Local category, Page 2161
Officials: 41K Pa. health care workers vaccinated; long-term care facilities up next week
About 41,400 health care workers have received covid-19 vaccinations since last week, Heath Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said Wednesday. Levine said hospitals are vaccinating their own workers, and are also responsible for administering doses to health care workers in their communities that are not affiliated with hospitals – including emergency...
Postal Service struggles with record demands as Christmas draws near
First it was the election and questions about whether the Post Office could be relied upon to deliver millions of mail-in ballots. Now, barely six weeks later, an unprecedented uptick in packages from online shoppers and staff shortages exacerbated by a rash of covid-19 outbreaks are combining to strain the...
Church services move to nontraditional measures for Christmas
Pastor Dan Borchert of the New Stanton Alliance Church knew he had to get creative if he wanted to include everybody in this year’s Christmas Eve service. Before Thursday’s traditional service, Borchert is hosting a drive-in service where people can pull up to the church, sing Christmas carols and discuss...
4 Allegheny County restaurants defy orders to close for violating covid restrictions
Four Allegheny County restaurants were ordered to close Tuesday for violating Gov. Tom Wolf’s latest covid-19 pandemic restrictions. As of Wednesday morning, none of them had shut their doors. David’s Diner in Springdale Township, Al’s Café in Bethel Park, Gianna Via’s in Whitehall and Il Pizzaiolo in Mt. Lebanon were...
Westmoreland County adds 327 new coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County added 327 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, the 44th straight day of triple-digit new cases. The new cases bring the county’s total to 17,406, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of those new cases, 270 are confirmed and 57 are probable. The PCR test positivity rate of the...
Allegheny County adds 830 coronavirus cases, could hit 50K later this week
Allegheny County’s coronavirus case total grew by 830 on Wednesday, putting the county on pace to reach 50,000 later this week. At its current pace — after averaging 819 cases per day over the past week — the county’s total will hit 50,000 on Christmas Day. Only Philadelphia has reached...
Belt-tightening measures help McCandless avoid tax hike for 16th consecutive year
McCandless has approved a budget for 2021 that will avoid a property tax increase for the 16th consecutive year by reducing spending to make up for an expected dip in revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic. The nearly $16.3 million general fund budget approved unanimously by council on Dec. 21...
Don’t kick it to the curb: Pittsburgh offers Christmas tree recycling
Go green and recycle that Christmas tree. The City of Pittsburgh has five drop-off locations for live trees starting Saturday and running through Jan. 26. The program was started to invite residents to recycle rather than send trees to a landfill, which happens when they are placed at the curb...
Shaler holds line on taxes, moves forward with $700,000 in trail work and stream restoration
Shaler residents will pay the same in property taxes to the township in 2021 after commissioners approved its $14.5 million budget. The plan maintains a real estate tax rate of 3.49 mills. The owner of a home assessed at $100,000 will again pay $349 to the township. Residents also pay...
Dad creates adventures in a box without leaving Beaver County home
Elliott Cramer was helping move a neighbor’s water heater when he had a revelation. Some might say it was out of the box — or, rather, inside a large cardboard box. “I thought, the cardboard box would make for a perfect rocket ship,” said Cramer, who was assisting a neighbor...
Settlement with former Jeannette official includes repayment to city
Jeannette’s former community development director repaid nearly $7,000 to the city that she was mistakenly given after her retirement last year, according to a settlement agreement. The issue was caused by an incorrect calculation in the city’s payroll department, giving Diana Reitz more money than she was entitled to for...
Scottdale man killed after getting out of disabled pickup on Route 119
A Scottdale man was killed Tuesday when state police said he got out of his disabled pickup truck on Route 119 and was hit by a tractor-trailer in East Huntingdon. Brandon C. Peterson, 18, was driving a Dodge Ram 2500 that became disabled on the southbound side of the highway...
Officials encourage out-of-work Pennsylvanians to seek assistance during pandemic hardship
Officials urged out-of-work Pennsylvanians to seek assistance through a variety of programs that can augment unemployment assistance as many face new economic challenges during the covid-19 pandemic. “The first thing that people think of when they lose their job or they have reduced hours at their place of employment is...
Dog rescued from Homewood house delivers 9 pups at shelter
There are now nine more animals that can be counted among those rescued from poor living conditions at a house in Homewood. One of the saved dogs had puppies. Officers from the city’s Zone 5 station were dispatched around 7 p.m. Monday to the house where they arrested a man...
The Stroller, Dec. 23, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s fundraiser or community event in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Vandergrift Meals On Wheels seeks volunteers Vandergrift Meals On Wheels is in need of regular and substitute volunteers to help with food packing, driving...
Sharky’s Cafe, community help make, deliver 450 Christmas meals for Latrobe area families
Hundreds of Westmoreland County families will receive hot Christmas dinners thanks to the generosity of donors and volunteers. Sharky’s Cafe in Unity organized a donation drive and cooked the dinners, which will be delivered Wednesday. Cafe co-owner Jamie Huemme said she was overwhelmed by the community’s response. “I put a...
Richland holds line on tax rate for 2021, some paving could be delayed until revenue rolls in
In early October, Richland Township officials announced that they would reduce spending to avoid hiking taxes next year to make up for a drop in revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic. The more than $7.23 million spending plan for 2021 approved unanimously by township supervisors holds true to that decision...
Body found wrapped in plastic in Brighton Heights identified as missing person
A body found wrapped in plastic outside of a home in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood has been identified as Deric Bryan Davis, authorities said Wednesday. Pittsburgh police said Davis, 53, of Brighton Heights, was last in contact with his family on Dec. 14. Police asked for the public’s help in...
$2.6 billion Army Corps of Engineers project on Ohio River might get funded faster
Two key pieces of federal legislation could shave off years waiting to start construction of the Army Corps of Engineers $2.6 billion upper Ohio River project. The project, still in the design phase, replaces a lock each at the Emsworth, Dashields and Montgomery locks and dams. Recent legislation — the...
Plum School District students to return to hybrid class schedule Jan. 11
Plum School District officials plan to welcome students back to school in a hybrid class schedule in a few weeks. Administrators had previously slated the first Monday in January as a return date for students and staff after being moved to all virtual learning due to rising covid cases both...
Jewish Federation says if you can’t go out for Chinese on Christmas, donate the cash
It’s perhaps the most unofficial Christmas tradition there is. On Christmas Day, many members of the Jewish community go out to eat at Chinese restaurants because they are usually the only ones open. This is often followed by a trip to the nearest bowling alley. It’s a ritual that goes...
Murrysville filmmaker’s latest earns honorable mention at Top Shorts film festivalVideo
Dillon Black had finished up principal photography and was headed into post-production on his new short film, “What’s Left of Barry,” when the coronavirus pandemic turned things upside down. “I had six people helping me with post-production, and covid-19 threw a big wrench into everything,” said Black, 22, of Murrysville....
South Greensburg steel fabricator settles sex harassment suit for $80,000
A South Greensburg steel fabricator agreed to pay $80,000 to a fired female welder. The worker claimed co-workers harassed her with sexist remarks, that a foreman told her to clean feces in the women’s bathroom that her co-workers had dirtied, and then was fired four days after revealing she had...
Former Pittsburgh dentist among Trump’s late-term pardons
Alfonso Costa, a former Fox Chapel dentist who received a presidential pardon of his 2008 insurance fraud conviction, was a one-time political donor to President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Guiliani. According to records on file with the Federal Elections Commission, Costa, a year before he was sentenced to serve...
Pa. Supreme Court: Doctors cannot be sued for failing to commit Western Psych shooter
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a lawsuit against the doctors who failed to involuntarily commit a man who killed one person and injured others in a March 2012 shooting at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic cannot go forward. In a 6-1 opinion, the court found that the...
