Top Stories category, Page 1334
Mail carrier suspended after ballot request, political ads allegedly found in trash
A mail carrier has been placed on unpaid leave after federal agents found mail in a trash can that was supposed to be delivered to homes and businesses in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood. The items the carrier allegedly tossed away included “several different classes of mail, including one ballot request and...
2nd covid-19 vaccine trial paused over unexplained illness
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A late-stage study of Johnson & Johnson’s covid-19 vaccine candidate has been paused while the company investigates whether a study participant’s “unexplained illness” is related to the shot. The company said in a statement Monday evening that illnesses, accidents and other so-called adverse events “are an...
Defiant Trump defends virus record in 1st post-covid rallyVideo
SANFORD, Fla. — Defiant as ever about the coronavirus, President Donald Trump on Monday turned his first campaign rally since contracting covid-19 into a full-throated defense of his handling of the pandemic that has killed 215,000 Americans, joking that he was healthy enough to plunge into the crowd and give...
A Nevada man got covid-19 twice; his case shows why we need a vaccine
If you were counting on a coronavirus infection to keep you safe from covid-19 without having to get a vaccine, scientists have some bad news: It won’t work. The evidence for this comes from a Nevada man who was infected with two distinct versions of the novel coronavirus and became...
Connellsville’s Harold Betters, known as ‘Mr. Trombone,’ dies at 92
Known as “Mr. Trombone,” Western Pennsylvania native Harold Betters succeeded on the world stage, but he always called Connellsville home. It was in Connellsville where Betters died peacefully Sunday, surrounded by family, according to his daughter. He was 92. Betters, well known for his command of the trombone, was for...
Gisele Fetterman grateful for support after enduring racial slurs while shopping
Gisele Fetterman, wife of Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, said Monday she is grateful for the support she has received after a stranger verbally attacked her at a grocery store near her home. “Everyone from the governor (Tom Wolf) to our attorney general (Josh Shapiro) to our senator (Bob Casey), they are...
Derry Area closes schools until next week because of covid-19 cases
Derry Area schools will be closed through Friday because five district workers tested positive for covid-19, the district said Monday. Superintendent Eric P. Curry said all school activities, including sports, will be canceled through Sunday and schools will reopen for in-person classes Monday. Anyone who had close contact — those...
Pittsburgh-area Italians gather on Columbus Day to fight for Schenley Park statueVideo
Flo Spagnolo sat in a lawn chair facing the Christopher Columbus statue in Schenley Park on Monday. It was Columbus Day. The controversial statue was obscured, wrapped from top to bottom in plastic and tape. “I have been here since the beginning when the statue was placed here,” said Spagnolo,...
Metzgar Elementary closed amid 5 coronavirus cases at 2 Greensburg Salem schools
James H. Metzgar Elementary School in Salem is closed through Friday, after three students tested positive for the coronavirus. They are among five positive cases among Greensburg Salem students that occurred over 14 days and were announced late last week in a letter to parents posted online by Superintendent Gary...
USDA extends waivers for free school meals
Schoolchildren across the United States can continue receiving free school meals through the end of the academic year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “As our nation recovers and reopens, we want to ensure that children continue to receive the nutritious breakfasts and lunches they count on during the...
3 Hempfield Area High students positive for coronavirus; school, athletics shut down
Hempfield Area High School is closed Tuesday through Friday after three students tested positive for the coronavirus. School administrators were notified of the positive cases over the weekend, according to a letter to parents from Superintendent Tammy Wolicki, posted Sunday on the district website. During the five-day closure, all students...
Police issue arrest warrant, file charges in fatal shooting at Monroeville Mall
Allegheny County Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a man believed to have shot and killed a 20-year-old at the Monroeville Mall. Lawrence Mark Murphy, who police believe is from the Braddock area, is believed to have shot Saheed Gayle, 20, in the torso just outside the...
UK sheep farmer jailed for contaminated Heinz baby food plot
LONDON — A sheep farmer was sentenced to 14 years in prison Monday for his plot to use baby food laced with metal shards to blackmail one of Britain’s biggest supermarket chains. Nigel Wright planted jars of the contaminated baby food in Tesco grocery stores and sent dozens of letters...
Westmoreland County sets another record with 90 new cases Monday, 2 deaths
Westmoreland County had 90 more covid-19 cases added in the past 24 hours Monday, with another 52 cases reported on Sunday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The new numbers are another record set for the county of nearly 349,000 residents. Over the past two days, Westmoreland County had...
Crack’d Egg in Brentwood files for bankruptcy
The Brentwood restaurant that made news last month for continuing to operate despite a health department order requiring it to close has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The process will allow the Crack’d Egg to reorganize its debt while continuing to operate. According to the voluntary petition filed Friday in...
Hockey referee plans to keep officiating after attack at New Kensington arena
When Mario de Leon returned home from refereeing an adult league hockey game Oct. 2, his wife saw the cut on his nose and wanted to know what had happened. He decided not to tell her, but then a court summons showed up. A Buffalo Township man accused of attacking...
Pittsburgh’s Original Oyster House celebrates 150th anniversaryVideo
The Oyster House in Pittsburgh’s Market Square today celebrates 150 years in business. “I believe we have made it this far because we are unapologetically ourselves” said owner Jen Grippo, who took over the business after her father, Louis Grippo Sr., died in May 2017. “We do a few things...
Allegheny County adds 179 new covid cases over past 2 days
On Monday, the Allegheny County Health Department announced it found 179 new cases of coronavirus over the past two days. The breakdown — 97 cases on Sunday, 82 on Monday — were from 2,320 PCR tests conducted from Oct. 4-11. Of those new cases, 156 were confirmed, 23 probable. The...
Pa. Republicans drop effort to create ‘election integrity’ panel with subpoena power
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 weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Republicans have dropped their plan to create an “election integrity” panel with subpoena power, an effort Democrats...
Supreme Court nominee Barrett vows to interpret laws ‘as they are written’Video
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett declared Monday that Americans “deserve an independent Supreme Court that interprets our Constitution and laws as they are written,” encapsulating her conservative approach to the law that has Republicans excited about the prospect of her taking the place of the late Justice Ruth Bader...
1 dead in South Side crash between van, cement truck
Emergency responders were dispatched to the scene of head-on collision between a minivan and a cement truck in the city’s South Side Slopes neighborhood this morning, according to authorities. Two people had to be extracted from the van following the crash, which occurred at the intersection of South 18th and...
Supreme Court nominee Barrett faces Senate despite virus
WASHINGTON — Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett are set to begin as a divided Senate charges ahead on President Donald Trump’s pick to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and cement a conservative court majority before Election Day. Barrett, a federal appeals court judge, will...
Lt. governor’s wife says she was verbally assaulted while shopping at grocery store
The wife of Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor says she was verbally assaulted while picking up some items at a grocery store near her home on Sunday. In a post to her Twitter account, Gisele Fetterman, wife of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, said she went “to the local grocery store and was...
How Western Pa. high schools are adjusting homecoming celebrations amid pandemic
Homecoming is traditionally marked by bustling football stadiums and crowded dances. This year has been, obviously, very different. Though covid-19 has forced school districts throughout Western Pennsylvania to scale back homecoming celebrations, schools — and parents — are still trying to salvage part of the hallmark high school experience. Students...
Covid-19 case suspends football for Serra Catholic High School; 1 infected, 40-plus quarantined
Serra Catholic High School football players are prohibited from practicing or playing games for at least the next two weeks in an attempt to thwart a possible spread of covid-19. More than 40 student athletes and football staff are under quarantine because a person involved with the team has tested...
