Top Stories category, Page 1483
Alexander’s Italian Bistro has closed its doors in Bloomfield
Another longstanding Pittsburgh restaurant has closed its doors. Alexander’s Italian Bistro, which has been a staple along Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield for more than 60 years, shut down March 12 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. But it won’t be reopening. Owner Kimberly Colaizzi Ifft posted a heartfelt goodbye on...
Pennsylvania reports 825 new coronavirus cases, eclipses 50,000
Pennsylvania health officials will decide this week whether to share coronavirus-related data from nursing and personal care homes with the public, which is where the majority of covid-19 deaths are occurring. About 67% of covid-19 deaths reported by the state have occurred in residents from such facilities. So far, the...
Body found in McKees Rocks refrigerator identified
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified a woman who was found dead inside a refrigerator in a McKees Rocks home Monday morning Police found the body of Kristy Jefferson, 38, of McKees Rocks inside a refrigerator that was sitting in a second floor hallway of a building in the...
No new coronavirus deaths reported in Allegheny County for 2nd straight day
The Allegheny County Health Department reported 20 additional cases of the coronavirus Monday, but no new deaths. The county has had 102 deaths and 1,365 cases in total. The health department said 14% — 194 cases — in the county are in health care workers. The county also reported no...
‘Murder hornets’ enter U.S., could decimate bee populationVideo
As if 2020 wasn’t bad enough. Now there are so-called “murder hornets.” North American sightings of the Asian giant hornet, which attack and slaughter honeybees, have so far been in Washington state and in Canada. The sightings were reported late last year near Blaine, Wash., and Bellingham, Wash., according to...
Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame coach Don Shula dies at 90
Measuring Don Shula by wins and losses, no NFL coach had a better year. Or career. He looked the part, thanks to a jutting jaw and glare that would intimidate 150-pound sports writers and 300-pound linemen alike. He led the Miami Dolphins to the only perfect season in NFL history,...
Pittsburgh enacts hiring freeze as tax revenues dry up during pandemic
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, faced with evaporating tax revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic, on Monday announced a halt on filling 64 vacant positions across city government. The hiring freeze will save approximately $3 million in budgeted salaries, according to the Mayor’s Office. Peduto lauded city employees for their work...
Pandemics, economic woes: Turner Dairy Farms still ‘figures it out’ 90 years later
Ninety Aprils ago, a young Charlie Turner proposed to a widow who lived on a Penn Hills farm. The year was 1930. At age 25, and after 12 years of working on his dad’s farm in Wilkinsburg, Turner was ready for a life change. He had just five possessions: four...
Western Pa. college students in line for cash from coronavirus stimulus package
Students struggling to make ends meet after colleges and universities shuttered earlier this spring could soon see extra cash in their bank accounts. Schools across the country are receiving millions of dollars for eligible students as part of the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act. It provides students...
Listen in on live oral arguments before Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — It’s a morning of firsts for the Supreme Court, the first time audio of the court’s arguments can be heard live by the world and the first arguments by telephone. The changes are a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which has made holding courtroom sessions unsafe, especially with...
In televised town hall, Trump pushes for economic reopeningVideo
WASHINGTON — Anxious for an economic recovery, President Donald Trump fielded Americans’ questions about decisions by some states to allow nonessential businesses to reopen while other states are on virtual lockdown due to the coronavirus. After more than a month of being cooped up at the White House, Trump returned...
Bells across Pennsylvania Day honored workers and more during covid-19Video
Pulling a rope the old fashioned way, Dale Winning pealed the bells at the First Congregational Church of Etna as part of the statewide “Bells across Pennsylvania Day” Sunday. Churches bells or any bell, even a spoon hitting the pan, sounded for three minutes at 7 p.m. throughout the state....
Police investigate Stowe Township shooting Sunday
A 26-year-old man was in critical condition late afternoon Sunday after he was shot multiple times in the 200 block of McCoy Road in Stowe Township, according to Allegheny County Police. The man was found around 3:37 p.m. on Benwood Avenue, which is near McCoy Road, and taken to an...
Oakmont nurse was on her way to help covid-19 patients when she tragically died
An Oakmont nurse who lived to help others spent the last moments of her life on her way to do just that. Brianna M. “Bea” Kimmel, 28, died April 26 from injuries she suffered when her car collided with a tractor-trailer in Union County. A licensed practical nurse, Kimmel had...
Report: China hid coronavirus’ severity to hoard suppliesVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials believe China covered up the extent of the coronavirus outbreak — and how contagious the disease is — to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it, intelligence documents show. Chinese leaders “intentionally concealed the severity” of the pandemic from the world in early...
Dogs, drone, more than 50 volunteers still searching for Meadville man missing at McConnells Mill
More than 50 volunteers including divers, at least two rescue dogs and a drone scoured the area around Slippery Rock Creek in McConnells Mill State Park on Sunday looking for a Meadville man who fell in the water while hiking Saturday. The man was identified at Jeffery Hamby, 38, according...
Wolf, Cuomo join other governors in efforts for covid-19 equipment
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and governors from six other Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states Sunday pledged to join forces to build the manufacturing capacity to make coronavirus testing kits, personal protective equipment and ventilators to protect the health care system in the fight against covid-19. “By working together we can combine...
Pa. among 6 states joining N.Y. to buy vital coronavirus gear in bulk
NEW YORK — New York is banding together with six nearby states, including Pennsylvania, to purchase equipment and supplies that sometimes have been hard to come by during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is praising residents for mostly adhering...
Westmoreland County adds 5 new covid-19 cases
Westmoreland County’s covid-19 cases increased by five from Saturday to Sunday, bringing the total number of people who have tested positive for the virus to 401, state officials said. Nursing homes and other senior care facilities are linked to about 40% of the county’s cases. The state health department reported...
Pennsylvania reports 26 more covid-19 deaths as total cases top 49K
Pennsylvania health officials on Sunday reported 962 new cases of covid-19 and 26 more deaths, bringing the statewide death total to 2,444. As of Sunday, 49,267 Pennsylvanians had tested positive for covid-19, and 191,374 residents had tested negative, state officials said. All 67 counties in the state have cases of...
Allegheny County covid-19 cases rise by 12; no new deaths reported
There were no new deaths in Allegheny County from covid-19 since Saturday, but there were 12 additional cases, the Allegheny County Health Department reported Sunday morning. The number of people who have died from covid-19 remains at 102, the county health department said Sunday. Of that number, 92 are listed...
Sidelined by pandemic, Trump campaign turns to digital shows
WASHINGTON — The streaming video began and, within minutes, the president’s eldest son was musing that Osama bin Laden had endorsed Joe Biden. Subtle, it was not. Welcome to the Trump campaign, digital edition. Seven nights a week, President Donald Trump’s reelection team is airing live programming online to replace...
In a time of covid-19, ‘Obamacare’ still part of the action
WASHINGTON — Covid-19 could have stamped a person “uninsurable” if not for the Affordable Care Act. The ban on insurers using preexisting conditions to deny coverage is a key part of the Obama-era law that the Trump administration still seeks to overturn. Without the law, people who recovered from covid-19...
Going from red pandemic stage to yellow won’t help hairdressers, barbers
David Wien’s customers are stalking him these days. Wien owns John’s Barbershop, a small-town institution his father-in-law, John Krautbauer, opened 56 years ago across the street from the post office in Delmont. The shop closed in March when Gov. Tom Wolf issued a stay-at-home order designed to limit the spread...
Pandemic cancels some National Nurses Week events, celebration takes new forms
The coronavirus pandemic and related social distancing rules have prompted Western Pennsylvania hospitals to cancel a slew of activities scheduled to begin this week to recognize nurses. Plans are still in the works, however, to celebrate the region’s thousands of nurses working on the front lines, hospital officials say. “This...
