Regional category, Page 82
Understanding what’s driving long covid is still largely a mystery to doctors
For Sean Carey, long covid proved fatal. Carey contracted an early strain of covid in July 2020 when he and his wife, Meghan, lived in Daytona Beach, Fla. “He had pain that was too inhumane to live with,” his wife said. “He had tremors that were like lightning bolts going...
Handling mental illness is complicated at all levels of criminal justice system
As Terrance Kurhansky’s case made its way through Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system, it became clear to his attorney and the presiding judge that their options were limited, and none of them was ideal. Kurhansky, 83, was charged in 2019 with attempting to murder his neighbor. Police said he used a...
‘I want to live’: Long covid patients battle debilitating symptoms in Western Pa.
Covid-19 stole Lisa Merlo’s lungs, limbs — and nearly her life. But it wasn’t done. The 57-year-old West Deer resident continues to cope with the disease’s latest attack on her body: long covid. Merlo said she was told she had a 20% chance of living after a covid diagnosis in...
Laurel Mountain open to skiers this week as operations wind down at Hidden Valley, Seven Springs resorts
The first day of spring, March 19, is just around the corner, but ski season may last just a bit longer at area resorts. The season finale is from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. today, Sunday, at Hidden Valley Resort in Hidden Valley Meanwhile Laurel Mountain Resort, east of Laughlintown...
State police charge Washington County man with homicide
A Washington County man was jailed Saturday morning, accused of killing a man earlier this week at a mobile home park in Nottingham Township. The incident happened Wednesday morning at Mingo Park Estates, state police said. According to state police, William Jeremiah Slider, 34, hit the victim, Richard W. Morse,...
A simulated hotel front desk at Indiana University of Pennsylvania now includes a donor’s name
Donor names end up on all sorts of college and university real estate, from imposing classroom buildings, to lecture halls, to flower gardens and even benches. Indiana University of Pennsylvania has its share of those sorts of spots. It also has this: A hotel front desk simulation lab that —...
‘It doesn’t feel real’: Pittsburgh carpenter’s apprentice attends State of the Union as Jill Biden’s guest
Samantha Ervin-Upsher kept getting calls recently from a Washington, D.C., number. She assumed they were spam and didn’t answer or call back. But Monday, she finally picked up, and she’s glad she did. Turns out, it was the White House — yes, that White House — with an important question...
Western Pa. nursing home group defaults on $30M loan; workers unpaid, patient safety concerns voiced
An outside administrator will operate Western Pennsylvania nursing homes owned by Bonamour Health Group LLC, according to documents filed in federal court in Pittsburgh. The company owns six nursing homes, including ones in East Huntingdon, Jefferson Hills, Beaver County’s Hopewell Township and Clearfield, Jefferson and McKean counties. Bonamour defaulted on...
Morning Roundup: Overnight crash cuts power in 4 Pittsburgh neighborhoods
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, March 8: Crash shuts down West Liberty Avenue; power outages reported Multiple Pittsburgh neighborhoods were left without power Friday morning following a vehicle crash along West Liberty Avenue, according to TribLive news partner WTAE. The station reports that...
Anyone can be a victim as fraud losses hit record high
Almost two years ago, Carol Sepesky’s computer went black. The only thing the Monessen resident could see was a message, supposedly from Microsoft, asking her to call customer support. So she did, and paid $600 to someone posing as a company representative to fix her computer. When they asked for...
‘I’m going to die’: Woman recounts bear attack in her Butler Township backyardVideo
When the bear tackled her, Lee Ann Galante’s face cracked against a cement slab in her backyard. “I’m screaming and screaming and screaming — ‘Someone help me!’” It was one of two or three times a black bear knocked her down during an attack Tuesday night behind her Butler Township...
Ditch the pencil, SAT exams go digital
If there’s an SAT exam in your future or that of your child, don’t worry about scrounging up a perfectly sharpened No. 2 pencil. You have outlived the paper era of the college entrance exam. Starting Saturday, an almost-century-old rite of academic passage for high schoolers will have bowed to...
Mike Pence to speak at Grove City College conference on antisemitism
Former Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Grove City College next month to deliver the keynote address at The Institute for Faith & Freedom (IFF) 2024 Conference “Confronting Antisemitism,” campus officials announced Wednesday. He will speak at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 11 in Crawford Hall Auditorium. In announcing his...
Pitt taps Joseph J. McCarthy as provost and senior vice chancellor
A nationwide search by the University of Pittsburgh to find its next provost and chief academic officer ultimately led to the person already doing the job since last summer on a temporary basis. Pitt officials announced Wednesday that Joseph J. McCarthy, interim provost and William Kepler Whiteford Professor in the...
‘We’re going all in on Connellsville’: Penn-Trafford grads, Franklin Regional coach seek to enliven city with event center, restaurant
The city of Connellsville is alive with development. Three Penn-Trafford graduates and a former Franklin Regional High School football coach are a part of the reason why — pitching in with plans to build an event center, restaurant and short-term rental property. When Nate Morgan, a 1993 Penn-Trafford graduate, bought...
Butler County bear attack sends woman to the hospital
A black bear attacked a woman in her Butler Township backyard Tuesday night, injuring the woman badly enough that she’s hospitalized. Lee Ann Galante, 55, was attacked after her dog had an altercation with the mother bear’s three cubs, according to Butler Township Patrolman Jon Schaffner. The attack happened about...
Ambitious Pitt BioForge project could help cut medical treatment costs
Seated at a table of nonscientists, Kaigham “Ken” Gabriel explained how an ordinary-looking construction site in Hazelwood just might propel Pittsburgh to the forefront of reducing medical costs through gene therapy manufacturing. To make his point, the newly hired CEO of the University of Pittsburgh’s BioForge initiative pulled from his...
Pitt boosts police patrols after reported rape near Oakland campus
The University of Pittsburgh has stepped up police patrols following a reported rape Sunday near the Oakland campus. Pittsburgh police said the victim reported being sexually assaulted by a man wearing a black ski mask who displayed a knife, hit her in the face and took her cellphone. The incident...
Pittsburgh ties its record high temperature Monday
On a typical early March day, riding the zipline at Murrysville Community Park would mean risking frostbite. Thanks to southern winds, however, there was no chance of that Monday, as Pittsburgh tied its record high temperature for the date, meteorologists said. As of 4 p.m., the thermometer had hit 74...
Man’s body recovered from Yough in Ohiopyle State Park
A man’s body was recovered from the Youghiogheny River in Ohiopyle State Park on Sunday afternoon, according to park manager Ken Bisbee. The body was spotted by hikers on the Great Allegheny Passage between Confluence and Ohiopyle around 3:45 p.m. He appeared to be a fisherman, Bisbee said. In a...
What to look for in solar eclipse glasses
You don’t become the world’s leading manufacturer of paper glasses by being unprepared. That’s why employees at American Paper Optics, tucked into a corporate office park in the southwest corner of Tennessee, have been busy for the past two years preparing for the April 8 solar eclipse. “We’ve been doing...
Cursive handwriting makes a comeback in elementary schools
Second grader Evi Thompson’s favorite letter is “S.” “I like how my pencil feels on the paper when I write it,” Evi said from her classroom at Mary Queen of Apostles in New Kensington. “It’s very loopy.” Evi and her classmates are learning the art of cursive writing, the old-school...
Daycation Destination: Fly high with a helicopter tour above Pittsburgh
Burrell High School junior Billy Kowalkowski had a sky-high experience for his 17th birthday. He took a private helicopter tour of Pittsburgh last month with veteran pilot Ron Spiker of Zelienople and his mom, Danielle Kowalkowski. Danielle Kowalkowski booked a mother-son sunset tour in February with Spiker Helicopters, which has...
Here’s why pharmacies are on a financial precipice
Every time pharmacist DJ Kiesel of Salem Crossroads Apothecary in Delmont fills a prescription for blood thinner Eliquis or diabetes medication Ozempic, his pharmacy loses money. He pays a wholesaler to get the medicines in stock, but the reimbursements he gets from pharmacy benefit managers — intermediaries between drug manufacturers...
Community meetings will help shape future trail through Turtle Creek Valley towns
Trails have played an important role in connecting communities — in a physical sense, through use of the trails, but also in an economic sense, attracting people who are looking to grab a bite to eat or just check out a new area. The nonprofit Friends of the Riverfront group...
