Regional category, Page 128
Hundreds of Pa. residents turn to Beaver County resource center near train derailment site for help
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health opened a resource center in Beaver County for state residents concerned about the impact of last month’s train derailment in nearby East Palestine, Ohio. In the two days after it opened Tuesday, officials said about 200 residents of Beaver County and neighboring Lawrence County went to...
Did dioxins spread after the Ohio train derailment?
After a catastrophic 38-train car derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, some officials are raising concerns about a type of toxic substance that tends to stay in the environment. Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance, the U.S. senators from Ohio, sent a letter to the state’s environmental protection agency expressing concern that...
NTSB: Key tank car part melted after Ohio train derailment
OMAHA, Neb. — The fire that erupted after last month’s train derailment in Ohio melted a key part of the tank cars filled with toxic chemicals, so federal officials warned railcar owners Thursday to check their fleets for similar flaws. The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that investigators determined...
‘Operation Lake Effect’ drug raids sweep through the Alle-Kiski ValleyVideo
FBI agents, assisted by state and local police, conducted a wide-ranging series of drug raids in the Alle-Kiski Valley early Thursday. According to residents who witnessed some of the raids, police activity was seen in the hours just before and after dawn in Arnold, Gilpin, New Kensington, Tarentum, Upper Burrell...
Giant Eagle expands discounts to food nearing its ‘best-by’ date
More shoppers will have a chance to snap up discounted food at Giant Eagle. The O’Hara-based grocery chain is expanding to all of its corporate stores its partnership with Flashfood, an app that connects users to discounted food that is nearing its “best-by date.” Giant Eagle and Toronto-based Flashfood launched...
Report: Arconic in talks about potential sale
Arconic Corp., a North Shore-based aerospace parts maker with roots in the Alle-Kiski Valley, is in talks about a potential acquisition. The Wall Street Journal reported that private-equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc. is looking into buying Arconic Corp. Apollo submitted a bid in February and has debt financing in...
Ohio senators ready rail safety bill after fiery crash in East Palestine
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Railroads like the one involved in last month’s fiery crash and toxic chemical release in Ohio would be subject to a series of new federal safety regulations and financial consequences under legislation being introduced Wednesday by the state’s two U.S. senators. An early copy of the Railway...
Railroads urged to examine track detectors after Ohio crash
OMAHA, Neb. — Freight railroads should reexamine the way they use and maintain the detectors along the tracks that are supposed to spot overheating bearings, federal regulators urged Tuesday in the wake of a fiery Ohio derailment and other recent crashes. The safety advisory from the Federal Railroad Administration stopped...
Historically mild February leaves Pittsburgh region with barely a trace of snow
February did not make Pittsburgh shiver. Generally, February is the region’s second snowiest month of the year. Not this year. Just 0.2 inches of snow accumulated over February in the Pittsburgh region. With highs reaching above 50 degrees Tuesday, the month ended as the least snowy February in Pittsburgh history,...
EPA opens office near site of Ohio toxic train derailment
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday he doesn’t want any stigmas attached to the Ohio community where a train derailed and spewed toxic gases three weeks ago and that he’s pushing the railroad to clean up the mess as fast as possible....
UPMC cites employment costs, pandemic as profits fell in 2022
Pittsburgh-based health care giant UPMC reported profits of about $238 million during 2022, a 71% drop compared to the previous year. Edward Karlovich, executive vice president and chief financial officer of UPMC, called it a “difficult year in health care,” but said UPMC made long-term investments in 2022 to improve...
Merged Excela, Butler health system is struggling financially, CEO says
Economic storm clouds are on the horizon for the newly combined Excela and Butler health systems, and a “significant expense reduction plan” is in the near future, according to an internal letter signed by President and CEO Ken DeFurio. In the letter — sent to employees and medical staff at...
Gas prices resume fall on worrisome inflation figures, analyst says
Pennsylvania is among a majority of states that saw gas prices decline over the past week, an industry analyst said. “The national average has resumed its decline after a pause last week as oil and wholesale gasoline prices fell on worrisome inflation figures showing the Fed likely to ramp up...
Pa. DEP to spend week testing water samples collected within mile of train derailment
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said Saturday that it has collected drinking water samples from 13 of the 16 known residential wells within a mile of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment. The DEP announced last week that it would begin systematic collection and testing of water samples in...
Morning Roundup: Funeral service set for Belle Vernon Area student
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023: Funeral set at Belle Vernon Area High School A funeral service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Belle Vernon Area High School in Rostraver for the 6-year-old girl killed Friday morning when hit...
Pittsburgh region’s mild winter mitigates some of the misery of ‘pothole season’
Earlier this month, Debbie Bey was looking for someone — anyone — willing to fix a large pothole just off William Penn Highway in Monroeville at the entrance leading to Gabe’s, Sam’s Club and other stores. “I called around to Monroeville, to PennDOT, everywhere, and no one wanted to take...
Surveillance video solves case of missing Gilpin signs
The mystery surrounding missing signs in Gilpin has been solved. This month, Gilpin officials and the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department reported multiple business signs missing from properties throughout the township. Supervisor Charles Stull took to social media Feb. 17, posting about what he described as a “strange” crime on...
Contaminated waste shipments from Ohio derailment to resume
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Shipment of contaminated waste from the site of a fiery train derailment earlier this month in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line will resume Monday to two approved sites in Ohio, according to federal environmental authorities. The announcement came a day after the Environmental Protection...
So thrifty: Buying, selling secondhand is affordable, sustainable and fun
Browsing through Goodwill in Cheswick, Brooke Holler was sizing up a wooden easel she was hoping would make a nice stand for a sign at her wedding in September. Holler isn’t just an avid thrifter — she turned her passion into a business. She runs Busy Bee’s on the secondhand...
Experts: Senate job not to blame for Fetterman health concerns
The eyes of the country were watching Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman as the former Braddock mayor and Pennsylvania lieutenant governor took office in January, just months after his recovery from a life-threatening stroke. Just weeks into the job, Fetterman checked himself into the hospital in early February for tests...
Student teams compete to raise money for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society programs
Regan Fusting’s father wanted to know where she learned to write a corporate donation letter like the one he received earlier this month. “He said, ‘Where’d you learn to do this? It’s so professional looking,’” said Fusting, 18, a senior at Franklin Regional and member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma...
Regional initiative launches on patient safety and technology in health care
Think about your smartphone. You rarely leave home without it, and there’s a team dedicated to making sure the device is upgraded and meaningful to you. But a dedicated team to making sure health care is safer for patients — and that workers can work in the best environments —...
Brockovich steals show at train derailment seminar in Ohio
EAST PALESTINE, OHIO — It started with a joke, though the message behind the evening was anything but. “My name is Erin Brockovich, not Julia Roberts,” quipped the environmental advocate who Roberts played in the 2000 film bearing her name Friday night in an auditorium here — the site of...
After Ohio train wreck, Biden orders door-to-door checks
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday directed federal agencies to go door-to-door in East Palestine, Ohio, to check on families affected by the toxic train derailment that has morphed into a heated political controversy. Under Biden’s order, teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Environmental Protection Agency...
Did dioxins spread after the Ohio train derailment?
After a catastrophic 38-train car derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, some officials are raising concerns about a type of toxic substance that tends to stay in the environment. Last week, Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance, the U.S. senators from Ohio, sent a letter to the state’s environmental protection agency expressing...
