Western PA Local News category, Page 2553
Recovered from covid-19, Rep. Mike Kelly donates plasma to help sick patients get better fasterVideo
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly is grateful that he beat covid-19 without getting so sick or short of breath that he had to be hospitalized. But the affliction was not like any flu or illness the Butler Republican he’d experienced before. For weeks, Kelly, 72, felt debilitatingly exhausted. He had persistent...
Coronavirus physical distancing also helped stop flu in Allegheny County, officials say
Physical distancing measures put in place to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus also likely helped to knock out flu season in Allegheny County, data from the Allegheny County Health Department show. The number of lab-confirmed flu cases in the county dropped off by late March, decreasing from about 300...
Man who died in Kiski Township lake identified
The Armstrong County coroner said the man whose body was recovered Wednesday evening from a lake at the Apollo-Spring Church Sportsmen’s Club in Kiski Township died from a heart attack. County Coroner Brian K. Myers said Timothy W. Brueggeman, 56, of Apollo died from a cardiac event while on the...
Relatives parade past loved ones at Brackenridge nursing homeVideo
The covid-19 pandemic has kept families separated from their loved ones at a Brackenridge nursing home for two months, their contact limited to video calls and window visits. That came to an end Wednesday afternoon, when relatives of residents at Platinum Ridge Center for Rehabilitation and Healing took part in...
Vandergrift Council to hold special meeting on emergency declaration
Vandergrift Council has scheduled a special meeting Thursday to discuss modifying an emergency declaration it imposed as the covid-19 pandemic started to reach the region. The meeting, according to a Facebook post on the borough’s emergency management page will be held via Zoom at 5 p.m. The Declaration of Emergency...
Convicted felon obsessed with Nazis pleads guilty to having guns, including AR-15 style
A convicted felon who authorities say has an obsession with Nazis and mass shootings has pleaded guilty to having guns when he wasn’t allowed to, federal officials said. Dennis Alan Riggs, 51, of Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill neighborhood, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of firearms and ammunition by a...
Washington Boulevard flood gate test slated Thursday morning
People driving on Washington Boulevard on Thursday morning may be delayed as Pittsburgh Public Safety workers test the road’s emergency flood gates. The testing, done quarterly, will be done between 8 and 8:30 a.m. The road will be temporarily closed. People should expect delays and avoid the area during that...
CCAC holding virtual commencement Thursday
With the covid-19 crisis rendering an in-person graduation exercise impossible, the Community College of Allegheny County is holding a virtual commencement ceremony for the class of 2020 on Thursday. The ceremony, which starts at at 7 p.m., will be streamed on the college’s YouTube channel and other social media platforms,...
Details emerge of how police charged Fox Chapel man with 2nd homicide in 3 months
Lured to his friend’s house to play video games and smoke marijuana, Christian Moore-Rouse didn’t even make it up the long driveway leading to Adam Rosenberg’s place in Fox Chapel. Instead, he was shot in the back of his head and dragged into a ditch, lifeless — and left to...
North Huntingdon man survives ‘battle’ with covid-19, cheered by Excela hospital staffVideo
With a wave, a few tears and a honk of the horn, Mark Nicholas was finally heading home. Wednesday marked the first time in seven weeks that the North Huntingdon man and his wife, Karyl Nicholas, were able to touch each other. Mark, 62, tested positive for the coronavirus in...
Lernerville opening night again postponed
Lernerville racing officials hoped to start the 2020 season Friday, but despite Butler County preparing to move into the yellow phase of economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, they announced Wednesday that opening night at the speedway has again been postponed. The Tomson family, owners and managers of the speedway,...
Franklin Regional plans drive-thru ‘Celebration of Our Seniors’ on original commencement date
Franklin Regional School District officials have a couple of tentative dates for the Class of 2020’s commencement ceremony but, whether they work out or not, administrators want to recognize their senior students. Franklin Regional Senior High School will host a “Celebration of Our Seniors” at 6 p.m. June 5, the...
Route 22 construction in Monroeville, Murrysville delayed by pandemic
The construction project that started along Route 22 in Monroeville and Murrysville last year will be prolonged because of delays caused by the covid-19 pandemic, said a PennDOT spokesman. The $11 million project from the I-76 interchange in Monroeville to the Westmoreland County border in Murrysville began May 10, 2019....
Police: Penn Hills man accused of stealing $19,500 outside Kennedy ATM
A Penn Hills man was arrested Wednesday morning on charges of stealing $19,500 on Dec. 30 in Kennedy from a vehicle parked by an automated teller machine, police said. Luis Carde, 48, is accused of smashing a window of the vehicle and stealing the cash. The vehicle belonged to a...
Peduto backs controversial sand dumping in Pittsburgh skateboard park
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said Wednesday that he still supports the decision to dump sand into a neighborhood skateboard park despite the negative backlash that followed. The controversy began after Public Works Director Mike Gable ordered a crew to dump sand in the West Penn Skate Park in Polish Hill...
Police seize drugs, stolen gun after drug sting in Arnold
Three Arnold residents are facing felony drug and other charges after police allege they made a controlled buy of cocaine. The arrests Tuesday resulted in the seizure of unspecified quantities of cocaine and crack cocaine, a stolen gun, and more than $5,000 in cash, police said in court documents. Arrested...
‘New lease on life’: Hempfield man recovers from covid-19, donates plasma to help othersVideo
Monte Swauger had been coughing for weeks. One night in March, he got worse. An emergency room visit to AHN Hempfield Neighborhood Hospital on March 19 set off six excruciating days for his wife, Carrie, and their three sons. Swauger, 49, was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia. His positive coronavirus test...
Pittsburgh mayor trying to avoid city layoffs as revenue dips
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said Wednesday that he is not yet considering employee layoffs as the city’s government revenue dwindles during the coronavirus pandemic. The city reported revenues since March decreased by 25% when compared to the same time period in 2019. Citing data provided by the Office of Management...
Hand sanitizer giveaway planned for Allegheny Valley School District residents
A Cheswick councilman whose company specializes in chemicals is planning to give away two free eight-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer per household for Allegheny Valley School District residents. The distribution will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 22 at the Springdale Volunteer Fire Department hall, 845 Lincoln Ave....
E. coli contamination prompts health alert for frozen beef ravioli made in Pennsylvania
Federal food safety authorities are concerned that some people could have beef ravioli in their freezers that is contaminated with E. Coli. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert because about 70 pounds of raw beef ravioli produced by P&S Ravioli Co....
Twi-Night Trap League officials cancel 2020 season
At a meeting involving its delegates Monday evening, the Twi-Night Trap League decided to cancel the 2020 competition season. The league said concerns over the health of all of its members during this time of the coronavirus pandemic was the main reason for the shutdown. Rowland Jones, secretary and treasurer...
Western Pa. shooting ranges to reopen Friday
The Pennsylvania Game Commission announced it is reopening shooting ranges on state game lands Friday in counties being upgraded to yellow in the easing of pandemic restrictions. Regular hours of operation will resume on rifle, shotgun, pistol and archery ranges in Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Fulton, Greene,...
2 hurt when train strikes van in Cheswick
Two occupants of a van were taken to UPMC Presbyterian hospital Wednesday morning after a train clipped the vehicle at the Blockdale Street crossing off Pittsburgh Street in Cheswick. The incident happened just before 7:30 a.m. The Norfolk Southern crossing remained closed late Wednesday morning as authorities investigated. Allegheny Valley...
Steel City Con shifts summer show dates to AugustVideo
The popular Steel City Con is shifting its summer show dates to mid-August amid continued health and safety measures during the covid-19 pandemic. The show will move from June to Aug. 14-16. “We did not take this difficult decision lightly knowing that our vendors as small businesses are struggling to...
Pennsylvania receives $523.8M to support schools during pandemic
Pennsylvania will receive $523.8 million in federal funding to help schools respond to the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday. The money from the U.S. Department of Education is available through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. The Pennsylvania Department of Education applied for a grant last...
