Top Stories category, Page 1494
10 ways to protect your skin while wearing a mask
During the covid-19 pandemic, many Americans are wearing face masks for extended periods of time for the first time in their lives. This has brought about a number of skin issues, from flaring of eczema to worsening of acne. Dr. Suzan Obagi, associate professor of dermatology at the UPMC Cosmetic...
Answering the Call: Giving birth during coronavirus crisisVideo
People usually aren’t excited about going to the hospital. But when families show up to have a baby, it often ends up being one of the best moments of their lives. With covid-19, things are different. At UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, patients giving birth can only have one support person with...
Unity Giant Eagle worker tests positive for coronavirus
A Giant Eagle store in Unity was sanitized and reopened after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus, the grocery chain announced. The employee was last in the Mountain Laurel Plaza store along Route 30 on Thursday. The case was confirmed Monday, according to information posted on the company’s website....
Former Greensburgers enduring ‘stay at home’ in RomeVideo
Being quarantined at home for protection from the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t have to be all that bad — particularly if the view includes St. Peter’s Basilica at Vatican City in Rome, a former Greensburg couple said. “In order to leave the house, you have a ‘self-declaration’ on a piece of...
Bill would allow Pennsylvania restaurants to serve to-go cocktails during pandemic
At least one local restaurateur thinks a proposed bill that would allow restaurants to sell liquor products to-go is “too little, too late.” House Bill 327, which the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed Tuesday, would allow a restaurant or hotel with a valid liquor license that lost more than 25%...
3 men hospitalized after being shot in Homewood, 2 in critical condition
Three people were hospitalized, two in critical condition and a third reported to be stable, after being shot in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood. City police responded to a ShotSpotter alert along the 1200 block of Mohler Street about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities said officers discovered a man who has been shot...
Police say car they were looking for was not involved in McKeesport shooting
Allegheny County Police have called off a search for a car originally believed to have been tied to shootings in McKeesport and cleared its owner. Two 15-year-old boys were shot Tuesday around 9:20 p.m. in the 900 block of Craig Street near the city’s Crawford Village housing development. Both boys...
10 of Port Authority’s 12 covid-19 cases linked to West Mifflin garage
The Port Authority of Allegheny County reported Tuesday its 12th employee has tested positive for covid-19. The vast majority of the public transit agency’s coronavirus cases reported so far — including the latest one — are linked to the same West Mifflin maintenance garage. “We are concerned,” Port Authority spokesman...
Joe Biden wins Ohio’s mail-in primary delayed by coronavirusVideo
COLUMBUS — Joe Biden won Ohio’s presidential primary Tuesday, clinching a contest that was less about the Democratic nomination and more about how states can conduct elections in the era of the coronavirus. The primary was the first major test of statewide elections via mail amid an outbreak. And the...
Editorial: Hospitals need elective surgery to survive
There are some things we want back after weeks in a pandemic lockdown. We want happy hour and Sunday brunch and a shopping trip that doesn’t feel like deploying on a military maneuver. But there are other things we need. New hips. Gallbladder removal. Coronary angioplasty to see if an...
Masked man who police say planned to rob North Huntingdon bank gets prison sentence
A man who police say wore a rubber mask depicting a heavily wrinkled, middle-aged man as part of a failed bomb plot and bank robbery in North Huntingdon could serve up to two years in jail. Luke Joseph Dell, 35, of Ohio pleaded guilty Tuesday to terroristic threats and bomb...
Pittsburgh free water about to dry up, rough estimate puts cost as high as $20 million
Pittsburgh could face an annual $20 million water bill starting this year unless the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission reconsiders a recent order requiring the city to begin paying the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority for total water usage, officials said. Last year the city and PWSA negotiated a cooperation agreement,...
Pittsburgh food bank hosting drive-up distributions in Beaver, Greene counties
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank will host two more drive-up distributions this week that can provide food boxes for more than 3,000 vehicles in Greene and Beaver counties. The food bank will distribute food boxes from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at the Greene County Fairgrounds in Franklin Township. The...
Excela Health considers return to elective surgeries while stressing safety
Excela Health is moving cautiously toward resuming elective surgeries after state health officials on Monday gave conditional approval for such procedures. State Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said hospitals and surgical centers could once more perform elective procedures as long as they would remain capable of handling a potential...
County officials ‘knocking on wood’ Westmoreland Manor remains virus-free
As nursing and personal care homes have been the hardest hit by the coronavirus throughout the country and state, precautions put in place have so far enabled the 400-bed Westmoreland Manor to be spared, officials said Tuesday. The county-owned nursing home, the largest of the 66 nursing home or personal...
Lawsuit alleges Brighton Rehab performed coronavirus drug experiments on residents
A class-action lawsuit alleges that lack of oversight by the state Department of Health allowed Brighton Rehabilitation in Beaver County to perform drug experiments on patients under the guise of clinical trials to prevent coronavirus. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, alleges that the department has scaled down...
Richard Baumhammers still on death row 20 years after killing spree
On a cloudy Friday afternoon 20 years ago Tuesday, an unemployed immigration lawyer went on a killing spree. It started next door to his parents’ Mt. Lebanon home, where he killed his Jewish neighbor. He went on to shoot five more people, all ethnic or racial minorities. Richard Baumhammers, 54,...
Coronavirus cases spike at Allegheny County Jail
Cases of covid-19 at Allegheny County Jail more than doubled overnight, with at least 24 inmates testing positive as of Tuesday, data show. At least three jail employees also have tested positive for coronavirus, county-reported figures show. Several test results for both inmates and staff members are pending. “Confined areas...
Coronavirus pandemic can be alarming for Western Pa. allergy sufferers
For most people, opening a window or stepping outside for a breath of fresh air is a welcome respite, especially during Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home order. But for those with allergies, pollen from trees and grass can bring misery. The allergens can cause a runny nose, malaise, watery eyes and coughing —which...
CDC recommends social distancing for dogs, cats, other animals
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending that cats, dogs and other animals keep the same social distancing as recommended for humans. The recommendation was made after a small number of animals — including dogs and cats — were reported to test positive for covid-19 after they...
How cool has Pittsburgh been in April? January had a warmer day
Everything about April 2020 has been unusual, including the temperature. It’s been cold out there. So far, no day in Pittsburgh has risen above 70 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. If the pattern holds, it would be the first time in weather service annual records the highest recorded...
Nearly 70 dead in ‘horrific’ outbreak at veterans’ homeVideo
Nearly 70 residents sickened with the coronavirus have died at a central Massachusetts home for aging veterans, as state and federal officials try to figure out what went wrong in the deadliest outbreak at a long-term care facility in the U.S. While the death toll at the state-run Holyoke Soldiers’...
Pence comes under fire for going maskless at Mayo ClinicVideo
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Vice President Mike Pence chose not to wear a face mask Tuesday during a tour of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, an apparent violation of the world-renowned medical center’s policy requiring them. Video feeds show that Pence did not wear a mask when he met with a...
Trump orders meat processing plants to remain openVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump took executive action Tuesday to order meat processing plants to stay open amid concerns over growing coronavirus cases and the impact on the nation’s food supply. The order uses the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure to try to prevent a...
Carnegie Mellon braces for coronavirus financial losses, potential delay of fall semester
Carnegie Mellon University is freezing hiring and salaries and will reduce executive pay as the Pittsburgh school grapples with uncertainties created by the coronavirus pandemic, President Farnham Jahanian said Tuesday. In a lengthy letter to the university community, Jahanian said officials also developed an array of contingency plans for the...
