Top Stories category, Page 1320
Pennsylvanians urged to drop off mail-in ballots in person
HARRISBURG — With six days until Election Day, Pennsylvania’s top elections official on Wednesday urged voters in the presidential battleground state who have a mail-in ballot to drop it off in person rather than mail it. In addition to concerns over Postal Service delays, litigation in front of the U.S....
What is ‘ballot harvesting,’ and who can and can’t deliver your mail ballot in Pa.
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. This article is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — On...
Carnegie Mellon study finds severe polarization in political language
The divide between political parties is not just ideological. Their members are essentially speaking different languages, a study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found. Using computer translation tools, researchers analyzed 86.6 million YouTube comments from 6.5 million users on more than 200,000 news videos from CNN, Fox News, MSNBC...
Pittsburgh police detail policy on undercover officer drinking limits
Pittsburgh police leaders on Tuesday night detailed for the first time new policies regarding alcohol consumption by plainclothes officers, more than two years after a brawl between members of the Pagans and officers on an undercover detail. The changes were made in response to the Oct. 12, 2018, incident at...
Pennsylvania surpasses 200K coronavirus cases
Pennsylvania surpassed 200,000 coronavirus cases Wednesday with its second straight day of more than 2,000 new cases. The state Department of Health reported 2,228 cases, bringing the state total to 200,674. On Tuesday, the state added a record 2,751 cases. According to The Covid Tracking Project, 12 other states have...
Westmoreland County Prison inmate accused of breaking fellow prisoner’s jaw during assault
A South Carolina man charged with attempting to kill a sheriff’s deputy there was arrested Wednesday on assault charges in connection with a beating at the Westmoreland County Prison this month. Brian Joseph Stoltie is accused of attacking another inmate, who suffered several facial fractures and had his jaw wired...
Allegheny County reports 2nd-highest new covid-19 case total in nearly 3 months
Allegheny County reported its second-highest daily total of new coronavirus cases in nearly three months Wednesday. The Allegheny County Health Department added 199 new cases (137 confirmed and 62 probable) out of 1,577 PCR tests. Of the probables, 42 are from positive antigen tests. Since August, the county has had...
Daylong rain, boosted by Zeta, not expected to pose flooding threat in Pittsburgh area
Flooding is not expected to be a threat from rain that will soak the Pittsburgh area Thursday, influenced by the remnants of Hurricane Zeta, Jason Frazier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, said Wednesday. Zeta is expected to make landfall in the mid-to-late afternoon. Its moisture will...
Anxiety 2020: Voters worry about safety at the polls
WASHINGTON — Gary Kauffman says he does not scare easily. So when men waving President Donald Trump flags drive by his house in downtown Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, he stands on his front steps and waves a banner for Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. “Sometimes I yell at them. They yell...
Pa. National Guard being sent to Philadelphia in wake of police shooting
The Pennsylvania National Guard is sending several hundred members to support the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management and local agencies, according to a statement from the Guard. State Public Affairs Officer LTC Keith Hickox said the mobilization comes at the direction of Gov. Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management...
2 indicted in 2-day, 3-county armed robbery spree
Two Maryland brothers previously arrested in connection with a two-day armed robbery spree in three counties were indicted by a federal grand jury this week, according to U.S. Attorney Scott Brady. Elijah Alvin Sayon and Rexford Wright, both 23, of Hagerstown, Md., are each facing four counts of robbery. The...
Editorial: At the high court, Pennsylvania votes are in the balance
The law is built on concepts like precedent and fair play and coloring inside the lines. It follows a script and a timeline. Justice is blind because it is meant to operate only within the confines of the cage of the laws the way they are written. Thus the courts...
Duquesne University, Housing Authority team up to battle health care inequities
Duquesne University is working with the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) and Live Well Allegheny to narrow the health care gap between white and Black people in the Steel City. They are offering health care services to underserved communities during the covid-19 pandemic. The team is providing...
Election 2020: What to watch for in the campaign’s final week
The race for the presidency is in the home stretch, with less than a week until Election Day. Pennsylvania figures to play a prominent role in what unfolds over the next week and who ultimately wins the White House. Here are five things to watch: Where will the campaigns go?...
West Mifflin Area High School to be closed through Nov. 11 because of covid-19 cases among staffers
West Mifflin Area School District officials have closed the high school for the next two weeks due to a rise in covid-19 cases. A letter informing parents about the closure, which starts Wednesday and is expected to be through Nov. 11, was posted on the district’s website. The message was...
Democrats encourage mail-in ballot voters to drop off Downtown, and skip the mail
Prominent local Democrats led by Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner and County Council member Bethany Hallam have released a video, with a rocking guitar soundtrack, urging voters to get their mail-in ballots turned in on time. The 90-second informational video, called “Bring It,” refers to mail-in ballot packages still in...
Steelers cook up a nice afternoon for breast cancer survivors at UPMC Magee in Oakland
Some people call football players warriors for what they endure on a field playing a brutal sport. “The real warriors are you,” said Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt via a video screen Tuesday to current and former patients of the Magee-Womens Breast Cancer Program of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center....
Medicare finalizing coverage policy for coronavirus vaccine
WASHINGTON — Medicare will cover the yet-to-be approved coronavirus vaccine free for older people under a policy change expected to be announced shortly, a senior Trump administration official said Tuesday. The coming announcement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services aims to align the time-consuming process for securing Medicare...
Upper Burrell man accused of pointing loaded AR-15 at woman
An Upper Burrell man is accused of pointing a loaded AR-15 rifle at a woman and pulling the trigger, but police said the weapon malfunctioned. Matthew Best, 32, of Upper Burrell, has been charged with aggravated assault, making terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person, loitering and prowling at night, and...
Son cuts Derry Township father with machete during argument, troopers say
A 39-year-old Derry Township man is in jail on multiple assault charges after allegedly cutting his father with a machete during an argument that turned physical Tuesday. Kenneth C. Johnson is charged by state police with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, harassment and terroristic threats. District Judge Mark Bilik...
Infection consultant will review Westmoreland Manor procedures amid virus outbreak
Westmoreland commissioners will hire an infection control consultant to review procedures at the county-owned nursing home as coronavirus cases among residents and staff continue to increase there. Commissioners said Tuesday they expect to award a $10,000 contract Harrisburg-based LW Consulting Inc. to assess the policies in place at Westmoreland Manor...
Virginia man pleads guilty to causing fatal crash in Donegal Township
A Virginia man will serve up to eight years in prison for causing a fatal crash in Donegal Township that killed his friend five years ago. Erik Carlton Anderson, 30, pleaded guilty this week to charges of homicide by vehicle while driving drunk and driving while intoxicated. Westmoreland County Judge...
Police raid ‘illegal speakeasy’ in Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes
Authorities searching an unlicensed bar in Pittsburgh last week turned up more than 60 liters of liquor, illegal gambling machines, cash and 10 gallons of beer, according to state and local police. The Nuisance Bar Task Force executed a search warrant at Bridgez, an Arlington Avenue bar in the South...
Pittsburgh Exxon station operators, clerk guilty of reduced charge in fight with womenVideo
Three men accused of assaulting a woman after a dispute over spilled gasoline at an Exxon station on the North Side last year — resulting in a viral video, days of protests and the store being shut down — were found guilty on Tuesday of a reduced, summary count of...
7-mile chase ends in Youngwood Cemetery with DUI arrest
A Hempfield woman whose driver’s license already was suspended for a DUI conviction in Allegheny County is accused of leading Greensburg Police on a 7-mile pursuit through several communities early Sunday before the chase ended in Youngwood Cemetery. Officer Garret McNamara reported in court documents filed Tuesday that Kathleen D....
