Top Stories category, Page 1524
State Health Department reverses order shutting down dentists during covid-19 crisis
Pennsylvanians facing dental emergencies can once again see their dentists or an oral surgeon. After consulting with leaders in organized dentistry, the Pennsylvania State Department of Health has reversed its decision ordering all dental offices to stop performing emergency procedure during the covid-19 crisis. “These updated guidelines are effective immediately,”...
U.S. leads world in confirmed coronavirus cases
NEW YORK — The number of people around the world who have contracted the coronavirus has surged past 535,000, and the United States tops the list, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. U.S. deaths have now topped 1,200, in another grim update for a global outbreak that has wreaked...
Tractor-trailer catches fire, snarls traffic on I-79 southbound near Wexford exit
A tractor-trailer caught fire on Interstate 79 late afternoon Thursday, snarling traffic for more than an hour, initial reports indicated. Emergency dispatchers sent firefighters to the site of the incident on I-79 at Mingo Road in Marshall Township shortly before 5 p.m., an Allegheny County 911 shift commander said. There...
Army Corps looks at Western Pa. sites for possible overflow medical facilities
The Army Corps of Engineers’ Pittsburgh District has begun evaluating possible alternate medical sites that would be used in the event hospitals are overrun treating patients with covid-19. The number of covid-19 cases in Western Pennsylvania has not stretched medical systems to the point where more space is needed to...
Officials: Over 1,600 Allegheny County residents tested for coronavirus
There have been 1,614 covid-19 tests performed on Allegheny County residents to date, with the bulk of those tests performed during the past week, according to figures released by the Allegheny County Health Department on Thursday. That figure includes testing performed by health care providers, as well as community testing...
Deceased man found along trail in Youngwood
State police are investigating the discovery of a man’s body along the Five Star Trail behind the Shop ‘n Save supermarket in Youngwood Thursday afternoon. The man was discovered at about 3 p.m., and the Westmoreland County Coroner’s office was called to the scene, according to a Westmoreland County Department...
Greensburg to ratify coronavirus state of emergency already in effect
Greensburg council will meet Friday to make the city’s coronavirus emergency declaration official. Mayor Robert Bell declared a state of emergency last week, but council is required by law to vote to ratify the declaration. Bell said Friday’s 10 a.m. meeting is expected to be brief. The emergency declaration is...
Need work? Here are companies that are hiring during coronavirus pandemic
There are still some businesses hiring as the covid-19 pandemic continues to devastate the labor market. Foremost are retail jobs like those at Giant Eagle. The O’Hara-based grocery chain has been busy and it is working to offer temporary jobs to those who have been impacted by the shutdown. Giant...
Westmoreland prepares to lay off hundreds of county workers
About 500 nonessential Westmoreland County government employees will be furloughed on April 3, county commissioners said Thursday. The layoffs come as county officials deal with balancing vital government functions during the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing budgetary concerns complicated by large overtime payments doled out to essential employees who were required...
Pa. new jobless claims jump to 649,000 since March 15
Pennsylvania has seen almost 650,000 new claims for unemployment compensation in less than two weeks — an indication of just how hard the governor’s order closing non-life-sustaining businesses and its ripple effect has slammed the state’s economy. Gov. Tom Wolf said he expects the figure to climb to 800,000 through...
Real ID deadline extended 1 year over coronavirus pandemic
People concerned about getting a Real ID by October have been given a reprieve. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that the deadline has been pushed back one year because of the coronavirus pandemic. “Protecting both the health and national security of the American people continues to be...
Gov. Wolf pledges $50M toward supplies for virus-battered Pa. hospitals
Gov. Tom Wolf said he will spend up to $50 million to get equipment into the hands of medical workers to help fight the continued spread of the coronavirus. “We’re not fighting a battle here, we’re fighting a war,” Wolf said Thursday. “We need to do everything we can to...
Allegheny County orders more portable toilets as park visits soar
Parks across Western Pennsylvania have seen a surge in visitors during the coronavirus pandemic, and at several Allegheny County parks that’s been particularly evident. More people in the parks has translated into a greater need for portable toilets. Allegheny County officials asked vendors to provide more of the toilets and...
14-year-old girl dies in West Deer house fireVideo
Authorities who responded Thursday morning to a two-alarm house fire in West Deer were unable to get inside to rescue a teenage girl because the flames were too intense and part of the building had collapsed, officials said. The girl, identified by her father as 14-year-old Dayanna Shaffer, reported the...
8 new coronavirus cases reported in Westmoreland County, bringing total to 24
Coronavirus cases in Westmoreland County jumped to 24 on Thursday, according to state health officials, continuing a steady increase that began at the start of the week. The eight new cases are part of a statewide increase of 560 case in one day. The statewide total now stands at 1,687,...
Pennsylvania reports 560 new coronavirus cases as state total tops 1,600
Coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania jumped by more than 500 from Wednesday to Thursday, according to state health officials, and five more people have died. The state Department of Health tallied 560 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 1,687. That’s a 50% increase in 24 hours. That total includes 45...
Dreaming of lottery riches? Virus could cut jackpots
DES MOINES, Iowa — Hoping to escape all the coronavirus-caused economic uncertainty by winning a giant lottery jackpot? Think again. Those jackpots are going to shrink as the pandemic tamps down lottery sales. The group that oversees the Powerball game announced Wednesday night that it would cut minimum jackpots in...
Fate of new businesses uncertain in face of coronavirus pandemicVideo
Dan Czerpak wondered every day whether opening a barbecue joint in Greensburg during a pandemic was the right move. He weighed the pros and cons regularly leading up to Pit Take’s opening on March 20, a day after the first two cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Westmoreland County....
Allegheny County adds 45 coronavirus cases, total tops 100
There are now more than 100 active cases of covid-19 identified in Allegheny County, according to figures released by the Allegheny County Health Department on Thursday. The county added 45 new cases Thursday, bringing the total to 133, up from 88 on Wednesday. Of those cases, 20 are hospitalized. That...
Sheriff: Westmoreland gun permits will be issued starting next week
Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert said his office will resume issuing permits to carry concealed guns next week. “We were getting a lot of blow back,” Albert said about his decision earlier this month to suspend the service as part of the county’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. The permitting...
How communities are staying connected while respecting social distanceVideo
There are plenty of sayings to inspire us in these trying times: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Or, alternatively, “When life gives you lemons, take out the salt and the shot glasses and fill them up with tequila.” So...
Warm temperatures, heavy rain expected this weekend in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh will experience unseasonably warm temperatures in the next few days, reaching the mid-60s Thursday. A warm front is approaching from the Southwest, National Weather Service meteorologist Lee Hendricks said, pumping warm, moist air into the region. It's a beautiful day today. @NWSPittsburgh is reporting high temperatures & sun through...
Pittsburgh pushes back personal income tax deadline
Pittsburgh is extending its deadline for personal income tax until July 15 and is stopping all delinquent real estate tax billings and late fees, the Mayor’s Office announced on Thursday. The move is in line with 90-day extensions announced by the Internal Revenue Service and the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue....
Pa. grocery store dumps $35,000 worth of food after woman coughs on it
A grocery store in Hanover Township in Luzerne County said it dumped $35,000 worth of produce, meat, bread and other groceries after a woman coughed on the products. Gerrity’s Supermarket posted on Facebook Wednesday that the woman, “who the police know to be a chronic problem in the community, came...
U.S. unemployment claims soar to record 3.3 million as layoffs jumpVideo
WASHINGTON — Nearly 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — more than quadruple the previous record set in 1982 — amid a widespread economic shutdown caused by the coronavirus. The surge in weekly applications was a stunning reflection of the damage the viral outbreak is doing to...
