Top Stories category, Page 1221
Pittsburgh floats bonds for capital projects as it awaits federal pandemic relief money
About $17 million in street improvements, $10 million to reduce traffic congestion and $4.5 million to repair landslides are among the projects that will be funded with about $46.6 million in bonds Pittsburgh is floating this week. The price of the bonds was locked in on Tuesday at a 2.5%...
PIAA says spring athletes can shed masks outdoors, if physical distancing possible
Spring sports athletes and coaches can shed their masks when outdoors, as long as they maintain 6 feet of physical distance, according to new PIAA guidelines for covid-19. The PIAA board met online Wednesday and approved Return to Competition Guidelines for baseball, softball, track and all other spring sports, the...
Allegheny County officials: ‘We’re not there yet’ on reopeningVideo
Allegheny County’s covid-19 case numbers are no longer declining, but they’re stable, Dr. Debra Bogen, health director, said Wednesday. The county’s test positivity rate increased slightly from last week, from 5.5% to 5.9%. Hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline. But Bogen said she is concerned about the results of recent...
5 things about covid vaccines as Johnson & Johnson enters market
The United States seems to be turning a corner on the pandemic as more Americans are getting vaccinated each day. The Food and Drug Administration has approved Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot covid-19 vaccine for emergency use. Combined with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, President Biden said Tuesday, the U.S. would...
She’s lovin’ it: 100-year-old McDonald’s worker has no plans to retireVideo
Ruth N. Shuster was crowned “Queen for a Day” at McDonald’s Big Mac Museum in North Huntingdon, a well-deserved honor for a loyal employee who has greeted customers at the eatery the past 27 years. What made this honor — a throwback to Jack Bailey’s 1950s-era television show of the...
Coroner IDs woman, 88, killed in Hempfield crash
An 88-year-old woman was killed in a two-vehicle crash in Hempfield on Wednesday afternoon. Elizabeth R. Anderson, of Hempfield, was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p.m., according to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office. The crash occurred at about 1:50 p.m. at Racetrack and Wilson Fox roads, near Hempfield’s border with...
N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo addresses harassment claims, vows to stay in office
ALBANY, N.Y. — Besieged by sexual harassment allegations, a somber New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo apologized Wednesday, saying he “learned an important lesson” about his own behavior around women, but he said he intended to remain in office. “I now understand that I acted in a way that made people...
Ed Gainey announces $130K in fundraising as incumbent Peduto gains support from teachers union
Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Ed Gainey has raised more than $130,000 since January, his campaign announced Wednesday. The money, which totals $134,286, , comes from 764 contributors from every ZIP code in the city. It was made public in advance of his filing with the Pittsburgh Ethics Hearing Board, where the...
Allegheny County reports 186 covid cases, 17 deaths
Allegheny County saw 186 additional coronavirus cases and 17 deaths reported on Wednesday, according to the county’s health department. Those cases — 105 confirmed and 81 probable — bring the county’s total to 77,239 since the pandemic began last March. Daily case totals have dropped significantly in the past three...
Steel City Con postponed again, this time to June
Maybe the third time will be the charm for the Steel City Con. The pop culture convention, originally scheduled for December, had been rescheduled for April. But now it’s been postponed again, this time until June 11-13 at the Monroeville Convention Center. Organizers cited the state’s current indoor capacity of...
Pennsylvania adds 2,577 covid cases, 69 deaths
Pennsylvania added 2,577 more coronavirus cases on Wednesday, its highest total in the past four days. The additional cases bring the state’s total to 938,411, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state also added 69 deaths to increase that total to 24,169. Philadelphia had the most new cases...
Westmoreland County covid hospitalizations rise, sit at 5th highest in state
Westmoreland County covid-19 hospitalizations increased for the second straight day on Wednesday, with the county having the fifth-most coronavirus patients hospitalized in the state. The county added four more patients to bring its total to 120, rising from 116 Tuesday and 111 on Monday. Westmoreland sits behind Philadelphia (249), Allegheny...
Churchill Valley Greenway project nearing finish line with $630,000 funding gap
The Allegheny Land Trust has until March 31 to raise another $630,000 in order to close on a deal to preserve 148 acres of vacant land at the defunct Churchill Valley Country Club. Despite nearly two years of raising money to reach the $3 million price tag, crossing the finish...
Police uncover ‘possible plot’ by militia to breach Capitol again
WASHINGTON — Capitol Police say they have intelligence showing a “possible plot” by a militia group to breach the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, nearly two months after a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the iconic building to try to stop Congress from certifying now-President Joe Biden’s victory....
Official: Dems OK tighter income limits for covid relief
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Democrats agreed Wednesday to tighten the upper income limits at which people could qualify for stimulus checks, a Democratic official said, a major concession to moderates as party leaders prepared to move their $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill through the Senate. The covid-19 relief...
Dormont Pool to reopen this summer
Get ready to splash around again in the Dormont Pool. One of the more depressing aspects of the pandemic has been the limits put on recreational activities. The Dormont Pool was one of last summer’s casualties, sitting empty for all of 2020 because of the covid-19 pandemic. But that will...
Pet store Petagogy grows customer base, plans move to downtown Greensburg
Owners of a local pet supply store found a paws-itively purr-fect new location to set up shop, in downtown Greensburg. Petagogy will wrap up business April 18 at its Hempfield location, on Route 30 across from Ferrante’s Lakeview banquet facility, with plans to reopen on April 21 on Greensburg’s East...
Gov. Wolf: Teachers, school staff move to front of line for Johnson & Johnson covid vaccine
Most teachers across Pennsylvania could be vaccinated and ready to return to classrooms by the end of March, state officials said Wednesday as they announced that educators and school staff will receive priority for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Gov. Tom Wolf said giving educators the first shot at the...
Fundraising efforts strong to repair fire-damaged ArtHouse in Homewood
As the fire was burning on Valentine’s Day, Vanessa German walked toward the house. Firefighters stopped her. “They said, ‘You can’t go in there,’ ” said German this week, standing outside the house — the ArtHouse on Hamilton Avenue in Homewood. This was the place she founded. The place for...
Top Pa. senator appoints colleague’s wife to lucrative Gaming Control Board seat
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The top Republican in the Pennsylvania Senate has quietly appointed the spouse of a colleague to a coveted spot...
Editorial: A good step for Penguins fans, but caution is on deck
The Pittsburgh Penguins took their shot two weeks ago when they asked the state for a little more freedom. PPG Paints Arena was only allowed to have 500 people at games — including the players, the coaches, the guy who drives the Zamboni, the workers who run the lights, the...
Abortion concerns prompt archdiocese warning on vaccine
NEW ORLEANS — Roman Catholic leaders in St. Louis and New Orleans are advising Catholics that the covid-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, newly approved for use in the U.S., is “morally compromised” because it is produced using a cell line derived from an aborted fetus. The New Orleans archdiocese...
U.S. forces: Rockets hit airbase in Iraq hosting U.S. troops
BAGHDAD — At least 10 rockets targeted a military base in western Iraq that hosts U.S.-led coalition troops on Wednesday, the coalition and the Iraqi military said. It was not immediately known if there were any casualties. The rockets struck Ain al-Asad airbase in Anbar province at 7:20 a.m., coalition...
Woman claims she was bitten by rat at Allegheny County Jail
Chavail Futrell got picked up on a bench warrant for missing court and was held at Allegheny County Jail on Feb. 8. Even though there were holds on her for minor drug charges out of Allegheny and Fayette counties, both were lifted by Feb. 10. Still, Futrell, 35, wasn’t released....
Pittsburgh police cracking down on off-road vehicles riding on city streets, tip line set up
Pittsburgh public safety officials have created a tip line to crack down on people riding off-road vehicles on city streets and sidewalks. Authorities said the increase in so-called “flash mobs” and “ride-outs” that involve groups of people riding all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles on city streets and...
