Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1286
Strip District’s former Produce Terminal welcomes new tenantsVideo
Visitors to Pittsburgh’s Strip District can now buy plants, candles and locally-made crafts, take golf lessons and shop at a liquor store at the landmark former Produce Terminal on Smallman Street. The sprawling, low-slung building is familiar to anyone who’s eaten a fry-filled sandwich at Primanti’s original location on nearby...
Penguins admit to altering Twitter photo showing fans wearing masks
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Twitter account on Thursday was making news for the wrong reasons. A seemingly innocuous tweet from the team’s verified account Wednesday showed a Getty Images photo of fans applauding in the stands, with text saying, “Thanks for the continued support, Penguins fans.” Tuesday night’s game against the...
How vaccine clinics will work for Pa. teachers
At least one vaccination site in each of Pennsylvania’s educational regions will be available to teachers and school staff, state officials said Thursday. The clinics could be up and running as early as next week. Child care workers who are not associated with one of the state’s 29 Intermediate Units...
Pennsylvania reports 50 covid deaths, cases rise, hospitalizations fall
Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday reported 50 new coronavirus deaths, 3,028 additional coronavirus cases and 1,628 people hospitalized for the virus. Of the deaths newly reported Thursday, 10 are from this month, 37 are from February, one is from January and two are from December. The total number of...
Rep. Mike Doyle defends covid relief bill, minimum wage increaseVideo
A nearly $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed the U.S. House last Saturday and is now being scrutinized by the Senate. Even if the Senate makes cuts to the spending bill, pundits say it’s likely to remain a very large one. Most Republicans feel a large amount of federal spending,...
Allegheny County reports 2 more covid deaths, 276 cases
Allegheny County on Thursday reported two additional coronavirus deaths and 276 additional coronavirus cases. The number of the deaths in Allegheny County because of covid-19 stands at 1,688. The health department said that the dates of death ranged from Dec. 7 to Tuesday and that one person was in their...
Details emerge in fatal Trafford shooting; police arrest suspect
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner has identified the victim of a fatal shooting in Trafford early on Thursday morning. Anthony Michael Raymond, 27, of Pittsburgh was found by Trafford police suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the 500 block of Fifth Street Extension shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday, according the...
Pirates, PNC agree to 10-year extension of stadium naming rights deal for PNC Park
PNC Park is keeping its name on Pittsburgh’s baseball stadium for another decade. The Pittsburgh Pirates and PNC Bank announced Thursday morning a 10-year extension to their naming rights deal to the stadium, which has been considered one of the gems in MLB since it opened in 2001. Financial terms...
House passes sweeping voting rights bill over GOP opposition
WASHINGTON — House Democrats passed sweeping voting and ethics legislation Wednesday over unanimous Republican opposition, advancing to the Senate what would be the largest overhaul of the U.S. election law in at least a generation. House Resolution 1, which touches on virtually every aspect of the electoral process, was approved...
Pittsburgh police seek missing woman who may be in danger
Pittsburgh police are searching for a missing woman who was last seen Tuesday. Olivia Zane, 23, was last seen in the North Oakland neighborhood. Police say she may be in danger. She is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall, around 170 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. Police...
Biden blasts Abbott for ‘big mistake’ and ‘Neanderthal thinking’ in lifting Texas’ covid-19 restrictions
WASHINGTON — A day after Gov. Greg Abbott announced an end to all pandemic-related precautions in Texas, President Joe Biden slammed him Wednesday for putting lives at risk by clinging to “Neanderthal thinking” rather than heeding advice from the nation’s top scientists. “I think it’s a big mistake,” Biden told...
Pennsylvania hauled to court over blocking plastic bag bans
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia and three other municipalities in Pennsylvania sued the state Wednesday over what they say was a covert abuse of legislative power to block local bans or taxes on plastic bags that retailers give out to customers and, they say, end up as pollution and litter. The lawsuit...
Derry man seeks to withdraw guilty plea for friend’s fatal overdose
A Derry man sentenced to a 7-to-14-year prison sentence for the delivery of drugs that prosecutors said led to his friend’s fatal overdose now claims he was “induced” to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit. Glenn A. Levtzow, 39, in court documents filed this week asked to...
Several detained after SWAT team called to Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood
A SWAT team was called to Banksville Road in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood and several people were detained Wednesday after an investigation into a reported abduction led police to two hotels, according to the Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety. Officers responded to a 911 report of an abduction in progress on...
Pittsburgh floats bonds for capital projects as it awaits federal pandemic relief money
About $17 million in street improvements, $10 million to reduce traffic congestion and $4.5 million to repair landslides are among the projects that will be funded with about $46.6 million in bonds Pittsburgh is floating this week. The price of the bonds was locked in on Tuesday at a 2.5%...
PIAA says spring athletes can shed masks outdoors, if physical distancing possible
Spring sports athletes and coaches can shed their masks when outdoors, as long as they maintain 6 feet of physical distance, according to new PIAA guidelines for covid-19. The PIAA board met online Wednesday and approved Return to Competition Guidelines for baseball, softball, track and all other spring sports, the...
Allegheny County officials: ‘We’re not there yet’ on reopeningVideo
Allegheny County’s covid-19 case numbers are no longer declining, but they’re stable, Dr. Debra Bogen, health director, said Wednesday. The county’s test positivity rate increased slightly from last week, from 5.5% to 5.9%. Hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline. But Bogen said she is concerned about the results of recent...
5 things about covid vaccines as Johnson & Johnson enters market
The United States seems to be turning a corner on the pandemic as more Americans are getting vaccinated each day. The Food and Drug Administration has approved Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot covid-19 vaccine for emergency use. Combined with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, President Biden said Tuesday, the U.S. would...
She’s lovin’ it: 100-year-old McDonald’s worker has no plans to retireVideo
Ruth N. Shuster was crowned “Queen for a Day” at McDonald’s Big Mac Museum in North Huntingdon, a well-deserved honor for a loyal employee who has greeted customers at the eatery the past 27 years. What made this honor — a throwback to Jack Bailey’s 1950s-era television show of the...
Coroner IDs woman, 88, killed in Hempfield crash
An 88-year-old woman was killed in a two-vehicle crash in Hempfield on Wednesday afternoon. Elizabeth R. Anderson, of Hempfield, was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p.m., according to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office. The crash occurred at about 1:50 p.m. at Racetrack and Wilson Fox roads, near Hempfield’s border with...
N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo addresses harassment claims, vows to stay in office
ALBANY, N.Y. — Besieged by sexual harassment allegations, a somber New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo apologized Wednesday, saying he “learned an important lesson” about his own behavior around women, but he said he intended to remain in office. “I now understand that I acted in a way that made people...
Ed Gainey announces $130K in fundraising as incumbent Peduto gains support from teachers union
Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Ed Gainey has raised more than $130,000 since January, his campaign announced Wednesday. The money, which totals $134,286, , comes from 764 contributors from every ZIP code in the city. It was made public in advance of his filing with the Pittsburgh Ethics Hearing Board, where the...
Allegheny County reports 186 covid cases, 17 deaths
Allegheny County saw 186 additional coronavirus cases and 17 deaths reported on Wednesday, according to the county’s health department. Those cases — 105 confirmed and 81 probable — bring the county’s total to 77,239 since the pandemic began last March. Daily case totals have dropped significantly in the past three...
Steel City Con postponed again, this time to June
Maybe the third time will be the charm for the Steel City Con. The pop culture convention, originally scheduled for December, had been rescheduled for April. But now it’s been postponed again, this time until June 11-13 at the Monroeville Convention Center. Organizers cited the state’s current indoor capacity of...
Pennsylvania adds 2,577 covid cases, 69 deaths
Pennsylvania added 2,577 more coronavirus cases on Wednesday, its highest total in the past four days. The additional cases bring the state’s total to 938,411, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state also added 69 deaths to increase that total to 24,169. Philadelphia had the most new cases...
