Megan Guza stories, Page 13

A day after the Allegheny County health director said the covid-19 omicron variant had been found in the county’s wastewater, lab testing has identified two confirmed cases of the quick-spreading variant, officials said. One test was collected from a man Dec. 7, and it was confirmed to be the omicron...

More than 400 people have died in Allegheny County covid-related deaths in the past three months, including 97 in December, county Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said Wednesday. Covid-19 case counts remain at a daily average of 600 per day, while “hospitalizations remain high, as do deaths,” Bogen said. “I...

A Texas man faces charges after police said they caught him Tuesday with a revolver inside a purse at Pittsburgh International Airport. Court records identified the man as Mazzio Akins, 51, of Houston. Transportation Security Administration agents spotted the loaded .22-caliber handgun inside an older-style purse as it went through...

Almost two years since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, cases are surging and the threat of another highly contagious variant looms, but projections show people still plan to travel for the holidays. Nearly 28 million more people will travel this year compared to 2020, according to AAA, and airlines...

A Canada lynx in Pittsburgh has tested positive for covid-19, the first known case in a lynx in the United States, officials at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium said Tuesday. The lynx showed some symptoms, including occasional coughing, but “overall symptoms have been mild,” zoo spokesman Ian Hunter said...

As hospitals grapple with soaring patient numbers and dwindling staff, UPMC is creating an in-house traveling program that will offer scheduling flexibility to nurses while also helping hospitals in its system that need it. The health care system with facilities in Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland will draw from its...

Police said a Monroeville man had a blood-alcohol level of nearly four times the legal limit when he struck and killed another man along a Monroeville road in August, according to charges filed this week. Cody Riggins, 27, is charged with drunken driving, involuntary manslaughter and homicide by vehicle in...

Nurses from UPMC Altoona gathered in front of UPMC headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh’s U.S. Steel Tower on Wednesday, demanding the health care giant invest more resources into retaining nurses and staving off a staffing shortage they said is jeopardizing patient care. The nurses, represented by the Service Employees International Union...

Federal authorities said Wednesday they believe there are more victims of a Penn Hills man accused last month of extorting minors into providing explicit photos and videos. Kaung Myat Kyaw, 22, was arrested in November and charged federally with enticing a minor to provide sexually explicit content. He was ordered...

Police in Allegheny County tracked a man accused in a shooting last week to his workplace on Tuesday, where they surrounded his vehicle and, after a brief scuffle, took him into custody, authorities said. Montrez Blanks, 32, of Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood, was wanted in connection with a Dec. 6 shooting...

British Airways will return to Pittsburgh International Airport next year, after the covid-19 pandemic grounded the transnational flights in 2020, officials said Monday. Tickets for flights to London’s Heathrow Airport, which resume June 3, are available now. The airline re-upped service in Pittsburgh in 2019 after a two-decade hiatus. British...

Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam, who led the state’s occasionally bumpy covid vaccine rollout, will resign at the end of the year, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Monday. Neither Beam nor Wolf indicated a reason for her departure. Wolf said he intends to name the department’s executive deputy secretary, Keara...

Hospitals across Western Pennsylvania are operating at or near capacity, a situation mirrored across the state and country as covid-19 cases spike — particularly among people who are unvaccinated. All UPMC facilities — including those in New York and Maryland — are operating at or over capacity, said Susan Manko,...

A Charleroi couple charged last month with hiding their dead infant’s body in the wall of their home now face homicide charges, according to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office. Kylie Wilt, 25, and Alan Hollis, 27, are both now charged with homicide and aggravated assault along with conspiracy, concealing...

The covid-19 situation in Allegheny County remains grim, health director Dr. Debra Bogen said Wednesday, as the county closes in on nearly 2,500 dead from the virus. Since June, nearly 500 people in the county have died from covid-19, Bogen said. “Most tragic is that nearly all of these deaths...

Duquesne police Chief Thomas Dunlevy was arrested Wednesday, accused of interfering in an alleged sexual assault case against his friend, including intimidating the accuser’s father. The man accused in the alleged August sexual assault case, Nathan Beck, 20, was a volunteer firefighter in Duquesne and a friend of Dunlevy’s, according...

An Ambridge woman accused of killing her two children in February will plead guilty next week, according to the Beaver County District Attorney’s Office. Krisinda Bright, 49, will plead guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in a Dec. 14 plea hearing, District Attorney David Lozier said in a statement....

A former priest named in the 2018 Catholic Church abuse report was arrested Tuesday after police said he filmed a teenage boy in the bathroom of an East Liberty Target store, according to court records. Paul G. Spisak, 77, of East Carnegie, is charged with sexual abuse of a minor,...

Momentum is gaining in some circles to redefine what “fully vaccinated” means now that boosters are widely available and the omicron variant is surging nationwide. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNBC on Friday...

Officials gathered outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill on Monday, the last day of Hanukkah, to receive what leaders called a gift that will help the congregation move forward with its mission to remember, rebuild and renew. The rainy gathering of Gov. Tom Wolf, Mayor Bill...

Two tigers at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium have tested positive for covid-19, officials said Monday as the Highland Park facility remained on a waiting list for specialty vaccines developed specifically for animals. The tigers were tested via nasal swab after they started showing symptoms, including “occasional coughing and...

The sounds of “Rejoice, rejoice Emanuel” floated from the social hall Sunday in Arnold, where congregants of St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church gathered for a Divine Liturgy despite having, at least for now, lost their house of worship. Next door to the social hall, which once was a school, sat...

Vandergrift wrapped up its three-day holiday festival Sunday, capping off a weekend that organizers said saw thousands of people pour into the small town. “This has been a great community event, it’s great just getting the community together,” said Lisa Schrader, a member of the Vandergrift Back When committee. The...

Talks continued Saturday about the possibility of Wilkinsburg becoming part of the city of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh city council members held a public hearing that allowed borough and city residents to share their thoughts either in person or virtually via Zoom. Opinions are mixed, much as they were when the idea...