Western PA Local News category, Page 2272
Pennsylvania gives update on antigen tests, contact tracing efforts
Pennsylvania health officials are echoing pleas to follow covid-19 health guidelines and cooperate with contact tracing efforts as infections continue to reach new heights. At a news briefing Wednesday afternoon, Michael Huff, director of testing and contact tracing, once again asked Pennsylvanians to answer the calls of case investigators and...
17-year-old North Huntingdon girl found safe, back with family
North Huntingdon police said a 17-year-old girl who was missing since Nov. 12 was located Tuesday. Hailey M. Mastrovich left for work last week at the nearby Walmart but never showed up for her shift, which resulted in a public alert by authorities, police said. Police said investigators learned the...
Mt. Pleasant area contractor charged with taking $12K down payment for work never done
A Mt. Pleasant area contractor was charged this week after state police say he took a $12,000 down payment from a local dentist for a building repair project, but never did any work. Timothy Jay King, 34, was charged Tuesday with deceptive business practices, home improvement fraud, theft and theft...
2 women, including Westmoreland’s Kim Ward, just made history in Pa. legislature
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — One is a former health-care worker and political veteran from Westmoreland County. The other is an ex-public defender and...
New Kensington-Arnold awards $1.9M in contracts for roof work at 3 schools
New Kensington-Arnold School Board awarded contracts totaling just over $1.9 million to replace roofs at three of the district’s four schools. The board voted 7-0 on Tuesday to accept a $1.4 million bid from David M. Maines Associates for the work at H.D. Berkey and Martin elementary schools and at...
Tom Hanks, Billy Porter, Joanne Rogers join honorary Tree of Life cabinet
Award-winning actors Tom Hanks and Billy Porter, along with Joanne Rogers, the wife of legendary children’s TV host Fred Rogers, will serve as honorary cabinet members for the Tree of Life Congregation in its efforts to establish a new home. Hanks, Porter and Rogers are joining elected officials and business...
Virus outbreak delays Westmoreland vote certification
Westmoreland County Commissioners said a final certification of election results won’t come until after Thanksgiving as officials continue to deal with a coronavirus outbreak among employees tasked with completing the ballot count. As of Wednesday, the outbreak that started days before the Nov. 3 election left just two full-time and...
PWSA pleads guilty to violating Clean Water Act, pumping sludge into Allegheny RiverVideo
For seven years, employees and supervisors at the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority dumped sludge into the Allegheny River from the Aspinwall treatment facility, violating the Clean Water Act and sending plumes of rust-colored chemicals into the river, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said Wednesday. The authority pleaded guilty to eight...
Commonwealth Court to Allegheny County: Don’t count — for now — disputed ballots in tight Brewster-Ziccarelli Senate race
An Allegheny County judge on Wednesday denied two petitions by Republican state Senate candidate Nicole Ziccarelli to throw out provisional and faulty mail-in ballots in her challenge against Democratic incumbent Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport. But the state Commonwealth Court on Wednesday night later ordered Allegheny County’s Board of Elections to...
Highlands sees increase in property tax revenue despite pandemic
Highlands School District has collected about $1.1 million more in property taxes over the first four months of the fiscal year compared to the same period a year ago, despite projections that Pennsylvania districts would see such collections plummet because of the covid-19 pandemic. Highlands Business Manager Lori Byron said...
Westmoreland County sets new coronavirus mark with 228 additional cases
Westmoreland County added more than 200 new coronavirus cases for the second time in a week, setting a new high with 228 on Wednesday. The new cases bring the county’s total to 6,649, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The previous high was 207 reported last Thursday. Of the...
Gateway School District to go remote from Nov. 23-Dec. 4
Gateway School District students at all buildings will move to a remote learning model from Nov. 23 through Dec. 4 because of the region’s spike in covid-19 cases, officials announced this week. Superintendent William Short called the increase in confirmed illnesses “significant and alarming.” Specific information on virtual schedules will...
Norwin area police blotter, week of Nov. 16
Clint H. Richter, 36, of Pittsburgh, by North Huntingdon police, with five counts of access device fraud, two counts of theft and one count of receiving stolen property for allegedly taking a woman’s credit card to obtain $1,570 from victim’s bank account. Charges filed before North Huntingdon District Judge Wayne...
Irwin church plans chili sale on Nov. 21
Chili lovers can get their fill at the “Drive Thru Chili” sale from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 21 at First Presbyterian Church of Irwin, 617 Main St. The meal features a choice of spicy or traditional chili, cornbread and dessert for $5. Due to current covid-19 restrictions, the...
Kennywood introduces chaperone policy for guests under 18
Kennywood Park announced a chaperone policy beginning with the opening of the 2021 season. Anyone under 18 years of age who enters after 4 p.m. must be accompanied by someone 21 or older, who is also a paying customer. In the past few years there have been incidents — from...
Time to string the lights: Temperatures to reach 60s in Western Pa.
From snow flurries to 60s in a couple of days, this week’s weather is proving to be a late-autumn roller coaster ride. The National Weather Service is predicting warmer than usual temperatures in the 60 degree or above range through Sunday. It appears to be part of the dry weather...
Jeannette schools will hold 2 days of virtual learning after Thanksgiving break
Jeannette School District students will have two remote learning days after the Thanksgiving holiday in what school district officials said is an effort to reduce the potential exposure of the coronavirus. Students will resume classes Dec. 1 and 2 with remote learning both days after a fall break. In-person classes...
‘Christmas in Guyasuta’ offers sleigh rides, visits with masked Santa
With its wooded trails and countless twinkling lights, Camp Guyasuta is welcoming guests to kick off the holiday season in the ultimate winter wonderland setting. The second annual “Christmas in Guyasuta” event will be Nov. 28 at the O’Hara campus, accessed off 23rd Street in Sharpsburg. The family event is...
Allegheny County sets another record for new coronavirus cases
Allegheny County set another high for new coronavirus cases on Wednesday. There were 620 new covid-19 cases, bringing the county’s total to 21,434, according to the Allegheny County Health Department. Of the new cases, 506 are confirmed and 114 probable from 2,797 PCR tests. The new cases put the daily...
Pittsburgh’s Mattress Factory sues insurer over pandemic closure claim
The Mattress Factory museum in Pittsburgh filed a federal lawsuit against its insurer last week, alleging that the company refused to cover the museum’s “catastrophic losses” caused by the covid-19 pandemic. To date, the complaint said, the contemporary art museum on the North Side has lost more than $600,000. “The...
Latrobe’s Holly Jolly festivities include contest, crafts, shopping, virtual Santa visit
This year’s Holly Jolly holiday festivities in Latrobe will include a virtual visit with Santa and four days of extended downtown shopping promotions. As with the town’s Great American Banana Split Celebration in August, Holly Jolly entertainment this year will be streamed online, not presented in-person. It’s all meant to...
Plum EMS, police to enjoy Thanksgiving meals at their stations courtesy of a borough resident
While folks around the country spend time with family and friends this Thanksgiving, even through altered plans during the covid-19 pandemic, many emergency responders will celebrate the holiday working. Some might eat snacks from a convenience store as turkey and stuffing is served to those whom police and EMS workers...
Thomas Jefferson High School goes remote through Dec. 1
Thomas Jefferson High School students will attend class remotely through Dec. 1 as exposure to covid-19 cases rise in the West Jefferson Hills School District. Superintendent Michael Ghilani alerted families through a letter that the high school would begin 100% virtual learning on Nov. 16. This came after the district...
Penn Hills meeting hijacked briefly by callers using racial slurs, profanity
Multiple people who have yet to be identified hijacked a virtual Penn Hills Council meeting Monday, interjecting loudly with racial slurs and profanity. The comments came at a point in the meeting when Scott Andrejchak, the municipality’s manager, began presenting to council and the public his proposed budget for 2021....
NBC’s ‘Today’ talks with Lucy Pollock, 98, Latrobe baking sensationVideo
From her Latrobe kitchen to Facebook and now to NBC’s “Today,” Lucy Pollock’s baking skills keep reaching wider audiences. The 98-year-old started gaining recognition in the early days of the pandemic when her daughter and housemate, Mary Ellen Raneri, started sharing Pollock’s baking skills on live Facebook sessions. Mary Ellen’s...
