Top Stories category, Page 1281
No injuries in storage facility fire on South Side
Emergency crews were dispatched to the 100 block of South 26th Street in Pittsburgh’s South Side for a fire at the Stash & Store storage facility Saturday morning. Firefighters were staging equipment at South 26th and Josephine streets shortly before 8:30 a.m., according to an Allegheny County 911 supervisor, who...
Editorial: Food banks filling holiday need
Certain reminders come to us every holiday season. Red kettles and ringing bells at shopping center doors urge us to drop in a few coins to help those in need. A box waits to collect toys for kids who won’t get any otherwise. And perhaps most ubiquitous is the food...
Pittsburgh’s hazmat team responds to ammonia leak in Strip District
Pittsburgh’s hazardous materials team was called to the Strip District on Friday night for what officials determined to be an ammonia leak. Crews responded to Consumer Fresh Produce Inc., located at 1 21st St., for reports of a strong gas odor. After inspecting the building, which is a large cold...
U.S. allows emergency covid-19 vaccine in bid to end pandemic
WASHINGTON — The U.S. gave the final go-ahead Friday to the nation’s first covid-19 vaccine, marking what could be the beginning of the end of an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans. Shots for health workers and nursing home residents are expected to begin in the coming days after...
Hundreds turn out for Unity’s drive-thru visit with Santa
The Unity supervisors have hosted a community holiday celebration near the township municipal building, complete with a Christmas tree, since 2009. This year, in keeping with pandemic precautions, those attending stayed in their cars, greeted with a wave from Santa before dropping off letters to the jolly old elf and...
Leechburg man turns yard — and neighbors’ — into synchronized holiday light-and-music showVideo
Leechburg is shining bright thanks to the generosity of a Main Street resident. Clyde Lindsey is the creator of Leechburg Lights, the annual synchronized holiday light-and-music show now open for the 2020-21 season. It’s in its 13th year. Lindsey is a nationally recognized professional lighting programmer. What began as a...
Man shot last week in Homestead dies
A 52-year-old man who was in critical condition after a shooting in Homestead earlier this month died Friday afternoon, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. William P. Wright of Homestead was pronounced dead at an area hospital after he was involved in a Dec. 4 shooting, officials said....
Supreme Court rejects Republican attack on Biden victory
HOUSTON — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a lawsuit backed by President Donald Trump to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory, ending a desperate attempt to get legal issues rejected by state and federal judges before the nation’s highest court and subvert the will of voters. The high court’s order...
Covid cases continue to ravage Pennsylvania jails, prisons
Jails and prisons across Pennsylvania are being overwhelmed by the spread of covid-19, and advocates for the incarcerated population fear it will get worse before it gets better. As the numbers skyrocketed this week, the state Department of Corrections reported that a 77-year-old inmate with pre-existing conditions died on Thursday...
Western Pa. hair salons make the cut on latest covid restrictionsVideo
Becky Goodwin was on “pins and needles all week.” The owner of Tula Organic Salon & Spa in Squirrel Hill was worried about Gov. Tom Wolf ordering another shutdown. Goodwin’s business, along with other salons and barber shops in the state, was ordered closed for three months between March and...
North Huntingdon says ‘no’ to Wolf’s limits on indoor crowds
A few hours after Gov. Wolf announced new covid limits for indoor gatherings to 10 people Thursday, North Huntingdon officials essentially thumbed their nose at him, saying anyone can attend their public meeting on Dec. 16. “It they (residents) want to come, they can come and speak,” said Zachary Haigis,...
Gov. Wolf twice tests negative for covid
Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday he tested negative for covid-19 for the second time since he received his diagnosis on Wednesday. Wolf said he’s tested for the virus each Tuesday, and he tested positive during the routine test this week. Subsequent tests on Wednesday and Thursday evenings came back negative,...
Nashville police make arrest in killing of Butler County native
Nashville police on Friday arrested a man in connection with the killing of a Butler native who was on her way to her shift as a nurse at a Tennessee hospital. Caitlyn Kaufman, 26, was shot and killed Dec. 3 as she drove on I-440. An officer discovered her body...
Pair held for court in shooting of 1-year-old boy in Spring Hill
Two men charged with criminal homicide in connection with the shooting death of a 1-year-old who was killed by a stray bullet in Spring Hill this summer will face trial. Andre Crawford, 29, of McKeesport, and Marvin Hill, 41, had a preliminary hearing Friday before Magistrate Judge David J. Barton....
Former Leechburg police Chief Diebold granted re-parole
Former Leechburg police Chief Michael Diebold could soon be released from jail after a Westmoreland County judge agreed this week to grant his re-parole. Diebold, 43, has been in jail since Dec. 9, 2019, after he was accused of violating terms of his parole from a 9-to-23-month jail sentence for...
Shooting stars and eclipses — when to watch the sky in 2021
Clouds may block Pittsburgh-area sky watchers from seeing the Geminid meteor shower this weekend, but there’s always next year. In 2021, we’ll have plenty of meteor showers, plus a couple of partial lunar eclipses and one partial solar eclipse. Here’s a schedule of reasons to watch the sky next year,...
Sunday’s Geminid meteor shower likely to be most impressive in years but obscured by clouds
Sunday night is the best chance all year to see shooting stars — or it would be, if the weather behaved. “I don’t see any hope,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Brown. “I just think we’re going to have very high clouds.” The Geminid meteor shower is an annual...
Pa. officials still leave covid restrictions up to school districts
A day after Gov. Tom Wolf announced a suspension of all school sports and extracurricular activities, Pennsylvania’s Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega and Deputy Secretary Matt Stem doubled down on the state’s approach of leaving the ultimate reopening decisions up to individual school districts. “We recognize there is no...
Port Authority driver who died of covid remembered as ‘a ray of sunshine’Video
The father of a Port Authority driver who died of covid-19 wants his son to be remembered as more than another statistic. Patrick Hazlett, 34, of Plum died Monday after a 10-day battle with the illness. Hazlett, who worked at the Port Authority for eight years, is one of two...
Pennsylvania reports 12,745 new covid cases; 23% of total cases have come in December
Pennsylvania reported 12,745 new covid-19 cases Friday, according to the state Department of Health. The new cases mark the sixth time that new reported cases have been over 10,000, all of these instances coming in December. Total cases in the state are now 470,034 and will likely hit 500,000 by...
What you need to know about the covid vaccine
Americans could start receiving a covid-19 vaccine as early as this month, as three drugmakers have produced vaccines deemed highly effective. Health and government officials are moving quickly to organize the distribution and delivery systems for the vaccines. Three drugmakers — AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer — are seeking regulatory approval...
Westmoreland County breaks new covid case record for 2nd straight day
Westmoreland County has again broken the record for new covid-19 cases in the county, a day after the previous record was broken. There were 657 new covid cases reported Friday, surpassing Thursday’s record of 505 cases. In the past two days, 1,162 cases have been reported. It previously took the...
Allegheny County sets record for new covid cases for 2nd time in a week
Allegheny County set a record for new covid-19 cases Friday. There were 1,322 new covid cases reported, breaking the previous record set Dec. 5 by 125 cases. This is the fourth time that new reported cases have eclipsed 1,000, all of which have come this month. New patients range in...
U.S. carries out rare execution during presidential transition
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Trump administration Thursday carried out its ninth federal execution of the year in what has been a first series of executions during a presidential lame-duck period in 130 years, putting to death a Texas street-gang member in the slayings of a religious couple from Iowa...
Many Black Americans don’t trust the covid-19 vaccine; here’s why and what’s being done
WASHINGTON — Confronted with widespread distrust of government in communities of color, the Trump administration is turning to historically Black colleges and churches for help to alleviate fears about the coming coronavirus vaccines and promote them to a population that has been at high risk during the pandemic. Surgeon General...
