Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 1290
Stephen Segal: Take it from a millionaire, a $15 minimum wage is good for Pa. businesses
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted to approve the American Rescue Plan, a major step toward providing Americans the relief they desperately need and deserve. As President Biden’s relief package moves to the Senate floor, tense negotiations still are taking place on key provisions included in the plan. Despite...
Trump calls for GOP unity, repeats lies about election lossVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Taking the stage for the first time since leaving office, former President Donald Trump on Sunday called for GOP unity, even as he exacerbated intraparty divisions by attacking fellow Republicans and promoting lies about the election in a speech that made clear he intends to remain a...
Police: Man attacked by another wielding ‘large ax’
A Perry South man faces charges after Pittsburgh police say he attacked another man with a large ax. Jacob Thrower, 36, was charged with aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and criminal mischief on Sunday after a fight involving another man shortly after 1 a.m. In a criminal complaint filed against...
U.S. panel endorses 3rd vaccine option from Johnson & JohnsonVideo
WASHINGTON — A U.S. advisory panel has endorsed the new one-dose covid-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson as a third option to bolster the national effort against the coronavirus pandemic. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted overwhelmingly to recommend the vaccine for adults 18 years old...
West Mifflin nonprofit travels to Texas to help animals in need
When Walter Schwarz and Dave Stash received a call from the Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team for a mission to Houston, Texas, they didn’t think twice about going. By Friday, the duo had packed a suitcase within 24 hours of learning of the mission that would send them driving to...
Dr. Fauci worried that U.S. virus cases will stick at 70,000 a dayVideo
The baseline level of coronavirus cases needs to fall further before the U.S. can confidently resume normal activities, even as the vaccine rollout accelerates, Anthony Fauci said. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the rounds of Sunday talk shows at a moment when news...
Rain tapering off, could turn to snow flurries; flooding still poses threat in Pittsburgh region
The heavy rain showers that saturated much of the region on Sunday have tapered off and could turn into snow flurries as the temperature drops, according to the National Weather Service in Moon. Steady rain through much of Sunday dumped 1 inch of rain in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, according...
Biden team readies wider economic package after virus relief
WASHINGTON — Looking beyond the $1.9 trillion covid relief bill, President Joe Biden and lawmakers are laying the groundwork for another top legislative priority — a long-sought boost to the nation’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure that could run into Republican resistance to a hefty price tag. Biden and his...
Fraud overwhelms pandemic-related unemployment programs
COLUMBUS, Ohio — With the floodgates set to open on another round of unemployment aid, states are being hammered with a new wave of fraud as they scramble to update security systems and block scammers who already have siphoned billions of dollars from pandemic-related jobless programs. The fraud is fleecing...
Flu season virtually ‘nonexistent’ as coronavirus mitigation efforts help curtail illnesses, doctors say
Despite fears that influenza would combine with covid-19 to create a so-called “twindemic,” this flu season has been a mild one. Allegheny County so far has reported zero flu-related deaths, three hospitalizations and 180 cases. That’s a notable drop from last year’s 12 deaths, 115 hospitalizations and over 10,000 cases....
Police: Hempfield man riding ATV killed in Mt. Pleasant Township crash
A 39-year-old man was killed Saturday night after a crash on Route 819 in Mt. Pleasant Township, according to state police. Timothy A. Strobel of Hempfield was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. According to police, Strobel was riding a Yamaha Terrapro all-terrain vehicle at about 8:45 p.m. between...
Man arrested after Pittsburgh police say he got in dispute with neighbor, shot him
One person is facing charges after police say he got into a confrontation with his neighbor and shot him. Joseph Baker was arrested by Pittsburgh police following the incident Saturday night and is charged with aggravated assault, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety Spokesman Chris Togneri. Officers and EMS were called...
Pie for The Palace a sweet ending for Westmoreland Cultural Trust gala
When the Westmoreland Cultural Trust throws its annual Party at The Palace, they go all out. So when organizers added a pie-in-the-face finale to this year’s event, they went all out for that, too. No chintzy shaving cream in a pie tin for this group. These pies had graham cracker...
Several Pennsylvania organizations to participate in Problem Gambling Awareness Month
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is working in conjunction with other state entities to promote Problem Gambling Awareness Month in March. Throughout the month, the gaming control board’s Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling will join the state Department of Drug and Alcohol, the Pennsylvania Lottery, the Council on Compulsive...
Stimulus bill could bring money to expand high-speed internet in Westmoreland
Officials with the Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland County say the region is on track for growth in the coming year, with the expansion of high-speed internet access a top priority. Connection President and CEO Jim Smith, addressing the economic development group’s annual meeting last week via Zoom, said events...
Exchange student from Italy adjusts to life in A-K Valley during pandemicVideo
Beatrice Latina will take back to Rome a memorable souvenir from her experience living in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Her covid recovery story. Latina, nicknamed “Bi Bi” by her friends, is from Italy and the sole foreign exchange student at Highlands High School in Harrison. She tested positive for covid-19 about...
Life during covid: Westmoreland college professor helps students, families juggle demands
Editor’s note: This is an occasional series examining how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of members of our community. It might have been a matter of life experience or natural resiliency, but whatever it was, Cheryl Miller was positioned to thrive before the coronavirus sent the world spinning....
Johnson & Johnson’s 1-dose shot cleared, giving U.S. 3rd covid-19 vaccine
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. Health experts are anxiously awaiting a one-and-done option to help speed vaccinations, as they race...
Editorial: Real progress at nursing homes is a welcome covid success story
There are more than 700 nursing homes in Pennsylvania. More than 88,000 people, mostly older individuals, live there — whether for the long term or a short stay. For the last year, those facilities have been under nervous pressure as seniors and those with preexisting medical conditions like diabetes and...
Toomey censure remains on hold with Pennsylvania Republicans
As former President Trump prepared for his first public appearance before the national Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday, the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee remained stalled on demands by county leaders that the state GOP censure Sen. Pat Toomey for his vote to convict Trump for incitement of insurrection. What...
Volunteers gather for Seton Hill’s Take the Day On service eventVideo
For Jack Schechterly, getting his hands dirty on a farm is nothing new. So when Schechterly, 20, a sophomore at Seton Hill University, saw an opportunity to volunteer at Stoneybrook Foundation in Acme on Saturday morning, he took it. “We just wanted to give back to the community, and this...
Westmoreland County records 94 covid-19 cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 94 new cases of the coronavirus in Westmoreland County, marking the fifth time in two weeks the count neared triple digits. The county last saw a triple-digit count Feb. 3 and 12 of the 24 days since then have remained below 75...
Pennsylvania reports nearly 3,400 more covid cases, 132 deaths
Pennsylvania health officials on Saturday reported 3,361 new coronavirus cases, as hospitalizations and case counts continue to decrease in the Keystone State. The new data bring the total cases to 929,697. That’s a jump of about 18,100 additional cases from this time last week. Two weeks ago, the increase was...
313 new coronavirus cases reported in Allegheny County, 11 deaths
Allegheny County on Saturday recorded 313 new coronavirus cases, as case counts have seen a relative bump up and hospitalizations have significantly increased. Reports haven’t reached 500 cases in nearly six weeks and the county hasn’t reported any 1,000-case days in the past eight weeks, according to data from the...
Leechburg, New Ken food distributions canceled for 2nd week in a row because truck didn’t come
For the second Saturday in a row, people who showed up to receive food from churches in Leechburg and New Kensington went home empty handed. The pastors of Kiski Valley Community Church and The River church in New Kensington were forced to cancel the drive-thru food distributions because the food...
