Outreach Wellness Center will be available at the zoo’s main parking lot in Pittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood, zoo officials announced Friday night. Referrals or prescriptions are not...
Allegheny County sheriff’s deputy tests negative for covid-19; quarantined deputies to return to work
An Allegheny County sheriff’s deputy who was concerned he might have exposed fellow officers to the coronavirus has tested negative, officials said Friday. Fifteen deputies who had begun self-quarantining in case they had been exposed will return to work Monday, Chief Deputy Kevin Kraus said. “The affected deputy will remain...
Health official: 40% to 60% of Allegheny County adults could get infected with covid-19Video
Forty percent to 60% of Western Pennsylvanian adults could get infected with covid-19 before the coronavirus pandemic winds down, Allegheny County Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said Tuesday. “Most people who get the virus will actually do fine,” Bogen said. “The whole point of everything we are doing is to...
Highmark says seniors who left over UPMC feud ‘returning home,’ reports $18B in 2019 revenue
Nearly 8 out of 10 seniors who left their Highmark insurance plans last year because they feared losing access to UPMC hospitals and doctors have since switched back, Highmark Health CFO Saurabh Tripathi said. “A majority of our customers came back to us; we are seeing really good growth in...
Gyms, day cares among nonessential businesses closing; banks, repair shops, convenience stores stay openVideo
The Legends of Pittsburgh bustled Monday with hand sanitizer-armed gym rats sweating through one more hard workout before the coronavirus pandemic cut off access to their club indefinitely. Monday marked their last chance to do so for at least the next two weeks. The fitness center anchoring a corner of...
Pittsburgh college student recounts ‘bizarre experience’ getting screened for covid-19 at Detroit airport
Leah DeFlitch wasn’t sure what to expect when she boarded a plane in Amsterdam bound for her family’s Pittsburgh home early Sunday. She soon learned her pilot wasn’t sure what was in store for the passengers, either. It was only days after President Trump mandated health screenings for the novel...
Planes on time, few lines, facilities clean at Pittsburgh airport, travelers say
Jackie Whitaker and her husband didn’t have much trouble traveling Sunday afternoon from Phoenix to Pittsburgh, but the Elk County woman said at least one thing was striking: The planes and airports have never looked cleaner. “Even as we were still getting off the plane, they were wiping off the...
Officials: 2 coronavirus cases reported in PittsburghVideo
Two Pittsburgh residents from the same household are the first in Allegheny County to test positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which still does not appear to be widespread in Western Pennsylvania, health officials said Saturday. Neither affected person required treatment at a hospital, Allegheny County Health...
Retired attorney with rare muscular disease FHSD connects with others and accelerates search for cureVideo
Mark Christman resented being thought of as a wimp. As a kid growing up in Indiana Township, he’d always felt more like a “tough guy,” with the inner tenacity, drive and work ethic of a competitive athlete. Christman loved playing sports, but getting picked last on nearly every team was...
Woman dies in Washington County house fire, cause of fire under investigation
A woman died in a Washington County house Friday afternoon, officials said. Joann Wilson, 62, was pronounced dead at 2:39 p.m. — a little more than two hours after her home caught fire, according to the Washington County Coroner’s Office. She lived at the home that caught fire on Grant...
Car rear-ends Port Authority bus in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, 2 drivers injured
A car rear-ended a Port Authority of Allegheny County bus Friday evening in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, sending both drivers to hospitals with minor injuries, officials said. The 87 Friendship bus was headed outbound and stopped on Liberty Avenue at 25th Street when it was struck by the car shortly before...
Bullets strike parked car near Langley elementary school in Sheraden
A male suspect is accused of firing a gun toward a person and instead striking a parked car near an elementary school in Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood, officials said. No one was injured, Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews said. Police officers responded to a report of a domestic dispute in...
Drug ringleaders admit to moving 300 pounds of cocaine from L.A. to Penn Hills
A Georgia man admitted Friday to running a cross-country drug ring that moved as much as 300 pounds of cocaine from Los Angeles to Penn Hills in either an RV or a Mercedes-Benz van emblazoned with a promotional photo of “Sno Cold,” his rapper wife, officials said. Don Juan Mendoza,...
17-year-old boy charged with attempted homicide in connection to Duquesne shooting
Police arrested a 17-year-old boy Friday in connection to a Duquesne shooting that sent a man to the hospital in critical condition two weeks ago, officials said. Terril Leverett was taken into custody at Allegheny County Jail after officials served an arrest warrant at his home, Allegheny County Police Lt....
UPMC took in $20B in revenue in 2019, claims dominance in Western Pa. insurance market
Nearly 1 in 3 Western Pennsylvanians now has a health insurance plan with UPMC — making the nonprofit behemoth not only the state’s largest private employer and hospital system but also the region’s largest insurer. That’s according to UPMC executives and their newly released 2019 year-end financial statements. They cited...
Cyclist struck by car in Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood
A woman was struck by a car while riding a bicycle Wednesday night in Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood, officials said. Shortly after 8 p.m., emergency dispatchers received a report the incident at the intersection of Baum Boulevard and South Negley Avenue, near where Friendship meets the city’s Shadyside neighborhood. When officers...
Harrison police investigate Natrona crash near North Canal Street houses
Police are investigating what caused a Harrison man to crash his car into a guardrail, then strike multiple objects in a neighbor’s yard before getting stuck along a short hillside, alarming nearby residents. Emergency dispatchers received a report shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday of the crash on North Canal Street....
Cheron Shelton, acquitted of murder in Wilkinsburg mass shooting, indicted on federal gun charge
Less than two weeks after his acquittal of murder in connection to the 2016 mass shooting in Wilkinsburg, Cheron Shelton is facing a new federal gun charge, records show. Shelton, 33, of Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood has been indicted by a grand jury for being a felon allegedly possessing a gun,...
Pittsburgh airport to phase out using boarding passes at security checkpoints
Travelers flying out of Pittsburgh International Airport will soon not have to display a boarding pass to get past security, airport officials said this week. Boarding passes will still be required at the gate to board the plane. Officials with the airport and Transportation Security Administration announced that Pittsburgh is...
Skating coach sues Penguins, alleges she was fired for needing breaks to pump breast milk
The Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday denied claims in a federal lawsuit alleging that a former youth skating coach was fired because of her need to take breaks to pump breast milk for her newborn child. Angela Gubala, who coordinated introductory and children’s skating programs at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex...
Swissvale man pleads guilty to cocaine, heroin, gun charges
A Swissvale man pleaded guilty to scheming to sell crack cocaine and heroin and illegally having a gun, federal prosecutors said Friday. Kevin Darwin-Sewell, 34, was arrested after getting caught with heroin and cocaine base, or “crack,” in July 2016, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said. Officials also found him...
Feds: Oakmont native kidnapped, killed Bethel Park woman in Nevada desert ‘for her money’
An Oakmont native who confessed to killing a Bethel Park woman in the Nevada desert now faces federal charges of kidnapping resulting in death, court records filed Monday show. John Matthew Chapman, who’s originally from Oakmont and more recently lived in Maryland, was arrested in connection with Jaime Feden’s disappearance...
Man in critical condition after getting shot in leg in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood
Police are investigating a shooting Friday afternoon in the city’s Homewood neighborhood that sent a man to the hospital in critical condition, officials said. Authorities received a ShotSpotter alert shortly after 1 p.m. near the 7400 block of Race Street, a few blocks from the intersection of Frankstown and Brushton...
Penn Hills felon caught with stolen gun at traffic stop gets 4 more years in prison
A Penn Hills man caught with a stolen gun in his waistband during a traffic stop will spend four years behind bars, federal prosecutors said. Christian Burrus, 38, who has prior convictions related to drug and gun charges, was arrested after Penn Hills police pulled over a vehicle he was...
