Top Stories category, Page 1292
Biden chooses an all-female senior White House press team
WILMINGTON, Del. — President-elect Joe Biden will have an all-female senior communications team at his White House, led by campaign communications director Kate Bedingfield. Bedingfield will serve as Biden’s White House communications director, and Jen Psaki, a longtime Democratic spokeswoman, will be his press secretary. Biden also plans to name...
U.K. stocks up on vaccines, hopes to start coronavirus shots in daysVideo
LONDON — Britain said Sunday it has secured 2 million more doses of a promising coronavirus vaccine as it gears up to launch within days the country’s most ambitious inoculation program in decades. The U.K. has had Europe’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak, with more than 58,000 confirmed virus-related deaths. It now...
Trump ‘ashamed’ to have endorsed Republican Georgia Gov. Brian KempVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Sunday he was “ashamed” for endorsing the Republican governor of Georgia after he lost in the state to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has seethed over losing the southern state, which hadn’t voted for a Democrat for president in nearly 30 years. In January, the...
Amid pandemic and court ruling, Western Pa. parishioners want to attend church, but remain safe
Allegheny Township resident Jessica Pulice and her daughters want to attend church in person, but they want to do it safely. That’s what Pulice said Sunday as she walked into Mass at Mount St. Peter Parish in New Kensington. “People are practicing social distancing (at Mount St. Peter). They are...
Mysterious silver monolith disappears from Utah desert
SALT LAKE CITY — A mysterious silver monolith that was placed in the Utah desert has disappeared less than 10 days after it was spotted by wildlife biologists performing a helicopter survey of bighorn sheep, federal officials and witnesses said. “We have received credible reports that the illegally installed structure,...
Police: Woman shot in the foot in Pittsburgh’s South Side
A woman was shot in the foot early Sunday morning in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood, police said. Officers responded to the incident at about 1:30 a.m. in 2600 block of South 18th Street. The victim was conscious and alert with a gunshot wound to her foot, according to Public Safety...
Completed Wisconsin recount confirms Biden’s win over Trump
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin finished a recount of its presidential results on Sunday, confirming Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump in the key battleground state. Trump vowed to challenge the outcome in court even before the recount concluded. Dane County was the second and last county to finish...
Fauci: U.S. may see ‘surge upon surge’ of virus in weeks ahead
The nation’s top infectious disease expert said Sunday that the U.S. may see “surge upon a surge” of the coronavirus over the coming weeks, and he does not expect current recommendations around social distancing to be relaxed before Christmas. “When you have the kind of inflection that we have, it...
Homestead police officer shoots suspect after chase to Pittsburgh’s South Side
A Homestead police officer shot a man following a car chase that ended in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood late Saturday, according to Pittsburgh police. Public safety spokesman Chris Togneri said paramedics took the victim to a hospital. He suffered a gunshot wound to his upper torso and was in stable...
Despite federal ban, renters still being evicted amid virus
BOSTON — A nationwide eviction ban was supposed to protect tenants like Tawanda Mormon, who was forced out of her two-bedroom apartment last month in Cleveland. The 46-year-old, who was hospitalized in August for the coronavirus and can’t work due to mental health issues, said she fell behind on her...
Dave Prowse, actor who played Darth Vader, dies at 85
LONDON — Dave Prowse, the British weightlifter-turned-actor who was the body, though not the voice, of arch-villain Darth Vader in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, has died. He was 85. Prowse died Saturday after a short illness, his agent Thomas Bowington said Sunday. Born in Bristol, southwest England, in 1935,...
Contents of Hempfield Ramada to be auctioned Dec. 5
For John Mizikar, seeing the shuttered Ramada by Wyndham Greensburg Hotel and Conference Center in Hempfield go is like losing a good friend. Mizikar, 58, of Mt. Pleasant Township spent a large chunk of his life at the 42-year-old hotel, working his way through the ranks and paving his way...
As battle against HIV continues, Pitt Men’s Study volunteer joins coronavirus vaccine studyVideo
When drug makers solicited volunteers to test a coronavirus vaccines, Marc Wagner jumped. It was a matter of giving back. “I never thought I would outlive a number of my relatives my age or younger,” said the 58-year-old Swissvale resident. “And here I am, still alive.” Wagner felt compelled to...
Police still seek tips, clues a year after North Huntingdon chiropractor’s homicide
One year after the homicide of North Huntingdon chiropractor David S. Bailey, investigators have not made an arrest, despite a billboard alert near the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Irwin interchange and acquaintances offering a reward for information leading to a conviction. Bailey, 54, was found dead inside his Parkway Drive office on...
1 injured in Penn Hills crash when 3 vehicles collide
At least one person was injured in a crash in Penn Hills on Saturday evening. Allegheny County dispatch said three vehicles collided along Verona Road near Sandy Creek Road around 7:43 p.m. Police and EMS were treating at least one person at the scene for injuries. It was unclear if...
Pa. Supreme Court rejects Rep. Mike Kelly-led lawsuit challenging election
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court on Saturday night threw out a lower court’s order preventing the state from certifying dozens of contests on its Nov. 3 election ballot in the latest lawsuit filed by Republicans attempting to thwart President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the battleground state. The state Supreme Court,...
Police: North Side man accused in several robberies
Pittsburgh police arrested a man Saturday who is accused of committing several recent robberies. Nicolas Ellis, 30, of the city’s North Side, is accused of robbing the Rite Aid along the 3700 block of Forbes Avenue. In addition, police said Ellis confessed to robbing gas stations in Oakland and two...
Positive covid-19 case spurs remote learning for St. Louise de Marillac first-graders in Upper St. Clair
The first-grade classes at St. Louise de Marillac Catholic School in Upper St. Clair will move to a fully remote learning model after someone tested positive for covid-19, officials announced Saturday. The move affects the three classes that make up the first grade. Students will use a virtual instructional model...
40 Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese parishes to merge into 14
Forty parishes in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh will merge into 14 new groupings in January, Bishop David Zubik announced Saturday. Changes will take place Jan. 4 and affect churches across the region, from Mt. Washington and Moon to South Hills and Shadyside. Zubik said it is a pivotal time...
Westmoreland County retailers ‘cautiously optimistic’ for good holiday shopping seasonVideo
Like many owners of small businesses in the area, the owner of Penelope’s Gifts and More store in downtown Greensburg is hopeful about the holiday shopping season — despite the pandemic and a higher unemployment rate. “I’m cautiously optimistic. It’s such a different year, and you can’t compare it to...
Some pan Saturday start to firearms deer-hunting season
Pennsylvania’s move to start firearms deer-hunting season on Saturday, two days earlier than the traditional Monday after Thanksgiving, turned out pretty good for one hunter along Laurel Summit east of Ligonier. But many of his fellow hunters panned the state Game Commission’s early start for the second year. Josh Vitalie...
Military plane dumps fuel over Westmoreland County en route to emergency stop at Pittsburgh airport
A Pennsylvania Air National Guard refueling plane forced to make an emergency return to Pittsburgh International Airport on Saturday morning dumped fuel over the Jeannette-Penn Township-North Huntingdon and Manor areas, according to the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety and state Air National Guard. The KC-135 Stratotanker was forced to...
26 state House Republicans call for withdrawing certification of presidential electors
Declaring the results of statewide electoral contests in the 2020 general election to be in dispute, a group of House Republican lawmakers have announced their intention to introduce a resolution calling for Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar to withdraw their certification of the Nov. 3 election...
ATV driver killed on Route 51 in Fayette
A Uniontown man was killed early Saturday morning on Route 51 near Smock Road when the all-terrain vehicle he was driving the wrong way collided head-on with a car, state police in Belle Vernon said. The victim, Jeremiah Pletcher, 22, was driving the ATV southbound in the northbound lanes of...
Westmoreland County posts record 284 covid-19 cases; 5 deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported a record 284 new cases of the coronavirus in Westmoreland County. It is the fifth-straight day the county reported more than 200 cases. Five additional deaths were reported, increasing the death toll to 192. Of the new covid-19 cases, 254 are confirmed...
