Week in Review: Memorials vandalized, mail-in primary ballots, parish mergers

Here are some recent Tribune-Review news and feature stories from around the region.

For more details on these and other stories, follow the links below or see Triblive.com.

FBI investigating vandalism of Pittsburgh war memorial

The FBI is investigating the Memorial Day vandalism of a landmark Pittsburgh veterans monument, officials said.

The 99-year-old Doughboy Statue in Lawrenceville was doused with red paint between Sunday night and Memorial Day. Hammers and sickles were painted on the monument, along with the message “June 19, 1986! Glory to the Day of Heroism!”

North Shore police memorial vandalized for second time this spring

The word “deceit” appeared to have been painted on a police memorial on Pittsburgh’s North Shore Wednesday night.

The Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is on North Shore Drive near Heinz Field, and was defaced with white spray paint.

The memorial, which pays tribute to law enforcement officers from Allegheny County who died in the line of duty, also was vandalized in March.

Mail-in ballots expected to drive high turnout in Allegheny, Westmoreland

Allegheny County is on track to see high voter turnout as mail-in and absentee ballot applications for the June 2 primary exceeded expectations.

The county has processed more than 280,000 ballot applications, with a little fewer than 5,000 applications coming in just before the deadline Tuesday, said Elections Division Manager David Voye.

If all applicants return their ballots, that would equate to voter turnout of about 36%. Allegheny County has 775,201 registered, eligible voters. Voye previously projected 22% turnout for the primary.

Gov. Wolf: Restaurants in yellow counties can begin outdoor dining services June 5

Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday released new guidelines for outdoor dining during the yellow phase, as well as general guidelines for the green phase as counties gradually reopen.

Restaurants and retail food services in yellow counties can begin outdoor dining services June 5, with some restrictions.

Customers must be seated at a table to dine outside. Self-service options such as salad bars, condiment and drink stations will be prohibited along with other restrictions.

PWSA repairing Pittsburgh’s infamous Downtown sinkhole

Pittsburgh is finally filling the sinkhole that swallowed a bus and nearly ate a vehicle last year.

Contractors for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority were on the job Wednesday working on the hole that has closed 10th Street, Downtown, between Penn and Liberty avenues since October.

The city and PWSA are sharing the estimated repair costs of $536,000 and the authority is overseeing the project.

Bishop Zubik: 61 Catholic parishes to merge into 15 in Allegheny, Washington counties

Sixty-one Catholic parishes in Allegheny and Washington counties will merge into one of 15 newly created parishes, Bishop David Zubik said Wednesday.

The mergers — which don’t yet call for any church building closures — advance a years-long restructuring effort by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh to make the most of dwindling resources and respond to mounting financial woes, with more than half of parishes losing money. The changes take effect on July 1.