Local category, Page 2254
Westmoreland bus driver tests positive for virus
A Westmoreland County Transit Authority bus driver has tested positive for coronavirus, officials said Wednesday. Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said the driver was last worked Monday and drove an undisclosed route. Transit officials were notified Tuesday about the positive test result and the driver will remain off the job...
Allegheny County officials attribute slowed covid rise to mask cooperation
Allegheny County officials on Wednesday said they are keeping an eye on the local increase in covid-19 cases, but they aren’t panicking. “This slow increase should remind us that things aren’t getting better in Allegheny County,” Health Director Debra Bogen said Wednesday. “But they also aren’t getting substantially worse, as...
Greater Latrobe decision to keep schools open amid covid-19 cases draws flak
Greater Latrobe School District’s decision to continue in-person instruction while reporting new covid-19 cases among students has prompted an email response protesting the decision. The anonymous email, signed “The Parents of the Greater Latrobe School District,” was sent to Superintendent Georgia Teppert on Wednesday. It charged that administrators failed to...
O’Hara doctor wins 2020 Rising Star Award from Department of Veteran Affairs
A local doctor has received an honor from the Department of Veterans Affairs for her innovations in education. Dr. Deborah DiNardo, 38, the director of women’s health at VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and a resident of O’Hara, was awarded the VA’s 2020 David M. Worthen Rising Star Award. The national...
3 covid-19 cases identified in Kiski Area schools; no closures planned
Three cases of covid-19 have been identified in the Kiski Area School District in recent days. Superintendent Tim Scott said the district was in the process of consulting with the state Department of Health concerning the next step after a staff member at Kiski Area Upper Elementary tested positive. While...
Freshman lawmaker Brandon Markosek faces John Ritter for 25th State House District seat
First-time Democratic state Rep. Brandon Markosek has a challenger going into the general election in November. John Ritter, 66, a Republican from Monroeville who is a Gateway School Board member, has plans to fill the historically Democratic seat that represents a large chunk of Pittsburgh’s east suburbs. Markosek, 27, cruised...
Franklin Regional will host homecoming prior to Friday’s game
While homecoming is a tradition at high schools and colleges across the U.S., there’s not likely to be anything traditional about it this year, given the additional health and safety guidelines in place during the coronavirus pandemic. At Franklin Regional, the homecoming ceremony Friday night, including crowning of the queen...
Cameron Heyward’s foundation donates 350 backpacks to Pittsburgh students
Charlotte Heyward’s parents were teachers. She learned the importance of an education. And she taught that same lesson to her son, Cameron Heyward, star defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers. “I know the impact of having the right tools to learn,” Charlotte Heyward said Wednesday as she handed out backpacks...
Covid-19 cases climb at Westmoreland Manor
Westmoreland officials said Wednesday that five more residents tested positive for coronavirus at the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield. Cases at Westmoreland Manor have steadily increased since the middle of September and now 117 residents, or more than a third of those who live there, have tested positive. The facility...
Westmoreland 911 center has 2 coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County’s 911 dispatching operations were split into two operational locations Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning after officials discovered two employees tested positive for coronavirus. Public Safety Director Roland Mertz said 911 operations were uninterrupted even as the county instituted mitigation efforts and implemented its emergency response plan to...
Monroeville Mall shooting victim remembered as selfless, loving
Saheed Gayle was at work at the Monroeville Mall on Oct. 7 when he was shot and killed. The 20-year-old had last spoken to his mother, Theresa Kallon of Laurel, Md., on the phone the evening before he died. He had called her to get ideas for what to buy...
Westmoreland Cleanways adds 2nd household hazardous waste collection date
Due to overwhelming response, Westmoreland Cleanways and Recycling Center announced this week it would hold two household hazardous waste collections this fall. In addition to the Oct. 24 collection, a second collection was added for Nov. 21. Ellen Keefe, executive director of the nonprofit environmental organization, said it took just...
The Shadows attraction in Fawn isn’t scaring anyone this Halloween
The screams are silent this season at a popular Halloween destination in Fawn. The Shadows, Alle-Kiski’s only outdoor haunted attraction, announced late last month on Facebook that it would not open for the season. Co-owner Chuck Lynn said the decision not to open was made because of covid-19. “It was...
St. Joseph students return to school after being cleared from covid-19 exposure
About 15 students at St. Joseph High School in Harrison worked from home for two days until it was confirmed they had no contact with a person from another school who had tested positive for coronavirus, a school spokesperson said Wednesday. “Our soccer team played Serra Catholic over the weekend...
Greensburg man accused of squatting in basement of Seton Hill building
A Greensburg man is being held in the county jail after police said he broke into an office building at Seton Hill University, ransacking it and using the basement as a hiding place. Joseph Donald Lawrence, 27, is charged with burglary, theft and criminal trespass in the August incidents. University...
Wanted Jeannette man in jail after fight with trooper
A 38-year-old Jeannette man wanted on multiple arrest warrants dating back to March is accused of fighting a state trooper this week after he was found hiding out at a New Stanton motel with his girlfriend and 2-year-old daughter. James V. Villi was jailed on $50,000 bond on charges of...
ATF searching for person who stole guns from Monroeville Dunham’s
Federal and local police are searching for a person who they say stole three guns out of Dunham’s Sports in Monroeville in August. The Philadelphia division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a $5,000 reward to whoever leads police to an arrest. Police say a...
2 Pittsburgh-area postal workers charged with throwing away mail
Federal criminal charges have been filed separately in Pittsburgh against two postal carriers accused of throwing away mail — including an application for a mail-in ballot and political advertisements. Both men are charged with delay or destruction of mail by a postal employee. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, on...
Greensburg Unemployment Council offers help navigating benefit systemVideo
Navigating the state and federal benefit system can be confusing for those out of work, but the Greensburg Unemployed Council wants to help. Council members are offering weekly help from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Pennsylvania Avenue Parklet. The community group wants to help people whose employment has...
Westmoreland County tops 3K coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County on Tuesday became Pennsylvania’s 16th county to surpass 3,000 coronavirus cases. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 60 new cases in the county, bringing the total to 3,053. The state didn’t add any new deaths, leaving the county’s total at 64. The county added 309 test results, with...
Aspinwall will see 26 trees planted, many along Center and Western avenues
Aspinwall will be home to more than two dozen new trees this fall, thanks to a grant from the nonprofit TreeVitalize. Alicia Wehrle, community forestry project coordinator, said 26 trees will be planted. Half will go into the ground Oct. 22 along Western Avenue and First Street. The balance will...
Allegheny County adds 97 new coronavirus cases
Allegheny County reported 97 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the sixth straight day in double digits after hitting triple digits twice earlier this month. The 97 new cases bring its total to 13,533, according to the Allegheny County Health Department. Of those 97 cases, 55 are confirmed and 42 are...
Nearly 29K Allegheny County voters receive wrong mail-in ballots
Nearly 29,000 Allegheny County voters have received the wrong ballot because of a programming and printing error by the company hired to print and mail the county’s ballots, officials said Wednesday. Elections officials began hearing of the misprinted ballots on Friday, said Elections Division Manager David Voye. About 20 county...
Historic Delmont ‘traffic dummy’ on display at Greensburg Street park
Delmont residents passing by the Rose Wigfield Parklet in recent weeks may have noticed a stone pillar, with a small glass fixture set into a spherical opening, has been moved to a much more prominent spot. While it certainly bears little resemblance to its modern cousins, the pillar controlled traffic...
‘Really huge Sheetz’ coming to New Stanton
A court ruling cleared the path for a major renovation of the Sheetz in New Stanton after a dispute between the company and the borough over how long trucks should be allowed to park there. The company plans build a larger facility on its Center Avenue site with the capacity...
