Western PA Local News category, Page 2625
The Stroller, March 21, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Send cancellations to The Stroller The Stroller will publish news of cancellations and events that will still occur in the upcoming days. If your non-profit has to cancel or change an event or is helping members of the public, please send information to: The Stroller, Valley News Dispatch, 210 Wood...
Western Pa. colleges orchestrate student departures with eye on safety
As colleges and universities in the region transition to online-only classes in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus, students who haven’t done so already are being asked to move out and gather their belongings from residence halls. A small number of students will remain on campus. Here’s...
Let there be artificial turf: Burrell School Board decides unanimously on stadium project
The Burrell School Board has voted unanimously to renovate Buccaneers Stadium with artificial turf — reversing its initial decision last year to install natural grass. Burrell School Board awarded a $1.8 million contract Tuesday to W.G. Land Co. LLC, of Acme, to renovate the high school field and track, according...
Westmoreland restaurants scramble to survive state dining ban, coronavirus restrictionsVideo
Rizzi DeFabo stood behind the counter inside his family’s popular Rizzo’s Malabar Inn, a 450-seat restaurant in rural Crabtree. Instead of being packed with hungry customers, DeFabo offered take-out meals only — following the governor’s order for restaurants in an effort to slow the spreading coronavirus. “This is the first...
Drive-thru covid-19 testing to begin Monday at the Pittsburgh Zoo
Drive-thru testing for covid-19 will be available next week at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Starting Monday morning, testing by the Central Outreach Wellness Center will be available at the zoo’s main parking lot in Pittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood, zoo officials announced Friday night. Referrals or prescriptions are not...
Pittsburgh Catholics permitted to get confession in church parking lots, eat meat on Fridays in Lent, bishop says
Catholics in the Diocese of Pittsburgh will be able to say confession in church parking lots, receive general absolution in places such as hospitals and nursing homes, and eat meat on Fridays during Lent, except on Good Friday. The series of directives that Bishop David Zubik issued Friday night, which...
Route 837 reopens in West Mifflin after landslide Friday night
Route 837 in West Mifflin was reopened late Friday night after PennDOT crews removed boulders and debris from the two-lane road along the Monongahela River, a West Mifflin fire department official said. The landslide that blocked one lane of road from about 7:20 p.m. to about 9:25 p. m., said...
Small businesses scramble to survive amid Pa.’s partial shutdown over coronavirus pandemic
A day after Gov. Tom Wolf imposed an order on all but “non-life-sustaining” businesses to close to thwart the spread of covid-19, local business owners across Western Pennsylvania are scrambling to gauge how the state’s unprecedented shutdown will impact them and navigating how to survive it. Wolf announced Friday night...
Emergency medical providers fear information gap in local cases of coronavirus
As covid-19 cases continue to rise in Allegheny County, so do worries among some emergency personnel who fear being exposed to the virus without knowing it. “Basically, it is frustrating at this time that the Allegheny County Health Department has no system in place to provide municipalities with a confirmed...
Pitt allows students to convert classes to pass/fail grading
The University of Pittsburgh is allowing students to convert their courses to pass/fail grading when classes resume online next week. In a letter to faculty members, Provost Ann Cudd said all undergraduate and graduate students can convert any of their courses to pass/fail grading after the semester ends. Passing grades...
Kiski Area School District distributes thousands of free meals to students
Kiski Area School District distributed nearly 3,100 meals to students Friday, providing breakfast and lunch to last throughout the weekend for more than 500 district students. Amid school closures, Kiski Area School District has distributed free meals at East Primary School nearly every day this week. Superintendent Tim Scott said...
Westmoreland business community weighs in on coronavirus restrictions, closuresVideo
In addition to coal production and car dealerships, law offices also were targeted for closure in Gov. Tom Wolf’s edict for non-life-sustaining businesses as part of efforts to slow the coronavirus pandemic. Some local firms, however, say they are needed — and aren’t closing. “I don’t think (Wolf) has the...
Pandemic highlights digital divide, inequality of internet access
Carrie Richards tested positive for Type A Influenza more than a week ago. She’s been in quarantine ever since. “It feels like it’s been a month,” she said. With no internet and no computer at her home in Vandergrift, there is little for Richards, 44, to do to occupy her...
Allegheny County sheriff’s deputy tests negative for covid-19; quarantined deputies to return to work
An Allegheny County sheriff’s deputy who was concerned he might have exposed fellow officers to the coronavirus has tested negative, officials said Friday. Fifteen deputies who had begun self-quarantining in case they had been exposed will return to work Monday, Chief Deputy Kevin Kraus said. “The affected deputy will remain...
Police: Norwin musical volunteer, girlfriend failed to report arrest to district
A Greensburg man and a Norwin teacher face charges stemming from the man’s failure to report an arrest that would have disqualified him from volunteering with Norwin Middle School’s musical in February, according to court papers. Brad W. Geyer, 37, and Tobitha J. Sasso, 40, who founded the school’s theater...
Norwin school officials: No coronavirus here
Contrary to prior reports, Norwin School District officials say there has not been a confirmed case of the coronavirus in the district. In an updated public statement late Friday afternoon, Norwin School District Superintendent Jeff Taylor said he was informed by emergency managers that reports of a coronavirus case in...
‘Uncharted waters’: Funerals taking higher emotional toll amid coronavirus pandemic
Funeral services and viewings are designed to offer comfort and support to people grieving the deaths of loved ones. Navigating the process under coronavirus restrictions presents a unique challenge to mourners and to funeral homes serving them. “We’re in uncharted waters. Every day the game changes,” said Terry Graft, owner,...
Government meetings becoming spacious, electronic affairs
The padded green chairs normally crammed into a meeting room at the Westmoreland County courthouse now are placed precisely six feet apart. A short agenda sat on each chair Friday for the commissioners’ first public meeting since the coronavirus pandemic hit Westmoreland County. The meeting was barely five minutes long,...
Hempfield IHOP helping churches, groups impacted by fish fry cancellationsVideo
Still craving that Friday Lenten fish fry that was canceled at your local church or fire hall due to the coronavirus pandemic? The IHOP in Hempfield along Route 30, east of Greensburg, has come up with a novel idea in which customers can still get their fish and fixings on...
Protective gear headed to Westmoreland as confirmed coronavirus cases grows to 4
Officials say Westmoreland County now has four confirmed coronavirus cases after two were added on Friday. There is no other information available on any of the cases. In the meantime, a shipment of personal protective equipment was expected to arrive Friday for Westmoreland County firefighters, police and ambulance personnel, said...
Gateway floats $40 million bond for capital improvements, including middle school
The Gateway Board of School Directors voted to float a bond of up to $40 million in order to pay for capital projects around the district and to renovate Gateway Middle School as part of a district-reconfiguration plan. The resolution passed 7-2 during the board’s March 17 meeting. Board members...
New Ken-Arnold School District employee’s spouse tests positive for coronavirus, 2nd worker quarantined
The spouse of a New Kensington-Arnold School District employee has tested positive for the coronavirus that causes covid-19, the district announced Friday. “The district responded as quickly as possible in this situation,” Assistant Superintendent Jon Banko said. “Self-quarantine is happening, and we are taking steps to address anyone that came...
‘Life is funny’ says Wilkins comedian, 87
When you ask Skip Davis what inspires him, at age 87, to keep performing as a stand-up comedian at small, local venues, he’ll tell you “life is funny.” “I’m thankful for every day,” Davis said in his Wilkins Township house, the same he’s lived in since the 1960s. “That’s why...
UPMC stands ground, will continue elective surgeries despite Wolf’s orderVideo
UPMC doctors on Friday defended their decision to keep performing elective surgeries throughout its hospitals during the covid-19 outbreak, saying the procedures cannot always be safely delayed. “This is not northern Italy. We are not Wuhan right now,” Dr. Graham Snyder, UPMC chief of infection prevention, said during a news...
Some Allegheny County roads closed due to flooding
Sections of Allegheny River Boulevard and Nadine Road have been closed because of flooding, Allegheny County announced Friday. Allegheny River Boulevard closed between Washington Boulevard and Nadine Road around 10 a.m. Traffic is being re-routed up Nadine Road to avoid a flood along Allegheny River Boulevard. You can take Lincoln...
