Regional News category, Page 255
Fall enrollment increases at Slippery Rock and Cal U
Early enrollment numbers from two local public universities suggest the global pandemic is yielding a silver lining where graduate school enrollment is concerned. Officials at California and Slippery Rock universities said total enrollment at both schools is up slightly this fall, thanks to a bump in those opting to pursue...
Sportsmen’s group names Sen. Jim Brewster Legislator of the Year
State Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, has been named Legislator of the Year by the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen & Conservationists, Inc. The award was presented Sept. 10 at the Pitcairn-Monroeville Sportsmen’s Club of the Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League. The sportsmen group picked Brewster for the award because of his work...
Conservatives address socialism fears at Washington County conference
Conservative politicians and media personalities drew battle lines Saturday at an airplane hangar in Washington County. “Donald Trump is the only thing standing in the way of socialism in this country,” said Sean Parnell, a Republican challenging U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb for the 17th Congressional District. “He fights for us,...
Pennsylvania’s cut of $300-a-week jobless aid half gone, apply now before it’s too late, state says
A week after the Trump administration abruptly announced that hundreds of thousands of covid-19-related jobless Pennsylvanians would receive an extra $300 weekly for six weeks only rather than through the end of the year, as initially promised, the state said it already distributed almost half of its allocation. Pennsylvania sent...
Western Pa.’s Negro Mountain retains its name despite controversy and efforts to erase it
An Allegheny Mountain ridge stretching some 30 miles from the Casselman River in southern Somerset County to Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland has been the focus of controversy as attempts continue to change a name dating to the French and Indian War. The name in question: Negro Mountain. The...
Gov. Wolf’s on-site alcohol sales order extended an hour to 11 p.m.
Alcohol sales at bars and restaurants won’t have to end until 11 p.m. starting Monday, according to orders for on-site alcohol consumption from Gov. Wolf and state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine. Wolf had earlier said that alcohol sales would be required to end at 10 p.m. Alcoholic beverages must...
Week in review: Wolf’s ordered deemed unconstitutional, Westmoreland sheriff switches partiesVideo
A federal judge in Pittsburgh on Monday found that orders issued by Gov. Tom Wolf restricting the size of gatherings and closing non-essential businesses to protect against the spread of covid-19 were unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV wrote in his 66-page opinion that, even though the actions...
Braddock-based SCO drug-dealing gang member gets 9 years in federal prison
A former Braddock man who was part of a drug-dealing operation was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Pittsburgh to nine years in prison, the U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh said. Jaymare Jackson, 30, was identified as being part of the self-titled Braddock street gang, “SCO,”which dealt drugs in the Braddock...
Federal lawsuit alleges bounty hunters harassed CEO of Concordia over estranged son’s whereabouts
The president and CEO of Concordia Lutheran Ministries on Friday filed a federal lawsuit against the state police and a bail bonds agency contending that they illegally searched his Butler County home and ransacked another while looking for his estranged son. Keith Frndak, along with his wife Diane, who teaches...
Trump heads to Pittsburgh on Tuesday for airport rally
Like he did at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport near Latrobe earlier this month, President Donald Trump is holding another airport hangar rally. This one is Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the Pittsburgh International Airport in Moon Township, the campaign announced Thursday. The president’s rally at Atlantic Aviation, 300 Horizon Drive,...
Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Beaver Valley Interchange to close on weekdays for 3 weeks
The Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Beaver Valley Interchange (Exit 13) will be closed on weekdays for three weeks starting Sept. 21, the Turnpike Commission said. Crews will be reconstructing the road shoulders and resurfacing the ramps leading to and from the highway, according to a news release. Work is scheduled to stop...
Western Pa. nonprofit turns to public for diaper donations during pandemicVideo
Anna Joyner is hoping to collect 5,000 diapers by next week, and she got at least halfway to her goal on Thursday. The Greensburg resident is the outreach coordinator in Westmoreland and Fayette counties for the Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank, an organization started eight years ago to help get diapers...
Gov. Wolf urges legislature to give $225 million to frontline workers’ hazard pay
Gov. Tom Wolf urged the legislature Thursday to allocate an additional $225 million to the Hazard Pay Program, which offers temporary pay increases for frontline workers during the covid-19 pandemic. Wolf announced the first wave of Hazard Pay Program funding in July. The program distributed $50 million in hazard pay...
Another man wounded in Masontown shooting files federal suit for negligence
A Uniontown man filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against a Fayette County magistrate judge and the estate of a man who shot him there two years ago. Scott A. Furlong Jr. said in his federal complaint that he was shot in the wrist about 2 p.m. on Sept. 19,...
Growing older: Number of centenarians on the rise in U.S.
Sounds of honking horns, cheering crowds and bouts of “happy birthday” wafted through normally quiet neighborhoods this year as friends and family, not letting the coronavirus pandemic stop them, celebrated loved ones turning 100. The number of centenarians around the world is on the rise, data show, a generation of...
Pair accused of trafficking 400 ‘bricks’ of fentanyl
A Philadelphia woman and Dominican Republican man arrested by the state police in a traffic stop along the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Mt. Pleasant Township have been charged by the federal government with possessing about 400 “bricks” of fentanyl, a powerful painkiller that is mixed with heroin to make a deadly...
Jeannette native helping students of military personnel killed or disabled
A Jeannette native is spearheading efforts to raise money for educational scholarships for families of military service people who have died or have been disabled while on active duty. Michael Popella of Grove City founded the Folds of Honor of Western PA Chapter after meeting the national organization’s founder, Lt....
Pa. has record-breaking sportsbook wagers in August
August was Pennsylvania’s best month yet in sportsbook revenues, making the state a contender for the second largest legal sports betting market in the country. The state generated almost $365 million in sports betting wagers, up from $109 million recorded during the same period last year, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control...
Beaver County woman arrested for allegedly luring Illinois boy, 15, from his home to hers
A Rochester woman accused of taking a teenage boy from his home to Beaver County last month was arrested Wednesday night in McKeesport by the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department, police said. The suspect, Lilandra Redman, 20, was found at a home in the 2900 block of Versailles Street, McKeesport, at...
Trib Total Media CEO Jennifer Bertetto named to international board
Trib Total Media President and CEO Jennifer Bertetto has been named to the board of directors of the World Association of News Publishers, an organization representing media organizations internationally. The World Association of News Publishers, or WAN-IFRA, is headquartered in Paris and Frankfurt, Germany. The organization, founded in 1948, is...
Gov. Wolf argues ‘life and death’ while seeking stay in pandemic restrictions rulingVideo
Attorneys for Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration on Wednesday asked to stay the federal court decision from earlier this week in which a district judge ruled unconstitutional the state’s shutdown orders over the covid-19 pandemic. Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case said they will vigorously oppose any motion to stay...
CoGo’s to become Coen Markets as part of rebranding
People accustomed to buying gas and coffee at one of the 38 CoGo’s locations in the region will soon see a new logo, as Canonsburg-based Coen Markets Inc. moves forward with rebranding its stores. The gas will carry the Amoco brand and the stores will be known as Coen Markets....
Smoke from Western wildfires intensifies in the region
The first plumes of smoke from the massive wildfires burning on the West Coast began reaching Pittsburgh on Aug. 25, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. But Tuesday was the day people began to notice, as the massive smoke plume from some of California’s largest-ever wildfires, along with...
Massive bird migration over Pittsburgh was spectacular — if you had binoculars
Waves of tens of thousands of birds passed through the region Monday night, as they do each fall on big migration days, delivering a variety of species that are heading south after summering in the northern United States and Canada. But the trees weren’t dripping with birds as they would...
State police asking public’s help in arsons in Indiana and Westmoreland counties
The state police fire marshal is asking the public’s help on three intentionally set fires last weekend, including one that gutted a vacant bar-restaurant in Indiana County and two fires that destroyed a home in Bolivar early Sunday. Trooper Keith Sobecki of the Greensburg barracks said the Clarksburg Valley Inn...
