Top Stories category, Page 1053
Supreme Court will hear arguments on Biden vaccine requirements
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says it will hold a special session in just over two weeks to hear arguments on the Biden administration’s vaccine or testing requirement for large employers and a separate vaccine requirement for healthcare workers, an announcement that comes amid rising coronavirus cases. The high court...
Experts say more must be done by Pittsburgh in response to Jim Rogers’ death
From the initial stop to the decision to frisk. From the way the frisk was executed to the decision to pull out a taser. From how the taser was deployed to how all of the officers at the scene responded, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police failed in its handling of...
Lost dog Scoobee found in Wilkins, owners rejoice
Call it a Christmas miracle. Scoobee, the 60-pound shepherd/pitbull mix that escaped from the Banfield Veterinary Hospital in Monroeville on Friday - and had been on the run - was found by a man in Wilkins on Wednesday. He called police who came to pick her up and notified the...
Allegheny health director: More than 400 covid deaths since October
More than 400 people have died in Allegheny County covid-related deaths in the past three months, including 97 in December, county Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said Wednesday. Covid-19 case counts remain at a daily average of 600 per day, while “hospitalizations remain high, as do deaths,” Bogen said. “I...
Gov. Wolf vetoes GOP bill to post school course materials online
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a bill on Wednesday that would have required school districts to post information about textbooks, course material and state academic standards online. The Democratic governor said the legislation “politicizes what is being taught in our schools” and that state regulations already require public...
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...
Jan. 6 committee seeks interview with GOP Rep. Jim Jordan
WASHINGTON — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection requested an interview and information from Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio on Wednesday, the second time this week the committee publicly sought to interview a sitting member of Congress. In a letter to Jordan, Mississippi Rep. Bennie...
Proposal would add 6 parks, more than 300 acres to Pittsburgh park system
A proposal before Pittsburgh City Council would designate six greenways as city parks, adding more than 300 acres to the city’s park system. The measure would move the city closer to its goal of increasing the number of residents who live within a half-mile – or roughly a 10-minute walk...
Pittsburgh Mayor-elect Ed Gainey says covid-19 test was false positive
Pittsburgh Mayor-elect Ed Gainey said Wednesday that his recent covid-19 test was a false positive. Gainey had moved an announcement regarding his transition team to a virtual format Monday after a rapid covid-19 test came back positive. Gainey, who is vaccinated and has received a booster, never had symptoms of...
Pause on student loan payments is extended through May 1
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday extended a student loan moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to put off debt payments during the pandemic. Under the action, payments on federal student loans will remain paused through May 1. Interest rates will remain at 0% during that period, and...
Pfizer pill becomes 1st U.S.-authorized home covid treatment
WASHINGTON — U.S. health regulators on Wednesday authorized the first pill against covid-19, a Pfizer drug that Americans will be able to take at home to head off the worst effects of the virus. The long-awaited milestone comes as U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all rising and health officials...
Pennsylvania elections chief warns lawmakers about deadlines
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top statewide elections official warned legislative leaders that delays in drawing new General Assembly district lines may require them to push back next year’s spring primary election. Acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid told the floor leaders Tuesday for both parties in the two chambers on the...
260-pound black bear trapped near Downtown PittsburghVideo
The Pennsylvania Game Commission trapped a 260-pound black bear Wednesday morning next to a Lower Hill District dumpster near Downtown Pittsburgh. A sighting of the bear was first reported Dec. 6 in the 5700 block of Penn Avenue, but it disappeared, said Douglas Bergman, a game commission warden covering Allegheny...
Police: Homewood woman arrested for housing 2 infants, puppy in ‘deplorable living conditions’
Two infants were taken into protective custody after, police say, officers found them living in “deplorable” and unsafe conditions in a Homewood home on Monday. A malnourished puppy was also removed from the house on Mt. Vernon Street. Pittsburgh police charged Franshauna Chevi Batron, 37, with endangering the welfare of...
Unity’s Victory Brinker, Steelers JuJu Smith-Schuster support Pittsburgh’s less fortunate
Victory Brinker noticed homeless people as she walked the streets of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, Calif., before her performance on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. “She had never seen homeless people before,” said her mother, Christine Brinker, on Tuesday inside Light of Life Rescue Mission on Pittsburgh’s North Side. “She...
Greensburg man charged with directing woman to record video of sex act with child wants case dismissed
A Greensburg man awaiting trial on charges that he directed his ex-girlfriend to have sex with a child and record the act now contends the case is based on an improper police search of his cell phone. A new lawyer for Charles Jason Hunter, 35, in court documents made public...
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...
Secret Service: Nearly $100B stolen in pandemic relief funds
Nearly $100 billion at minimum has been stolen from covid-19 relief programs set up to help businesses and people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, the U.S. Secret Service said Tuesday. The estimate is based on Secret Service cases and data from the Labor Department and the Small...
Pedestrian dies following Forest Hills crash
Allegheny County Police are investigating a crash that resulted in a pedestrian’s death Tuesday night in Forest Hills. Emergency responders were called to the 2000 block of Ardmore Boulevard, just south of Kenmore Avenue, where they found a man who’d been hit by a vehicle. Police said the man was...
Teen pedestrian’s death last month in Duquesne ruled accidental
The death of a teen killed in a crash in Duquesne last month has been ruled accidental, according to an Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office report released Tuesday. Deveon Franklin, 18, of Duquesne, died at a hospital at 7:40 a.m. Nov. 17, after being hit by a pickup around 6...
Search continues for dog lost by Monroeville veterinary hospital
Darcie and Nicholas Chontas have just one Christmas wish this year: the safe return of their dog, Scoobee. What started out as a routine veterinary appointment for the married couple’s 60-pound shepherd/pitbull mix has turned into a holiday nightmare. Last Friday, some 20 minutes after her husband returned to his...
Churchill Council approves application for controversial Amazon warehouse
Churchill Council on Tuesday voted in favor of a controversial Amazon warehouse in their residential community. Council voted 5-2, with council members Adam McDowell and Norma Greco opposing the development. The vote comes after a 14-day public hearing that included more than 55 hours of testimony — and about a...
Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry denies Jan. 6 panel’s request for interview
WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania on Tuesday rebuffed a request for him to sit down for an interview and turn over documents to the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection, joining other allies of former President Donald Trump in trying to stonewall the committee....
Canada lynx at Pittsburgh zoo positive for covid-19
A Canada lynx in Pittsburgh has tested positive for covid-19, the first known case in a lynx in the United States, officials at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium said Tuesday. The lynx showed some symptoms, including occasional coughing, but “overall symptoms have been mild,” zoo spokesman Ian Hunter said...
Man who died after being tased by Pittsburgh police pleaded for medical help but got none, report says
Jim Rogers reportedly asked for help at least 13 times as he sat in the back of a Pittsburgh police vehicle after being stunned with a taser eight times on Oct. 13. For 17 minutes, Rogers banged his head off the seat and repeated, “‘I need a hospital, I can’t...
