Top Stories category, Page 1333
Greensburg man accused of squatting in basement of Seton Hill building
A Greensburg man is being held in the county jail after police said he broke into an office building at Seton Hill University, ransacking it and using the basement as a hiding place. Joseph Donald Lawrence, 27, is charged with burglary, theft and criminal trespass in the August incidents. University...
Pa. health officials aim to avoid shutdown despite covid uptick
A recent uptick in covid-19 cases and a likely cold-weather resurgence of the virus will not lead to another state shutdown, Pennsylvania health leaders said Wednesday. Instead, current mitigation measures and increased testing will be used to combat the spread as cool weather drives people indoors. “We have no plans...
Wanted Jeannette man in jail after fight with trooper
A 38-year-old Jeannette man wanted on multiple arrest warrants dating back to March is accused of fighting a state trooper this week after he was found hiding out at a New Stanton motel with his girlfriend and 2-year-old daughter. James V. Villi was jailed on $50,000 bond on charges of...
Pennsylvania high court to settle voter signatures fight
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court granted a request Wednesday from the state’s top elections official to take up the question of whether counties should count mail-in ballots when a voter’s signature doesn’t necessarily match the one on their registration. In its brief order, the state Supreme Court said it will...
2 Pittsburgh-area postal workers charged with throwing away mail
Federal criminal charges have been filed separately in Pittsburgh against two postal carriers accused of throwing away mail — including an application for a mail-in ballot and political advertisements. Both men are charged with delay or destruction of mail by a postal employee. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, on...
Westmoreland County tops 3K coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County on Tuesday became Pennsylvania’s 16th county to surpass 3,000 coronavirus cases. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 60 new cases in the county, bringing the total to 3,053. The state didn’t add any new deaths, leaving the county’s total at 64. The county added 309 test results, with...
Allegheny County adds 97 new coronavirus cases
Allegheny County reported 97 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the sixth straight day in double digits after hitting triple digits twice earlier this month. The 97 new cases bring its total to 13,533, according to the Allegheny County Health Department. Of those 97 cases, 55 are confirmed and 42 are...
Nearly 29K Allegheny County voters receive wrong mail-in ballots
Nearly 29,000 Allegheny County voters have received the wrong ballot because of a programming and printing error by the company hired to print and mail the county’s ballots, officials said Wednesday. Elections officials began hearing of the misprinted ballots on Friday, said Elections Division Manager David Voye. About 20 county...
Watch live: Day 3 of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett hearingVideo
Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett continue for the third day on Wednesday at 9 a.m. Tuesday’s session lasted nearly 12 hours. Barrett declined to voice an opinion on potential election-related litigation involving President Donald Trump or presidential transition of power. She also said she didn’t view...
2 dead after dispute between siblings in Allegheny Township
Authorities said a domestic dispute between a brother and sister ended in a murder-suicide early Wednesday in Westmoreland County. The shootings took place at a home in the 900 block of Route 356 in Allegheny Township following a dispute between a man in his late 50s and his sister, who...
Trump to spell out economic plan to Pittsburgh, New York, Washington, Chicago economists
President Trump is expected to present his plan for the nation’s economy on Wednesday to economists from Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago. The Economic Club of Pittsburgh will join with fellow Economic Club members from those major cities, as well as Florida and Sheboygan, for a 45-minute...
Missing person sought in Bolivar area
State police and firefighters were searching for a missing person late Tuesday night in the Bolivar area. According to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher, police called for assistance in the search shortly after 9 p.m. Bolivar firefighters responded, along with the county Rough Terrain Support Unit Team. The search remained...
5 takeaways from 2nd day of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearingVideo
WASHINGTON — It was a very 2020 Supreme Court confirmation hearing Tuesday, as Amy Coney Barrett fielded her first round of questions on socially divisive issues from socially distanced members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate Republicans have said they want to hold a floor vote on Barrett’s nomination by...
President Trump swoops into Johnstown for rally as Election Day grows closerVideo
Chants of “four more years” greeted President Trump as he emerged from Air Force One at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport on Tuesday evening, just days after declaring himself cured of covid-19. The enthusiastic crowd, estimated at anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 strong, was still streaming into the airport...
Police: Man shot in Penn Hills in ‘drug deal gone bad’
A man is recovering in a hospital after being shot three times in Penn Hills on Tuesday. Police Chief Howard Burton said the victim, a white man in his 20s, made his way to the GetGo gas station near Frankstown and Coal Hollow roads around 3 p.m. He was shot...
3rd gun found in 5 days on passengers at Pittsburgh International Airport
Transportation Security Administration agents caught a Texas man with a handgun at Pittsburgh International Airport on Saturday, which was the third gun found on passengers in five days. Last Tuesday, TSA agents stopped two passengers with guns at an airport checkpoint. “What would make someone think they could bring a...
Johnstown crowd readies for President Trump rallyVideo
Supporters began lining up at the John Murtha Johnstown Cambria County Airport 10 hours in advance of the campaign rally scheduled to being at 7 p.m. At the nearby Galleria Mall, where many shops are closed, dozens of vendors gathered in the parking lot hawking Trump regalia, ranging from T-shirts...
Supreme Court temporarily halts census in latest twist of 2020 count
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stopped the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident from continuing through the end of October. President Donald Trump’s administration had asked the nation’s high court to suspend a district court’s order permitting the 2020 census to continue through the end of the month. The...
Possible safety issue spurs pause of Eli Lilly’s covid-19 antibody study
Independent monitors have paused enrollment in a study testing the covid-19 antiviral drug remdesivir plus an experimental antibody therapy being developed by Eli Lilly that’s similar to a treatment President Trump recently received. Lilly confirmed Tuesday that the study had been paused “out of an abundance of caution” and said...
5 more coronavirus cases at Westmoreland Manor
Pennsylvania National Guard members, stationed a Westmoreland Manor since late September, departed the county-owned nursing home over the weekend even as coronavirus cases there continued to grow. County officials said Tuesday another five residents tested positive since Saturday at the 400-bed home in Hempfield. There have now been 112 residents...
Westmoreland jail virus outbreak explodes
The coronavirus outbreak at Westmoreland County Prison continued to grow over the Columbus Day weekend and, on Tuesday, officials said the number of cases could result in overcrowding at the Hempfield lockup. Another 33 inmates and two more guards tested positive for the virus since late last week, county commissioners...
Experts: Rise of covid cases in Western Pennsylvania not surprising
Westmoreland County’s rate of positive coronavirus tests remained high Tuesday, but health experts said the increase is no surprise. “Covid-19, not unlike other previous viral pandemics, came here and will have ebb and flow to it,” said Dr. Don Yealy, UPMC’s chair of emergency medicine. Yealy cited the virus’ trajectory...
Allegheny County reports no new covid-19 deaths for 4th day
Allegheny County reported 74 new covid-19 cases Tuesday. There were seven new hospitalizations and no new coronavirus-related deaths reported. Total cases in the county are now 13,436. Total hospitalizations are now 1,293 and the death toll remains at 397. Allegheny County coronavirus by dayInfogram There has not been a new...
Allegheny County Judge John A. Zottola, creator of Veterans Court program, dies
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge John A. Zottola, who founded the Veterans Court program and was revered for his compassion, died on Monday. Zottola was 63 and lived in Fox Chapel. A graduate of Central Catholic High School who earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh, Zottola also...
Pennsylvania continues trend of 1,000-plus new covid-19 cases
Pennsylvania reported 1,342 new covid-19 cases Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health. Coronavirus-related deaths also increased, with 16 new deaths reported. Of the 16 deaths reported Tuesday, one is from October, nine are from September, three are from August, one is from July and two from June. Total...
