Top Stories category, Page 1251
Feds say charges over stolen Pelosi computer by Harrisburg woman being prepared
HARRISBURG — A woman accused of entering the U.S. Capitol illegally during the riot on Jan. 6 will likely be charged with stealing a computer from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a federal prosecutor said in court Tuesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Carlson in Harrisburg said he will...
State Rep. Ed Gainey to challenge incumbent Bill Peduto in race for Pittsburgh mayor
State Rep. Ed Gainey announced Tuesday he is challenging Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto in the Democratic primary. “I’m running for mayor because I know that the working people of Pittsburgh need opportunities for good union jobs with a living wage and benefits, affordable housing, genuine public safety, and a city...
Western Pa. teachers struggle to get information on vaccine distribution
As the state expands the first priority group for the covid-19 vaccine, educators in Western Pennsylvania are struggling with inadequate and often conflicting messages about when teachers and staff could receive their first doses. Teachers and staff inside school buildings fall into Phase 1B of the federal and state guidelines...
Harris vice presidency marks several ‘firsts’
When Alyson Holt pursued a degree in electrical engineering, she was keenly aware of how few fellow students looked like her. “Women were 6% of the students,” said Holt, 48, of Murrysville. Holt came from a family full of technology careers — both grandfathers were engineers, and her grandmother and...
Biden marks nation’s covid grief before inauguration pompVideo
WASHINGTON — Hours from inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden paused on what might have been his triumphal entrance to Washington Tuesday evening to mark instead the national tragedy of the coronavirus pandemic with a moment of collective grief for Americans lost. His arrival coincided with the awful news that the U.S....
Feds: Oakdale man stormed Capitol with baseball bat, stole chair
An Oakdale man climbed through a broken window of the U.S. Capitol building during a Washington, D.C., riot earlier this month, taking a chair from inside and attempting to smash a window with a baseball bat, according to federal charges filed Tuesday. Jorden Mink, 27, faces a half-dozen charges including...
‘Shameful’: U.S. covid deaths top 400K as Trump leaves officeVideo
As President Donald Trump entered the final year of his term last January, the U.S. recorded its first confirmed case of covid-19. Not to worry, Trump insisted, his administration had the virus “totally under control.” Now, in his final hours in office, after a year of presidential denials of reality...
Trump expected to issue flurry of pardons on last full day
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was expected to spend his last full day in office issuing a flurry of pardons and bidding farewell to the American public from a near-deserted White House and surrounded by an extraordinary security presence outside. In one of his final acts as president, Trump was...
Josh Shapiro sworn into 2nd term as Pa. attorney general
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro promised to continue working toward justice for all residents on Tuesday as he was officially sworn into his second term in office. Throughout his 15-minute speech from the state Judicial Center in Harrisburg, Shapiro spoke about inequality in race and socioeconomic status and pledged to...
Pa. residents 65 and older eligible for covid vaccine but most providers don’t have supply
Pennsylvania will prioritize people 65 and older and others with certain conditions for covid-19 vaccination, though many providers say the supply of vaccine is so low they cannot begin vaccinating any more groups. Cindy Findley, deputy secretary of Health and head of the state’s covid-19 vaccine task force, said Tuesday...
McConnell: Trump ‘provoked’ Capitol siege, mob ‘fed lies’
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday explicitly placed blame on President Donald Trump for the deadly riot at the Capitol, saying the mob was “fed lies” and that the president and others “provoked” those intent on overturning Democrat Joe Biden’s election. McConnell’s remarks as he opened the Senate were...
Pa. reports 77 covid deaths, 5,341 cases
Pennsylvania reported 5,341 additional covid-18 cases and 77 deaths Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health. The state now has 777,186 total covid cases and 19,467 total deaths. In January thus far, there have been 136,861 cases and 3,489 deaths reported. Tuesday’s case count is the second lowest in...
Danny Monaco, owner of Hoffstot’s, Chelsea Grille in Oakmont, dies from covid complications
Daniel “Danny” Monaco, owner of Hoffstot’s Cafe Monaco in Oakmont, died Sunday. He was 75. Monaco and his brother, Tom, started the business in 1971, taking over the Oakmont restaurant Hoffstot’s and featuring their grandmother’s Italian recipes. They later opened Cafe Monaco, a smaller restaurant with a different menu, next...
Jeannette woman accused of burning water service crew with sulfuric acid
Police arrested a Jeannette woman Tuesday on charges she poured sulfuric acid drain cleaner in a Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County pipe, burning three workers who were restoring her water service, according to court papers. Deborah Samulski, 61, is charged with weapons of mass destruction, risking a catastrophe, reckless endangerment...
Judge reinforces ruling that legal proceedings can continue against Crack’d Egg
The Crack’d Egg restaurant on Tuesday lost another round of a legal battle in federal bankruptcy court. A decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jeffery A. Deller allows the Allegheny County Health Department to continue proceedings against the Brentwood restaurant. It has repeatedly defied state-mandated mitigation orders requiring the wearing of...
Westmoreland County covid cases down 40% from same point in December
Westmoreland County has six more covid-related deaths and 198 cases Tuesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The new figures bring total deaths in the county to 541 and total cases to 23,451. Thus far in January, there have been 4,118 covid cases and 118 deaths reported. As compared...
12 National Guard members removed from Biden inauguration for ties to fringe groups
Twelve U.S. Army National Guard members have been removed from the presidential inauguration security mission after they were found to have ties with right-wing militia groups or posted extremist views online, according to two U.S. officials. There was no threat to President-elect Joe Biden, they said. The officials, a senior...
Gov. Wolf urges Republican lawmakers to utilize $145 million to support businesses
Gov. Tom Wolf is urging state lawmakers to distribute additional funds to businesses that have suffered during the covid-19 pandemic. “As you all know, many Pennsylvanians — all of us — have been suffering greatly because of the covid-19 pandemic and that includes businesses, through no fault of their own,”...
Allegheny County sees lowest covid case average since mid-November
Allegheny County has 434 more covid-19 cases Tuesday, per the county Health Department. There were no additional covid-related deaths reported Tuesday. Total cases in the county increased to 65,114, while the death total remained at 1,225. Cases reported Tuesday in the county range in age from 1 year to 99,...
Wall Street’s momentum swings back as stocks, yields tick up
Wall Street kicked off a holiday-shortened week with broad gains for stocks Tuesday, as the market recovered most of its losses from last week. The S&P 500 gained 0.8%, pulling to within 1% of its record high set earlier this month. About 60% of the companies in the benchmark index...
Biden picks Pa.’s Dr. Rachel Levine as assistant health secretaryVideo
President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, as his administration’s assistant secretary of health. The move is being championed by civil rights organizations as it would make her the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Biden, in announcing the...
At least 4 hurt in string of shootings in Poconos area; shelter order issuedVideo
MOUNT POCONO — At least four people were injured Monday in a string of shootings that prompted a shelter-in-place order for some residents north of Mount Pocono, authorities said. Mount Pocono Borough Mayor Michael Penn posted on Facebook that there were four or five crime scenes Monday night and “multiple...
Biden won’t end pandemic travel restrictions
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming White House press secretary says his administration does not intend to lift coronavirus travel restrictions for Europe, the U.K., Ireland and Brazil. The message from Jen Psaki came Monday evening after the White House said President Donald Trump had lifted the restrictions for those...
Trump reportedly set to pardon more than 100 people in his final hours as presidentVideo
With just hours left in office, President Donald Trump is expected to dish out pardons and sentence commutations to a varied group of more than 100 criminals, pardons that could include himself and his family members, according to several reports Monday. Trump, whose term ends at noon Wednesday, spent his...
Netflix’s ‘Archive 81’ filming in North Side and Downtown Pittsburgh
In November, a random group of visitors walked into The Government Center, an independent record store on Pittsburgh’s North Side, with no interest in making a purchase. “They came in to search out specific locations,” said owner Josh Cozby, referring to film scouts for Netflix’s production company, looking for spaces...
