Local category, Page 2473
1 person hurt in 3-alarm Wilkinsburg house fire
A family of five escaped unhurt after a fire spread to their Wilkinsburg home early Thursday morning. Firefighters responded around 2:30 a.m. to a 911 call for a fire in the 1700 block of Laketon Road, according to police. Firefighters arrived and saw flames coming from an unoccupied home. The...
The Stroller, May 7, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Did your neighbor call and check on you, or bring a face mask or groceries? The Stroller wants to recognize those around us who are performing small acts of kindness for others during this stressful time. Send a short, one-paragraph note highlighting someone and how they helped you, your family...
Postal Service extends holds on mail during pandemic
Those living within the U.S. Postal Service’s Western Pennsylvania District, which stretches from to Erie to Morgantown, W.Va., and as far east as Altoona, can place a hold on their mail for more than 30 days beginning next month, because of the pandemic. The Postal Service said late Tuesday it...
Pittsburgh Parking Authority lays off 36 enforcement officers, cites revenue decline
The Pittsburgh Parking Authority has laid off 36 enforcement officers because of declining meter and garage revenues during the coronavirus pandemic, an official said Thursday. David Onorato, the authority’s executive director, said revenue from parking meters and authority-owned garages was down by more than 90% in April. He said the...
Verona man charged with assault in connection with altercation at Giant Eagle while not wearing a maskVideo
A Verona man faces disorderly conduct and assault charges in connection with an incident at a Monroeville Giant Eagle in which he was not wearing a mask, police said. Nick Conley, 37, said he has shopped in various stores without a mask, even after covid-19 reached pandemic proportions in March,...
Pittsburgh Food Bank responding to covid-19 needs in variety of ways
Since mid-March, images of long lines of cars waiting for boxes of food being distributed by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank have become a common sight. “I know that in March our pantry network contributed a million more pounds of food than it did the previous March,” said food...
New Kensington man returned from Florida to face charge that he killed Brackenridge man
The New Kensington man accused of fatally shooting a Brackenridge man in an Arnold kitchen in January was returned Wednesday night after being extradited from Florida. Mario Matthew Gatti, 30, was arraigned before Allegheny Township District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec for allegedly shooting Michael Coover Jr., 33, of Brackenridge on...
‘Sewing for Angels’ makes and delivers masks beyond Western Pennsylvania
A new Rosie the Riveter is in town. Today, the cultural icon from the World War II era, symbolizing women stepping up to work in factories and shipyards, has taken a different form: a group of more than 1,000 men, women and children – connected through social media – banded...
Murrysville Council OKs hauling route adjustment for Sloan ‘elementary campus’ project
Murrysville Council granted the Franklin Regional School District’s request to allow trucks leaving the Sloan Elementary construction project to use Crowfoot Road as they haul material off-site. Project engineer John Frydrych of Civil & Environmental Consultants said the request was needed as a result of a 16-foot grade spanning the...
Murrysville makes adjustments to budget, tax deadlines in anticipation of covid-19 impact
Murrysville officials are proposing some adjustments to the year’s budget and eliminating late-payment penalties for real-estate taxes, in light of anticipated impacts from the covid-19 pandemic. “We figure as we go into May, June and July, we’re going to start seeing the effects of unemployment, and that will be revenue...
Franklin Regional plans ‘back-to-school task force’ to plan for 2020-21 year
As of early May, there’s just no telling what education in Pennsylvania could look like in the fall. Whatever form it takes, and whatever may happen during the 2020-21 school year related to the coronavirus, Franklin Regional school officials want to be prepared. “Right now none of us have a...
Gov. Wolf signs order granting civil immunity to health care providers during covid-19 pandemic
Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order Wednesday that could shield health care workers from potential lawsuits while confronting the covid-19 pandemic. The order grants civil immunity to individual licensed, certified and registered health care workers acting in “good faith” across all types of state-defined health care facilities — among...
Springdale High School grads get home delivered caps and gowns, congratulatory yard signsVideo
A customized “Congratulations Class of 2020, Ty Prior” yard sign was personally delivered Wednesday morning to the Springdale High School senior by the district superintendent, along with his cap and gown. “It was nice to see them,” Prior said of the Allegheny Valley School District administrators who showed up at...
Many new Allegheny County coronavirus cases linked to long-term care facilities
Nearly half of recent cases of the coronavirus reported in Allegheny County are linked to long-term care facilities, Allegheny County Health Department officials said Wednesday. Between April 20 and May 5, county health department staff started investigations on 352 new cases of covid-19. Of that total, 123 people, or 35%...
Senate bill would mandate safety protocols for Pennsylvania nursing homes
Long-term care facilities that have become the epicenter of Pennsylvania’s covid-19 fatalities would be subject to new safety protocols during emergency disaster declarations under a measure state Sen. Kim Ward is promoting. Pennsylvania has recorded 3,106 deaths from covid-19, with about two thirds of those coming from 495 nursing homes...
Big ‘thank you’: Cheswick resident and pizza shop owner feeds health care workers during National Nurses Week
Arslan “Allen” Ovezgylyjov came to the U.S. from Turkmenistan, central Asia, in 2008 in search of a better life. “I can’t say thanks enough to be living in the United States and to have my business and my family here,” said the Cheswick resident. “I have made a life here,...
Planned power outage set for Forbes Trail area of Murrysville on Thursday morning
West Penn Power officials are planning a brief outage in the Forbes Trail area of Murrysville on Thursday morning. The planned outage will be from about 9 a.m. to noon, in order to upgrade facilities. If the weather does not cooperate, the outage will be rescheduled for Friday. Anyone with...
Peduto: Coronavirus could bring pop-up drive-in theaters to Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is looking for creative ways to allow safe social activities — including pop-up drive-in theaters — if coronavirus restrictions are necessary through summer months, Mayor Bill Peduto said Wednesday. Peduto, addressing reporters during a teleconference, said traditional activities such as Little League baseball, the city’s annual Fourth of July...
Suspect wanted for attempted homicide of S.C. cop arraigned for multiple vehicle thefts in Westmoreland
After Brian J. Stoltie fled South Carolina, where he was wanted for shooting at a sheriff’s deputy last year, members of the state police auto theft task force allege that he went on vehicle theft spree in Westmoreland County. State police captured Stoltie, 39, who has ties to Westmoreland and...
Pittsburgh’s Jewish Association on Aging will hold in-person Mother’s Day visits through windows
Mother’s Day visits amid coronavirus restrictions at nursing and personal care homes will be possible at the Jewish Association on Aging facilities in Pittsburgh. There’s no hugging, though. The in-person Mother’s Day visits at Charles Morris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Weinberg Terrace and Weinberg Village will be held through plexiglass...
Cops: ‘Joyride’ in North Huntingdon causes $20K in damages, closes small airport
A North Huntingdon man arrested for DUI told police he was out “joyriding because he enjoys racing in the mud,” but the sloppy trip could leave him liable for nearly $20,000 in landscaping damages, according to court documents. Jonathan M. Galka, 39, was charged Tuesday with DUI, reckless driving and...
Pittsburgh HIV/AIDS advocate August Pusateri dies
August “Buzz” Pusateri played an integral role in the Pitt Men’s Study, a confidential research study of the natural history of HIV and AIDS. Not only did he believe in the importance of recruiting volunteers to help further research, he was one of the project’s first volunteers. Twice a year,...
Community garden in Vandergrift can be maintained during pandemic
Vandergrift will officially resume tending to community gardens, after a disagreement between council members broke out during Monday’s Zoom meeting. Under the town’s Declaration of Disaster Emergency, which went into effect in March and was extended Monday until Aug. 31, all parks in the town are closed to the public....
Some beaches popular with Pittsburghers have reopened, others waiting during pandemicVideo
Western Pennsylvanians eager to get to their favorite beaches once stay-at-home orders are lifted might have to wait a little longer as beach towns rebound from effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Down the East Coast from New Jersey to Florida, officials are working to determine the best times to reopen...
Rats are eating each other in Pittsburgh amid waste shortage caused by coronavirus closures
Turf wars among rats that are resorting to cannibalism because of less available garbage to scavenge isn’t something just happening in New York, New Orleans or some other far-away metro areas during the coronavirus pandemic. “It is no different here in Pittsburgh as just like these metro cities, with restaurants...
