Top Stories category, Page 1408
Tree of Life hires firms to help congregations in rebuilding Squirrel Hill synagogue
Leaders with Congregation Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha took another step toward rebuilding with the hiring of two consulting firms that will help with logistics of getting back inside the Squirrel Hill synagogue. “It’s a next step to returning physically and spiritually to the building,” said Barb Feige, the congregation’s executive...
U.S. accuses Chinese hackers in targeting of covid-19 researchVideo
WASHINGTON — Hackers working with the Chinese government targeted firms developing vaccines for the coronavirus and stole hundreds of millions of dollars worth of intellectual property and trade secrets from companies across the world, the Justice Department said Tuesday as it announced criminal charges. The indictment does not accuse the...
Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix taking a road less traveled this year
The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix is traveling a different road this year. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the annual event that encompasses most of Schenley Park “shifted gears,” according to organizers. There will be some smaller happenings on various roads in the region instead of the large 10-day gathering, which...
Car, Port Authority T car crash in Dormont; 1 hurt, spokesman says
A Port Authority of Allegheny County light rail train and a car collided Tuesday afternoon in Dormont, officials said. The car and the train crashed at about 1:45 p.m. at the Red Line crossing near the Hillsdale crossing in the 1500 block of Hillsdale Avenue in Dormont, according to Port...
Bloomsburg Fair denounced for dunk tank mocking Pa. Health Secretary Rachel Levine
A fair in Eastern Pennsylvania was criticized this week for perceived mocking of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine in a dunk tank. At the Columbia-Montour County Fireman’s Relief Carnival, hosted by the Bloomsburg Fair, a man wearing a dress and wig sat on the dunk pedestal, claiming to resemble Levine....
Weekend closures, lane restrictions expected with Tarentum Bridge project
PennDOT plans to close the Tarentum Bridge for several weekends while preservation work is being done. The work is scheduled to start in the fall, stop for the winter, continue in the spring and be finished next summer, PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said Tuesday. About 30,000 vehicles cross the bridge...
Police seek help finding missing Pittsburgh man
Pittsburgh police are asking for help in locating a missing man. Willis Morris, 78, was last seen July 16, police said. He is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs around 150 pounds. He has gray hair and brown eyes. He frequents Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood and South Side neighborhoods and Homestead,...
Pa. Turnpike drivers without E-ZPass face 45% higher tolls next year
Turnpike travelers who have not made the switch to E-ZPass will face a hefty increase in the cost of tolls beginning next year. The 45% average increase for drivers who use the toll-by-plate option is necessary to cover the high cost of collecting those tolls, Pennsylvania Turnpike Chief Executive Mark...
Pennsylvania reports 1,027 new covid-19 cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,027 new coronavirus cases and 20 new deaths Tuesday. Tuesday’s reported cases represent the second time in the last six days that cases surpassed 1,000 cases, as 1,032 cases were reported Friday. However, cases in the 700 range were reported four times in that...
Alice in Wonderland-themed cocktail party planned for Pittsburgh
It’s billed as “the tea party to end all tea parties” — only it’s more of a cocktail party. Figuring the middle of pandemic is as good a time as any to go down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass, the team behind The Wizard’s Den and Beyond...
Former Pa. senator sentenced to prison for child pornography possession
A former state senator from Lebanon County was sentenced to one to two years in prison for possessing child pornography and related offenses, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday. Mike Folmer was charged in September 2019 after an online tip led investigators to discover images of child pornography on...
Walmart shopper in northeast Pa. accused of spitting on fellow shopper who asked him to wear a mask
A northeastern Pennsylvania man is accused of spitting in the face of a fellow shopper inside a Wayne County Walmart after she asked him to follow the store’s mandatory mask policy. The incident happened Monday when Evan Spangenberg and his girlfriend were shopping in the Texas Township store without face...
New Kensington considering dumping garbage hauler as residents’ complaints pile up
A New Kensington councilman claims city residents would be willing to pay more for garbage collection if it meant getting better service. Councilman Todd Mentecki said people from across the city have complained about problems with the city’s new garbage company, County Hauling. After more than six months it hasn’t...
Allegheny County reports under 200 new covid-19 cases for 4th straight day
Tuesday marked the fourth consecutive day the Allegheny County Health Department reported fewer than 200 new coronavirus cases. In addition to the 139 new covid-19 cases, there were 8 new hospitalizations and 1 new death reported in the county. The new cases come from 1,501 test results that span June...
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to remain closed until 2021
The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh will not reopen to the public until January. “Social distancing guidelines have had a tremendous impact on the creative, hands-on learning experiences that are a hallmark of the Children’s Museum and MuseumLab, and more recent restrictions on indoor gatherings have further impacted our ability to...
Historic Ohringer building to bring artist colony to Braddock
Gregg Kander doesn’t know when to stop. Just ask those working on his newest project, the rehabilitation of Braddock’s historic Ohringer Furniture building. By late summer, it is expected to house a hand-picked, diverse community of artists living in a space designed to catalyze creativity. The basement will house communal...
Federal agents, local streets: A ‘red flag’ in Portland, Ore.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Federal officers’ actions at protests in Oregon’s largest city, hailed by President Donald Trump but done without local consent, are raising the prospect of a constitutional crisis — one that could escalate as weeks of demonstrations find renewed focus in clashes with camouflaged, unidentified agents outside Portland’s...
Trump, Congress square off over virus aid as crisis worsens
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump acknowledged a “big flareup” of covid-19 cases, but divisions between the White House and Senate Republicans and differences with Democrats posed fresh challenges for a new federal aid package with the U.S. crisis worsening and emergency relief about to expire. Trump convened GOP leaders...
Jeannette City Hall closed after employee tests positive for the coronavirus
A Jeannette city employee tested positive for the coronavirus, according to solicitor Tim Witt. City hall will be closed to the public until further notice for cleaning and disinfecting, he said. Officials learned of the positive test Monday. Witt said the employee is being treated and doing well. “Unfortunately, municipal...
Fire officials: Garage at West Point VFD vandalized
Members of the West Point Volunteer Fire Department in Hempfield are searching for three boys who allegedly vandalized a detached garage housing an antique fire truck. According to a post on the department’s Facebook page, the boys on Saturday broke a glass block window with bricks, entered the building and...
BLM protesters march through Brentwood, Baldwin, Whitehall for Jonny Gammage’s birthdayVideo
Monday marked what would have been Jonny Gammage’s 56th birthday and Camille Redman wanted to do something to commemorate it. Redman, 25, from Pittsburgh’s West End, was born the year Gammage died at the hands of the police and has no memory of the event. But Redman organized a protest...
Bill Fuller: Changes in dining restrictions hurt Big Burrito Restaurant business
Constant fluctuations in the allowed restaurant dining capacity prompted Big Burrito Restaurant Group to temporarily close all of its specialty restaurants, including Alta Via, Casbah, Eleven, Kaya, Soba and Umi, company President Bill Fuller said Monday. “It just isn’t worth it,” said Fuller, who furloughed 193 people. “We decided to...
Police: Tarentum man started fight with off-duty Pittsburgh officer at Harrison custard shop
A Tarentum man was arrested after getting into a fight with another man at a Harrison custard shop Sunday night. Harrison police said Jacob A. Fisher, 24, threatened the other man’s 5-year-old daughter and spit at him before punching him in the face at Della’s Frozen Custard, formerly Del’s Custard,...
37-year-old man who died after collapsing at Sandcastle identified
Allegheny County Police are investigating the death of a Brentwood man who collapsed at Sandcastle Waterpark. Police said county 911 dispatchers were notified just after 3:20 p.m. Sunday of an unresponsive man in a pool at the West Homestead water park. Employees attempted lifesaving measures on the man until paramedics...
Vandergrift muralist paints over racist graffiti at The Center
A Vandergrift artist created a mural with a message of empowerment and community last week, after a local community center was overwhelmed with hateful graffiti. Chloe Kruse, owner of The Center on Franklin Avenue, said the back of her building always has attracted some graffiti. But recently, Kruse said the...
