Top Stories category, Page 1267
Butter sculpture contest, ag tours among new virtual features of 2021 PA Farm ShowVideo
The state Department of Agriculture has a suggestion for using butter left over from holiday baking. Keystone State residents 5 or older are invited to enter “Butter Up!” — a new contest that is part of this year’s virtual Pennsylvania Farm Show, set for Jan. 9-16. Because of pandemic-related restrictions,...
Allegheny County ends year with over 53,000 covid-19 cases, 955 deaths
Allegheny County ended the year with a total of 53,809 coronavirus cases and 955 deaths. The county on Thursday reported 811 additional coronavirus cases and added 10 deaths to the total. The case numbers have been trending down this week after higher totals were reported in the beginning of the...
Pork, sauerkraut and other traditions to ring in a prosperous new year
After a tumultuous 2022, we could all use a little luck next year. Here are some traditions to ring in 2023: Eating pork and sauerkraut The New Year’s Day meal, popular in Western Pennsylvania, comes from the Pennsylvania Dutch, who brought the Germanic tradition of eating pork and sauerkraut with...
Weather advisory issued as freezing rain expected on New Year’s Day
The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for Southwestern Pennsylvania on Friday morning, with freezing rain in the forecast. The advisory is in effect from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the region could receive .10 inches of freezing rain, coating roads and sidewalks, according to the weather...
TV Talk: ‘The Bachelor,’ filmed at Nemacolin, is among midseason broadcast showsVideo
Premieres of new, returning and delayed-by-the-pandemic series begin rolling out on broadcast networks next week, including the 25th edition of ABC’s “The Bachelor” (8 p.m. Jan. 4, WTAE-TV), filmed this fall under a covid-19 quarantine bubble at Nemacolin in Farmington, Fayette County. It’s the first time the show has starred...
Sports stories of the year: Steelers’ historic start; Pirates achieve infamy
Here we are, in the victory formation to end 2020, looking to run out the clock on a year you probably never want to see again. But before we get to 2021, here’s a look back at some of the top sports stories of the year. Steelers’ record start, sobering...
Here’s what else made news in 2020: Stories you might have forgottenVideo
Despite what you might remember, 2020 was not all about the coronavirus, presidential election and racial unrest. In Western Pennsylvania alone, we were struck by natural disaster and a disaster on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. We looked on with envy as our neighbors in Harrison and Leechburg became millionaires and cheered...
Pregnant during the pandemic: How a Gilpin family copedVideo
Editor’s note: This is the final story in a series highlighting five people whose lives were reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic. When Shera Rugh-Arner and her husband, Jason, found out she was pregnant, they were a bit concerned. The January news was exciting because they were welcoming a new child...
Sluggish vaccine campaign raises specter of U.S. dysfunctionVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials acknowledged that a covid-19 immunization campaign is crawling out of the starting gate, raising the prospect that the nation’s all-in bet on vaccines could be afflicted by the same dysfunction that hobbled other measures to contain the pandemic. Only about 2.7 million Americans had been...
Trump to return to White House early from Florida vacation
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump is cutting short his Florida holiday vacation and returning to Washington on Thursday, one day earlier than expected for reasons the White House didn’t explain. The White House announced the abrupt change in the president’s schedule late Wednesday, hours after Sen. Josh...
Nemacolin resort closes for holidays, plans to reopen next week when covid restrictions lift
If you’d hoped to usher out 2020 at the posh Nemacolin resort in Fayette County, you are out of luck. Nemacolin closed Dec. 22 in an effort to do its part to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. The luxury retreat does not plan to reopen until Monday. The closure...
California has nation’s 2nd confirmed case of coronavirus variantVideo
California on Wednesday announced the nation’s second confirmed case of the new and apparently more contagious variant of the coronavirus, offering a strong indication that the infection is spreading more widely in the United States. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the infection found in Southern California during an online conversation with...
Youngstown’s Tin Lizzy continues to defy covid orders as late bartender memorialized
For the second time this year, the Tin Lizzy Tap Room and Restaurant in Youngstown has run afoul of state officials for violating Gov. Tom Wolf’s temporary restrictions meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. But despite the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture ordering the business to close this...
Allegheny County ‘getting faster’ at distributing covid-19 vaccines, health director says
Allegheny County Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen pledged that the region’s vaccine distribution is on track to ramp up as 2021 begins. “We’ve now got a rhythm and we’re getting faster,” Bogen said during a virtual news conference Wednesday afternoon. Bogen shrugged off criticism over the local pace of administering...
Census Bureau to miss deadline, jeopardizing Trump plan
The Census Bureau plans to announce it will miss a year-end deadline for handing in numbers used for divvying up congressional seats, a delay that could undermine President Donald Trump’s efforts to exclude people in the country illegally from the count if the figures aren’t turned in before President-elect Joe...
‘Gilligan’s Island’ star Dawn Wells dies, covid-19 cited
LOS ANGELES — Dawn Wells, who played the wholesome Mary Ann among a misfit band of shipwrecked castaways on the 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” died Wednesday of causes related to COVID-19, her publicist said. She was 82. Wells died peacefully at a living facility in Los Angeles, publicist Harlan Boll...
Casino at Westmoreland Mall set to reopen Monday as emergency covid restrictions end
The sound of jackpots will once again fill the air as Live! Casino Pittsburgh at Westmoreland Mall is set to reopen Monday at 8:01 a.m. — one minute after state-mandated restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic expire. That means a lot of people will be getting back...
U.K. is 1st to authorize easy-to-handle AstraZeneca vaccine
LONDON — Britain became the first country to authorize AstraZeneca’s inexpensive, easy-to-handle covid-19 vaccine Wednesday, gaining another weapon against the virus amid a resurgence so severe that the government extended lockdowns to three-quarters of England’s population. The country also changed course by deciding to dispense the first dose of its...
What Pittsburgh region needs to know about U.K. coronavirus strain
A new and seemingly more contagious strain of the coronavirus was diagnosed this week in a Colorado National Guardsman, bringing about a slew of questions regarding its severity and lethality. Dr. Amesh Adalja, a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease and critical care physician, offered his insights into what this new variant of...
Gov. Wolf: New Pa. covid restrictions to end Monday
Come Monday, it won’t just be a new year. It may be a new start for the beleaguered restaurant and bar industries that have borne the brunt of coronavirus restrictions in 2020. “It will be good to get people back to work,” Bill Fuller, corporate chef and president of Big...
Police: Suspect in McKeesport police shooting hid out in West VirginiaVideo
The man suspected of shooting and wounding a McKeesport police officer earlier this month likely spent the majority of his nine days on the run in West Virginia, authorities said Wednesday, a day after his arrest in the neighboring state. Koby Francis, 22, will face an extradition hearing after the...
GOP-led Senate rejects vote on Trump’s push for $2K checksVideo
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shut the door Wednesday on President Donald Trump’s push for $2,000 covid-19 relief checks, declaring Congress has provided enough pandemic aid as he blocked another attempt by Democrats to force a vote. The GOP leader made clear he is unwilling to budge, despite...
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley to contest Biden’s Electoral College winVideo
WASHINGTON — Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Wednesday he will raise objections next week when Congress meets to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the election, forcing House and Senate votes that are likely to delay — but in no way alter — the final certification of Biden’s win. President...
Amid fewer new cases, Westmoreland County reports 15 more covid deaths
On Wednesday, Westmoreland County saw its latest report of new covid-19 cases cut by more than half from Tuesday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported the county added 215 new cases. On Tuesday, the county added 466. The lower number of new cases brings the county back to its recent...
Pennsylvania posts 4th highest single-day covid-related death report
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported another 8,984 coronavirus cases Wednesday. Despite the high number, it actually brought the state’s seven-day average of new cases down more than 18% from a week ago. A week ago, Pennsylvania’s seven-day average of new cases was 8,827. With Wednesday’s report, that average dropped...
