Top Stories category, Page 1527
Park police locate woman who nearly drove into water at Twin Lakes
Westmoreland County Park Police said they located a woman who nearly drove a vehicle into the lower lake at Twin Lakes Park on Friday after asking the public for help identifying her. Chief Henry Fontana said a witness reported seeing the vehicle travel from E parking lot near the spillway...
Sheetz reveals menu changes to curb spread of coronavirus
Sheetz officials announced menu changes Monday in response to the coronavirus. The Altoona-based convenience store chain temporarily eliminated self-serve coffee and beverages along with bakery items like doughnuts and muffins to help stop the spread of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The changes went into effect at 4...
Fighting the coronavirus with disinfecting sprays and solutions: What works?
Brand-name disinfectants are flying off store shelves, snatched up by shoppers looking for effective weapons against the novel coronavirus. But some disinfectants are better than others; some probably aren’t necessary at all; and some can actually be harmful, spawning antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We reviewed recommendations for the general population from the...
Allegheny Technologies Inc., steelworkers union agree to 1-year contract extension
Allegheny Technologies Inc. and the United Steelworkers union have agreed to a one-year extension of their expired contract, the company and union confirmed . The extension through Feb. 28, 2021, is “due to the unprecedented global business and human impacts of the covid-19 virus,” ATI spokeswoman Natalie Gillespie said. “This...
Trump says he intends to reopen country in weeks, not monthsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that he wants to reopen the country for business in weeks, not months, and he claimed, without evidence, that continued closures could result in more deaths than the coronavirus pandemic. “We can’t have the cure be worse than the problem,” Trump told reporters...
New Kensington-Arnold employee hospitalized with coronavirus
A Valley Junior-Senior High School employee hospitalized with covid-19 may have had contact with students and staff for up to four days, according to a notice issued Monday evening by New Kensington-Arnold School District. The district first announced Sunday that the employee had tested positive. The employee was not identified....
Hempfield church pastor apologizes for open services on SundayVideo
The pastor of a Hempfield church apologized Monday after roughly 200 people attended a Sunday service at Word of Life Church, against the advice of government and health officials. “Please believe me when I say it was not out of arrogance or defiance, but solely for the purpose of praying...
Western Pa. school district leaders react to Gov. Tom Wolf’s closure extension
Public schools will be closed for two more weeks, the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced Monday, extending Gov. Tom Wolf’s mandated closure to at least April 6. “The number of positive cases increases daily, and we’re seeing it spread to more counties,” Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera said in a...
More than 130 people receive covid-19 drive-thru testing in Pittsburgh Zoo lot
Cars wrapped around the main parking lot Monday at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, a new covid-19 drive-through testing site. The Central Outreach Wellness Center offered drive-through testing in the lot between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. But the vehicles were lining up well before 10:30 a.m. The line...
Pittsburgh official: Virus will have ‘deep, long lasting’ impact
The financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Pittsburgh city government will be “deep and long lasting,” potentially changing the course of capital projects and other initiatives for years to come, a city official said Monday. Dan Gilman, Mayor Bill Peduto’s chief of staff, said the budget office is working...
Hempfield couple who tested positive for covid-19 after cruise describe what it’s like to have virus
Lisa Duffy thought the cigarette smoke in the casino of the Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship was responsible for the nagging cough she developed late in her trip to the Caribbean. When the ship docked March 14 in Port Canaveral, Fla., she felt great, with none of the fatigue she usually...
Long line of people in cars at Kennywood wait to get food donations
Kennywood Park was closed, but a long line of cars snaked their way into its parking lot Monday. Normally, when this many people show up at the West Mifflin amusement park, they are anticipating a day of fun. Instead, on a dreary Monday morning, they were here for food. For...
Westmoreland police departments begin ‘non-life-sustaining’ business checks
are enforcing Gov. Wolf’s order similar to all the other Westmoreland County Departments. Local police investigated a small number of reports of non-life-sustaining businesses still operating after Gov. Tom Wolf ordered enforcement of their closures starting at 8 a.m. Monday to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Wolf’s order prohibits...
Police: Jeannette man threatened to stab state troopers after shoplifting arrest at Walmart
A Jeannette man angry after his arrest for shoplifting at a Walmart on Sunday threatened to stab police with a pen before troopers confiscated a knife hidden in his waistband, according to court documents. Anthony M. Inks, 32, was arraigned Monday before Export District Judge Charles R. Conway on charges...
PLCB: Wine, liquor sales set record day before state stores closed
Pennsylvania’s decision to close its Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores on March 17 because of the coronavirus pandemic triggered the highest single-day sales in at least a decade, according to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. The PLCB reported about $29.9 million in sales on March 16, the day the...
Gov. Wolf issues stay-at-home order for Allegheny, 6 other counties; school closures extended
Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday ordered residents in Allegheny and six other Pennsylvania counties to stay at home unless “someone’s life depends on your leaving.” The order, which also affects Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, Philadelphia and Montgomery counties, is an effort to staunch the spread of the coronavirus in the...
Lack of details on local coronavirus cases frustrates Westmoreland officials
Westmoreland County officials are frustrated with the lack of specific information disseminated about local coronavirus cases from the state health department. “We learn more from the media than from anywhere else,” Roland “Bud” Mertz, public safety director, said Monday. Mertz said he’s asked but has been unable to get any...
Peduto seeks support from state, federal government
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Monday called on state and federal government officials to approve financial aid for workers, small business and cities struggling to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Peduto, who has been in self-quarantine since March 14, signed letters asking Congress to provide $250 billion in relief for...
6 deaths reported in Pa. from coronavirus pandemic; state cases jump to 644
Deaths from the coronavirus in Pennsylvania jumped to six statewide, health officials said Monday, the same day the state saw its highest one-day increase in positive cases. In addition to one death in Allegheny County, a second person has died in Northampton County. Monroe, Montgomery and Lackawanna counties have each...
Oakmont Bakery hosts 10,000 free sandwiches giveawayVideo
Kindness filled the air during a rainy Monday morning in Oakmont as free sandwiches made their way into trunks and passenger seats, destined for churches, nursing homes and hungry families’ kitchens. In all, 10,000 sandwiches made from 2,500 pounds of deli meat and 400 pounds of cheese were handed out...
Allegheny County reports 8 new cases of covid-19, total now at 48; 6 people hospitalized
There are 48 confirmed cases of covid-19 in Allegheny County, according to figures released Monday by the Allegheny County Health Department. Of those cases, six people are hospitalized. The county recorded its first coronavirus death Saturday, a person in their late 60s who was being treated at Jefferson Hospital. The...
Pa. state parks, forests extend facilities closure
Facilities at Pennsylvania’s parks and forests will be closed until the end of April in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced Monday that an initial 14-day closure instituted on March 17 will be extended until April 30. Trails,...
Pittsburgh Diocese offers parishioners virtual updates
With weekday and Sunday Masses canceled due to the spread of the coronavirus, Bishop David Zubik and other priests of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh are turning to YouTube and social media to update parishioners on events taking place in their churches. “This is going to be an important week...
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson recovering from coronavirus, say ‘this too shall pass’
Two weeks ago, the world was shocked to learn actor Tom Hanks and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, tested positive for the coronavirus. His announcement said that while in Australia, the couple experienced symptoms. They became the first high-profile faces of the pandemic. On Monday, Hanks posted an update on...
Pa. Supreme Court dismisses challenge to Wolf shutdown orderVideo
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by a gun shop that challenged Gov. Tom Wolf’s authority to shutter businesses determined to be “non-life-sustaining,” paving the way for enforcement to begin Monday. Without comment, a majority of the state’s high court late Sunday denied the petition by...
