Top Stories category, Page 1525
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...
Pa. state universities anticipate up to $100M loss from providing students refunds for room and board
Pennsylvania’s 14 state universities are facing a severe financial hit because they won’t resume in-person classes for the last half of the spring semester because of the coronavirus. The State System of Higher Education is projecting a loss of $100 million in total for the universities, due to refunding tens...
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...
