Top Stories category, Page 1398
Cal U to go remote for fall semester
California University of Pennsylvania has joined a growing list of universities that will offer only remote learning for their students this fall because of concerns over the possible spread of covid-19. “Throughout the summer, my leadership team and many others planned for our return to on-campus operations … in the...
Man to face homicide trial in shooting death of Derry Township woman in her home
The man charged with killing a Derry Township woman in her home on July 20 was ordered held for trial Friday in a hearing closed to the public. Even suspect Nathan Joseph Quidetto, 20, of Unity waited outside District Judge Mark Bilik’s tiny Derry Township courtroom during the hearing. Emily...
IUP cancels in-person commencement for May, August grads, moves to virtual platform
Indiana University of Pennsylvania announced Friday that an in-person commencement for the class of 2020 has been canceled and replaced with a virtual ceremony. The school had planned an in-person ceremony on Sept. 12 to honor May and August graduates. Citing more restrictive guidelines for indoor gatherings and increased concern...
Westmoreland Manor halts family visits after employee tests positive for coronavirus
Westmoreland officials on Friday reported an employee at the county-owned nursing home tested positive for the coronavirus and, as a result, outdoor visitation of residents, which started earlier this week, are temporarily halted. According a statement issued by county Solicitor Melissa Guiddy, county officials learned the employee had not been...
Highlands settles former teacher’s federal lawsuit for $150K
A former Highlands elementary teacher will get $105,000 as part of an agreement settling his federal lawsuit alleging the district had violated his rights. The Highlands School Board approved the settlement with Jason Smith on June 22. The district released details of the settlement Friday in response to a Right-to-Know...
Pennsylvania posts another day of new covid-19 cases below 1,000
On Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 970 new cases of covid-19, the third straight day new incidents were under the 1,000 mark. Health officials posted 13 new deaths, its lowest new count since Monday, when it added only four deaths. On Friday, the department added new deaths in...
Allegheny County records 2nd highest new covid-19 case count
Allegheny County saw its second biggest addition of new covid-19 cases Friday, with the county’s Health Department reporting 244 new incidences. The cases come from a batch of tests conducted from over the past month, 30 of which have specimen collection dates from more than two weeks ago. Officials said...
Pa. to hire more coronavirus contact tracers, starting at $18 an hour
The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced Friday it will hire 1,000 additional contact tracing staff in an effort to curb the spread of covid-19. A nearly $23 million, federally funded contract with Insight Global, an Atlanta-based staffing agency, will help pay to recruit, hire, train and support the contact tracers,...
Police arrest man in connection with May 30 protests
Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the May 30 protests in Downtown Pittsburgh. Christopher West, 35, of Pittsburgh, is charged with recklessly endangering another person, robbery, criminal mischief and riot, officials said. He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail. Detectives and a multi-jurisdictional task force analyzed...
1 Marine dead, 2 injured, 8 missing after vehicle accident
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — One Marine has died, two injured and eight others were missing after an amphibious assault vehicle accident off the coast of southern California, the Marines said early Friday. The accident happened Thursday and search and rescue efforts were underway Friday morning with support from the Navy...
Brain surgery helps Kittanning toddler become seizure freeVideo
Breane DeComo Kotyk was waiting to hear her daughter cry for the first time. Nothing. Not a sound. Little Khaleesia wasn’t breathing. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. She was lifeless and blue. It took doctors at West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield 18 minutes to resuscitate her. The...
Pa. Game Commission adopts new plan in effort to curb chronic wasting disease
Pennsylvania Game Commission officials are hoping a new plan to manage the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) will prevent it from infecting more deer in Westmoreland County and elsewhere in Southwestern Pennsylvania. About 300 square miles of the northeastern corner of the county is part of a management area...
Delmont’s Apple Hill Playhouse is closed but fond memories remain
Pat Beyer says she’s heard many times over the years that ghosts inhabit the Apple Hill Playhouse in Delmont. After all, the structure has been around since Civil War times, starting out as a barn before its reincarnation as a theater with a long string of owners. Beyer, Apple Hill’s...
Suspect, 17, sought in the slaying of another teen in Uniontown
A homeless teenager accused in the shooting death of a 16-year-old Uniontown boy Wednesday night went to particular house in order to fight the victim, according to Uniontown police. An arrest warrant has been issued for Jaden Christopher Shaw, 17, who is listed as homeless in court papers but also...
Pence draws crowd at Cops for Trump event in GreensburgVideo
Applause and cheers filled South Main Street in Greensburg Thursday as Vice President Mike Pence touted a pro-police stance during a campaign event in a parking lot next to the city police station. He promised the 400 or so people in attendance that President Trump and the rest of the...
Crash injures 3, ties up traffic on Highland Park Bridge for over 2 hours
The Highland Park Bridge reopened to traffic in both directions shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday following a one-vehicle crash. At least three people were transported for treatment, according to an Allegheny County 911 supervisor. The wreck, on the O’Hara side of the bridge was reported at about 4:30 p.m. The...
At John Lewis funeral, Obama calls for renewing Voting Rights ActVideo
ATLANTA — Former President Barack Obama used Rep. John Lewis’ funeral on Thursday to issue a stark warning that the voting rights and equal opportunity the late civil rights icon championed are threatened heading into the 2020 election. Speaking from the pulpit of the church that Martin Luther King Jr....
Gov. Wolf, GOP critic spar over social media post parroting health secretary’s LGBQT comments
A public back-and-forth between Gov. Tom Wolf and one of his vocal House critics played out Thursday over the Lebanon County lawmaker’s parody of the health department secretary. The feud ended in calls from both parties for censures, resignations and dismissals. The incident started Wednesday with a social media post...
‘Isaias’ unleashes flooding, landslides in north CaribbeanVideo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Isaias battered Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic on Thursday as it continued on a forecast track toward the East Coast. The storm unleashed small landslides and caused widespread flooding and power outages on an island still recovering from previous hurricanes and earthquakes....
2 Pittsburgh motorcycle officers hurt in crash during Pence’s travel to Greensburg
Two Pittsburgh police motorcycle officers who were part of the security detail for Vice President Mike Pence’s Thursday visit to Greensburg were hurt in a crash on Route 837 in White Oak, Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said. The officers are with the Special Deployment Division and were part...
Worst economic quarter impacts Western Pa. professionals
No one has seen numbers as bad as these. Shoulders slumped in America on Thursday as news broke that the U.S. economy shrank at a disastrous 33% annual rate during the April-June quarter, the worst quarterly drop in history. The previous worst quarterly plunge was a 10% drop in 1958....
Voice of Westmoreland holds ‘Rally for Black Lives’ in Greensburg’s St. Clair ParkVideo
While Vice President Mike Pence was attending a “Cops for Trump” rally in downtown Greensburg, a half-mile away in St. Clair Park, city resident Arlena Williams was describing the fear she felt recently watching her son get pulled over by police right near her front door. “Our fears are not...
Allegheny County sets record for new coronavirus hospitalizations; sees triple-digit cases for 8th straight day
Allegheny County has been consistently reporting new coronavirus cases in the triple digits. Thursday’s report of 132 new cases from the Allegheny County Health Department is the eighth in a row above 100. The report included a record 23 new hospitalizations and one new death. Of the new cases, 126...
31 new coronavirus cases reported in Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County has 31 new coronavirus cases, according to the latest report from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The total of 1,382 cases through Thursday includes 1,344 confirmed and 38 probable. There were 328 new test results reported Thursday by the health department, with a positivity rate of 9.5%. Westmoreland...
Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain dies after covid-19 battleVideo
ATLANTA — Herman Cain, former Republican presidential candidate and former CEO of a major pizza chain who went on to become an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, died Thursday of complications from coronavirus. He was 74. Dan Calabrese, who authored a post on Cain’s website announcing the death, told...
