Local category, Page 2419

The state police don’t want bar patrons playing video gambling machines under normal conditions, let alone during the coronavirus pandemic. State police have received “an influx of public inquiries related to liquor licensees allowing patrons to remain in their establishments to operate video gambling devices, sometimes marketed as ‘games of...

With 1 million jobless claims filed in the past two and a half weeks, employees at the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry have been scrambling to respond to a record-high number of requests for immediate financial aid during the pandemic-spurred shutdown. Most labor department employees are working from home....

Juniper Communities, a senior housing company with sites in Forest Hills, Meadville, State College and eastern Pennsylvania, will begin taking a proactive approach to the coronavirus pandemic by testing residents and staff. “Senior living communities are the first line of defense for 3 million citizens most at risk for complications...

The judicial emergency declared in March by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will now be extended through May 8 in Allegheny County, according to an order issued Thursday by county President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark. Clark’s order follows an extension of the statewide judicial emergency through April 30, ordered Wednesday by...

Praise for the University of Pittsburgh has dominated social media after the institution announced it was close to developing a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. Scientists at Pitt’s School of Medicine announced Thursday that the vaccine, when tested in mice, produces antibodies that could fight off the virus. Testing the...

With increased sanitary measures taking center stage amid the coronavirus pandemic, federal environmental officials are asking Americans to stop flushing disinfecting wipes in an effort to keep sewage systems functioning properly. “Flushing anything other than toilet paper, including disinfecting wipes, can damage internal plumbing, local sewer systems and septic systems,”...

A third resident who tested positive for covid-19 at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center has died, officials announced Thursday. Two other residents with advanced dementia previously died after contracting the disease, according to Dr. David Thimons, the facility’s medical director. “There are currently 38 in-house residents that have tested positive,”...

Furloughs of hundreds of Westmoreland County employees will begin at the end of the workday Friday, but the final number of workers who will be off the job still is in flux, officials said. Commissioners last week announced that budget strains caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic prompted a suspension...

The Central Outreach Wellness Center has suspended its drive-up coronavirus testing indefinitely, staff said Thursday. Alexander Young, director of marketing, said that as covid-19 spreads, testing becomes less of a necessity. “As more people become infected, it’s less important to know who has it and who doesn’t and to treat...

Westmoreland County on Thursday started screening public safety employees for coronavirus symptoms and could soon expand the program to include courthouse staff and visitors. Commissioners approved a monthlong contract with Amerisafe Group to furnish trained employees to conduct screenings at the county’s public safety headquarters on Donohoe Road in Hempfield,...

A Monroeville dispatcher and volunteer firefighter is accused of involvement with a 14-year-old girl during a fire training event in early March. Gregory Allen Lauffer, 23, of Monroeville was charged with unlawful contact with a minor, a felony, and corruption of a minor and indecent assault, both misdemeanors. Allegheny County...

A Dutch manufacturer says it hopes to triple the production of hospital ventilators being assembled in Murrysville and Carlsbad, Calif., between now and the end of September. “In March, our production capacity was 1,000 ventilators per week. In two months, we hope to double that … and by the end...

Latrobe’s 20th annual Rabbit Race 5K won’t happen Saturday morning. With Pennsylvanians under a state order to stay at home except for essential needs until at least April 30, the fundraising race at Latrobe’s Memorial Stadium is tentatively rescheduled for May 16. The new deadline to register online for the...

Westmoreland County reported 12 new coronavirus cases on Thursday as the statewide total jumped by more than 1,200 cases, Pennsylvania health officials said. There are now 84 patients with covid-19 in Westmoreland County. The case count in Pennsylvania now stands at 7,016. The 1,211 new cases amount to a 21%...

Pennsylvania reported 1,200 new coronavirus cases Thursday, and deaths now stand at 90, according to state health officials. The 1,211 new cases confirmed from midnight Tuesday through midnight Wednesday bring the statewide case count to 7,016. That’s about a 21% increase over the day prior. Sixteen more people have died,...

Peoples Gas will donate $100,000 to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to provide community support during the coronavirus pandemic, the utility announced Thursday. Hundreds of people lined up in vehicles on Mondayto receive free boxes of dried goods and meats from the Duquesne-based food bank. The food bank had...

Allegheny County reported 63 new cases of the coronavirus Thursday, an 18% increase from Wednesday, bringing the countywide total to 419. Of that total, two Allegheny County residents have died from complications from covid-19. Over the past week, about 500 people have been tested per day, a significant increase over...

When Martina Hanoglu saw people in her native Czech Republic making homemade facial masks for possible protection against the coronavirus, she pulled out her small sewing machine. For the past two weeks, Hanoglu stitched together cotton masks and distributed them to employees and Downtown Pittsburgh neighbors from her pizza shop...

Full Pint Brewery Co., one of the region’s first craft beer makers, said it is shutting down its operations. Full Pint filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, seeking protection from creditors while hoping to reorganize the brewery’s debt and possibly attract new investors, according to Barrett Goddard of Ligonier,...

Allegheny River locks in Harmar and Aspinwall will operate under reduced hours and less staff during the coronavirus pandemic. The move is an effort to minimize exposure to covid-19 for workers and the public, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials said. Changes affect Lock 2 (Highland Park), which sits near...

Two Laurel Highlands School District employees tested positive for covid-19, according to a letter posted on the district website by Superintendent Jesse Wallace. Neither employee has been inside a school district building in the last couple of weeks, he said. Both employees are assigned to Hutchinson Elementary School. The employees...