Local category, Page 2274
Covid concerns may keep some high school students out of Plum’s JROTC program
Penn Hills High School students who participated in Plum School District’s Junior ROTC program due to their district no longer having one may not be able to continue their extracurricular education due to covid-19 concerns. Junior William Phillips and senior Abdulbasit Odunoye went before the Plum School Board on Tuesday...
2 shot in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood
Two men were listed in stable condition after being shot in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood, according to the city Department of Public Safety. The city’s ShotSpotter audio detection system reported multiple shots fired just after 8 p.m. Tuesday in the 7200 block of Mingo Road. Soon after, the shooting victims arrived...
Pittsburgh doctors hopeful flu season will be mild
UPMC doctors on Tuesday said there is optimism among experts that this year’s flu season will be mild, but they cautioned that everyone should get a flu vaccine and continue covid-19 mitigation efforts, such as masking and social distancing. The doctors stressed those mitigation efforts are the best defense against...
1 injured in Derry crash
One person suffered minor injuries Tuesday after a vehicle went over an embankment in Derry, according to Westmoreland County 911. The crash on North Chestnut Street happened around 6:40 p.m. The vehicle went off the side of the road and overturned, but the driver was able to get out of...
Latrobe Council debates remote attendance at meetings beyond pandemic
Latrobe Council members have had the choice of attending their meetings in person or via a remote online connection during the past several months of the coronavirus pandemic. Whether, or how, that policy should continue once the health crisis is over has divided council as it considers a proposed ordinance...
County Councilman Tom Baker hired by North Hills charity, won’t seek 3rd term
Allegheny County Councilman Tom Baker has been hired as executive director for a North Hills charity and will not seek re-election to a third term. Baker said he isn’t running because he wants to focus his full attention on his job as the new executive director for North Hills Community...
Police: Man robs Dollar Bank in Penn Hills, also a suspect in earlier Monroeville heistVideo
Penn Hills police and the FBI are investigating a robbery of the Dollar Bank at Penn Hills Shopping Center on Tuesday afternoon. Police say the same man may have robbed a Monroeville bank last month. Police Chief Howard Burton said a man wearing all blue clothing and a gaiter mask...
White Oak ditches $75 yard sign deposit after ACLU warningVideo
The same day that White Oak officials received a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania that their political yard sign ordinance is unconstitutional, they agreed to suspend enforcement. The ordinance, passed in 2000, requires anyone wishing to place a political sign in the borough — even on...
Bishop Zubik eases limits on Mass attendance in Pittsburgh diocese
Now that Pennsylvania has raised indoor dining capacity to 50%, Bishop David Zubik has decided parishes in the Pittsburgh diocese can do the same for services. Beginning this weekend, parishes will be allowed to increase attendance to 50% capacity at each Mass. “People need Jesus now more than ever. We...
Ethane cracker plant in Beaver County about 70% complete, Shell executive says
Construction of a multibillion-dollar ethane cracker plant in Beaver County is about 70% complete, a Shell Global executive said Tuesday during the Shale Insight conference. Hilary Mercer, Shell Global’s vice president of Pennsylvania Chemicals, spent about a half-hour during the virtual conference describing the development of the facility, work on...
Cycling clergyman the Rev. Doug Boyd rolls through PittsburghVideo
At 6:58 a.m. on Tuesday, the Rev. Doug Boyd got on his Trek bicycle. It wasn’t yet light out, as he made his way down Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood to his destination of UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Oakland. The 2 ½ mile ride took him past St. Paul...
Hempfield woman charged with assaulting police, jail guards, released to await trial
A Hempfield woman charged with assaults against a police officer and guards at the Westmoreland County Prison was released from jail on unsecured bond this week. Sonya Rae Connors, 52, had been behind bars since her arrest in January after she was charged with a felony count of aggravated assault,...
Covid Alert PA downloaded more than 165,000 times in 1st week
More than 165,000 Pennsylvania residents have downloaded the state’s new contact tracing app, Covid Alert PA, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office announced Tuesday. The app has been available for about a week. “Thank you to all of the Pennsylvanians who have already downloaded the Covid Alert PA app and added their...
Shale Insight conference focuses on fossil fuels’ impact on economy, tech and election
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, on Tuesday lauded President Trump’s support of the fossil fuel industry during the opening day of the annual Shale Insight conference, being held virtually this year because of the covid-19 pandemic. “Everyone in the room knows that President Trump, Vice President Pence and Republicans...
7 more residents test positive for coronavirus at Westmoreland Manor in Hempfield
Seven more residents at Westmoreland Manor tested positive for coronavirus, county officials said Tuesday. With those test results, the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield has now has 54 residents and 23 employees who have been been infected with covid-19 since mid-September. No additional employees have tested positive for the virus...
Pittsburgh’s economic development leaders launch ‘Next is Now’ campaign
As part of the contingent that worked on the 2017 proposal to land an Amazon headquarters, Stefani Pashman saw that the Pittsburgh region lacked a cohesive marketing plan. Pashman, CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, was among those who spent Tuesday afternoon on a virtual kickoff of a...
Pittsburgh area jobless rates drops to 10.2%
The seven-county Pittsburgh area unemployment rate continued to fall in August, dropping 2.3 percentage points to 10.5%. But the decrease is deceiving because almost 13,000 people dropped out of the labor force last month, the state said Tuesday. The jobless rate for the region — Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette,...
Westmoreland voters could begin receiving mail-in ballots next week
Mail-in and absentee ballots are expected to be sent out to Westmoreland County voters no later than Saturday. The state’s late certification of ballots two weeks ago delayed the process and final reviews were not completed until this week, said JoAnn Sebastiani, director of the county’s elections bureau. Pending any...
UPMC doctors: Covid vaccine ‘not going to happen’ this year
UPMC doctors on Tuesday addressed the race for a covid-19 vaccine, calling it “this generation’s moonshot,” but warned that a vaccine by year’s end is pie in the sky. “This is simply not going to happen,” said Dr. David Nace, chief medical officer of UPMC’s senior communities. “We’re hopeful that...
McCandless council extends incubation period for proposed chicken law to tone down some restrictions
McCandless council’s proposed ordinance on keeping chickens on residential properties won’t be ready to hatch for at least 90 days so that changes discussed during a public hearing can be added to the measure. Council initially planned to vote on the ordinance at its Oct. 12 meeting, but the changes...
Jeannette teen charged as adult in convenience store robbery
A Jeannette teenager was charged as an adult Tuesday in connection with a convenience store robbery, according to court papers. Demetri Kaleb Sensenich, 17, told investigators that he robbed the Harrison Avenue Cogo’s Monday and then went to school in the city. Sensenich is charged with robbery, gun violations, aggravated...
Sharpsburg woman faces child endangerment charges after police discover hoarder conditions
A hoarding situation in Sharpsburg has left a woman facing charges of child welfare endangerment and risking a catastrophe, among others. Police are seeking the public’s help in finding Dawn Marie Ecker, 51, who fled from a welfare check at her apartment at 902 Penn St. Borough police were called...
State troopers to be honored by Gov. Wolf for combating opioid epidemic
Three state troopers from Troop A in Greensburg, members of a specialized local drug task force that made multiple large drug seizures in recent years, are among 49 state employees to be honored Wednesday by Gov. Tom Wolf for improving the life of Pennsylvanians. Cpl. John Isoldi and Troopers Anthony...
Ex-Westmoreland County probation officer charged for alleged ‘intimate’ relationship with prisoner
A former Westmoreland County probation officer has a preliminary hearing Oct. 19 for allegedly having inappropriate contact with a man she was supposed to be monitoring after his release from the county prison in 2018, according to court documents. Mary Jo Borelli, 57, of Jeannette, is charged with one count...
Sharpsburg seeks grant to help with purchase of police body cameras
Sharpsburg police Chief Tom Stelitano is hoping the acquisition of body cameras will improve community relations and potentially offer a glimpse into the daily life of his officers. “Hopefully they can shine a light on what police officers deal with on a daily basis,” Stelitano said. The borough is purchasing...
