Top Stories category, Page 1280
Some in White House getting early access to covid-19 vaccine
WASHINGTON — Some White House officials who work in close proximity to President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will be offered coronavirus vaccines as soon as this week, while its public distribution is limited to front-line health workers and people in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Two...
Vandals hit Black churches during weekend pro-Trump ralliesVideo
WASHINGTON — Vandals tore down a Black Lives Matter banner and sign from two historic Black churches in downtown Washington and set the banner ablaze as nighttime clashes Saturday between pro-Donald Trump supporters and counterdemonstrators erupted into violence and arrests. Police on Sunday said they were investigating the incidents at...
Meet Boone the disabled beagle: Therapy dog, fundraiser, class project, fashion plate, media starVideo
He’s a little beagle on a big mission. Meet Boone, a 3-year-old dog that was maimed and is now turning tragedy into triumph. Boone’s hind legs were intentionally cut off by his former owner when he was 6 weeks old. Tanya and Charlie Diable of Butler Township adopted Boone from...
Trump raises China concerns as reason to veto defense bill
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump offered a new rationale Sunday for threatening to veto the annual defense policy bill that covers the military’s budget for equipment and pay raises for service members: China. He did not specific his concerns. Republican lawmakers have said the wide-ranging defense policy bill, which the...
Thousands of Pa. families face potential eviction come the new year
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. Hundreds of thousands of families across Pennsylvania could lose their homes in January, after emergency unemployment benefits and federal eviction protections...
Vandals hit Black churches during weekend pro-Trump rallies
WASHINGTON — Groups of people tore down a Black Lives Matter banner and sign from historic Black churches in downtown Washington and set one ablaze as nighttime clashes Saturday between pro-Donald Trump supporters and counterdemonstrators erupted into violence and arrests. Police on Sunday said they were investigating the incidents at...
‘Monticello Lights’ display backs up traffic in Delmont, second night set for SundayVideo
When residents of Monticello Drive in Delmont replaced their annual holiday party with a neighborhood drive-thru Christmas-light competition, they were hoping for an enjoyable weekend and a chance to raise a little money for charity. What they didn’t expect was a four-and-a-half-hour parade of cars that backed up traffic along...
DOJ probe of Pa. Catholic church abuse goes quiet 2 years later
PHILADELPHIA — Two years ago, the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia joined the long line of ambitious prosecutors investigating the Roman Catholic Church’s handling of priest-abuse complaints. The Justice Department had never brought a conspiracy case against the church, despite exhaustive reports that showed its long history of burying abuse complaints...
More U.S. churches are committing to racism-linked reparations
NEW YORK — The Episcopal Diocese of Texas acknowledges that its first bishop in 1859 was a slaveholder. An Episcopal church in New York City erects a plaque noting the building’s creation in 1810 was made possible by wealth resulting from slavery. And the Minnesota Council of Churches cites a...
Covid-19 vaccine shipments begin in historic U.S. effortVideo
PORTAGE, Mich. — The first of many freezer-packed covid-19 vaccine vials made their way to distribution sites across the United States on Sunday, as the nation’s pandemic deaths approached the horrifying new milestone of 300,000. The rollout of the Pfizer vaccine, the first to be approved by the Food and...
Sheraden dog-bite victim arrested after fighting with police
Police and medics responding to a reported dog bite early Sunday morning ended up filing charges against the victim after she fought with and bled on officers, public safety officials said. Police from Zone 6 and EMS responded to a home on the 3000 block of Motor Street in Pittsburgh’s...
Working through a pandemic: Ambulance services getting flooded with covid calls
The onslaught came all at once. One day, the coronavirus patient load was just as low it had been all summer. Then in mid-October, as the leaves began to change, days at work abruptly shifted. “It was all of a sudden,” said Dave Whipkey, paramedic and logistics director at Mutual...
Western Pa. nursing homes scramble for staff to care for covid patients
Kaitlin Smith was getting increasingly worried about covid-19 outbreaks at Quality Life Services, a nursing home chain where she works as a clinical reimbursement specialist. For weeks, she had been on daily calls with all of the facility administrators, hearing about rising infections and staffing struggles. Then one Friday last...
Restaurants along Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell run the gamut of compliance with pandemic restrictions
For business owners like John Clark of Clark’s Diner in Lower Burrell, the new covid mitigation efforts instituted by Gov. Tom Wolf are as much of a threat to his workers’ livelihood as the virus itself. As a result, he’s ignoring them and allowing indoor dining to continue — in...
Editorial: Transit workers are front-line soldiers in covid war
Much of the language surrounding the coronavirus pandemic is comparable to that of warfare. We talk about fighting the disease. Having a battle plan. Deploying assets. And more than anything, we talk about the front lines. As in any war, that is where things get real. With covid-19, the front...
Business owners buckle down for new covid restrictions
For some local business owners, the expanded state health and safety orders that went into effect Saturday were another punch to the gut, during a year in which they’ve already absorbed plenty of body blows. At Jioio’s Restaurant in Greensburg, owner Tony Jioio is buckling down for a tough holiday...
Charley Pride, country music’s first Black superstar, dies at 86
NEW YORK — Charley Pride, country music’s first Black star whose rich baritone on such hits as “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” helped sell millions of records and made him the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, has died. He was 86. Pride died Saturday in...
Police: Duo drives to West Deer nursing home, beats up woman and steals her phone
A Hampton woman is accused of driving a man and two girls to a West Deer nursing home and beating up an employee who was on her break, according to a criminal complaint. West Deer police said the victim called the police station Nov. 17 to report an assault that...
Electoral College vote a big step to move past election
HARRISBURG, Pa. — When the 20 Pennsylvania loyalists selected by President-elect Joe Biden gather to cast their electoral vote ballots on Monday, it will be a big step toward leaving behind the chaos of the election and its aftermath. The ceremony at the Capitol Complex in Harrisburg will be unusual...
As virus cases, deaths mount, Westmoreland hospital officials plead for public’s help
The start of the coronavirus pandemic in March was nothing like the current surge. There was uncertainty back then as the virus quietly crept into the community, said Dr. Heather Walker, assistant director of the emergency department at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg. But now, the alarms are sounding...
Trump helicopter buzzes supporters rallying in Washington
WASHINGTON — Thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump returned to Washington on Saturday for rallies to back his desperate efforts to subvert the election that he lost to Joe Biden. They cheered as Trump flew overhead on the Marine One helicopter on his way out of town for the...
Westmoreland County posts 568 covid-19 cases; 9 deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 568 new cases of the coronavirus in Westmoreland County. It is the third-straight day the county reported at least 500 cases. On Thursday, 505 cases were posted, followed by a record daily high of 657 on Friday. Nine additional deaths were reported...
U.S. says covid-19 vaccine to start arriving in states Monday
WASHINGTON — The nation’s first covid-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning, U.S. officials said Saturday, after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans. Trucks will roll out Sunday morning as shipping companies UPS and...
Pennsylvania posts 11,000 new coronavirus cases; 201 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 11,084 new coronavirus cases, as the Keystone State gets closer to accumulating 500,000 cases. The new data bring the total cases to 481,118; a nearly 70,000-case jump from this time last week (411,484). Officials said 40,580 of total cases are considered probable. Health officials define a...
Allegheny County reports nearly 1,200 new coronavirus cases; 2 deaths
Allegheny County on Saturday recorded 1,198 new coronavirus cases as the community continues to rack up covid-19 infections during the holiday season. The report is a 124-case drop from Friday’s record high of 1,322. However, its the fifth day this month that the county has surpassed 1,000 cases. Two new...
