Top Stories category, Page 1225
Several Pennsylvania organizations to participate in Problem Gambling Awareness Month
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is working in conjunction with other state entities to promote Problem Gambling Awareness Month in March. Throughout the month, the gaming control board’s Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling will join the state Department of Drug and Alcohol, the Pennsylvania Lottery, the Council on Compulsive...
Stimulus bill could bring money to expand high-speed internet in Westmoreland
Officials with the Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland County say the region is on track for growth in the coming year, with the expansion of high-speed internet access a top priority. Connection President and CEO Jim Smith, addressing the economic development group’s annual meeting last week via Zoom, said events...
Exchange student from Italy adjusts to life in A-K Valley during pandemicVideo
Beatrice Latina will take back to Rome a memorable souvenir from her experience living in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Her covid recovery story. Latina, nicknamed “Bi Bi” by her friends, is from Italy and the sole foreign exchange student at Highlands High School in Harrison. She tested positive for covid-19 about...
Life during covid: Westmoreland college professor helps students, families juggle demands
Editor’s note: This is an occasional series examining how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of members of our community. It might have been a matter of life experience or natural resiliency, but whatever it was, Cheryl Miller was positioned to thrive before the coronavirus sent the world spinning....
Johnson & Johnson’s 1-dose shot cleared, giving U.S. 3rd covid-19 vaccine
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. Health experts are anxiously awaiting a one-and-done option to help speed vaccinations, as they race...
Editorial: Real progress at nursing homes is a welcome covid success story
There are more than 700 nursing homes in Pennsylvania. More than 88,000 people, mostly older individuals, live there — whether for the long term or a short stay. For the last year, those facilities have been under nervous pressure as seniors and those with preexisting medical conditions like diabetes and...
Toomey censure remains on hold with Pennsylvania Republicans
As former President Trump prepared for his first public appearance before the national Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday, the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee remained stalled on demands by county leaders that the state GOP censure Sen. Pat Toomey for his vote to convict Trump for incitement of insurrection. What...
Volunteers gather for Seton Hill’s Take the Day On service eventVideo
For Jack Schechterly, getting his hands dirty on a farm is nothing new. So when Schechterly, 20, a sophomore at Seton Hill University, saw an opportunity to volunteer at Stoneybrook Foundation in Acme on Saturday morning, he took it. “We just wanted to give back to the community, and this...
Westmoreland County records 94 covid-19 cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 94 new cases of the coronavirus in Westmoreland County, marking the fifth time in two weeks the count neared triple digits. The county last saw a triple-digit count Feb. 3 and 12 of the 24 days since then have remained below 75...
Pennsylvania reports nearly 3,400 more covid cases, 132 deaths
Pennsylvania health officials on Saturday reported 3,361 new coronavirus cases, as hospitalizations and case counts continue to decrease in the Keystone State. The new data bring the total cases to 929,697. That’s a jump of about 18,100 additional cases from this time last week. Two weeks ago, the increase was...
313 new coronavirus cases reported in Allegheny County, 11 deaths
Allegheny County on Saturday recorded 313 new coronavirus cases, as case counts have seen a relative bump up and hospitalizations have significantly increased. Reports haven’t reached 500 cases in nearly six weeks and the county hasn’t reported any 1,000-case days in the past eight weeks, according to data from the...
Leechburg, New Ken food distributions canceled for 2nd week in a row because truck didn’t come
For the second Saturday in a row, people who showed up to receive food from churches in Leechburg and New Kensington went home empty handed. The pastors of Kiski Valley Community Church and The River church in New Kensington were forced to cancel the drive-thru food distributions because the food...
Doughbar Pizzeria & Rotisserie to open on Pittsburgh’s South Side
A shuttered Mexican restaurant on the South Side will soon be home to pizza and rotisserie chicken. Doughbar Pizzeria & Rotisserie restaurant has taken over the space on East Carson Street, with a planned opening ona March 10. The menu will feature 14- and 12-inch pizzas in New York style...
House passes Biden’s $1.9-trillion covid-19 relief bill
WASHINGTON — The House approved a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill in a win for President Joe Biden, even as top Democrats tried assuring agitated progressives that they’d revive their derailed drive to boost the minimum wage. The new president’s vision for flushing cash to individuals, businesses, states and cities...
Westmoreland looks for ways to stop decades-long population decline
Cora Jean Black doesn’t question why her once-white sheers are stained a “grizzly gray” that take up to six washes to restore their natural color. The reason whirs by her daily in the form of big rigs and dump trucks either traveling along the sea of highways that snake through...
Light of Life Rescue Mission moves to new, more spacious location on the North Side
The Light of Life Rescue Mission known for lending a hand to the homeless, is also extending its reach. It unveiled a new location on Wednesday that is much larger than the original one and can help it serve more people. “This has been 25 years in the making,” said...
‘Shark Tank’ circles back to highlight Murrysville company’s success story
The home page for Murrysville-based company FlexScreen has a concise message: “The world’s first and only flexible window screen.” It seems like such a simple concept, even company founder Joe Altieri couldn’t believe no one had done it. And his execution of it was so effective that he had multiple...
Several officials and business owners rally against a proposed PennDOT I-79 bridge tollVideo
A proposed toll to pay for a bridge widening project along I-79 in the South Fayette area is unnecessary and would cause undo hardship to motorists, as well as residents and business owners of several nearby communities, according to state and local officials. “This toll is a tax,” state Sen....
Despite pandemic, UPMC rakes in record-high $23.1 billion in 2020 revenue
The coronavirus pandemic did not thwart UPMC from raking in a record-high $23.1 billion in 2020 operating revenue — nearly $2.5 billion more than the nonprofit health system generated in 2019 and $10 billion more than it did five years ago, data released Friday show. UPMC Chief Financial Officer Ed...
Tennessee: Vaccines stolen, given to children in 1 county
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s top health officials revealed Friday that the state has requested federal law enforcement investigate alleged theft of coronavirus vaccine doses in the state’s most populous county. They also announced that a volunteer in Shelby County improperly vaccinated two children despite the shot not being cleared for...
U.S. advisers endorse single-shot covid-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson
WASHINGTON — U.S. health advisers endorsed a one-dose covid-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson on Friday, putting the nation on the cusp of adding an easier-to-use option to fight the pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to quickly follow the recommendation and make J&J’s shot the third vaccine...
Westmoreland County gets fewer covid vaccine doses than smaller counties; talks begin about regional health department
Pennsylvania Department of Health officials confirmed that Westmoreland County was shortchanged in the number of covid-19 vaccine doses allocated since December as local and regional leaders continue to highlight mounting issues with the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. County Commissioner Doug Chew said analysis of state data found that...
Philips Respironics to cut jobs at East Huntingdon repair, service center
Officials at Philips Respironics, a medical equipment manufacturer that produces ventilators and sleeping equipment, confirmed Friday that the company plans to close the sleep and respiratory care services at its East Huntingdon facility. A spokeswoman for the international manufacturer said the shutdown is part of an ongoing effort to “enhance...
Pa. health official: Still no timeline for next phase of covid vaccination processVideo
There remains no estimate on when Pennsylvania will move to the next phase of its vaccination plan, which includes a slew of essential workers as well as first responders and teachers, a health official said Friday. “I don’t think we’re putting out estimates at this point,” Health Department Senior Adviser...
John DeFazio, former Allegheny County Council president and pro wrestler, diesVideo
Former professional wrestler Johnny DeFazio, who parlayed his athletic prowess into a seat on the Allegheny County Council, died Friday morning. He was 80 and lived in Shaler. A cause of death was not yet known. DeFazio first made a name for himself as “Jumping Johnny DeFazio” on the popular...
