Western PA Local News category, Page 2410
Monroeville nursing home reports 47 covid-19 cases, after reporting zero last week
A Monroeville nursing home has reported 47 cases of covid-19 to state health officials, after reporting none a week ago. Long-term care facility data from the state’s Department of Health shows that Monroeville Rehabilitation & Wellness Center reported zero cases of covid-19. In numbers updated on Tuesday, the center reported...
McKeesport man charged by feds in fentanyl overdose death case
A McKeesport man is accused of dealing the fentanyl that caused an overdose death last year, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Rahde “Raw” Williamson, 25, who formerly lived in Duquesne, faces drug and weapons charges stemming from two grand jury indictments returned last week, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said. One...
As Post-Gazette employee representatives consider a strike, analysts say strategy can be dicey
A strike is “in the arsenal” for newspapers to use in labor negotiations, said Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst for the Poynter Institute. But it’s “sort of the atomic bomb,” he said. Edmonds, referring to a potential strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, said these work stoppages once were commonplace...
Norwin grads digging up the past
A group of Norwin High School graduates who attended the former Hartford Heights Elementary School plan on Wednesday to hunt for, and hopefully dig up, a time capsule they buried on school grounds when they were students there in the late 1980s. Keri Holton of North Huntingdon said they are...
Horses welcome — but not people, really — to horse show at North Park
Horses are encouraged — people, not so much — to attend the North Allegheny Horsemen’s Association Horse Show at North Park this Sunday. It’s one of the rare public events that Allegheny County Parks has approved during covid-19 pandemic regulations. The Allegheny County Health Department’s limit of 50 people to...
Clemente rookie card, 1900 Wagner team photo up for auction
Pittsburgh Pirate history buffs, get your wallets ready: a New Jersey auction house is taking bids on Roberto Clemente’s 1955 Topps rookie card, as well as a team photo of the Pirates taken during Honus Wagner’s first year with the team in 1900. The auction concludes Sunday. Bidding on the...
Allegheny County assistant district attorney dies after battle with covid-19
An Allegheny County prosecutor who believed he had contracted covid-19 while working at the courthouse in late June has died. Russ Broman, 65, of Upper St. Clair had been hospitalized since July and on a ventilator for the last several days. He died Tuesday, according to Mike Manko, a spokesman...
What Pittsburgh experts are saying about Russia’s covid-19 vaccine
Russia declared on Tuesday its covid-19 vaccine was ready for public use — an announcement met with global skepticism. While Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted the vaccine had proven to be efficient and had undergone proper testing, some health experts warned that it’s ill-advised to begin using a vaccine before...
Leechburg Area to discuss changes to back-to-school plan
Leechburg Area School District will discuss modifying its back-to-school plan Wednesday based on new recommendations from the state Department of Education, according to district officials. The school board in June approved a back-to-school plan that gave students the option of returning to school for full-time, in-person instruction. But the state...
Babcock Boulevard reopens following crash, ‘major power outage’ in North Hills
A vehicle toppled a telephone pole Tuesday afternoon in Ross, sending at least one person to the hospital and knocking out power for nearly 2,000 customers in the North Hills. Major intersections along Babcock Boulevard near McKnight Road and Siebert Road reopened Tuesday night after crews worked to clear the...
Sheetz’s new store on Perry Highway in McCandless opening Thursday
Sheetz’s plan to build a new convenience store across the street from its current location on a cramped triangle of land at the junction of Old Perry Highway and Perry Highway has come to fruition after nearly two and a half years. Company officials announced that the new store will...
Lawyer: Jury trial only way to settle case involving contested Greensburg traffic stop
The lawyer for a Pittsburgh man awaiting trial in Westmoreland County on drug charges that he says resulted from an illegal traffic stop two years ago in Greensburg said he has no choice but to ask a jury to resolve the case. Christopher Batch, 31, was charged in November 2018...
School reopening plans could change multiple times prior to first day
Weeks before students are expected to return to school, some districts are scrapping reopening plans in an effort to match state guidance and to account for spikes in coronavirus cases. At least two area districts, Franklin Regional and Bethel Park, drastically altered health and safety plans school leaders worked on...
Hempfield approves reopening plans with phasesVideo
After months of work, Hempfield leaders approved a health and safety plan that will welcome students back through a blended approach. On Monday, board members unanimously approved the plan, which will bring back students in a phased approach starting Aug. 27. An initial phase has students following a staggered schedule...
$5M digital innovation lab to be built on site of New Kensington community garden
A community garden once heralded as among the first efforts to revitalize New Kensington’s downtown will make way for a building that will bring digital tools to the area’s businesses, industries, entrepreneurs and students. Construction of the $5 million digital innovation lab is expected to start this fall at the...
Hempfield woman arraigned, charges pending against 2 others in North Huntingdon assault, home invasion
North Huntingdon police identified three of five people allegedly involved in a daylight home invasion and assault Saturday afternoon. Arianna R. Matrone, 18, of Hempfield, was arraigned Tuesday on charges of burglary, criminal mischief, criminal trespass, simple assault, harassment and terroristic threats filed by township police in connection with the...
Pizza party held to mark 1918 ‘pandemic’ baby’s 102nd birthdayVideo
Mary Cassesse’s family never really spoke about the worldwide Spanish Flu outbreak that claimed the lives of an estimated 50 million people the year she was born. But learning later in life about the events that gripped the world in 1918 made her realize how lucky she was to have...
‘Where’s the chaos’?: At Pitt’s move-in day, a surreal silence amid a pandemicVideo
The University of Pittsburgh’s move-in day this year was, for perhaps the first time, a quiet one. The usual throngs of students and parents were instead just sporadic groups that trickled across campus. Traffic moved freely on Forbes and Fifth avenues. There were no lines for parking lots, no waiting...
Jeannette woman paroled after pleading guilty to threatening, assaulting teen
A Jeannette woman was released from jail Tuesday after she pleaded guilty to charges of threatening and assaulting a teen last year in Rostraver. Police said Mary J. Burch, 49, entered a vehicle driven by a teenage boy outside of a convenience store on Nov. 8, 2018, claimed she had...
Inquiry on Allegheny County judge’s alleged racist remarks coming to close
Six months after Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Mark V. Tranquilli was moved to administrative duties after allegations he made racist comments about a criminal court juror, an investigation by the state Judicial Conduct Board is wrapping up. “Judge Tranquilli has completely and fully cooperated with the investigation, and we...
St. Clair Social gastropub opens at old Sharp Edge spot in Friendship
Friendship has a new neighborhood bar. St. Clair Social gastropub is open on South St. Clair Street in the former location of Sharp Edge, a pioneering craft beer venue that closed in 2018 after nearly three decades. SYN Bar & Taqueria + Pizzeria later operated in the space but closed...
Authority OKs $5.8M in contracts for Arnold Palmer airport terminal, runway expansions
The Westmoreland County Airport Authority is moving ahead with interior and exterior improvements at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, at a cost of about $5.8 million. The authority this week awarded contracts for expanding the passenger holding room and for continuing widening and strengthening of the runway at the Unity airport....
Fox Chapel Area students in all grades can decide between hybrid model or online learning
Fox Chapel Area students at all grade levels will have the option of returning to class two days a week or learning entirely online. The school board on Monday night approved the district’s return-to-school plan with a vote of 6-3. Board members Amy Cooper, Edie Cook and Dharmesh Vyas opposed,...
Sunny days bring uptick in air pollution to Southwestern Pa.Video
There’s a downside to a hot, sunny summer in Southwestern Pennsylvania: higher levels of ozone air pollution, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The region’s Air Quality Index has reached Code Orange four days this year, including Sunday and Monday. The average for an entire year is 3...
Community college leaders tout cost advantages as 4-year schools go online
As families weigh the rapidly evolving landscape at colleges across the state, officials at Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges say they are ready to accommodate students faced with last-minute decisions about the fall semester. “We estimate a student could save as much as $20,000 on the cost of an education if...
