Editor's Picks category, Page 371
Jittery public turns to liquor, news as presidential race’s fate hangsVideo
PHILADELPHIA — They clung to their cocktails and proclaimed themselves sick with dread. They relentlessly checked the news and went outdoors for fresh air. They bemoaned a wipeout wave that never came and held out hope their favored candidate would still eke out a win. With the fate of the...
DEA collects record amount of prescription drugs on Take Back Day
A record amount of prescription medication — nearly 1 million pounds — was collected nationwide Oct. 24 during the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Drug Take Back Day. That includes nearly 37,000 pounds of unwanted, expired or unused prescription medication turned over at 209 collection sites in Pennsylvania, according to data released...
Tarentum mom delivers baby — and votes from hospital
Megan Walker gave birth to a son on Monday. On Tuesday, Walker told her medical team at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Oakland that she needed to be released in time to vote. She didn’t have to worry about making it to her polling place in Tarentum. The ballot was delivered...
These Pa. counties won’t start counting mail ballots until Wednesday
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. This article is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. Officials in Pennsylvania...
TV Q & A: How is the daughter of KDKA-TV’s Pam Surano doing?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. ^ Q: How is the daughter of KDKA-TV reporter Pam Surano doing after that scary trampoline accident? And how did Surano feel being on the other...
Democrats losing paths to Senate control as GOP hangs onVideo
WASHINGTON — Hopes fading for Senate control, Democrats had a disappointing election night as Republicans swatted down an onslaught of challengers and fought to retain their fragile majority. Several races remained undecided into Wednesday and at least one headed to a runoff in January. It was a jarring outcome for...
Pennsylvania vote goes smoothly, but tallying may take timeVideo
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania voters turned out in large numbers Tuesday for an election that produced few of the glitches some had feared, leaving in their wake a mountain of ballots that will have to be counted in the coming days amid intense national scrutiny. The battleground state’s decision to greatly...
Georgia Republican who supports QAnon wins U.S. House seat
ATLANTA — Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who expressed racist views and support for QAnon conspiracy theories in a series of online videos, has won a U.S. House seat representing northwest Georgia. Her candidacy was bolstered by President Donald Trump, who has called her a “future Republican Star.” Greene was heavily...
News outlets preach caution as election results arrive
Media outlets preached patience as the first Election Day results in the hard-fought campaign between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden came in, even as it ran counter to their instincts. A stressed populace and flood of early voting had many observers worried about a chaotic counting process, leading...
Political signs can be recycled in Pittsburgh
Don’t toss out those campaign signs. They can be recycled in Pittsburgh. The Department of Public Works and the Clean Pittsburgh Commission are launching a recycling imitative to keep campaign yard signs out of landfills after the general election. Both the plastic film and the metal stands are recyclable. People...
Cruise industry throws in the towel on 2020, looks to 2021
The cruise industry has jettisoned hopes of restarting operations this year. Days after both Carnival and Norwegian extended a halt on cruises through the end of the year, the group that represents cruise lines with 95% of global ocean-going capacity said Tuesday that its members have agreed to extend the...
Environmentalist’s barefoot walk across U.S. inspires Pittsburgh filmmakerVideo
One day, a friend of Pittsburgh filmmaker Julie Sokolow turned her on to a unique man she’d met while attending Brown University. He was a poet and author named Mark Baumer. Sokolow became an instant fan. “I’d see her posting about his barefoot journey across the country and immediately his...
How covid death counts become the stuff of conspiracy theories
In the waning days of the campaign, President Donald Trump complained repeatedly about how the United States tracks the number of people who have died from covid-19, claiming, “This country and its reporting systems are just not doing it right.” He went on to blame those reporting systems for inflating...
Election Day deals: Sandwiches, sweets, coffee and a free workout
It’s a momentous day across America. Not only is it Election Day, culminating an arduous, contentious campaign season, it’s also National Sandwich Day. That means there are double the deals to be had. So whether you voted in advance or are exercising your patriotic duty today, reward yourself by picking...
Cindy’s Soft Serve makes leap to year-round, full restaurant in TarentumVideo
After three years in a small walk-up location on First Avenue, Cindy’s Soft Serve, Custard & More has a new home and a new name in Tarentum. Cindy and Bob Hatajik of Harrison moved the ice cream stand they opened in 2018 — now called Cindy’s Soft Serve & Hometown...
Western Pa. anglers aim to make it easier for outdoor enthusiasts to collect trashVideo
Hunter Klobucar and Tyler Waltenbaugh spent the summer of 2018 crossing the deep woods and backwaters of northern Pennsylvania, along the Route 6 corridor, and while their purpose was to study the natural habitat of brook trout, one particularly unnatural feature kept showing up: trash. “We’re in all these remote...
Many covid positive Pennsylvanians ignoring contact tracing questions
Fewer than a quarter of Pennsylvania residents who tested positive for covid-19 in late October answered questions from contact tracers as to whether they’d been to any restaurants, bars or mass gatherings, according to data released Monday by the Department of Health. “You might save a life by being honest...
Phipps annual winter flower show goes ‘Home for the Holidays’
The Winter Flower Show: Home for the Holidays will open Nov. 20 at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section. “There’s no better place to celebrate the holidays than Phipps’ Victorian glasshouse jewel,” said Joe Reed, director of marketing and communications. “This year’s show presents a ‘horticultural home...
Pittsburgh’s Row House Cinema seeks ‘weird, off-kilter’ films for festival
With many movie theaters still closed and few new releases right now, Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville is calling for entries for Rowhouse Online’s Sweded Film Festival for Creative Re-Creations, a feature-length compilation of homemade films. “ ‘Sweded’ films have nothing to do with Sweden and everything to do with...
Dancer takes steps to open The Movement Factory on Pittsburgh’s North Side
Dancer Maria Caruso is taking steps to reach beyond the performance stage. The founder of Bodiography Contemporary Ballet in Squirrel Hill, a performance space for ballet dancers, Caruso is turning a renovated warehouse on the Ohio River on Pittsburgh’s North Side into Maria Caruso’s The Movement Factory. “I had been...
Heaven’s view: Pilot explores Latrobe landmarks from aboveVideo
Two Tribune-Review journalists last month gained a bird’s-eye view of Latrobe, the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport and the Route 981 corridor stretching between them, thanks to clear skies and a helicopter piloted by Anthony Ferrante. The trip over Latrobe and environs occured about 1,000 feet above ground level. According to...
Octobrrrr? Early snowfall blankets much of northeast US
BOSTON — If you had snow in October on your 2020 bingo card, you’re a lucky winner. Several inches fell across much of the northeastern U.S. on Friday, accumulating on lawns, fouling roads and inspiring social media posts with a mock “snowpocalypse” theme. “Bike commuting in a snow storm in...
Moon Township dog gets custom wheelchair, car crane thanks to RMUVideo
Ginger Stage and her 12-year-old German shepherd, Dakota, used to see their Moon Township canine and human neighbors regularly during their long daily strolls together. When a few bulging disks caused Dakota’s back legs to begin giving out about a year ago, Stage started walking alone. It wasn’t the same....
A welcoming sign from the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy wants people to know trails, playgrounds and lawns are for everyone. The conservancy invites people to enjoy the outdoors. The conservancy said Friday it will place “All Are Welcome” signs throughout Pittsburgh parks. It is part of a mission “to promote equity throughout the city’s shared...
FBI warns ransomware assault threatens U.S. health care system
BOSTON — Federal agencies warned that cybercriminals could unleash a wave of data-scrambling extortion attempts against the U.S. health care system, an effort that, if successful, could paralyze hospital information systems just as nationwide cases of covid-19 are spiking. In a joint alert Wednesday, the FBI and two federal agencies...
