Top Stories category, Page 1476
Passenger trains suspended on Pittsburgh-to-Philadelphia route until June 1
Amtrak extended its suspension of passenger rail service until June 1 on the Pennsylvanian route between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and the Keystone route between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, a PennDOT spokeswoman said. Amtrak previously announced that service would be suspended until May 18, said PennDOT spokeswoman Alexis Campbell. The state provides...
Editorial: Giving SNAP funds to students is a late reaction
The biggest problem with bailing water out of the bottom of a leaky boat is that it doesn’t prioritize fixing the problem over dealing with the problem. Fill a bucket with water and dump it over the side? It might be the first instinct, but that water is immediately replaced...
Air quality in Western Pa. showed slight improvement in pandemic shutdown
As coronavirus restrictions closed businesses and reduced road traffic during much of March and April, some of the country’s most polluted cities experienced better air quality. Los Angeles, notorious for its heavy smog, at one point reported the cleanest air among any major city worldwide. By some measures, Washington, D.C.,...
Cinemark at Pittsburgh Mills mall closing
The Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer is losing one of its anchors. Cinemark on Monday confirmed that its theater at the mall is closing. “It will be a huge loss,” township Supervisor Lori Ziencik said. “We’re disappointed.” Cinemark spokeswoman Caitlin Piper said the theater is “permanently closing as it is...
Billion-dollar overhaul of Pittsburgh International airport on pause amid pandemic
A $1 billion-plus overhaul of Pittsburgh International Airport is indefinitely on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, Allegheny County’s aviation chief said Monday. But the project remains necessary for the airport’s future, Allegheny County Airport Authority CEO Christina Cassotis said. Her assessment was echoed by national aviation experts. The airport...
State says workers don’t have to report if business reopens illegally
Pennsylvania workers who refuse to report to any business that opens in violation of Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders will not lose their unemployment benefits, a state official said Monday. “If a business opens in defiance of the governor’s orders … those employees may stay home and not lose their benefits,”...
Pennsylvania schools planning to reopen in fall, says education secretary
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is planning to allow schools to return to the classroom in the fall but continues to prepare for a worst-case scenario. “It is fully our intent that we’re going to be at a place where we are going to reopen schools for the next academic...
Gov. Wolf: No timeline on Pennsylvania counties transitioning from yellow to green phase
Southwestern Pennsylvania is poised to transition from the red to yellow phase of the state’s tiered reopening plan, leaving many residents and business owners wondering how long it will be before the region is allowed to go green. Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday that has not yet been decided. “We...
Execution notice signed for convicted cop killer Eric Frein
Convicted cop killer Eric Frein has been scheduled for execution, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced Monday. According to a release from the department, Secretary John Wetzel signed a Notice of Execution setting June 22, 2020 as the date of execution for Frein. A Notice of Execution was signed for...
West Wing visitors, staff now required to wear masks
WASHINGTON — The White House is requiring everyone who enters the West Wing to wear a mask or face covering after coronavirus scares near President Donald Trump. A memo sent to all staff outlined the new directive Monday after two staffers last week tested positive for covid-19. The memo says:...
Pennsylvania state senator calls for resignation of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine
A state senator from Franklin County has called for the immediate resignation of Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, saying her actions were a major factor in the large number of covid-19 cases and deaths in the state’s nursing homes. Sen. Doug Mastriano, a first-term Republican representing Franklin, Adams and...
Kennywood extends 2020 season passes through all of 2021
There’s no word on when – or if – Kennywood Park will open this year. But 2020 season pass holders received a little bit of good news when the West Mifflin park announced that this year’s passes would be extended through all of 2021. This hasn't been the year any...
FBI has new agent in charge of Pittsburgh field office
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday named Michael A. Christman as the special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh Field Office. Christman, who most recently served as a deputy assistant director for the Criminal Justice Information Services Division in West Virginia, previously worked in Pittsburgh overseeing violent crime, gang, drug...
1 more coronavirus case, no new deaths reported in Westmoreland County
One new coronavirus case in Westmoreland County has pushed the total to 418, while the statewide case count surpassed 57,000 on Monday. The 543 new cases reported statewide between 12 a.m. Sunday and 12 a.m. Monday bring the running tally to 57,154. State health officials reported 24 new deaths for...
High school yearbooks go virtual for Western Pa. grads
For high school graduates of 2020, that chance to write a senior yearbook message has been taken away with the pandemic. But resourceful teenagers have found a way to sign a yearbook virtually. They’re creating yearbooks on Instagram, the social media platform that emphasizes photographs. In most cases, one student...
Pennsylvania customs officials seize unapproved medication shipped from Hong Kong
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials seized a shipment of 1,200 capsules of an unapproved medicine shipped from Hong Kong to Pennsylvania. Working out of the Port of Harrisburg, agents seized the Lingua Qingwen capsules en route to an address in Union County, in the central part of the state....
Pennsylvania reports 543 new coronavirus cases, 24 more deaths
State health officials reported hundreds of new coronavirus cases on Monday, pushing the state’s running case count above 57,000. The 543 new cases were reported between 12 a.m. Sunday and 12 a.m. Monday, and they bring the statewide total to 57,154 since the first cases were identified on March 6....
Gov. Wolf threatens action against Pennsylvania counties, businesses that ignore restrictions
Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday had strong words for politicians and business owners who choose to defy the state’s coronavirus restrictions, threatening funding and business licenses as some counties move to the yellow phase of reopening while others remain in the most restrictive phase. Wolf said funding to help counties...
Cops: Man stopped for suspended license in Greensburg carrying nearly 2 bricks of heroin
A Jeannette man pulled over in Greensburg Saturday after an officer suspected him of driving with a suspended license was found with nearly two bricks of heroin, police said. Moziah S. Harris, 28, was stopped driving his 2015 Honda about 2:25 a.m. along the 100 block College Avenue by Patrolman...
Allegheny County reports 8 new coronavirus cases, 1 death
Allegheny County officials reported eight additional cases of covid-19 and one more death Monday, bringing the total to 1,511 confirmed or probable cases and 123 deaths countywide. The youngest person to have died from the coronavirus in Allegheny County was 42 years old and had underlying conditions, county officials said....
Pittsburgh police are towing, ticketing vehicles parked illegally
Pittsburgh police have started ticketing and towing vehicles parked illegally Downtown as the city prepares for the easing of coronavirus restrictions under the yellow phase. Officers are focusing on flagrant violations, according to Commander Mike Pilyih of the Zone 2 station. They’re also issuing verbal warnings to motorists parked illegally....
State police withdraw stay-at-home violations against 2 in Westmoreland
Citations have been withdrawn against two people who were accused of violating Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order last month. The citations against Kara Lee Lawson, 27, of Bell, and Scott James Renwick, 28, of Loyalhanna, were withdrawn May 1, according to online court records. It was unclear why the citations...
Faces of courage: Ambulance personnel on coronavirus front lines
The call comes over their radio — the patient is having trouble breathing, they need an ambulance. Then, “call the center for special patient information,” says a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The paramedics know it’s likely they’re heading toward the invisible threat that everyone else is trying to stay away from...
Ohio Gov. DeWine sees risks ‘no matter what we do’ amid reopening
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is acknowledging that there are risks to reopening Ohio’s economy following closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, but he says “it’s really a risk no matter what we do.” The Republican governor dialed into the economic toll the pandemic has had on businesses...
Comedian, actor Jerry Stiller dies at 92
Comedy veteran Jerry Stiller, who launched his career opposite wife Anne Meara in the 1950s and reemerged four decades later as the hysterically high-strung Frank Costanza on the smash television show “Seinfeld,” died at 92, his son Ben Stiller announced Monday. He died of natural causes, his son — a...
