Top Stories category, Page 1200

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Republicans are faulting the administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf for Pennsylvania’s slow covid-19 vaccine rollout even as Wolf himself says insufficient supply is the real culprit, setting up a fresh political fight over who’s to blame for the frustrations of eligible residents trying to get inoculated....

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden warned Friday of a steep and growing “cost of inaction” on his $1.9 trillion covid relief plan as the White House searched for “creative” ways to win public support for a package that is getting a cold shoulder from Senate Republicans. In the age of...

Allegheny Technologies Inc. has resumed negotiations with the United Steelworkers, but union leaders reported Friday having made “no progress” a month before their existing contract is set to expire. Todd Barbiaux, president of United Steelworkers Local 1196, which represents union employees at ATI’s Brackenridge facility in Harrison, said lingering uncertainty...

Angela Reese said she hopes to carry on her late husband’s legacy by running for his former seat in the state House. Mike Reese, 42, a Republican, died of an apparent brain aneurysm Jan. 2. He was reelected in November to a seventh term representing the 59th Legislative District after...

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Workers at a northeast Georgia poultry plant said they escaped through a fog of vaporizing liquid nitrogen that killed six of their coworkers, as an investigation continued Friday into the cause of the leak at Foundation Food Group. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims on...

For fire departments, fundraising took many different forms in 2020 as they adapted to a changing environment in the era of the coronavirus pandemic. There are the ones that found a following for raffles on the department’s Facebook page. Some events that typically bring in a ton of cash —...

PHILADELPHIA — When Philadelphia began getting its first batches of covid-19 vaccines, it looked to partner with someone who could get a mass vaccination site up and running quickly. City Hall officials might have looked across the skyline to the world-renowned health providers at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University...

FORT BLISS, Texas — An investigation into what sickened 11 soldiers who ingested an unauthorized substance shows they drank an industrial compound found in antifreeze believing it was alcohol following a 10-day field training exercise at Fort Bliss in Texas, U.S. Army officials said Friday. Lt. Col. Allie Payne, public...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Ceally Smith spent a year down the rabbit hole of QAnon, devoting more and more time to researching and discussing the conspiracy theory online. Eventually it consumed her, and she wanted out. She broke up with the boyfriend who recruited her into the movement, took six months...

WASHINGTON — The government’s top infectious disease expert said Friday he hopes to see children being vaccinated starting in the next few months. It’s a needed step to securing widespread immunity to the coronavirus. “Hopefully by the time we get to the late spring and early summer we will have...

Pennsylvania’s vaccine allocation is expected to increase in the next week, a Department of Health spokeswoman said Friday. President Joe Biden said this week that his administration is working to buy another 200 million doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, and announced steps to increase the allocations going to...

Brace yourself for the possibility of significant snow headed this way. A winter weather advisory has been issued for Southwestern Pennsylvania beginning at 10 p.m. Saturday and running until 10 p.m. Sunday for a storm system that could drop a half-foot of snow or more. A winter storm watch for...

Westmoreland County on Friday reported 120 new cases of coronavirus, above the seven-day average of 108 cases. The number of total cases reported in the county is now 24,576, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of the newly reported cases, 69 were confirmed from PCR tests and 51 are...

Pennsylvania on Friday reported 9,643 additional cases of coronavirus, the most in nearly three weeks. Many of the newly reported cases were attributed to Berks, Lancaster and Montgomery counties, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state notes that today’s cases include backlogged antigen testing data from urgent care...

Allegheny County on Friday reported 364 additional cases of coronavirus, slightly above the seven-day average of 352, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of the newly reported cases, 287 are confirmed from 1,314 new PCR tests and 77 are recorded as probable, according to the Allegheny County...

A federal judge has ordered an South Fayette man accused of using a baseball bat to break windows in the Capitol building during this month’s insurrection to remain in custody pending trial. Jorden Mink, 27, is charged with six counts, including destruction of government property, which qualifies under the law...

A Fayette County woman who allegedly caught her boyfriend cheating is charged with breaking into the man’s East Huntingdon home and cutting the other woman with a knife, state police said. Lindsey J. Stout, 32, of Connellsville, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, simple assault and harassment...

University of Pittsburgh researchers are investigating online misinformation relating to the covid-19 vaccines, thanks to a grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation. The goal is to create “beneficial and educational messaging about vaccines,” the university said. “We wanted to see what are some of the reasons why we’re seeing...

BERLIN — Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population. The European Medicines Agency licensed the vaccine to be used in people 18 and over, though concerns had been raised...

NEW YORK — Stocks were broadly higher in afternoon trading Tuesday, but shares of closely watched companies like GameStop and AMC Entertainment were falling sharply. The S&P 500 rose 1.8% with each of its 11 sectors making gains. Banks and and a mix of companies that rely on direct consumer...

It was the end of April — just as the U.S. confirmed its millionth covid-19 case and 50,000 deaths — when White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci announced “highly significant” news about a drug called remdesivir. That was surprising because the antiviral drug, owned by Gilead Sciences and developed with...

When it comes to face masks, are two better than one? Some health experts — including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert — have recently suggested wearing two face masks for extra protection during the covid-19 pandemic. “It just makes common sense that it likely would be more...

Johnson & Johnson’s long-awaited vaccine appears to protect against covid-19 with just one shot — not as strong as some two-shot rivals but still potentially helpful for a world in dire need of more doses. J&J said Friday that in the U.S. and seven other countries, the single-shot vaccine was...

A fight between two groups of people sparked the shooting early Friday in McKees Rocks that left two people dead and three others injured, according to police. The shooting happened just after 2:30 a.m. in the parking lot of Club Erotica on Island Avenue, said Allegheny County Police Lt. Venerando...

A 69-year-old man died in a fire early Friday in Kittanning. The Armstrong County Coroner’s Office identified the man who died as John W. Bodurka. Coroner Brian Myers said Bodurka was found in his bedroom after firefighters put out the fire at an apartment building in the 400 block of...