Disaster declaration brings low-interest loans for small businesses in Pennsylvania, elsewhere
Small businesses that have lost revenue as a result of the coronavirus will be able to apply for low-interest loans now that Pennsylvania has received a disaster declaration from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The action came a day after Gov. Tom Wolf asked for the declaration for all 67...
Long-standing religious gatherings canceled, some services continue
For the first time in its 48-year history, the Christian Businessmen’s Connection Good Friday breakfast is canceled over concerns about the coronavirus. “We’re considering maybe a fall event. We’re not going to walk away from it until all options are depleted,” said Boice Bailey, chairman of the Greensburg Christian Businessmen’s...
Pixar founder who brought Disney research center to Carnegie Mellon wins $1M award
Pixar Animation Studios co-founder Ed Catmull, who brought a Disney research center to Carnegie Mellon University in 2008, has won one of the highest honors in computing — the 2019 A.M. Turing Award. Catmull, who shares the $1 million prize with former Pixar colleague Pat Hanrahan of Stanford University, was...
Allegheny, Westmoreland groups offer help to region’s small businesses during tough time
For small businesses concerned about the economic impact of the coronavirus, help is on the way. Several organizations in southwestern Pennsylvania said they plan to offer resources for small and medium-sized business affected by the coronavirus fallout, including those impacted by Gov. Tom Wolf’s order to close “nonessential” businesses. The...
Coronavirus challenges affecting all religious denominations
Fears about the spread of the coronavirus are testing the faith of religious bodies and congregations throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. Some, including the Diocese of Greensburg and the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, canceled worship services. Others are issuing guidance on everything from responsible behavior in church to alternatives to church attendance....
Westmoreland County Food Bank desperate for volunteers
Food banks are feeling the pinch from the coronavirus. The Westmoreland County Food Bank put out a call for volunteers Monday. “Some of our food partners are experiencing very low volunteer turnout,” CEO Jennifer Miller said. “We’re really in desperate need of volunteers.” Miller said one primary source of volunteers...
Party continues for Levin Furniture workers who faced bleak future days agoVideo
Just when it seemed the feel-good story of the week couldn’t get any better, hundreds of Levin Furniture employees and managers turned out for a rousing homecoming for former owner Robert Levin on Friday. “I just want to tell everybody how excited I am to be back, running the company,”...
Saving jobs, legacy, Robert Levin buys back furniture empire bearing his family’s nameVideo
Levin Furniture’s former owner on Thursday entered the chain’s Monroeville store along Route 22 to the cheers of employees and managers — whose jobs he’d just saved. Robert Levin raised his arms in triumph as, in the background, the store’s sound system played the Mike & The Mechanics song “All...
Spotted lanternfly lands in Western Pa.; Allegheny, Beaver on list of quarantined counties
Western Pennsylvania residents are in for a rude awakening if the spotted lanternfly becomes as pervasive here as it is in the eastern part of the state. “Pittsburgh doesn’t yet understand the nuisance factor,” said Shannon Powers, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. “It’s an incredible nuisance when you’re...
Derry Area tackles challenging ‘Les Miserables’Video
As high school musicals go, “Les Miserables” is no “The Little Mermaid.” It’s a challenging production, acknowledged director/producer Kayla Tamer — possibly one of the most challenging musicals Derry Area High School has ever attempted. After last year’s “The Little Mermaid,” Tamer felt her students were up to the task....
Active-shooter church security training returning to W.Pa.
A Georgia-based firearms instructor is returning to the Pittsburgh area in June for a third consecutive year of church security training. Rodney Smith, founder of the Georgia Firearms and Security Training Academy, will bring two courses to the region — a six-hour course for unarmed church security personnel June 12,...
Report: U.S. natural gas consumption set record in 2019
Consumption of natural gas, mostly for electric power uses, set a new record in the United States in 2019, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Use of natural gas for the creation of electric power grew by 7% — 2 billion cubic feet per day — but consumption remained relatively...
Study: Methane emissions from burping dairy cows can be reduced
For scientists studying climate change, belching cows are no laughing matter. Penn State researchers say they have found a way to reduce methane emissions from burping dairy cows, which constitutes 5% of the greenhouse gases generated in the United States. The research team, led by Alexander Hristov, Penn State distinguished...
Somerset meetings to address 9/11 benefits for local first responders
Local emergency personnel who responded to the Flight 93 crash near Shanksville may qualify for federal benefits through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and the World Trade Center Health Program. Meetings about the benefits, eligibility criteria and enrollment information are scheduled for March 25, 26 and 27 at the...
Don’t succumb to stock market panic, advisers caution
Stocks tumbled, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged and the S&P 500 index fell dramatically — all over bad news out of China. That was a little more than a year ago — when Apple announced that iPhone sales in China were slumping. This year, the bad news out of...
Greensburg native had ‘the best’ life
If everything in Bill Heubel’s world was “the best,” as he liked to say, then his life would fit that description too. “He was quite a man,” said his niece, Bernadette Scully. Mr. Heubel was a veteran, a retired lawyer, a world traveler, an avid golfer, a musician, a composer,...
Western Pa. group misses out on $1M in chronic wasting disease research money
A Western Pennsylvania group representing a Louisiana researcher says its timeline for “curing” chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been slowed by lack of funding and political considerations. The North American CWD Project, led by Delmont resident John Eveland, was founded last year as a way to support the research of...
Report: Pa. natural gas production grew in 2019 but at lower rate
Total natural gas production in Pennsylvania grew by 7.6% in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 — the lowest growth rate in more than two years, a report by the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office said. Pennsylvania remains the second-highest natural gas producing state after...
What to give up for Lent? Booze, chocolate, sex — and Lent itself — among top choicesVideo
Although rooted in ancient Christian practice, the idea of “giving something up for Lent” permeates American popular culture. Witness the Twitter Lent Tracker operated for a decade by OpenBible.info. The index tracks the number of mentions of Lent or “giving up” something during the week of Ash Wednesday — which...
Scottdale area mail carrier was always on the go
For eight years, Harry Leighliter lived by the U.S. Postal Service creed, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.’’ Mr. Leighliter worked as a rural carrier in the Scottdale area, delivering mail to homes and businesses...
Cash 5 lottery ticket worth $250K sold at Hempfield Giant Eagle
Someone who bought a Cash 5 lottery ticket in Hempfield is a quarter million dollars richer, state lottery officials announced. On Monday, one of two winning tickets for the $500,000 prize was sold at the Hempfield Square Giant Eagle, 6204 U.S. Route 30, the lottery reported. The second winning ticket...
Amid lower natural gas prices, Chevron Appalachia to begin layoffs at Moon headquarters
Chevron Appalachia informed Pennsylvania it will begin layoffs at its regional headquarters in Moon. The layoffs, beginning April 6 and continuing through the end of the year, will affect 288 employees, according to a WARN notice filed with the state Department of Labor & Industry. The layoffs at the 700...
Chance to win 58th state House District excites Westmoreland Dems at endorsement meeting
A statewide race had the potential for some fireworks, but a bid to turn the 58th House District blue generated the most excitement at Sunday’s endorsement meeting of the Westmoreland County Democratic Committee. “I’m very, very hopeful,” said Robert Prah Jr., the Democratic candidate to fill the vacant 58th District...
Murrysville resident Lucille Byrne made impact on students as teacher, food service director
Lucy Byrne touched the lives of thousands of students during her career as a teacher and a school food service director. “She loved working with children and with people of all ages,” said her daughter Christina Heil. “She met many people who became lifelong friends – kitchen workers, students, teachers,...
Vandals spray paint graffiti on rocks at Ohiopyle
Vandals spray painted graffiti on hundreds of feet of sandstone rock along the Youghiogheny River in Ohiopyle State Park over the weekend, park officials said. The graffiti was discovered by a park ranger shortly after opening the park gates at 7 a.m. Sunday, said Ken Bisbee, park operation manager. “This...
