Top Stories category, Page 1278
Duquesne University cutting faculty to reduce costs
Duquesne University is moving forward with faculty cuts, informing some non-tenured instructors this week that their contracts would not be renewed. The university had announced measures to reduce faculty as early as Dec. 4, according to an email shared with the Tribune-Review. “As a first step, Duquesne has offered a...
Marijuana milestone: more than 100 dispensaries open in Pa.
Most Pennsylvanians don’t have far to travel to buy medical marijuana. The state’s 100th dispensary opened last week in Chester, quickly followed by the 101st in York and 102nd in Hazelton, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Patients have spent more than $1.1 billion at dispensaries across the state...
U.S. plans new charges in 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department plans to unseal new charges in the coming days in connection with the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, according to a person familiar with the case. The bombing of Flight 103, whose victims included dozens...
Pittsburgh council on track to adopt 2021 budget that doesn’t cut police fundingVideo
Pittsburgh City Council is set to vote Monday on a 2021 budget that doesn’t make any of the cuts to police funding that some residents have repeatedly requested. The $564 million spending plan introduced Nov. 9 by Mayor Bill Peduto doesn’t increase taxes. However, if federal coronavirus relief packages are...
Winter storm pounds Pittsburgh region, officials ask residents to refrain from travelVideo
As heavy snow continues to fall across southwest Pennsylvania, transportation officials slapped restrictions on some area highways, including reduced speed limits, and asked residents to stay at home if possible. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission enacted restrictions that began at 1 p.m. on several portions of the toll road, including a...
2 men arrested after multiple altercations at Jeannette home
Two Jeannette men were arrested by city police on multiple criminal charges after, police say, they got into two altercations Monday with residents on the 400 block of Guy Street. Caleb N. Hall and Jaiden Crosby-Anderson, both 18, were arrested on multiple counts of simple assault and disorderly conduct and...
Westmoreland County surpasses 15K coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County became the state’s 11th county to reach 15,000 coronavirus cases on Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 346 new cases, bringing the county’s total to 15,148. Of those new cases, 210 are confirmed and 136 are probable. In the past month, coronavirus cases in Westmoreland County have...
Allegheny County sees most new coronavirus cases in state
Allegheny County saw the highest total of new coronavirus cases in the state Wednesday. The Allegheny County Health Department reported 1,074 new cases, bringing the county’s total to 43,007. Allegheny County was followed by Philadelphia (807), Luzerne (485), Montgomery (422) and York (421). Of the new cases, 761 were confirmed...
Negotiators near agreement on long-delayed covid-19 aid bill
WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators closed in Wednesday on a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package that would deliver additional “paycheck protection” subsidies to businesses, $300 per week jobless checks, and $600 or so stimulus payments to most Americans. The long-delayed measure was coming together as Capitol Hill combatants finally fashioned difficult...
Pittsburgh restaurant raided after police reported illegal alcohol sales
After two undercover visits, state and Pittsburgh police on Friday raided a Strip District restaurant they said was serving alcohol without a liquor license. Troopers from the state Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement seized 116 gallons of malt or brewed alcohol and about 1,035 liters of liquor and wine from...
Police: Man shot in leg after traffic collision in Pittsburgh’s South Side
A man was critically wounded after being shot in the leg during an argument about a crash Tuesday night in Pittsburgh’s South Side, police said. Public Safety spokesperson Cara Cruz said officers responded to calls of a man found shot near the intersection of East Carson and South 18th streets...
Cyberattack may have exposed deep U.S. secrets; damage yet unknownVideo
BOSTON — Some of America’s most deeply held secrets may have been stolen in a disciplined, monthslong operation being blamed on elite Russian government hackers. The possibilities of what might have been purloined are mind-boggling. Could hackers have obtained nuclear secrets? Covid-19 vaccine data? Blueprints for next-generation weapons systems? It...
Pittsburgh ‘Menorah Parade’ lights up the cityVideo
Despite months of pandemic gloom, the lights of Hanukkah shined bright Tuesday evening on Pittsburgh’s East End. More than 75 vehicles illuminated with menorahs drove through the streets, honking horns and yelling “Happy Hanukkah” to the people lining the course. The annual Menorah Parade celebrates Hanukkah, known as the festival...
Inflatable snowmen welcomed in Beaver County’s Chippewa as gifts from secret SantasVideo
Some Beaver County residents are receiving uninvited guests at their homes this holiday season — and they’re loving it. More than 40 giant inflatable snowmen have popped up on the front lawns of unsuspecting residents in the Highland Meadows subdivision in Chippewa. “Everyone is loving it because it brings a...
Westmoreland Commissioner Gina Cerilli tests positive for covid-19
Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli has tested positive for covid-19, county officials said Tuesday. Cerilli informed the county of her positive test results Tuesday and is following isolation recommendations. Cerilli told the Tribune-Review Tuesday was the second day she experienced symptoms including a “terrible headache” and an elevated temperature. She...
Wolf administration to provide $4 million to communities struggling in pandemic
The state Department of Community and Economic Development has announced it is providing nearly $4 million in support to communities struggling during the covid-19 crisis. The money is part of federal CARES Act funding. Included in the package is funding for four projects, two of them in Western Pennsylvania. In...
Westmoreland County preps for vaccine distribution, which could begin Friday
Westmoreland County officials said Tuesday that plans have been formulated to vaccinate nursing home patients and staff and first responders once they are notified that doses are available to distribute locally. Distribution of about 97,500 vaccine doses in Pennsylvania started this week, and the first could arrive in the county...
Sen. Bob Casey, North Huntingdon mother highlight need for continued pandemic relief
Victoria Murrell had her ducks in a row last winter. The 32-year-old from North Huntingdon had spent four years waiting tables and attending classes at Seton Hill University on a full academic scholarship. She was on track to graduate with a degree in human resources. Then the covid-19 shutdown hit....
Pa. officials say winter storm won’t hinder vaccine distribution
Severe winter weather Wednesday won’t delay covid-19 vaccine shipments in Pennsylvania, state officials said, as more shipments of the vaccine arrived at hospitals across the commonwealth. “We’re not making changes (to distribution) according to the forecast, but we will make changes if the weather turns out to force us to...
Talks escalate on new covid-19 relief, top lawmakers to meetVideo
WASHINGTON — Talks on a long-delayed covid-19 aid package intensified Tuesday as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi summoned other top congressional leaders for a potentially critical meeting. Pelosi, D-Calif., spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for more than an hour, her office tweeted, and Mnuchin will join the make-or-break meeting of...
Biden to pick Pete Buttigieg as transportation chiefVideo
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is expected to pick former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg to head the Transportation Department, according to three people familiar with the plans. Buttigieg, one of Biden’s rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, was a breakout star of the primaries, sharing victory in the...
Westmoreland’s Torrance psychiatric hospital can’t recruit enough workers, jeopardizing funding
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 — A state-run psychiatric hospital with a long history of struggling to employ enough workers is now so short-staffed that...
Over-the-counter home test for covid-19 gets U.S. green light
WASHINGTON — The first home test for covid-19 that doesn’t require a prescription will soon be on U.S. store shelves. U.S. regulators Tuesday authorized the rapid coronavirus test, which can be done entirely at home. The announcement by the Food and Drug Administration represents another important — though incremental —...
Masks, social distancing can’t stop the fun of Westmoreland Shop With A CopVideo
The smiles were evident Tuesday even behind the protective masks worn by young shoppers and their chaperones — police officers — at the Westmoreland County Shop With a Cop event at the Walmart in East Huntingdon. “This is by far my favorite day of the year,” said veteran Westmoreland sheriff’s...
Pa. passes 500,000 covid cases
Pennsylvania reported 9,556 new covid cases and 270 new deaths Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health. Total cases and total deaths in the state are now 509,320 and 12,890, respectively. There have been 147,856 covid-19 cases and 2,507 deaths reported in December. With the state passing 500,00 covid-19...
