Top Stories category, Page 1113
Benefits of Pittsburgh Blues and Roots Festival goes beyond the musicVideo
The Pittsburgh Roots and Blues Festival is about more than good music — it’s also about supporting those on the autism spectrum. The event, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at the Pittsburgh Shrine Center in Harmar, serves as a fundraiser. The groups benefiting are the Autism Society of Pittsburgh and...
Remote work is here to stay for some Pittsburgh-area companies
Tim Koziarski settled into his Upper Burrell home office a lot more since working partially remote during the pandemic. He had an advantage. Koziarski, 58, is co-owner of Kozi Media Design, a Pittsburgh-based company specializing in smart technologies for the home and office. Business has been brisk installing technology for...
Ammunition shelves bare as U.S. gun sales continue to soar
SEATTLE — The covid-19 pandemic, coupled with record sales of firearms, has fueled a shortage of ammunition in the United States that’s impacting law enforcement agencies, people seeking personal protection, recreational shooters and hunters — and could deny new gun owners the practice they need to handle their weapons safely....
Police: Baltimore woman kept bodies of niece, nephew in trunk for months
BALTIMORE — A routine traffic stop in Essex this week led to the discovery of the decomposing bodies of two young children in the trunk of a car—one reportedly decomposing inside a suitcase for more than a year, according to documents charging the children’s aunt in connection with their deaths....
Westmoreland residents seek input on spending $105M in pandemic funds
Calling $105.3 million in federal funds a potential game changer for Westmoreland County residents, a local grassroots group is preparing to take a lengthy wish list to county commissioners. Diana Steck said the Voice of Westmoreland has scheduled meetings with Commissioners Doug Chew and Gina Cerilli Thrasher to present the...
Sewickley Academy parents meet with administrations to discuss diversity, inclusion plan
A group of concerned parents met with Sewickley Academy representatives Friday to discuss the school’s direction with its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice plan. The parents met with two faculty members; three school board members, including the president; and interim Head of School Ashley Birtwell. The meeting follows a...
Magee-Womens, Pitt join study of pregnant and new moms’ responses to covid vaccines
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists announced Friday that it “recommends that all eligible persons, including pregnant and lactating individuals, receive a covid-19 vaccine or vaccine series. “ Obstetrician-gynecologists and other women’s health care practitioners should lead by example by being vaccinated and encouraging eligible patients to be vaccinated...
Justice Dept. says IRS must give Trump tax returns to Congress
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department, in a reversal, says the Treasury Department must provide the House Ways and Means Committee former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, apparently ending a long legal showdown over the records. In a memo dated Friday, Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel said the committee chairman “has...
Experts: Here is what to expect as delta variant surges
A surge in coronavirus infections fueled by the delta variant has predictably caused global concern. But that appears to be about the only predictable aspect of the delta variant, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reportedly indicating it’s as contagious as chickenpox. Information is very fluid at this...
Officials identify Mt. Lebanon mother and son killed in suspected double murder-suicide
Officials have released the names for two of three people killed early Thursday near Mt. Lebanon in a suspected murder-suicide. Ana Tratras, 59, was shot to death inside the Gilkeson Road home she shared with her husband about 2:40 a.m., according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. Police have...
Sewickley Academy interim head of school says low enrollment influenced leadership changes
Interim head of school at Sewickley Academy Ashley Birtwell is pushing back on the idea the Sewickley Parents Organization is influencing the school’s decisions. Five administrators and a fifth-grade teacher were let go on July 21. One of the administrators who was terminated, former director of admissions and financial aid...
Explainer: Will Pa. evictions spike despite rental help?
HARRISBURG — A federal freeze on most evictions enacted last year is scheduled to expire Saturday, after President Joe Biden’s administration extended the original date by a month. The moratorium, put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, was the only tool keeping millions...
Trump urged Justice officials to declare election ‘corrupt’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump urged senior Justice Department officials to declare the 2020 election results “corrupt” in a December phone call, according to handwritten notes from one of the participants in the conversation. The notes of the Dec. 27 call, released Friday by the House Oversight Committee, underscore the...
CDC team: ‘War has changed’ as delta variant dangers emerge
New evidence showing the delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox and may be more dangerous than other versions has prompted U.S. health officials to consider changing advice on how the nation fights the coronavirus, internal documents show. Recommending masks for everyone and requiring vaccines for doctors and other health...
The Café at the Frick Pittsburgh museum reopens after more than a year
The Café at the Frick reopened Thursday — and with a new look. After being closed since March 2020 because of the pandemic, the Point Breeze eatery at The Frick Pittsburgh has been transformed into what spokesman Greg Langel describes as “a café that will serve carryout lunch offerings such...
Latrobe adds extra day, downtown activities to banana split celebration
This year’s planned banana-themed festivities in Latrobe have grown to include a second day of activities. The Downtown Latrobe Banana Split Celebration will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20. The day will include live entertainment, activities for kids and, of course, helpings of the frozen...
Expanded child tax credit providing boost to families on the edge of poverty
For single mother Tara Tomlinson, the expanded child tax credit that arrived in her bank account earlier this month provided a lifeline that arrived not a moment too soon. Emerging from a pandemic-induced crush on finances and other resources, Tomlinson said things were tightening at an alarming rate. “I was...
Allegheny County DA Zappala suing state AG Shapiro over opioid settlement
District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. is suing the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office to stop the recently announced opioid settlement agreement reached between it and three pharmaceutical companies. In the 24-page complaint filed Thursday in Commonwealth Court, the District Attorney’s Office contends Attorney General Josh Shapiro is improperly seeking to...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: July 30-Aug. 1
We have reached the final weekend of July. Here are some suggestions for how to spend it in and around Pittsburgh. Open doors Doors Open Pittsburgh offers a self-guided tour of the Strip District from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Guests are invited to go behind the scenes inside...
States race to use covid-19 vaccines before they expire
Hundreds of thousands of covid-19 vaccine doses have been saved from the trash after U.S. regulators extended their expiration date for a second time, part of a nationwide effort to salvage expiring shots to battle the nation’s summer surge in infections. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday sent a...
EF1 tornado hit along Fayette-Westmoreland border, weather service confirms
A tornado touched down Thursday along the border of Fayette and Westmoreland counties, according to the National Weather Service in Moon. The tornado was EF1 and had wind speeds between 100 and 105 mph, according to meteorologist Jason Frazier. The National Weather Service said that the tornado touched down from...
Judge sets $250,000 cash bond for Arona man charged with witness intimidation
A judge on Thursday set a $250,000 straight cash bond for an Arona man awaiting trial on charges that he attempted to prevent his girlfriend from testifying against him last month in the Westmoreland County Courthouse. Shawn Grbach, 42, has been in jail without bond since his arrest June 14....
Health officials to release new covid-19 data
NEW YORK — U.S. health officials are expected to release new data about the spread of covid-19 on Friday that led to their decision to recommend that vaccinated people wear masks in some situations, a reversal of previous guidance. The report, to be released by the Centers for Disease Control...
Pittsburgh man who tried robbing South Side bank in wheelchair gets nearly 4 years in prison
A Pittsburgh man will spend more than four years behind bars for posing as a customer using a wheelchair at a South Side bank and handing a note to the teller threatening to kill everyone inside with a bomb he claimed was strapped to his chest, federal prosecutors said Thursday....
Pittsburgh man guilty of helping 3 brothers flee botched gun shop burglaries
A Pittsburgh man has pleaded guilty to aiding three brothers in back-to-back botched attempts to steal firearms from gun shops in Pittsburgh’s western and southern suburbs, Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman said Thursday. Haliston Este, 28, was convicted of one count of conspiracy before U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer...
