Regional category, Page 276

The national average price of gasoline has fallen below $2 a gallon for the first time in four years, price-watching service GasBuddy announced Friday. The last time the U.S. average was $1.99 a gallon was March 23, 2016. In Pennsylvania, the top 10 lowest prices ranged from $1.55 to $1.79...

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is asking the public and businesses to delay nonessential digging projects. “While the Pennsylvania One Call system has remained fully operational through this pandemic, we join them in asking consumers, businesses and contractors to not begin any nonessential construction,” PUC Commissioner John F. Coleman Jr....

Relax, your food isn’t trying to kill you — probably. While grocery stores have increased sanitation measures amid the coronavirus pandemic, some consumers are worried they have more cleaning to do when they get their goods home. Pittsburgh-based infectious disease and critical care physician Dr. Amesh Adalja doesn’t think shoppers...

As businesses close and workers face drastic pay cuts, the need for functioning nonprofit organizations has never been greater, said Phil Koch, executive director of the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County. Unfortunately, those nonprofits are facing the same challenges as everyone else. “Many of our nonprofit organizations rely on events...

The Pittsburgh region continues to lose residents, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Population estimates for Westmoreland County once again show a downward trend, something local officials have been combating for at least a decade. The county’s population declined by 16,172 between 2010-20, the largest loss of...

A number of colleges and universities across Western Pennsylvania are donating supplies to first responders, hospital workers and others on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic. Saint Vincent The switch to online learning means lab procedures are suspended for the rest of the spring semester at the Unity college’s...

As Western Pennsylvanians practice social distancing and businesses temporarily close as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Tribune-Review photographer Sean Stipp explored Uniontown and the surrounding area on Thursday. Fayette County has eight reported coronavirus cases, a number that has increased throughout the week. Pennsylvania reported 560 new cases Thursday,...

The Army Corps of Engineers’ Pittsburgh District has begun evaluating possible alternate medical sites that would be used in the event hospitals are overrun treating patients with covid-19. The number of covid-19 cases in Western Pennsylvania has not stretched medical systems to the point where more space is needed to...

There are still some businesses hiring as the covid-19 pandemic continues to devastate the labor market. Foremost are retail jobs like those at Giant Eagle. The O’Hara-based grocery chain has been busy and it is working to offer temporary jobs to those who have been impacted by the shutdown. Giant...

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board will temporarily suspend Uniontown attorney Tancredi Williams Calabrese, who was arrested last month on charges of money laundering. “It has been found that his continued practice of law is causing immediate and substantial public or private harm because of his misappropriation of entrusted...

Pennsylvania has seen almost 650,000 new claims for unemployment compensation in less than two weeks — an indication of just how hard the governor’s order closing non-life-sustaining businesses and its ripple effect has slammed the state’s economy. Gov. Tom Wolf said he expects the figure to climb to 800,000 through...

Coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania jumped by more than 500 from Wednesday to Thursday, according to state health officials, and five more people have died. The state Department of Health tallied 560 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 1,687. That’s a 50% increase in 24 hours. That total includes 45...

Pittsburgh will experience unseasonably warm temperatures in the next few days, reaching the mid-60s Thursday. A warm front is approaching from the Southwest, National Weather Service meteorologist Lee Hendricks said, pumping warm, moist air into the region. It's a beautiful day today. @NWSPittsburgh is reporting high temperatures & sun through...

For Peggy Meier, finding a business or economic disaster loan as the coronavirus continues to spread across the country means saving her company. Meier, who operates John Meier and Sons Hardware in Murrysville, now in its third generation, is contemplating temporarily shuttering — a decision she has been wrangling with...

Comcast announced Thursday it is opening up some of its premium content and some on-demand offerings for free to customers to help them deal with being stuck at home during the coronavirus outbreak. In a release, the company said the content is available for Xfinity X1 and Flex customers and...

Typically, one in three American families experiences what the Western PA Diaper Bank calls “diaper need.” As a result, the bank distributed 24,000 diapers last week to low- and moderate-income families in an effort to support those impacted by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. “The unexpected demand is...

Pennsylvania Sens. Pat Toomey and Bob Casey didn’t see eye-to-eye in the days leading up to the U.S. Senate’s agreement on a historic $2 trillion emergency bill. But they are both glad the deal was struck shortly after midnight on Wednesday. The Senate passed the bill late Wednesday night, following...

A patient at Butler Memorial Hospital has died of covid-19, marking the first death in Butler County attributed to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, officials said Wednesday. No details were immediately available about the person who died, such as their age, residence or any underlying health conditions. The...

Many school districts are conducting or have plans to begin distance learning for students while schools are closed. Below is information released by districts about when distance learning will begin and when, eventually, students might return to classrooms. This list will be updated and school districts added as information becomes...

Call them signs of the time. A wide range of businesses are closed under Gov. Tom Wolf’s order in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic. Many are advertising something different these days on their marquees and windows: messages of hope and unity. TribLIVE photographers captured images from across the region. Some...

A lot of Pennsylvanians plan to vote by mail in the postponed spring primary. State officials said Wednesday that applications to vote by mail have topped 129,000. State lawmakers voted to move the primary to June 2, a postponement expected to be approved by Gov. Tom Wolf. The five-week delay...