Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1272
AstraZeneca: U.S. data shows vaccine effective for all ages
LONDON — AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine provided strong protection against sickness and eliminated hospitalizations and deaths from the disease across all age groups in a late-stage study in the United States, the company announced Monday. AstraZeneca said its experts did not identify any safety concerns related to the vaccine, including finding...
A 1917 Sewickley Heights mansion is on the market for $4.9MVideo
At the top of the circular driveway, a mansion appears. The 1917 Colonial home on Pink House Lane sits atop Sewickley Heights on a 10-acre lot. The home is for sale at $4.9 million through Berkshire Hathaway HS. “This house has history,” said Beverly McQuone, who with Susie Reuter are...
Local AmeriCorps members help land conservation, educationVideo
On a brisk Saturday morning, an AmeriCorps member with the Westmoreland Land Trust was overseeing the installation of three interpretative tablets by land trust members in the 58-acre nature reserve in the western section of North Huntingdon, just south of Brush Creek. The tablets, attached to wooden posts buried 30...
Officials investigating after Penn Hills man is badly burned in fire
Police are investigating the cause of a fire after a Penn Hills man was taken to Mercy Hospital with severe burns. Penn Hills fire Chief Joe McMeekin told Trib news partner WPXI the fire does not appear to be an accident. WPXI reported McMeekan said it appeared the man had...
Speakers discuss discrimination, violence and stereotypes at vigil for Atlanta victims
A large crowd gathered Sunday night on the portico of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh for a candlelight vigil remembering the victims of recent shootings around Atlanta. Eight people were killed in the March 16 shooting spree, six of whom were Asian American women. Police say the gunman had...
New York Republican Rep. Tom Reed, accused of misconduct, will retire
U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, a Republican from western New York who was accused last week of rubbing a female lobbyist’s back and unhooking her bra without her consent in 2017, apologized to the woman on Sunday and announced that he will not run for reelection next year. Reed, 49, said...
Married 66 years, husband, wife die minutes apart from coronavirus
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Bill and Esther Ilnisky spent nearly seven decades together as Christian ministers and missionaries, working in the Caribbean and Middle East before preaching for 40 years in Florida. They complemented each other — he the bookworm, she outgoing and charismatic. One without the other seemed unthinkable....
Amid unruly spring break crowd, police chief says Miami partying ‘couldn’t go on any longer’Video
MIAMI — Pointing to over 1,000 arrests in one of the nation’s top party spots, Miami Beach officials warned Sunday that the unruly spring break crowd gathering by the thousands, fighting in the streets, destroying restaurant property and refusing to wear masks has become a serious threat to public safety....
Alle-Kiski CareerLink GED program flourishing
When things didn’t work out for Madison Gourley after she left Kiski Area High School in her senior year to move away with her new husband, she returned home and earned her GED diploma. She is on her way to nursing school at Westmoreland County Community College in the fall....
Apollo Cemetery cleanup set; Scout to finish cleaning almost 100 veteran tombstones
After a rallying cry two years ago, the efforts to restore the Apollo Cemetery in Kiski Township have been bolstered by volunteers, donations and the elbow grease of Boy Scouts. Volunteers and donations are needed for a spring cleanup from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 27. The Apollo...
AP sources: Iran threatens U.S. Army post and top general
Iran has made threats against Fort McNair, an Army post in the U.S. capital, and against the Army’s vice chief of staff, two senior U.S. intelligence officials said. They said communications intercepted by the National Security Agency in January showed that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard discussed mounting “USS Cole-style attacks” against...
Rivals take aim at Pa. state Sen. Doug Mastriano’s WWI research
HARRISBURG — The World War I exploits of Sgt. Alvin C. York netted Gary Cooper a best actor Academy Award and Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano a degree, a book deal — and academic backlash. Mastriano had a deep interest in York long before he led anti-mask protests last year,...
Gun waiting periods rare in U.S. states but more may be coming
Not long before the deadly Atlanta-area shootings spread fear and anger through Asian American communities nationwide, police say the attacker made a legal purchase: a 9 mm handgun. Within hours, they say, he had killed eight people, seven of them women and six of Asian descent, in a rampage targeting...
A year into pandemic, veterans halls ‘barely hanging’ on
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Paul Guilbeault knew the writing was on the wall for the last Veterans of Foreign Wars post in this city south of Boston when businesses across Massachusetts were ordered to close as the coronavirus pandemic took hold last March. Within six months, the 90-year-old Korean War...
Rapid covid-19 vaccine rollout backfired in some U.S. states
Despite the clamor to speed up the U.S. vaccination drive against covid-19 and get the country back to normal, the first three months of the rollout suggest faster is not necessarily better. A surprising new analysis found that states such as South Carolina, Florida and Missouri that raced ahead of...
Whiskey makers face worsening hangover from trade dispute
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A hangover from Trump-era tariff disputes could become even more painful for American whiskey distillers unless their entanglement in a trans-Atlantic trade fight is resolved soon. Bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey were left out of recent breakthroughs to start rebuilding U.S. trade relations with the European...
Man, woman arrested after fight outside North Apollo bar
A Vandergrift man was jailed after police said he fought with officers who were arresting him in connection to a disturbance Friday night outside a bar in North Apollo. Noah Helm, 24, is accused of becoming combative with a Kiski Township police officer as he attempted to arrest Helm along...
Editorial: State lawmakers need daily expenses accountability
What does it take to get you through the day? The price of your breakfast. A mid- morning cup of coffee. Lunch, a snack, dinner. A room for the night. How much would that total? For some state legislators, it’s quite the figure. A Spotlight PA dive into the government...
Election Code proposals trigger debate in Harrisburg as hearings progress
State lawmakers are weighing sweeping changes to Pennsylvania’s election laws as candidates cautiously test the waters for a 2022 mid-term election that could once again put the state in the bull’s-eye of the national debate over election reform. In Pennsylvania, where unsuccessful court challenges to the 2020 presidential election continued...
PennDOT to close 86-mile stretch of Turnpike overnight Saturday
An 86-mile stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be closed in both directions late Saturday night into early Sunday morning, because of construction. Between 11 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday, construction crews will be working to remove the Country Ridge Road bridge, which carries traffic over the turnpike in...
Several hundred, including actress Sandra Oh, rally in Oakland to ‘Stop Asian Hate’Video
Several hundred people gathered in Oakland on Saturday for a “Stop Asian Hate” rally. The rally, organized by Thrash the State, was held to protest an increase in violence against Asian Americans. Actress Sandra Oh, who is in town filming the Netflix series, “The Chair,” made a surprise appearance. A...
Missing Pittsburgh woman found dead, police say
A Penn Hills woman who had been reported missing Friday was found dead in Wilkinsburg, according to police and the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. Maxine Gillis, 79, who suffered from a medical condition, was found in the 2200 block of William Penn Highway, the medical examiner said Saturday. The...
Man arrested after 12-year-old boy stabbed in Liberty Avenue McDonald’s
A Pittsburgh man has been arrested in connection with the stabbing of a 12-year-old boy inside the McDonald’s restaurant in Downtown Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon, police said. Charles Edward Turner, 51, was charged by Pittsburgh police with criminal attempt homicide, four counts of aggravated assault, two counts of simple assault and...
A huge spike in Medicaid enrollment in Pa. shows how devastating the coronavirus has been
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 — There are many ways to measure the pain being felt by people in Cumberland County. More families in the...
Covid cases spiking rapidly in Pennsylvania and Allegheny, Westmoreland counties
The latest covid-19 spike that health officials have been warning about appears to have arrived in Pennsylvania. On Saturday, the state posted 4,213 new covid cases, the highest single-day tally since Feb. 7 (4,717). Over the past week, the seven-day average of new cases (2,888) has risen more than 16%....
