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Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Pa. ramps up effort to get businesses to help make medical equipment
An online portal created by state officials will help identify businesses that are building much-needed medical supplies and guide others who might be able to pivot their manufacturing toward creating those supplies, Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday. The Manufacturing Call to Action Portal will streamline the process for manufacturers who...
Giant Eagle to limit number of people allowed in stores
Giant Eagle said Monday it will begin limiting the number of customers who can shop at each store at one time. “As supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies remain in operation as essential community resources, we believe it’s vital to heighten our social distancing and sanitization procedures throughout the store,” company...
U.S. Postal Service hiring temporary employees
The U.S. Postal Service is hiring temporary workers to fill mail handling and processing positions at various locations in Western Pennsylvania, the agency announced Monday. People are needed to serve as mail handler assistants, mail processing clerk assistants, clerk assistants and city carrier assistants, according to the postal service. The...
Pittsburgh pizza shop owner stitching facial masks for employees, neighbors
When Martina Hanoglu saw people in her native Czech Republic making homemade facial masks for possible protection against the coronavirus, she pulled out her small sewing machine. For the past two weeks, Hanoglu stitched together cotton masks and distributed them to employees and Downtown Pittsburgh neighbors from her pizza shop...
Pittsburgh-based Honeycomb Credit offers loans to small businesses during coronavirus
Small businesses are among the hardest hit economically during the coronavirus pandemic. But there are now more options for help. Pittsburgh-based Honeycomb Credit, a startup investment crowdfunding platform, announced Wednesday the launch of its first Relief Loan Campaign. It provides working capital loans to small businesses during the pandemic. Each...
What you need to do to get your government stimulus check
The IRS and the Treasury Department say Americans will start receiving their economic impact checks in the next three weeks. The payments are part of the $2.2 trillion rescue package signed into law last week by President Donald Trump aimed at combating the economic ravages of the coronavirus outbreak. Most...
ATI offering retirement to incentive to cut costs
Allegheny Technologies Inc. will be offering a voluntary early retirement incentive in an effort to cut costs, the company announced. The program will be for eligible salaried, non-union employees, spokeswoman Natalie Gillespie said. To be eligible, employees have to meet age and service requirements. The company has not disclosed how...
ATI pauses contract talks with steelworkers union, cites coronavirus impact
Allegheny Technologies Inc. has paused contract talks with the United Steelworkers union, citing a lack of progress and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, a company spokeswoman said Friday. About 1,300 USW members have continued working at nine ATI locations, including the hot rolling mill and processing facility in Harrison,...
Brief history of Levin Furniture and its Western Pennsylvania roots 
A look back at the history of Levin Furniture, which has grown from its Westmoreland County roots into the region’s largest furniture retailer. 1920 | “Peddler” Sam Levin opens store at 600 W. Main St. in Mt. Pleasant, selling hardware items, furniture and other general goods, including flyswatters, expandable window...
Robert Levin ‘coming back’ to save Levin Furniture
The former owner of Levin Furniture will come out of retirement to take over the furniture company that was at risk of going out of business, officials said Thursday. A statement from the company indicated a deal was struck Wednesday night in which Robert Levin will acquire the Pennsylvania and...
Kennametal quarterly sales drop, company posts loss
Hurt by weak markets, Kennametal Inc. said Monday it lost $6.2 million for its October-through-December quarter, as sales dropped by about 14%. Kennametal, a producer of industrial tools, said it lost seven cents per shares in that quarter on sales of $505.1 million, compared to a gain of 66 cents...
Robert Morris offers tuition breaks to 105,000 FedEx Ground workers
Robert Morris University is staking another claim in the increasingly competitive world of higher education, where government officials are encouraging colleges to tailor offerings to workforce needs. Officials at the private university located in Moon inked an agreement to provide tuition discounts to some 105,000 eligible FedEx Ground employees in...
Pennsylvania PUC approves sale of Peoples Gas to Aqua America Inc. in $4.3 billion deal
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Thursday approved a settlement that would lead to the $4.3 billion acquisition of Pittsburgh-based Peoples Gas by a Philadelphia-area water and sewer company. Aqua Chairman and CEO Christopher Franklin said the PUC’s action is the last regulatory approval necessary to close on a sale....
Allegheny Health Network reports 10th straight quarter of positive earnings
Allegheny Health Network is on track to achieve its third consecutive year of positive earnings as the burgeoning nonprofit health system continues to expand across and beyond Western Pennsylvania, newly filed financial records show. “Our balance sheet is in the best financial position historically than it’s ever been,” Chief Financial...
12 Days of Christmas to cost nearly $40,000 this year, PNC calculates
Plan to spend about $40,000 on Christmas gifts this year if you’re using the 12 Days of Christmas as your shopping list. This year, PNC is reporting a total cost of $38,993.59 to buy all 12 gifts — including five golden rings, a bunch of drummers drumming and a lot...
CNX says it’s adjusting to low natural gas prices
CNX Resources continues to adjust to the low-price natural gas market but is generally optimistic about 2020, according to its third quarter earnings call. The Canonsburg-based natural gas exploration and production company said it expects to realize $25 million in savings from streamlining activities in the third quarter, including “reconfiguring”...
Excela Westmoreland ranked among top regional facilities in U.S. News & World Report
Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital won honors as Best Regional Hospital-Pittsburgh, according to U.S. News & World Report. The Greensburg hospital was one of 569 hospitals of the nearly 4,500 reviewed to rank among the Best Regional Hospitals in a state or metro area based on their performance in delivering complex...
Comcast opens store in North Huntingdon
Comcast Corp. opened an Xfinity store along Route 30 in North Huntingdon, part of an expansion that has seen the Philadelphia-based communications company open 12 stores in Western Pennsylvania. The global media company, which provides cable television service and high-speed internet and phone service, opened the store at 8691 Route...
Dick’s Sporting Goods destroyed $5 million worth of guns, CEO Edward Stack says 
Dick’s Sporting Goods destroyed $5 million worth of assault rifles instead of returning them to their manufacturers, the Findlay-based company’s CEO told CBS in an interview. CEO Edward Stack spoke to CBS national correspondent Lee Cowan in an interview that aired on “CBS Sunday Morning.” “If we really think these...
Best Buy in the Waterfront in Homestead to close
There will be no Black Friday commotion at the Best Buy in the Waterfront in Homestead. The store is scheduled to close before the biggest shopping day of the year. “We had anticipated Best Buy’s announcement that they are leaving our center with an expected close date of November 2,”...
Sheetz says it will boost workers’ pay by $16.8M
Convenience store chain Sheetz Inc. said Wednesday it will spend $16.8 million to increase the pay of almost all of its 17,300 employees at its 596 stores spread across Pennsylvania and five other states. “This means that nearly all store employees at 279 locations in Pennsylvania will experience an increase...
Report: Pa. natural gas royalty payments on the rise
Natural gas royalties paid to Pennsylvania landowners rose significantly in tax year 2017 due to increased production and higher prices, the state Independent Fiscal Office said in a recent report. The report said $1.06 billion in royalty payments were made in 2017 — a 64% increase from tax year 2016....
Pennsylvania wine, liquor sales continue to set new records
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is toasting a new retail sales record. The agency that operates more than 600 state stores statewide, and licenses more than 20,000 beverage alcohol producers and retailers, posted $2.67 billion in retail sales for wine and spirits in the fiscal year ending June 30 ....
Report: U.S. surpasses Russia, Saudi Arabia in petroleum, natural gas production
The United States set a new record in 2018 for petroleum and natural gas production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. U.S. petroleum and natural gas production increased by 16% and 12%, respectively, in 2018, and these totals combined established a new production record, EIA said. The country surpassed...
Kennametal says ‘softening markets’ hurt quarterly sales, earnings
Kennametal Inc. saw sales, net income and earnings per share drop as a result of softening of its markets during the fourth quarter that ended June 30 compared to a year ago, but it still posted increases in sales, net income and earnings for the 2019 fiscal year, the company...


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