Top Stories category, Page 1523
Lower Burrell parks closed after public doesn’t adhere to social distancing
Lower Burrell parks are closed until further notice because of coronavirus concerns. City police posted the announcement Friday on the department’s Facebook page. “Due to instances in which individuals utilizing our parks have not been following the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) social distancing recommended guidelines, we have to...
Giant Eagle employees in New Kensington, North Huntingdon and Wexford test positive for covid-19
Employees at five Giant Eagle stores have tested positive for coronavirus, including stores in New Kensington, North Huntingdon and Wexford, the company announced Friday. All five of the affected grocery stores have been thoroughly sanitized and are open for business, the company said in a statement. “Like other essential businesses,...
Garbage collection set for Saturday in Pittsburgh
Saturday has been added as a garbage collection day this weekend in Pittsburgh. Crews are working to pick up trash left at curbsides on Wednesday, when pick-ups were suspended over issues related to the covid-19 crisis. The city’s environmental services workers were sent home with pay Wednesday after voicing concerns...
Police: Pittsburgh man robs Hazelwood pizza shop
A Pittsburgh man was arrested in Squirrel Hill after allegedly robbing a pizza shop in Hazelwood. City police have charged Justin Algiere, 27, with robbery in connection with an incident at 5 p.m. Thursday at Italian Village Pizza along the 5000 block of Second Avenue. Police said Algiere was stopped...
Butler County added to growing list of areas under Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order
Butler County on Friday joined the growing list of Pennsylvania counties under Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order. The order was scheduled to take effect at 8 p.m. Friday and continue until April 6. Individuals must stay at home “unless someone’s life depends on your leaving,” according to the order. In...
Congressman Mike Kelly of Butler tests positive for covid-19
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly said Friday that he has tested positive for covid-19. The Republican from Butler, 71, said his symptoms are not severe and that he will continue to work from home until they subside completely. “My symptoms remain mild, and I will serve the 16th District from home...
Allegheny County map shows where coronavirus patients live
Allegheny County officials on Friday released a map showing where residents who have tested positive for covid-19 live in the county. The color-coded map can be found on the county’s website. Of the 158 people who have tested positive, 59 live in the City of Pittsburgh, the highest total of...
Nonprofits adjust services, volunteer opportunities to keep serving communities
As businesses close and workers face drastic pay cuts, the need for functioning nonprofit organizations has never been greater, said Phil Koch, executive director of the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County. Unfortunately, those nonprofits are facing the same challenges as everyone else. “Many of our nonprofit organizations rely on events...
Heritage Valley opens coronavirus test site in Moon
Heritage Valley Health System is opening a covid-19 drive through test collection site at the Heritage Valley Moon Township Medical Neighborhood, 935 Thorn Run Road, Moon Township. Beginning March 31, the testing location will operate from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is Heritage Valley’s second...
Kane Center residents test positive for coronavirus days after employee also did
Two residents in a Kane Community Living Center have tested positive for the coronavirus, Allegheny County officials said Friday. Both residents live in the Glen Hazel facility, where an employee tested positive for covid-19 earlier this week. Dennis Biondo, executive director of Kane, said in a statement the residents were...
Westmoreland County under stay-at-home order as confirmed coronavirus cases grow
Westmoreland County residents have been ordered to stay at home. Gov. Tom Wolf announced an additional nine Pennsylvania counties will be under restrictions as part of the state’s efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The new order, which is in effect from 8 p.m. Friday through April 6,...
Western Pa. health systems provide masks to staff to combat covid-19 spread
Health care systems in Western Pennsylvania are working to equip all employees in clinical areas of its hospitals with protective masks. UPMC said it is also providing masks to staff and visitors to hospitals after they pass a screening test. Westmoreland County-based Excela Health, which has hospitals Greensburg, Latrobe and...
Pennsylvania reports 531 new coronavirus cases as total tops 2,000Video
Coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania rose by more than 500 from Thursday to Friday, bringing the total statewide to more than 2,000. The state Department of Health reported 531 new positive tests, the second day in a row in which new cases topped 500. The total stands at 2,218. That total...
UPMC experts on coronavirus: ‘We are prepared for a surge we hope never arrives’
Experts at UPMC said Friday they believe community spread of the coronavirus might be less intense locally than in other parts of the country. Dr. Graham Snyder, chief of infection prevention, said that out of 1,743 covid-19 tests done by UPMC facilities, 141 have been positive — about 8%. He...
Allegheny County adds 25 coronavirus cases, total reaches 158
Allegheny County reported 25 additional active cases of the coronavirus Friday, bringing the total to 158. That’s compared to the one-day increase recorded from Wednesday to Thursday, when the county reported 45 new cases. That total does not include two Allegheny County residents who have died from complications from covid-19....
Pittsburgh region population slide continues, led by losses in Westmoreland County
The Pittsburgh region continues to lose residents, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Population estimates for Westmoreland County once again show a downward trend, something local officials have been combating for at least a decade. The county’s population declined by 16,172 between 2010-20, the largest loss of...
Family safe after fire tears through house in PlumVideo
Monica Hanner had lived in her home in Plum’s Kellywood Estates for 11 years, but she didn’t really know her neighbors. And some of her neighbors said they didn’t really know her. That didn’t stop them from offering their help after Hanner’s Emerald Drive home was severely damaged, if not...
British Prime Minister Johnson tests positive for virusVideo
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the first leader of a major nation to contract covid-19, but he insisted Friday that he remains in charge of the United Kingdom’s response to the outbreak. Johnson, 55, said he was tested Thursday on the...
House passes $2.2T rescue package, rushes it to TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — Acting with unity and resolve unseen since the 9/11 attacks, the House of Representatives gave near-unanimous approval Friday to historic legislation designed to prevent the economy from collapsing and rush resources to overburdened health care providers and struggling families during the deepening coronavirus epidemic. The unprecedented $2.2 trillion...
Pennsylvania now leaves it up to those with covid-19 to warn others about exposure
An auto parts store in New Kensington. A Derry Township skilled nursing center. Colleges from Greensburg to Pittsburgh. All have reported positive coronavirus tests in recent days. And all are on their own to let others know about potential exposure. State officials no longer perform that service. The Pennsylvania Department...
Monroeville lab looks to help fill gap in covid-19 testingVideo
A Monroeville lab that handles molecular and genetic testing has ramped up to offer testing for covid-19, beginning with senior citizens and staff working at care facilities it services. MHS Labs began testing patient samples on Thursday and had completed a few dozen tests by midday Friday, said Sean Waters,...
Port Authority bus driver tests positive for covid-19
Port Authority of Allegheny County officials said Thursday that one of their bus drivers tested positive for covid-19. The driver is under medical supervision and was exposed to the coronavirus outside of work, according to Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph. He said the authority followed all of the protocols recommended...
Allegheny County judge details how to pay child support, handle custody and district judge’s matters
Allegheny County’s residents with legal proceedings while the courts are closed were given additional guidance Thursday on how to do business when the county courtrooms are closed during the coronavirus pandemic. President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark amended her March 16 order shutting down the courtrooms and district judges offices, to...
17 Pittsburgh first responders in quarantine or isolation; none have tested positive for covid-19
A total of 17 Pittsburgh first responders — including two medics and 15 firefighters — are staying home in quarantine or isolation after learning they could have been exposed to covid-19, officials said. None have tested positive for covid-19, the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, or...
Greensburg lender aids shutdown-battered borrowers; delays April payment
A Greensburg-based small business commercial lender has decided to forgo collecting payments from its borrowers in April to give them a break during the economic downturn caused by the shutdown over the spread of the coronavirus. The Progress Fund, a nonprofit community development financial institution, is giving all of its...
