Local category, Page 2540
Vandergrift Council moves meetings online via Zoom, cancels Artfest
Vandergrift Council’s meeting Monday began with several council members shouting “Hello?” and a few curse words as they learned to turn on their webcams. The council held a meeting via Zoom on Monday, its first public meeting since the covid-19 pandemic began nearly two months ago. Once things got rolling,...
Pennsylvania’s backlog of 3,000 untested rape kits now under 100, auditor general says
Four years after the state Auditor General’s Office found that more than 3,000 untested rape kits were sitting idly in police departments across Pennsylvania, that number has dropped to fewer than 100, the office announced Tuesday. “While important progress is being made, I’m concerned that nearly 100 victims of sexual...
Allegheny Health Network resumes elective surgeries, increases in-person appointments
Allegheny Health Network this week resumed elective surgeries and appointments at all of its medical facilities in response to the region’s decline in new coronavirus cases. The health care provider said it is “returning to a more normalized schedule and protocols for medical appointments and non-emergent surgical procedures after six...
Pittsburgh International Airport to use UV-beaming robots for disinfecting
Robots beaming out ultraviolet lights soon will be disinfecting floors and handrails at Pittsburgh International Airport to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. The airport has been working with Lawrenceville-based Carnegie Robotics to mount ultraviolet lights on robotic floor scrubbers to clean the terminal for more than a year,...
Kane’s Glen Hazel facility up to 12 coronavirus deaths as state weighs releasing nursing home data
State officials on Tuesday said coronavirus case numbers in care facilities and prisons will continue to be a part of a county’s total case count despite some calls for those numbers to excluded. Both Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said those cases are an important...
Sunken boat pulled from Allegheny River at Fox Chapel Yacht ClubVideo
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal will investigate a February boat fire after the sunken vessel was lifted from the Allegheny River on Tuesday. The boat was recovered from its dock at the Fox Chapel Yacht Club, off Old Freeport Road in O’Hara. “Now that the boat has been raised, the...
Excela employees donate $80K to Westmoreland food bank
The Westmoreland County Food Bank has seen an “overwhelming” increase in need with no end in sight, CEO Jennifer Miller said. “Our biggest obstacle right now is the unknown,” she said. But the organization knows for sure it can count on an $80,000 donation from Excela Health employees. “This $80,000...
Pittsburgh food bank plans drive-up distributions at airport, PPG Paints Arena
The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank will host two drive-up distributions this week, one at Pittsburgh International Airport and one at PPG Paints Arena. The event at the airport will run from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday. Parking lots open at 11 a.m., and the distribution can accommodate 1,000...
Pitt and CMU researchers developing low-cost ‘Roboventilator’ for pandemic
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh are teaming up to address the ventilator shortage in the U.S. brought on by the covid-19 pandemic. Ventilators, mechanical devices used to move breathable air into and out of the lungs, are in huge global demand as the coronavirus attacks...
Racial equity task force proposed for coronavirus response in Pittsburgh
Two Pittsburgh city councilmen on Tuesday proposed a task force that would ensure the city’s minority communities receive equal treatment in government initiatives aimed at helping people during the coronavirus pandemic. Councilmen R. Daniel Lavelle and Ricky Burgess, council’s only black members, introduced a resolution that would create the Greater...
Latrobe man accused of assaulting ex-girlfriend found hiding under couch, police say
When police went to a Latrobe man’s home Monday to question him about allegedly assaulting a former girlfriend, they found him hiding beneath his sofa, troopers said. Sean L. Hurley, 35, is charged with harassment, simple assault and terroristic threats in connection with the incident, which police said began in...
Trib offers HSSN services to produce, livestream Western Pa. graduations
As high schools try to plan Class of 2020 graduation ceremonies amid the uncertainty of coronavirus restrictions, HSSN has added its video capabilities to their menu of options. HSSN, the High School Sports Network of Trib Total Media, is offering high school administrators across the region its video production and...
Pittsburgh-area nonprofits develop alternatives as signature fundraisers are canceled
This past Saturday would have been Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s annual Spring Hat Luncheon. The event not only has an attendance roster of 600 of Pittsburgh’s fashionable who’s who, it raises more than a half-million much-needed dollars for the nonprofit. With the covid-19 pandemic, the luncheon didn’t go off as scheduled...
Export Council’s May meeting delayed 1 week
Export officials will hold their May council meeting a week later than usual. The May 12 meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Export Volunteer Fire Department social hall, the former American Legion building, 5778 Kennedy Ave. Council did not hold an April meeting....
Gov. Wolf offers little detail on when next areas of Pennsylvania could move to yellow phase
Gov. Tom Wolf on a call with reporters Tuesday remained tight-lipped as to when he might announce which Pennsylvania counties will be next to see pandemic-related restrictions eased. “There is no schedule,” Wolf said of when he will announce more counties. “That would be arbitrary.” The governor reiterated what has...
6 more accused in scheme to get drugs into Westmoreland jail
Six more people have been charged in connection with an alleged yearlong scheme that used fake legal mail to deliver drugs to the Westmoreland County Prison. Five men were inmates at the time of the alleged offenses and the sixth was a girlfriend of one of the defendants, according to...
Fallingwater to offer virtual summer camps, online concert
Fallingwater is closed to the public at least through May 15, as part of precautions against spread of the coronavirus. But the Frank Lloyd Wright architectural gem in Fayette County, and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy that operates the famous rural residence, are offering several online programs. Virtual summer camps for...
Westmoreland County reports 2 new coronavirus cases, no additional deaths
Health officials reported two new coronavirus cases in Westmoreland County on Tuesday as Pennsylvania neared 51,000 cases of the virus. The two new cases bring the county’s running total to 405 since the first patient tested positive on April 5. Of the county’s cases, 129 are residents of eight long-term...
Franklin Regional adopts proposed budget with 2.54 mill tax hikeVideo
The Franklin Regional school board adopted a proposed $61.5 million budget for the 2020-21 school year that includes a 2.54 mill tax hike. The budget includes a nearly $3 million funding gap that will be plugged, for now, with money from the district’s various fund balances, some of which are...
Pennsylvania coronavirus deaths top 3,000 as state catches up with data
Coronavirus deaths in Pennsylvania surpassed 3,000 on Tuesday as the Department of Health works to catch up with information coming from individual counties through a number of platforms, state officials said. The jump in deaths is “a result of our continued work to reconcile data from various sources,” health officials...
Tree limbs, leaves accepted at South Fayette wood waste facility
South Fayette residents can drop off leaves and tree limbs to the township’s wood waste recycling facility at 2121 Ridge Road in Boys Home Park. According to the township website, tree limbs up to four inches in diameter are accepted. No plastic bags, grass clippings or tree stumps are accepted....
School districts plan summer learning, fearing learning loss from time outside classroom
After spending nearly a month out of class for a pandemic, Pittsburgh Public Schools is hoping the summer might provide an opportunity to make up for lost time – but planning the programs has become a challenge. The district is looking for ways to modify and extend the annual Summer...
Osprey in Indiana County was shot, Pa. game commission seeking tips
A fatally injured osprey discovered April 28 in rural Indiana County, north of Blairsville, was shot, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. “We just received the necropsy report and the osprey was indeed shot by an unknown individual. We’re still looking for any and all information from the public to...
7 more deaths, 10 new cases of coronavirus reported in Allegheny County
The Allegheny County Health Department reported 10 additional cases of the coronavirus Tuesday, and seven new deaths. The county has had 109 deaths and 1,375 cases in total. The virus is having a devastating toll on long-term care facilities in Allegheny County. The Department of Health reported that 302 residents...
Decorate your own Eat’n Park Smiley cookies at home
Eat’n Park on Tuesday launched decorating kits for its popular Smiley cookies. The package contains six plain, baked Smiley cookies, three bags of colorful icing, sanding sugar and sprinkles. Decorating Smiley cookies has always been a hit at community events with Eat’n Park’s Team Smiley, said Kevin O’Connell, the chain’s...
