Top Stories category, Page 1022
Delta, United, Lufthansa report flight cancellations over Christmas
FRANKFURT, Germany — At least three major airlines have reported canceling dozens of flights as illnesses largely tied to the omicron variant of covid-19 take a toll on flight crew numbers during the busy holiday travel season. Germany-based Lufthansa said Friday that it was canceling a dozen long-haul transatlantic flights...
Santa’s on his way: Here’s how to track him
All eyes are on the guy dressed in red and white. It’s time for Santa Claus to shine, and there are a few ways to track his gift-giving progress — with the help of nine flying reindeer, Rudolph included of course — before he makes it to rooftops across Southwestern...
10-year-old dons elf suit to spread Christmas cheer at Unity personal care home
A young beacon of the holiday spirit made sure residents at a Unity personal care home felt loved during a special visit Thursday. Dora Runyon, 86, exclaimed when William Gunther, 10, handed her a small elephant stuffed animal, one of 150 he purchased to hand out to those spending Christmas...
Tarentum homicide suspect had been ordered to pay victim child support
A man charged with shooting a woman to death in Tarentum has a 5-month-old child with the woman and had recently been ordered to pay child support, according to Allegheny County Police. DaShawn Frederick, 26, of Wilkinsburg surrendered to authorities Thursday night. He is charged with criminal homicide in the...
Allegheny County Jail inmate dies
An Allegheny County Jail inmate died on Wednesday in the county lock-up, a county spokeswoman said. The inmate, whose identity was not released, was found unresponsive during a medication pass, according to Warden Orlando Harper. The jail’s health care department conducted cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on the man, but he was declared...
Suspect in fatal Tarentum shooting Dec. 16 turns himself in to authorities
A Wilkinsburg man was jailed Thursday night in connection with the Dec. 16 fatal shooting of a 30-year-old woman in Tarentum, Allegheny County Police said Thursday night. DaShawn Frederick, 26, of Wilkinsburg is charged with criminal homicide in connection with the death of Arquwonna Wright, 30, of the Philip Burtner...
Feast of the Seven Fishes highlights Italian family tradition in Western Pa.
Dinnertime, for an Italian family, is sacred. It’s an opportunity to gather around the table, share a meal, drink some good wine and engage in great conversation. The spread on Christmas Eve represents the heart of this tradition. The Feast of the Seven Fishes — for which seven seafood items...
U.S. sets shorter covid-19 isolation rules for health workers
NEW YORK — Worried that a new covid-19 wave could overwhelm understaffed U.S. hospitals, federal officials on Thursday loosened rules that call on health care workers to stay out of work for 10 days if they test positive. Those workers now will be allowed to come back to work after...
Peduto promotes longtime bodyguard to assistant chief of Pittsburgh police
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, in his last police promotion ceremony as mayor on Thursday, promoted his longtime bodyguard from sergeant to assistant chief, leapfrogging the ranks of lieutenant and commander. Peduto defended the relatively unorthodox move before Phil Carey was even sworn in as an assistant chief. “Many people ask...
City of Pittsburgh begins disciplining unvaccinated employees
The city of Pittsburgh announced Thursday that it has begun disciplining employees who have yet to be vaccinated against covid-19. Mayor Bill Peduto in November issued an executive order requiring all city employees — except those with an accepted medical or religious exception — to be fully vaccinated by Dec....
Wilkinsburg severs ties with borough development group over annexation debate
Wilkinsburg Borough Council has voted to sever all ties with the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation, the organization calling for Pittsburgh to annex the neighboring borough. The Wilkinsburg CDC — which initially was tasked with revitalizing Wilkinsburg’s main business corridor when it was formed in 2008 — has “failed in its...
Several Westmoreland municipalities sign on to proposed opioid suit settlement
Westmoreland County’s largest municipalities are beginning to line up to join the county in a proposed national settlement of lawsuits against drug companies stemming from the ongoing opioid epidemic. Unity Township, in a special meeting Thursday, was one of the latest to sign on for the proposed $26 billion national...
Lab-confirmed cases of omicron variant detected in Allegheny County
A day after the Allegheny County health director said the covid-19 omicron variant had been found in the county’s wastewater, lab testing has identified two confirmed cases of the quick-spreading variant, officials said. One test was collected from a man Dec. 7, and it was confirmed to be the omicron...
Former Penn Township policeman cited for hunting violations
A retired Penn Township policeman was cited by the state game commission this month for five summary hunting violations. Authorities said Augustine DeGuffroy, 66, illegally shot an antlerless deer on Dec. 1 along Richmond Drive in Penn Township. DeGuffroy, a township resident, did not have a hunting license at the...
U.K. data suggest hospitalization is less likely with omicron
LONDON — Preliminary data suggest that people with the omicron variant of the coronavirus are between 50% and 70% less likely to need hospitalization than those with the delta strain, Britain’s public health agency said Thursday. The U.K. Health Security Agency findings add to emerging evidence that omicron produces milder...
Trump asks Supreme Court to block release of documents
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump turned to the Supreme Court on Thursday in a last-ditch effort to keep documents away from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol led by his supporters. Trump’s attorneys asked the Supreme Court to reverse lower court rulings against the...
Pittsburgh argues that Italian-American group has no right to challenge Columbus statue removal
Attorneys for the City of Pittsburgh said that a lawsuit filed against it last year to save the Christopher Columbus statue at Schenley Park ought to be dismissed because the organization that filed it doesn’t have standing. In documents filed last week in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, the city...
Pittsburgh police recover car stolen at New Kensington Sheetz
A car stolen Wednesday night from New Kensington was recovered about five hours later by Pittsburgh police, New Kensington police Chief Bob Deringer said. The car, a 2021 Audi S5 sport sedan, was taken from the parking lot at Sheetz on Freeport Street shortly before 10 p.m., Deringer said. It...
U.S. adds Merck’s covid pill as 2nd easy-to-use drug against virus
WASHINGTON — U.S. health regulators on Thursday authorized the second pill against covid-19, providing another easy-to-use medication to battle the rising tide of omicron infections. The Food and Drug Administration authorization comes one day after the agency cleared a competing drug from Pfizer. That pill is likely to become the...
Consumer prices up 5.7% over past year, fastest in 39 years
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years, as a surge in inflation confronts Americans with the holiday shopping season under way. The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in...
Westmoreland County DA-elect Nicole Ziccarelli says transition team not getting cooperation from predecessor
Westmoreland County District Attorney-elect Nicole Ziccarelli said Wednesday she and her new administrative team are set to begin work Jan. 3 to replace outgoing prosecutor John Peck, who she said has so far refused to cooperate with the transition. “My predecessor is not interested in creating a transition team with...
Ligonier man’s Christmas story takes on new life
Carl Smith was a young father, worried about disappointing his children 50 years ago when he spun a Christmas tale that became a family tradition. At the time, he had no idea the tale would take on a life of its own, going so far as to be featured in...
Kiski police arrest Vandergrift woman in North Apollo stabbing
Kiski police have arrested a woman accused of stabbing a man in North Apollo early Thursday morning. Police said the suspect, Amy Hepler, 38, of Vandergrift turned herself in at approximately 9 a.m. Police said officers responded around 2:15 a.m. to a report of a domestic assault at a home...
Crashes, diesel spill cause traffic headaches on inbound Parkway East
Crashes and a diesel fuel spill caused the inbound Parkway East in Pittsburgh to be closed for a time Thursday morning. There were believed to be at least two separate crashes after the Squirrel Hill tunnel between Bates Street and the Boulevard of the Allies, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV reported....
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...
