Top Stories category, Page 1273
Body found wrapped in plastic in Brighton Heights identified as missing person
A body found wrapped in plastic outside of a home in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood has been identified as Deric Bryan Davis, authorities said Wednesday. Pittsburgh police said Davis, 53, of Brighton Heights, was last in contact with his family on Dec. 14. Police asked for the public’s help in...
Pennsylvania’s covid testing capacity ready for potential holiday influx, state officials say
In the nine months since testing for covid-19 became available, the number of tests performed in one day across Pennsylvania has increased exponentially, and the state’s testing director said Tuesday he hopes testing capacity will continue to improve and turnaround time will continue to decrease. In early March, when the...
South Greensburg steel fabricator settles sex harassment suit for $80,000
A South Greensburg steel fabricator agreed to pay $80,000 to a fired female welder. The worker claimed co-workers harassed her with sexist remarks, that a foreman told her to clean feces in the women’s bathroom that her co-workers had dirtied, and then was fired four days after revealing she had...
Former Pittsburgh dentist among Trump’s late-term pardons
Alfonso Costa, a former Fox Chapel dentist who received a presidential pardon of his 2008 insurance fraud conviction, was a one-time political donor to President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Guiliani. According to records on file with the Federal Elections Commission, Costa, a year before he was sentenced to serve...
Trump assails covid relief bill, suggests he may not signVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is assailing the bipartisan $900 billion pandemic relief package that Congress just passed and is suggesting that he may not sign it. Trump complained in a video that he tweeted out Tuesday night that the bill delivered too much money to foreign countries, but not...
Trump pardons 15, commutes 5 sentences, including GOP allies
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned 15 people, including Republican allies, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad. Trump also commuted the sentences of five others. While it is not unusual for presidents to grant...
Pa. Supreme Court: Doctors cannot be sued for failing to commit Western Psych shooter
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a lawsuit against the doctors who failed to involuntarily commit a man who killed one person and injured others in a March 2012 shooting at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic cannot go forward. In a 6-1 opinion, the court found that the...
North Huntingdon auto dealership spreads Christmas joy with boxes of foodVideo
Like millions of other Americans, it’s been a terrible year for Michelle Davis of Monroeville. She lost her job months ago as a food delivery person for InstaCart when the economy plunged and covid spread across the region. Her father died last week in New York of a non-covid-related illness,...
PIAA files suit claiming it should not be subject to Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is suing the commonwealth and the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, alleging that it should not be subject to the state’s Right to Know Law. The complaint, filed in Commonwealth Court on Friday, comes nearly 12 years after Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law took effect...
Jerome Bettis plays Santa to Pittsburgh nonprofit after theft of gifts
The Grinch tried to steal Christmas from a nonprofit collecting donations for children in need, but former Pittsburgh Steelers star Jerome Bettis deftly stepped in to help them spread holiday cheer. Family Resources, a Pittsburgh-based organization that fights child abuse, was accepting donations for local children in need during the...
Biden addresses covid bill, holiday pandemic precautionsVideo
WILMINGTON, Del. — President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday expressed empathy with struggling families and applauded Congress for passing the coronavirus relief bill as the nation deals with a covid-19 surge that’s casting a shadow over the Christmas holiday. He called out to frontline workers, scientists, researchers, clinical trial participants and...
Pittsburgh police brass tell city council they’re committed to reform
Pittsburgh police Chief Scott Schubert has walked a beat in about 30 of the city’s 90 neighborhoods in a quest to hear from the people about how they feel he’s doing the job. When he gets to all 90, he plans to start over because he wants to know what...
Pitt gets $2.5 million contract to study health effects of fracking
The Department of Health on Tuesday announced a $2.5 million contract with the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health to study possible health effects of fracking – particularly in Western Pennsylvania. “My administration is committed to ensuring that Pennsylvania is a healthy, vibrant place for all who call...
Man accused of stealing donation jar from Greensburg pizza shop
Greensburg police said a submarine sandwich helped lead them to a suspect accused of stealing a donation jar from a local pizza shop. Gabriel A. Smith, 41, of Jeannette is charged with theft and receiving stolen property in connection with the theft of approximately $100 in donations collected in a...
Pennsylvania to freelance workers: Checks will be in the mail, but don’t know when
State officials want to assure about 500,000 jobless Pennsylvanians who are independent contractors, freelancers and tech workers that they will continue to get their unemployment benefits under the new $900 billion covid relief package, but they don’t when the checks will be in the mail. Labor and Industry Acting Secretary...
Pa. reports 7,962 new covid cases; 36% of total cases have come in December
Pennsylvania reported 7,962 new covid cases and 231 new deaths Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health. After the new numbers, total cases in the state are now 571,551 and total deaths are 14,212. In December, there have been 210,087 cases and 3,829 deaths reported, which are about 36%...
Westmoreland County covid numbers continue to make December worst month of pandemic
As the month winds down, covid cases and deaths in Westmoreland County continue to make December the county’s worst month of the pandemic. There were 302 new covid-19 cases and nine deaths reported Tuesday. Those figures bring total cases to 17,079 and 358 total deaths in the county. This month,...
Allegheny County reports 10 new covid deaths, 797 new cases
The Allegheny County Health Department reported 10 new covid-19 deaths Tuesday. There were 797 new covid cases reported, as well. After the new figures, there are 47,908 total cases and 790 total deaths in Allegheny County. There have been 19,504 cases and 281 deaths reported in December thus far, about...
Peduto: ‘$600 is not enough’ to help families struggling during pandemic
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he is “profoundly disappointed” that funding for cities and states was left out of the $900 billion pandemic relief package Congress passed Monday night. “With the exclusion of cities from this stimulus package, our first responders and front-line essential workers who have worked tirelessly during...
Will Western Pa. get a white Christmas? Meteorologist weighs in
If you’re dreaming of a white Christmas this year, your dreams will likely come true. Western Pennsylvania residents should expect to wake to new fallen snow on Christmas morning, said Myranda Fullerton, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Moon. She said this Christmas will be cold, windy and...
Editorial: Learn from the 1st covid relief package
As leaders in Washington come to a new coronavirus relief plan, it would seem the old one had been exhausted. The money allotted to help people through the pandemic was long since spent, right? Wrong. While some of the most obvious chunks — such as the stimulus checks sent in...
Congress approves $900B covid relief bill, sending to TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — Congress passed a $900 billion pandemic relief package Monday night that would finally deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in covid-19 cases and deaths. Lawmakers tacked on a $1.4 trillion catchall spending bill and thousands of pages...
Point State Park gets to keep its Christmas tree
Looks like the Tree of Lights will be in Pittsburgh next year after all. The state decided to continue the Pittsburgh tradition by permitting the picturesque tree to be erected at Point State Park next year. In a reversal of a decision announced last month, the state Department of Conservation...
Restaurant and bar owners decry Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders, encourage others to openVideo
“Just open.” The words, spoken by Joe Tambellini, resonated with dozens of restaurant and tavern owners who gathered in a parking lot outside of Al’s Cafe, a restaurant in Bethel Park, on Monday. They were there for a “Rights for Restaurants” rally organized by the restaurant’s owner, Rod Ambrogi, and...
Tensions rise inside and outside of Oregon’s CapitolVideo
SALEM, Ore. — State police declared an unlawful assembly Monday morning at Oregon’s Capitol building as protesters opposed to covid-19 restrictions attempted to force their way in during the third special legislative session. Lawmakers are at the Capitol to consider measures that would provide $800 million in relief to people...
