Top Stories category, Page 1285
Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Reese tests positive for coronavirus
State Rep. Mike Reese, who represents parts of Westmoreland and Somerset counties, is the latest Pennsylvania lawmaker to announce a positive coronavirus test. “I recently learned I have tested positive for covid-19,” Reese said in a statement. “I have been quarantining for the last week awaiting my test results, and...
Some Pittsburgh-area restaurant owners have outdoor dining covered amid pandemic
With the colder weather here to stay, many Downtown Pittsburgh restaurants have decided to cover outdoor spaces for continued dining to help accommodate state-mandated capacity requirements. Some outdoor dining structures resemble mini-greenhouses. Others look like plastic domes. Bakersfield Pittsburgh has tents, heaters and picnic-bench seating on Penn Avenue. At Bourbon...
‘Turning point’: UK giving 1st doses of covid-19 vaccine
LONDON — British health authorities rolled out the first doses of a widely tested and independently reviewed covid-19 vaccine Tuesday, starting a global immunization program that is expected to gain momentum as more serums win approval. The first shot was given to Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, at...
Uber turns over self-driving car project to company with Pittsburgh ties
Uber is getting out of the self-driving car business, turning over its operation to a San Francisco startup with Pittsburgh ties. Aurora, which has offices in San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Dallas, announced the acquisition of Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group Monday. Uber will invest $400 million in Aurora and get a...
Cops: Victim of apparent hit-and-run in Pittsburgh had gunshot wound in leg
Pittsburgh medics responding to an apparent hit-and-run found the victim had been shot in the leg, according to the city Department of Public Safety. First responders were called to the corner of Gearing Avenue and Chalfont Street in the Beltzhoover neighborhood around 2:45 a.m., finding a man lying in the...
Chuck Yeager, first pilot to break sound barrier, dies at 97
After test pilot Chuck Yeager became the first man to break the sound barrier, he confessed to the highly un-Yeager-like emotion of fear. “I was scared,” he wrote in a memoir, “knowing that many of my colleagues thought I was doomed to be blasted to pieces by an invisible brick...
Trump questions Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler on electoral votes
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is continuing his futile appeal to battleground state lawmakers to subvert the votes of their constituents. The president has reached out twice to Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler, a Republican, to see what might be possible for Trump to do about the state’s presidential vote....
Biden to name retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as defense secretary
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden will nominate retired four-star Army general Lloyd J. Austin to be secretary of defense, according to four people familiar with the decision. If confirmed by the Senate, Austin would be the first Black leader of the Pentagon. Biden selected Austin over the longtime front-runner candidate,...
Trump administration passed up chance to lock in more Pfizer vaccine dosesVideo
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration opted last summer not to lock in a chance to buy millions of additional doses of one of the leading coronavirus vaccine contenders, a decision that could delay the delivery of a second batch of doses until manufacturer Pfizer fulfills other international contracts. The revelation,...
Pearl Harbor dead remembered in ceremony shrunk by pandemicVideo
HONOLULU — U.S. servicemen and women and National Park Service officials gathered at Pearl Harbor on Monday to remember those killed in the attack — but elderly survivors stayed home to pay their respects from afar to avoid health risks from the coronavirus pandemic. The USS Arizona battleship bell rang...
East Huntingdon woman seeks dismissal of 1st-degree murder charge
An East Huntingdon woman in jail since September on charges of fatally shooting a former boyfriend claimed in court documents filed Monday there is no evidence she intended to kill her victim. Adam Gorzelsky, the lawyer for Meghan West, 24, asked a Westmoreland County judge to dismiss a first-degree murder...
Lawmakers who met with Rudy Giuliani scramble after covid newsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani was “doing very well” after being hospitalized with the coronavirus as lawmakers in battleground states that Giuliani visited last week scrambled to make sure they did not contract the virus. The 76-year-old former New York mayor, hospitalized in...
Speakers call for Pittsburgh Public Schools to cut police, security spending
The 30 people who provided testimony Monday during a virtual budget hearing focused on eliminating police, safety and security items from the 2021 Pittsburgh Public Schools budget. The district spends just over 1% of its budget on school safety measures like police and security guards. In 2021, the school safety...
Trump campaign appeals another ballot case in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — President Donald Trump’s campaign continues to press lawsuits over Pennsylvania’s election, appealing another case it lost to the state Supreme Court, this time over fewer than 2,000 ballots in a suburban Philadelphia county. The appeal, filed Friday, is one of at least four pending cases in which Trump...
Excela to add more covid-19 beds at its hospitals as cases continue to rise
Officials at Excela Health plan to add beds for coronavirus patients, possibly as early as Tuesday, at one of its Westmoreland County facilities as hospitalizations continue to increase. Dr. Carol Fox, Excela’s chief medical officer, said Monday the move to convert a procedure room into one for inpatients will add...
No new covid restrictions for Pa., but possibility looms
Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday issued his most dire warning yet as covid-19 mitigation efforts fail to stem the rising tide of cases, and he hinted that more drastic, targeted measures could be on the horizon if the situation remains grim. He pointed to the warning he and Secretary of...
Pittsburgh doctor: ‘Covid vaccines are lights at the end of the tunnel, but we’re still in the tunnel’Video
Coronavirus vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are likely to be released later this month. The announcements bring excitement for what could be the beginning of the end of the pandemic. But some people have concerns about the safety of the vaccines. Just how safe are vaccines? How do they...
Pennsylvania reports nearly 15,000 new covid cases, 111 deaths over 2 days
Pennsylvania added 14,960 new covid cases over the past two days, according to a report Monday from the Department of Health. Officials said there were 8,630 new cases Sunday and 6,330 cases Monday. While down nearly 40% from the previous two days (24,647), it’s more than 50% higher than last...
Virus spreads quickly among Westmoreland County Prison inmates
A massive coronavirus outbreak at Westmoreland County Prison has seen more than 100 inmates and a number of staffers infected over the past 10 days, and officials believe additional cases are possible at the lockup in Hempfield. Interim Warden George Lawther said Monday two units are in lockdown in an...
Stay in the car to see Santa during holiday happenings
Pandemic precautions mean kids may not get to sit on Santa’s lap this year. But there are several area options for families to have a drive-thru encounter with the jolly old elf, in a socially distanced take on the holiday tradition. Unity Instead of its usual Deck the Tree holiday...
Westmoreland County reports over 500 new covid cases in 2 days, 3 new deaths
Westmoreland County added another 522 covid-19 cases over the past two days, according to a report Monday from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of the new cases, 285 were reported Sunday, 237 on Monday. With those additions, the county’s seven-day total surpassed the 2,000 mark for the first time, standing...
2 Port Authority drivers, ages 34 and 57, dead from covid
Two Port Authority of Allegheny County employees have died from covid-19, officials said Monday. One man was 57, and the other was 34. Both worked as bus drivers. “Today, our hearts are broken,” said Port Authority CEO Katharine Kelleman. The 57-year-old driver tested positive for the virus on Friday and...
‘Baking With Lucy’ goes on, as daughter continues late mom’s online cooking show
Mary Ellen Raneri hasn’t taken much time to mourn her mother’s passing. She’s been too busy baking. Her mother, 98-year-old Lucy Pollock, who went viral this year with her “Baking With Lucy” Facebook videos, died Nov. 22 from complications of covid-19. The Latrobe resident said she feels like she owes...
Despite drop in new cases, Allegheny County’s record covid numbers continue
After posting record high daily covid-19 cases last week, Allegheny County saw a slight reprieve in the numbers over the past two days. The county health department reported 854 new cases Sunday and another 616 cases Monday. While encouraging, officials have long cautioned that weekend numbers generally run lower because...
Trump cementing death penalty legacy up to Biden inaugural
CHICAGO — As Donald Trump’s presidency winds down, his administration is ratcheting up the pace of federal executions despite a surge of coronavirus cases in prisons, announcing plans for five starting Thursday and concluding just days before the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. If the five go off...
