Regional category, Page 273

Giant Eagle said Monday it will begin limiting the number of customers who can shop at each store at one time. “As supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies remain in operation as essential community resources, we believe it’s vital to heighten our social distancing and sanitization procedures throughout the store,” company...

The U.S. Postal Service is hiring temporary workers to fill mail handling and processing positions at various locations in Western Pennsylvania, the agency announced Monday. People are needed to serve as mail handler assistants, mail processing clerk assistants, clerk assistants and city carrier assistants, according to the postal service. The...

BP is offering a discount on gasoline to first responders and medical personnel to help support them during the covid-19 pandemic. The company is providing a discount of 50 cents per gallon at its BP and Amoco stations. To get the discount, first responders, doctors, nurses and hospital workers need...

Twelve more people have died in Pennsylvania as a result of the coronavirus as the number of cases neared 13,000, state health officials said Monday. The death toll stands at 162, and the 1,470 new cases reported throughout the day Sunday brings the statewide total to 12,980. Secretary of Health...

Even the robots are listening to worldwide recommendations to keep our distance from each other. Although robocalls are automated, call centers where they’re managed are closed or have otherwise reduced their operations, Los Angeles Times business columnist David Lazarus noted last week. Lazarus heard from a couple who noticed a...

Despite a growing number of covid-19 cases in Pennsylvania, location data shows residents have actually increased their travel. Unacast, a phone data company, used data from mobile phones to track the average change in distance traveled by individuals in each state and country, starting from Feb. 24. The state was...

Fayette County native Dr. Frank Gabrin lived his life helping others, all the way up to the end. An ER physician at East Orange General Hospital in New Jersey, Dr. Gabrin generally worked the midnight shift because that’s when sick people would come in, his younger brother, Mike Gabrin of...

A safety order that provides life-sustaining businesses with direction on how to properly clean and maintain buildings to help prevent the spread of covid-19 was issued Sunday by state Secretary of Health Rachel Levine. The Building Safety Measures order goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. April 6. It outlines measures...

A caregiver at an assisted living center in Washington County has tested positive for covid-19, according to the Presbyterian SeniorCare Network. On Saturday, the facility reported a personal care aide at Southminster Place, the Washington campus of Presbyterian SeniorCare Network, tested positive. “The team member, who has not been at...

Western Pennsylvanians will have to look somewhere besides one popular neighboring West Virginia county to buy their liquor. The Monongalia County Health Department issued a public health order effective noon Saturday until further notice banning the sale of liquor to anyone without a West Virginia driver’s license or state identification....

Thirty-four more people died of covid-19 complications in Pennsylvania between Friday and Saturday, bringing the state’s death toll to 136 as total confirmed cases crest 10,000. The state reported 1,597 new cases as of noon Saturday — the largest single-day increase since Pennsylvania’s first two patients tested positive for the...

Those wanting to revisit the dips and turns of former roller coasters at old Pennsylvania amusement parks will soon have such an opportunity. Greensburg-based writer Rachel Smith hopes to reclaim the sense of nostalgia and have people revisit memories in her book “Western Pennsylvania’s Lost Amusement Parks.” “I think it’s...

The Latrobe post office is offering a postmark cancellation honoring late local golfing legend Arnold Palmer. The April 3 postmark will be available for 30 days, according to the Postal Service. It features Palmer’s trademark umbrella logo. The postmark offer arrives a month after post offices in Latrobe and elsewhere...

Investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who robbed the Citizens Bank in Grove City. The FBI’s Pittsburgh Division and Grove City police have released a surveillance image of the suspect — a white man weighing about 180 pounds and standing between 5 feet 8 inches...

Pennsylvania officials have asked all residents to wear a mask if they must leave the house — though they asked that people fashion their own and not seek the medical-grade mask that medical professionals need. It’s a change in course by Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Rachel Levine....

The cancellation of Pennsylvania’s state exams has sparked an old debate: that of the validity and necessity of standardized testing in measuring student success. The purpose of state exams, according to the state Department of Education, is to assess the progress of each school district — identifying weaknesses or unmet...

The nonessential business closures ordered by Gov. Tom Wolf last month are cutting into Pennsylvania Lottery sales, which could mean less money for programs that benefit older residents. According to lottery officials, preliminary indications are sales for traditional scratch-off and draw games have dropped off by about 25% since many...

Twelve more people died of coronavirus complications in Pennsylvania, bringing the state’s total to 102, and the state reported 1,404 new cases Friday, health officials said. The number of total cases in Pennsylvania now stands at 8,420. The 1,404 new cases mark the largest single-day increase since the state reported...

Duquesne Light is expanding its assistance program to help income eligible customers pay their utility bills during the coronavirus pandemic. The company announced Friday a $375,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate and matching funds from Duquesne Light would add $750,000 to the Dollar Energy Fund, administrator of...

With influenza activity decreasing significantly across the state, Pennsylvania health officials have stopped updating a weekly report on flu activity for the season. Flu activity is down over the past few weeks and now below epidemic levels, according to a report from the Pennsylvania Department of Health for the week...

Western Pennsylvania’s two largest insurers pledged Thursday to eliminate any out-of-pocket costs for patients who are treated for covid-19 at an in-network hospital. Both UPMC and Highmark committed to waiving all deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance costs for insurance members who receive in-network, inpatient care related to covid-19, the disease caused...

The state police don’t want bar patrons playing video gambling machines under normal conditions, let alone during the coronavirus pandemic. State police have received “an influx of public inquiries related to liquor licensees allowing patrons to remain in their establishments to operate video gambling devices, sometimes marketed as ‘games of...