Top Stories category, Page 1250
On Day One, Biden targets Trump policies on climate, coronavirusVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is moving swiftly to dismantle Donald Trump’s legacy on his first day in office, signing a series of executive actions that reverse course on immigration, climate change, racial equity and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The new president signed the orders just hours after...
‘Trump House’ creator Leslie Baum Rossi seeks nod to run for open Pa. House seat
Former President Donald Trump might have left the Oval Office, but his influence could color the special election to fill the vacancy in Pennsylvania’s 59th legislative district this spring. Leslie Baum Rossi, the Unity woman who created the Trump House — the red, white and blue shrine to the former...
New Kensington family recalls Biden sharing their grief, comforting a mother who lost son to brain cancer
Dolly Regoli wiped away a tear, paused and composed herself during an interview Wednesday as Joe Biden prepared to take the oath of office. The new president many hope will heal the nation’s wounds has a special place in the heart of the 81-year-old New Kensington woman. Three years ago,...
Allegheny Co. health director says ‘long way to go’ to meet covid vaccine demands
Echoing the concerns of health professionals across the region, the Allegheny County Health Department director said it is not prepared to accommodate Pennsylvania’s expansion of covid-19 vaccine distribution. “I would love to tell you that we can vaccinate all of you who now meet these expanded criteria today,” Dr. Debra...
Not enough covid vaccine to go around, top Western Pa. doctors warn
Top medical leaders in Western Pennsylvania warned Wednesday there is no adequate vaccine supply to meet demand prompted by expanded eligibility in the state, according to a strongly worded letter from the group. Leaders issued the letter in response to the state’s push to get more vaccines into arms, including...
Pa. Supreme Court: Mt. Washington billboard can remain
The state Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with Lamar Advertising, finding that a large vinyl banner the company put on its Mt. Washington billboard nearly five years ago does not violate a Pittsburgh zoning ordinance. The banner in question was placed over a previous electronic billboard overlooking the city in...
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald attends ‘very emotional’ Biden inaugurationVideo
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said he was moved beyond words to witness Wednesday’s presidential inaugural events in person. “Standing in the shadows of the Capitol, you could feel the weight of our history on the shoulders of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Fitzgerald said. At 78, Biden is the...
Next up: $730M Powerball prize after no Mega Millions winner
DES MOINES, Iowa — Thanks to math and bad luck, lottery players will have another shot at a giant jackpot tonight as a $730 million Powerball prize is on the line. The Powerball jackpot is the fifth-largest ever, and it will come only a day after nobody won the even-larger...
Style, fashion play at President Biden’s inauguration
Inauguration Day was a bold and blue day. The new first lady Jill Biden on Wednesday wore an ocean-blue dress by designer Alexandra O’Neill and matching long coat and gloves as she accompanied her husband, President Joe Biden. President Biden donned a blue tie and blue suit and overcoat by...
Pa. game commission proposes ‘unlimited’ antlerless tags for deer hunters statewide
Year-in and year-out, Pennsylvania’s deer hunters look forward to July, which marks the start of the antlerless deer license application process. This year, they may need to pay close attention to the process, especially if they apply for more than one or two permits, because the state is considering revamping...
Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman: ‘Even as we grieved, we grew’Video
The country has a new president and may well have a new literary star. In one of the inauguration’s most talked about moments, poet Amanda Gorman summoned images dire and triumphant Wednesday as she called out to the world “even as we grieved, we grew.” The 22-year-old Gorman referenced everything...
Vaccine eligibility quiz released by Pa. health department
Not sure if you qualify yet for the coronavirus vaccine? Don’t know where to get it if you do qualify? The Pennsylvania Department of Health has released a vaccine eligibility quiz to answer those questions. The quiz gauges a person’s age and if they are living in a nursing or...
Joe Biden takes the helm as 46th president: ‘Democracy has prevailed’
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, declaring that “democracy has prevailed” as he took the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherited a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors. “The will of the people has been...
Kamala Harris sworn in as vice president, breaking gender and racial barriers in American politics
Vice President Kamala Harris broke the barrier Wednesday that has kept men at the top ranks of American power for more than two centuries when she took the oath to hold the nation’s second-highest office. Harris was sworn in as the nation’s first female vice president — and the first...
Allegheny County covid hospitalizations drop by half in past month
Hospitalizations related to covid-19 have dropped by more than half in the past month in Allegheny County. There are 386 coronavirus patients hospitalized, down from 793 on Dec. 20, according to data released Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The county reached its peak on Dec. 16 when 881...
Penn Township police charge man with transmitting obscene photos of ex-girlfriend
Penn Township police this week charged a McKeesport man with posting partially nude photographs of woman on social media. Det. Brad Buchsbaum charged Shawn Himich Jr., 24, with 12 counts each of dissemination of intimate materials and illegally transmitting obscene and sexual materials. Buchsbaum said in court documents the woman,...
Inauguration Live: VP talks up ‘American aspiration’ in 1st speechVideo
9:40 Kamala Harris talked about the power of “American aspiration” in her first speech to the nation as vice president. With the Washington Monument lit up behind her Wednesday night, Harris called on Americans to remember “we are undaunted in our belief that we shall overcome, that we will rise...
Trump predicts ‘success’ for new administrationVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he thinks the new administration will have “great success” and claims to have laid the foundation for it. In making his brief farewell remarks Wednesday morning at Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews, Trump said the new administration has the “foundation to do something really spectacular.”...
Trump leaves White House, says ‘It’s been a great honor’Video
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump pumped his fist and waved as he departed the White House on Marine One Wednesday for the last time as president, leaving behind a legacy of chaos and tumult and a nation bitterly divided. Four years after standing on stage at his own inauguration and painting...
On Day One, Biden to undo Trump policies on climate, virusVideo
In his first hours as president, Joe Biden will aim to strike at the heart of President Donald Trump’s policy legacy, signing a series of executive actions that reverse his predecessor’s orders on immigration, climate change and handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden on Wednesday will end construction on Trump’s...
Trump pardons ex-strategist Steve Bannon, dozens of othersVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon in the final hours of his White House term as part of a flurry of clemency action that benefited more than 140 people, including rap performers, ex-members of Congress and other allies of him and his family. The last-minute...
Looking back at Trump’s strong connection with Western Pennsylvania
Outgoing President Trump’s frequent visits to Western Pennsylvania were emblematic of his time in office. He brought aspirational ideas. He made questionable claims. He galvanized supporters and detractors alike. He made his first official Pennsylvania campaign stop in Pittsburgh in April 2016. Trump, then the front-runner for the GOP nomination,...
Trib Total Media $1 million Shop Local Marketing Grant program extended
Trib Total Media will extend its 2021 Shop Local Marketing Grant program, following a strong response from local businesses that claimed the first allotment of funds. The program was launched in April 2020 in the jaws of the pandemic. It supports locally-owned businesses by matching their advertising purchases — in...
Biden immigration plan opposed by GOP, conservative groupsVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers and conservative groups opposed President-elect Joe Biden’s forthcoming immigration plan Tuesday as massive amnesty for people in the U.S. illegally, underscoring that the measure faces an uphill fight in a Congress that Democrats control just narrowly. In a further complication, several pro-immigration groups said they would...
Judge: Port Authority cannot ban Black Lives Matter masks
A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that the Port Authority of Allegheny County cannot ban its employees from wearing Black Lives Matters masks, finding that a policy banning political speech was “arbitrary and over broad.” U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan said in his 45-page opinion that Port Authority’s argument...
