Local category, Page 2391

Port Authority of Allegheny County on Monday reported that another employee has tested positive for covid-19. Eleven employees have tested positive for the coronavirus, including nine at the West Mifflin bus garage. The latest employee to test positive works in maintenance at the garage, Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph said....

Bob Ross had no idea when he’d get to see his mother again. The Hempfield man faithfully visited 96-year-old Ileen Osterwise at the Greensburg Care Center two or three times a week. During his last visit to the nursing home on March 12, Osterwise, who has Alzheimer’ Disease, had been...

A Pittsburgh-based veterans organization is prepared to distribute 300 boxes of food Tuesday to veterans in need during the coronavirus pandemic. The Veterans Leadership Program is partnering with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Giant Eagle and Sysco to provide the food. The distribution will start at noon and will...

Third-grade teachers from Highlands Elementary School in Tarentum dressed in dinosaur costumes on Monday to support students who are studying at home. The teachers — Lauralee Milberger, Rachel Chester, Jennifer Koprivnikar, Courtney Udanis and Kimberly Chalmers — displayed signs encouraging drivers to honk as a sign of appreciation of students...

Bryn Young had left her mother’s house in Lawrenceville only 30 minutes earlier when she got a call from her sister. The house is on fire, she said, and panic immediately set in. Young, 20, heard what sounded like an explosion over the receiver. The fire destroyed three homes in...

Michael Diebold, the former Leechburg police chief, will remain in jail as he awaits a hearing to determine if he violated parole terms for a sex offense, a Westmoreland County judge ruled. Diebold contended ongoing serious health problems put him at risk should he contract coronavirus and sought an early...

When Robert Levin’s attempt to rescue his family’s former furniture store empire collapsed last month, the former CEO of Levin Furniture promised he wouldn’t forget the 1,200 workers left hanging when Art Van Furniture filed for bankruptcy. Concerned that hundreds of employees who had worked for Levin Furniture for decades...

Banners honoring Harrison’s veterans were going up along Freeport Road on Monday. The banners were sold to raise money for the restoration of the township’s World War II Honor Roll memorial. They recognize all veterans, living and dead, who served at any time. A total of 151 were available. The...

Officials are seeking information on vandals who spray painted graffiti at a popular natural overlook, Beam Rocks, along the border of Somerset and Westmoreland counties in Forbes State Forest. A hiking trail off Laurel Summit Road leads to the sandstone outcroppings — some 90 feet tall — that provide adventurers...

The Westmoreland County Prison inmate population has been reduced by nearly 30% over the past month as jail officials continue to tighten restrictions designed to prevent a potential coronavirus outbreak. Warden John Walton on Monday told members of the prison board there are 176 fewer inmates than incarcerated a month...

Connellsville resident Mary Frazier celebrated her 100th birthday in style with a parade of firefighters and police officers outside her apartment balcony. Frazier lives at Connellsville Towers senior community, where community manager Leah Bierer and her staff organized the celebration. Well-wishers were encouraged to drive through Connellsville Towers on Thursday...

Putting up a billboard is a lot like drilling for oil, according to Ben Wallace, chief operating officer of Penneco. He’d know. Penneco is a Delmont-based oil and gas company with a subsidiary — Penneco Outdoor Advertising, which owns about 30 billboards across southwestern Pennsylvania. Both sides of the business...

A man was critically wounded after he was shot in the stomach Monday afternoon in Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes neighborhood, police said. A ShotSpotter alert came over at about 1 p.m. in the 1400 block of Eleanor Street. Police said they found the man near Eccles Street. He was conscious,...

Golf courses, marinas and some campgrounds will be permitted to open Friday as Pennsylvania officials move toward a gradual reopening of a state economy halted by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to private campgrounds, guided fishing trips will be allowed to resume Friday. All of those businesses must follow life-sustaining...

Country music star Blake Shelton and Outdoor Channel’s “Bone Collector” founder Michael Waddell are making guest appearances in the new Pennsylvania Game Commission podcast series, “Call of the Outdoors.” The series, hosted by Game Commission marketing director and world turkey-calling champion Matt Morrett, will highlight wildlife, hunting, habitat and conservation...

Community colleges may become a more viable option for students this fall, as the covid-19 pandemic continues to alter various aspects of higher education. In Western Pennsylvania, schools are preparing for a myriad of possibilities but remain uncertain exactly how the pandemic will affect them, said Stuart Blacklaw, provost at...

Pennsylvania is among a dozen states where average gasoline prices remain over $2 a gallon, despite nine straight weeks of declines. Pennsylvania’s statewide average is about $2.03 a gallon, according to the price-tracking service GasBuddy. The average price is slightly higher in the Pittsburgh area, at $2.15 a gallon, GasBuddy’s...

Hospitals and surgical centers in Pennsylvania can resume elective procedures that have been halted for weeks by the coronavirus pandemic. State Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said Monday such surgeries and procedures may begin again as long as hospitals still would be ready for a potential surge in covid-19 cases....

Health care systems still aren’t providing crucial race and ethnicity data when reporting coronavirus cases to the Department of Health, leaving a wide swath of some vulnerable populations unaccounted for, officials said Monday. A mandate from Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine says facilities and providers include demographic data along...

Pittsburgh will allow construction projects to begin in the city starting on Friday under protocols established by the state and construction industry, the Mayor’s Office announced Monday. Gov. Tom Wolf last month shuttered most construction projects to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. The governor last week announced that...

Pittsburgh would ban discrimination based on a person’s citizenship or immigration status under legislation City Council is scheduled to introduce on Tuesday. Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, the sponsor, said the Pittsburgh Human Relations Commission has experienced an uptick of discrimination complaints since the coronavirus pandemic began. The complaints contend people have...

A sheet of paper left in the Westmoreland County Prison library helped investigators unravel a yearlong scheme that used mail to deliver drugs to the Hempfield lockup, officials reported in court documents. Corrections officers listened to inmate phone conversations to intercept pieces of mail, and county detectives staked out the...

There have been 23 positive cases of covid-19 in Monroeville, according to latest state and county figures. Pitcairn, a borough surrounded by Monroeville and within the Gateway School District, reports one positive case. The county’s map also shows there have been 384 tests given in Monroeville and 42 in Pitcairn....