Regional category, Page 12
High-stakes Pa. judicial races, mail-in voting to boost election turnout, experts predict
Voter turnout typically craters in the year after a presidential election, but experts predict it will be higher than usual Tuesday because of high-stakes judicial retention races and the ease of mail-in voting. Allegheny County Elections Director Dave Voye estimates that about 35% of the county’s registered voters will cast...
Makes a lot of cents: Giant Eagle issues over $2 million in gift cards through penny exchange
From a few rolls held in one hand to buckets so heavy they were best hauled in a shopping cart, Giant Eagle’s double-your-money offer for pennies was too good for many to pass up Saturday. “With the way the economy is, every little extra bit of money helps. This is...
Penny haul of 70 pounds cashed in with Giant Eagle exchange
Penny for your thoughts? How about 12,350 of them? Rolled, bagged and boxed, that’s how many humble cents my husband and I hauled into Hempfield Square Giant Eagle on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., a half hour before their penny exchange promotion was set to begin. The grocery chain announced the...
PennWest review aims to make programs stronger; some existing could ‘sunset’
The goal of an ongoing review of academic programs at Pennsylvania Western University is to ensure offerings meet area workforce demands in a way that’s sustainable to the college, said James Fisher, interim provost and vice president of academic affairs. PennWest, a state-owned university comprising campuses in California, Clarion and...
Former airplane hangar, grain silo offers country-chic Airbnb stay in Butler County
A former grain silo and airplane hangar are two combined apartment-style lodging options offering upscale accommodations at a Butler County farm on more than 200 acres. Co-owners Jan and Cathy McDonald bought their farm in 1999 and later opened a wedding/event barn-themed venue called the White Barn, separate from the...
Western Pennsylvania goes batty for Halloween
Homes across Western Pennsylvania are decked out in preparation for Halloween trick-or-treaters Friday night. The most popular decoration in the Keystone State turned out to be bats, according to Google Trends. Colorado was the only other state in the U.S. with bats at the top as well. Americans were expected...
Proposal by Pa. Dems would provide $62M to help with SNAP fallout
Pennsylvania Democrats are making a push to help people who are set to lose SNAP benefits on Saturday, but the help won’t come immediately. Members of the state Senate Democratic Caucus introduced legislation this week to use reserve money to provide $50 million to 18 food banks, $10 million to...
Somerset County sheriff charged with corruption of minors
Somerset County Sheriff Dustin Weir was charged Thursday with corruption of minors, according to court documents detailing an alleged incident at a Shop With a Cop event last December. Weir, 46, of Quemahoning, is accused of taking a 15-year-old girl to the condom aisle of a Walmart during the event...
Here are some places in Western Pa. offering food as SNAP benefits end
With federal funding stalled by the government shutdown, Pennsylvania’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are expected to run out this week, leaving many families uncertain about how they’ll put food on the table. About 46,000 people in Westmoreland County and another 160,400 people in Allegheny County rely on SNAP,...
Morning Roundup: Masked men jack car in Oakland; man hospitalized after fall in Uniontown parade
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Oct. 30: Masked suspects steal car in Oakland University of Pittsburgh Police say two men in black masks and hoodies stole a delivery driver’s car in Oakland. Just before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the driver exited his vehicle to...
Rising health insurance costs are pinching business owners — and driving them to cheaper alternatives
It’s a never-ending battle for Rebecca Kasavich, owner of Copies at Carson, to fund health insurance for workers at her commercial print shop in Pittsburgh’s South Side. About 15 years ago, she made employees pay into their plans for the first time — a common move for businesses struggling with...
WPIAL football playoffs compel communities to adjust Halloween parade, trick-or-treat plans
Costumes and candy are about to collide with high school football playoffs Friday, and some communities either playing host or traveling to games have tweaked traditional holiday schedules in response. Halloween last fell on a Friday in 2014, and it won’t do so again until 2031. In Harrison, township officials...
Giant Eagle needs pennies, offers double their value in gift cards
Giant Eagle says it needs customers’ pennies, and it’s prepared to make a deal. The Cranberry-based retailer said it will exchange pennies for double their value in Giant Eagle gift cards between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday. Customers must provide a minimum of 50 cents in pennies, which would...
Expected lapse in SNAP benefits puts food banks in crisis
The phones at Allegheny Valley Association of Churches in Harrison have been ringing off the hook for a week. Most of the callers are fearful about how they’ll feed their families if Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits are cut off Saturday as expected, said Executive Director Karen Snair....
Boo! Rain could haunt trick-or-treaters this Halloween in Western Pa.
Rain showers could be the real scare for trick-or-treaters this Halloween in Western Pennsylvania. Shannon Hefferan, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Moon, said the region will see heavy rain leading into the holiday — perhaps more than an inch Thursday. It might not let up. In the...
Union: PennWest to furlough more than a dozen employees
Pennsylvania Western University plans to furlough employees at its campuses in California and Clarion because of financial and enrollment challenges. Earlier this month, PennWest notified AFSCME Council 13 that it intends to furlough more than a dozen employees at California and Clarion beginning Nov. 16, according to the union. Union...
Pennsylvania AG announces fentanyl seizures
Law enforcement teams have seized 50 million doses of fentanyl from drug traffickers and users across Pennsylvania this year. Of that, nearly 18 million of the doses were found in Western Pennsylvania, they said. On Monday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday provided an update on the seizures at a news...
Part of Parkway East among Top 10 riskiest roads in major cities
A section of the Parkway East ranks among the riskiest roads in the country, according to Allstate. Allstate analyzed driving behavior across the 50 most populous U.S. cities and identified the 10 riskiest road segments based on rates of hard braking and speeding — two key indicators of aggressive driving....
CMU study on brain-hand interaction could improve prosthetics
When people sit down for a meal, they don’t think about what to do with their hands when eating. It’s just second nature. Yet, their hands are constantly adapting posture and grip to the cutlery, food and drinks on the table, in order to enable the goal of eating. “Our...
Shots fired after fight at apartment complex near Slippery Rock University campus
No one was hurt when shots were fired at an apartment complex near Slippery Rock University in Butler County early Sunday morning, according to state police. State police said troopers responded around 2:30 a.m. to the incident at University Village at Slippery Rock in Slippery Rock Township. State police determined...
50 years of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’: looking back at the ultimate cult film
It’s been 50 years since the first American audiences saw a giant pair of crimson lips gracing their silver screens, singing an iconic opening song about “the late night double feature picture show.” Since Sept. 26, 1975, fans around the world have embraced the quirky, raunchy and downright weird “Rocky...
New podcast shares voices of those impacted in Tree of Life shooting
It has been seven years since a gunman entered a Pittsburgh synagogue and killed 11 Jewish worshippers during a Shabbat service. Now, Jewish oral historians Aliza Becker and Noah Schoen are making sure no one forgets the stories of those impacted by the attack. On Sunday, Becker and Schoen released...
Uniontown man convicted of 1st-degree murder in wife’s 2023 death
A Fayette County man was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday for killing his wife, according to Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele. Arthur E. Guty, 57, of Uniontown was immediately sentenced to a term of life imprisonment in connection with the December 2023 death of Nicole Zambrano, 26, Aubele said....
Morning Roundup: Man stabbed in Pittsburgh’s East Hills; officials warn of scam targeting SNAP users
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Oct. 24: Man stabbed in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood A man was stabbed during an altercation early Friday morning in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood. Public safety officials said police were dispatched to the 7900 block of Frankstown Avenue...
Pittsburgh man fatally struck in hit and run on Pa. Turnpike
A fatal crash early Friday morning shut down a section of the eastbound lanes of the Pennsylvania Turnpike for a time between New Castle and Cranberry. According to Pennsylvania State Police, Khalil K. Mutadabur, 21, of Pittsburgh was killed while walking in the eastbound travel lanes near milepost 13.9, just...
