Local category, Page 2331
Police: Penn Hills woman ran through airport security checkpoint, tossed water on TSA agent
A Penn Hills woman was arrested by county police Aug. 19 after tossing water on a TSA agent and running unchecked past the Pittsburgh International Airport’s security checkpoint. Allegheny County police said Brandi L. Bailey, 32, of Penn Hills, threw water on a TSA agent when asked for her identification...
Grant adds water tank, litter carrier to Bradenville firefighters’ all-terrain vehicleVideo
Bradenville firefighters respond to an average of at least 20 brush fires per year on Derry Ridge. Recent improvements to their utility task vehicle mean they’ll have more water and other resources at hand when they’re called to the next emergency on the Derry Township ridge. A $12,500 grant from...
Allegheny County dealing with backlog of covid-19 hospitalization data
The Allegheny County Health Department is catching up on covid-19 hospitalization data that accumulated in the month of July. At a Wednesday news conference, Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen explained why this week, the county dashboard stopped providing daily counts of the number of past and present hospitalizations. During the...
Commonwealth Court must hear gun owners’ challenge over Pittsburgh ban
The state Superior Court on Wednesday moved an appeal by a number of gun owners who sought to file private criminal complaints against Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and members of city council over their passage of new firearms legislation last year to the Commonwealth Court. In a five-page opinion, the...
‘Let me be clear’: Pitt dean admonishes students for partying during pandemic
University of Pittsburgh students who party could tip the school into shutdown mode, a top official at the school warned. Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner cautioned students that large parties carry the potential of becoming covid-19 super-spreader events and threaten the ability to continue classes on the Oakland campus. On...
Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh offers program for children during remote learning
Heather and Paul Cunningham have 6-year-old twins, Jackson and Julie, going into first grade. The couple work full time and their children’s school, Minadeo in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, will be online for at least the first nine weeks of the school year. They spent the final months of kindergarten...
Norwin schools estimated repair tab: $15M – $17M
Norwin officials were told this week that — based on a master facilities study — between $15.4 million and $17 million is needed in the immediate future for repairs to the district’s buildings, stadium and pavement. All of Norwin’s four elementary schools, along with the intermediate, middle and high schools,...
Woman accused of choking prospective witness inside Westmoreland County Courthouse
A 47-year-old woman was arrested at the Westmoreland County Courthouse Wednesday on charges of assaulting and choking a woman who was to testify against her in a custody dispute, according to court documents. Rhonda L. Cathers, 47, of Daisytown, Washington County, was arrested by county park police in the courthouse...
Volunteers give Trafford fence a makeover
A handful of volunteers answered the Trafford Business Association’s call for helping hands Saturday morning at 427 Cavitt Ave. In a little more than four hours, they brightened up the block by improving a fence on the property of Klassy Bar and Grill. The ad hoc work crew cut and...
School districts tweak reopening plans again to require full-time mask use
Districts across the region again are amending reopening plans after the state released additional guidance this week. Students attending in-person classes now are required to wear face coverings at all times while in school with few exceptions, according to the state education and health departments. The changes are based on...
Paving project to restrict Freeport Road traffic, among others, through NovemberVideo
A $9 million PennDOT paving project will restrict traffic for several months in some areas of the Alle-Kiski Valley. Work on the project began in June and is expected to be complete by late November, PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said. Alle-Kiski Valley roads that will be affected include Freeport Road...
Duquesne University freshmen move into dorms with adjusted schedule
Duquesne University hosted its freshman move-in over three days early this week. Normally a one-day affair, the university instead assigned time slots to the approximately 1,200 freshmen and transfer students to prevent crowding in the hallways. “Given the current situation, we just didn’t feel that was safe,” said Adam Wasilko,...
Principals in alleged drug smuggling at Westmoreland County Prison ordered to trial
When investigators listened in on inmates’ telephone calls during an 18-month probe into alleged drug smuggling at the Westmoreland County Prison, they often heard inmates referring to “spicy chicken,” “deuce” or “papers.” But the conversations weren’t referring to food, card games or legal paperwork. It was code that a delivery...
Pa. Supreme Court delays considering appeal of former Westmoreland Sheriff Jonathan Held
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court put on hold the appeal of Westmoreland County’s former sheriff, who is seeking the dismissal of two criminal offenses related to allegations of public corruption. The court this week said it will delay a decision on whether it will consider the appeal in the pending case...
Gateway votes against hiring Mobile Health Services for daily temperature checks of students, staff
The Gateway school board decided Tuesday against doing business with a company its solicitor partially owns that would have provided temperature checks to students and staff every day before entering buildings. The 7-1 vote, with one abstention, came after discussions about whether temperature checks are necessary. Board member Paul Caliari...
They were caught up in the Tim Murphy scandal. Now, they have a co-parenting podcast.
For Shannon Edwards and Jesse Sally, the road from separation to divorce was a very public one. There were newspaper headlines and mentions on national news and comedy shows. There were allegations of infidelity and threats. And now, three years later, there is friendship and a new podcast on co-parenting....
Professors question Penn State reopening as study projects problems
A faculty group at Penn State says the university’s plan to reopen its University Park campus could culminate in thousands of cases of covid-19 and quickly overwhelm its capacity for quarantine. As students began to move into dorms this week, the Coalition for a Just University at Penn State released...
Community groups can now mail naloxone under new Pa. standing order
Naloxone can now be mailed by community groups to anyone who wants the opioid overdose antidote under an updated standing order. State Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine signed the updated order Tuesday that makes the change to allow for easier access while restrictions are in place related to the...
Pleasant Hills soccer fields can be used by West Jefferson Hills School District
Pleasant Hills will allow West Jefferson Hills School District to use its Breisinger Field soccer fields free of charge through the middle of October. The unanimous decision came during a regularly scheduled council meeting Aug. 17. According to the agreement, the school district will have exclusive access to the fields...
Pennsylvania troopers take on roles helping communities, police with racially charged crimes
Two Pennsylvania state troopers with a penchant for connecting communities with police officers are taking on full-time roles that will entrench them in the local area. Greensburg native Cpl. Aaron Allen and Trooper Ismail El-Guemra of the Carlisle area will work with community groups, police agencies and local residents in...
Westmoreland County adds 18 new coronavirus cases, 1 new death
Westmoreland County added 18 new coronavirus cases and one death, according to data from the Pennsylvania Health Department. The new positive cases bring the county’s total to 1,658, with 1,608 confirmed and 50 probable. There have been 49 deaths in the county, with three in August. State data shows that...
Police disperse overnight protesters at Peduto’s house, mayor decries neighborhood harassmentVideo
The handful of protesters who camped out overnight in front of Mayor Bill Peduto’s Point Breeze home were dispersed Wednesday morning after Pittsburgh police declared the small contingent an unlawful gathering. A protest group that grew from about 150 to more than 300 Tuesday night marched from East Liberty to...
Allegheny County reports just 27 new coronavirus cases
Allegheny County on Wednesday reported its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in almost two months. Just 27 positive cases were added in the latest data released by the Allegheny County Health Department, the lowest since 19 were reported on June 23. The new cases bring the county’s total to...
Grove City College Department of Music to play through pandemic
At Grove City College, not even a pandemic can stop the music. The school’s marching band, concert band, orchestra and choirs are ready to start a new year, with new covid-19 guidelines in place. The Wolverine Marching Band launched its annual band camp this week, forging ahead despite a postponed...
Post-Gazette files lawsuit claiming Pittsburgh’s discrimination inquiry is ‘unconstitutional’
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this week claimed a discrimination inquiry by the city’s Commission on Human Relations — opened in June after a Black reporter accused the newspaper of violating her civil rights — is unconstitutional. In a lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday, the Post-Gazette asked the court to declare...
