Regional category, Page 177
When there’s no room at nursing facilities, convicted sex offenders often land in unregulated boarding homes
Christopher Farkas said he’s not one to judge the 23 convicted sex offenders living at his boarding house in a rundown, troubled section of McKeesport. Without Farkas’ Hospitality House, he said those offenders, most needing help with basic daily tasks such as cooking, laundry and complying with the rules for...
Brighton Rehab no stranger to federal, state scrutiny for resident care
When convicted sex offender Richard Marlin Walter assaulted a 57-year-old dementia patient at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center last December, it was not the first time trouble surfaced at the Beaver County nursing home. In 2020, the 589-bed facility became the epicenter of one of the nation’s deadliest outbreaks of...
State lawmakers vow to better protect care home residents from convicted sex offenders
Pennsylvania lawmakers have vowed action to protect some of the state’s most vulnerable residents by changing the system that has sent convicted sex offenders to nursing, personal care and assisted-living homes where some have found their next victims. Their promises come after learning the results of a Tribune-Review investigation showing...
Hidden danger: Registered sex offenders often go undetected in care homes, sometimes at an unspeakable cost
It was just a few days past Christmas 2020 when a 57-year-old woman with advanced dementia and a penchant for wandering the hallways stumbled into Richard Marlin Walter’s room at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. Frail, confused and robbed of her ability to speak, she couldn’t scream for help when...
2 workers hurt after truck falls off lift at Fayette County car dealership
Two employees were injured when they were struck by a falling truck Wednesday at a Fayette County car dealership. The incident happened just before 3 p.m. at the Tri-Star Chevrolet dealership in North Union Township, according to a Fayette County 911 supervisor. The workers were flown to an area hospital...
$4 per gallon gas possible in spring before relief arrives, outlook says
Gasoline could reach a national average of $4 per gallon early next year, price tracking service GasBuddy says in its 2022 fuel price outlook released Wednesday. For all of 2022, GasBuddy expects the national average price to increase by nearly 40 cents per gallon, from $3.02 in 2021 to $3.41....
Coroner identifies 3 people killed in New Castle house fire
Two family members and a guest were killed in a house fire early Wednesday in Lawrence County. The victims were identified as Courtney Payne, 41, and Terrianna Payne, 17, both of New Castle, and Xzavia Booker, 18, who was originally from New Castle, according to Lawrence County Coroner Richard Johnson....
From rare bourbon to TV anchors: Here are top TribLIVE news stories of 2021
TribLIVE readers dug into thousands of stories and accounted for millions of page views in 2021. The news stories that got the most views? Well, a rare bourbon lottery from the state led the way. But readers also had an oversized interest in local TV news stations moves — three...
Travel this week expected to inch toward pre-pandemic numbers, state police release Christmas weekend stats
More than 5.4 million motorists are expected to take to the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Christmas and New Year’s Day, inching toward pre-pandemic numbers, officials said. Projections call for 460,000 turnpike motorists on New Year’s Eve and 350,000 on New Year’s Day. Over the Christmas weekend, state police across the region...
Powerball jackpot climbing at $441M, but not nearly a record
Lora Trenney of Kiski Township is feeling lucky. The 40-year-old bartender at Cicero’s Bar and Grill in Leechburg bought a Powerball ticket Tuesday during her work shift. The lottery jackpot swelled to an estimated $441 million with a cash option of $317.5 million for the Wednesday drawing, according to the...
Gas prices falling after setting new Christmas Day record
Average gasoline prices are coming down in the Pittsburgh area and across the nation but remain significantly higher than they were a year ago, according to price tracking service GasBuddy. According to GasBuddy’s survey of 731 stations in Pittsburgh, gas prices fell 2.1 cents per gallon in the past week...
Where’s winter? Warm, wet weather here to stay
Southwestern Pennsylvania has had an unusually warm late fall and early winter without much snow, and that is not expected to change anytime soon, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Moon Township said. The Pittsburgh region officially has had all of 0.2 inches of snow in December — far less...
Handling covid exposure around holidays depends on vaccination status, experts say
Attempting to return to normal life has come with a price during the pandemic. While many people opted to forgo large family get-togethers during the holidays last year as cases surged and the United States was still without an approved vaccine, many families seemed determined to gather this year. Inevitably,...
Strain of pandemic drives Americans to drink more
The strain of the coronavirus pandemic, now almost two years old, has contributed to a national uptick in alcohol consumption, experts say. People might not feel as isolated as they did during the height of the pandemic, when in-person activities were limited or shut down at many workplaces, schools and...
Coroner: 2 Pittsburgh residents killed in Route 28 crash
The Armstrong County Coroner’s Office has identified two people killed in a multi-vehicle crash that shut down both lanes of northbound Route 28 for a time on Monday morning. The road was shut down shortly after 9 a.m. between Exit 18 PA 128 — Slate Lick/Northpointe and Exit 19 US...
Woman dies 3 days after apartment building fire in Washington County
A woman from a Washington County apartment building died Sunday after a fire swept through the building days earlier, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office reported. Frances Venen, 78, of Washington County, died at an area hospital about 10 a.m. Sunday, according to the medical examiner’s office. A cause of...
A guide to making holiday gift returns
Someone gives you a gift. It’s the wrong size. It’s a duplicate. Maybe you don’t like it. You want to return it. After months of shopping leading up to Christmas, some people will be heading back to the stores Dec. 26. That’s a day known for holiday gift exchanges. In...
Indiana County woman sentenced to up to 5 years in prison on heroin plea
An Indiana County woman has been sentenced to serve up to 5 years in state prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to deliver or sell less than a gram of heroin. Senior Indiana County Judge William J. Martin imposed the 2- to 5-year sentence Thursday on Lori Wisor,...
Pennsylvania, Allegheny County report record covid cases
Allegheny County and Pennsylvania as a whole reported record-breaking covid-19 case counts on Friday, posting numbers above even the height of the late 2020 surge, data shows. The state Department of Health reported 13,286 new covid cases, topping the previous record of 12,884 set in December 2020 before vaccines were...
Demand for rapid covid testing on the rise in Western Pa.
The rise in the number of omicron variant cases has led to long lines at area testing sites, including those provided by Curative, one of the entities Allegheny County has partnered with to conduct testing. Last Tuesday around the county, Curative performed more than 2,700 covid-19 tests — its highest...
More than 40 residents of Washington County apartment building displaced by fire
Authorities evacuated nearly 100 people from a burning Washington County apartment building early Thursday and at least four people were taken to hospitals for treatment. The fire at Thomas Campbell Apartments on Beech Street in South Strabane was reported around 12:20 a.m., a Washington County 911 dispatch supervisor said. Firefighters...
Pittsburgh region won’t see a white Christmas, like most years
If you are pining for that nostalgic white Christmas depicted on holiday greeting cards with billowing swirls of clean snow, don’t look to the Pittsburgh region this weekend. Christmas Day will be unseasonably warm, with a potential high of 57 degrees and a low of 42, said David Shallenberger, lead...
Holiday travel on Pennsylvania Turnpike expected to jump by 40% over last year
Officials predict more than 5.4 million motorists will take to the Pennsylvania Turnpike between the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year’s Day holidays, approaching pre-pandemic travel figures. “Our holiday traffic projections are coming close to matching those of 2019 with an increase of 40% over last year,” PA Turnpike CEO...
Experts weigh in on holiday travel amid threat of omicron, surging covid cases
Almost two years since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, cases are surging and the threat of another highly contagious variant looms, but projections show people still plan to travel for the holidays. Nearly 28 million more people will travel this year compared to 2020, according to AAA, and airlines...
Pennsylvania casinos continue to shatter records, generate $432 million in revenues in November
Pennsylvania casinos again shattered monthly records, generating more than $432.5 million in November, state regulators said. That was nearly $6.5 million more than October, which set a revenue record at nearly $426 million, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. In addition, revenues last month were up 52%, or $148...
