Regional category, Page 165
Home testing, new variant add uncertainty to latest round of covid infections
As dramatic as the covid-19 omicron variant spike was in early 2022, health experts around the world were encouraged to see it drop just as quickly. In Pennsylvania, the total number of reported statewide positive cases this past Friday was around 600, nowhere near the 33,398 cases reported at the...
More than a game: Booming sports gambling industry brings increased calls for help across Pennsylvania
Brandon knew he “pretty much hit rock bottom” last year when he picked up the phone to find help in fighting his decade-long gambling addiction. The 32-year-old Irwin man has spent years trying to break free from the addiction he said largely started when he first visited Rivers Casino Pittsburgh...
Fewer applications for college financial aid could signal continued dip in higher ed enrollments
The number of high school students applying for state and federal college aid has continued to decline across Pennsylvania, state leaders said, nixing hopes that figures would begin to rebound. Applications for the FAFSA — short for Free Application for Federal Student Aid — were down by about 30,000 by...
Somerset DA Thomas’ defense attorney calls sex assault case ‘political’
SOMERSET — Describing the sexual assault case against Somerset County’s suspended district attorney as “political,” Jeffrey Thomas’ defense attorney suggested on Friday that he might raise issues about whether the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General should be prosecuting the case. Following a pretrial hearing, defense attorney Ryan Tutera offered hints...
Disabled former state trooper gets nearly $2M in lawsuit against agency
A federal judge awarded a former Pennsylvania state trooper nearly $2 million on Thursday after a jury found he was forced to retire because of a disability. Robert Newton, of Butler County, worked as a procurement and supply officer on permanent limited duty status because of a disability in his...
Pittsburgh metro area loses population, leads nation in natural population decline
The Pittsburgh metropolitan area lost 13,755 residents between July 2020 and July 2021, according to U.S. Census estimates. The biggest factor of that loss was the region’s natural decline, which is when an area experiences more deaths than births. The Pittsburgh metro area’s natural decline of 10,383 was the largest...
Feds charge 2 men with hate crimes in Beaver County care-home abuse case
Two men already charged in Beaver County now face federal hate-crime counts, with prosecutors accusing them of abusing physically and intellectually disabled residents at a care home where they worked. An indictment against the men said they punched and kicked residents in the face, choked them and sprayed and rubbed...
Medal of Honor Day focuses on service members awarded for valor in battle
The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest award for military valor, and American presidents have presented more than 3,500 of them since the medal was established in 1862. In 1990, Congress designated March 25 as National Medal of Honor Day to recognize the medal recipients, many of whom...
Idlewild sets earlier park opening day, boosts pay for seasonal work
Officials at Ligonier Township’s Idlewild and SoakZone have some good news for fans of the family amusement park as well as those interested in working at the attraction. Responding in part to heightened public interest in picnic reservations, the park will open May 7 — two weekends earlier than previously...
Congressional candidate Steve Irwin endorsed by Western Pa. building trades group
The Laborers’ District Council of Western PA said Thursday it is endorsing Pittsburgh attorney Steve Irwin in the Democratic primary race in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District. “There’s only one candidate in this race who has shown a commitment to protecting blue-collar jobs and growing the middle class, and that candidate...
Cold, snowy weekend in store for Western Pa.
Don’t let the warm weather we’ve had this week fool you. Though the calendar has flipped to spring, the cold isn’t ready to let us out of its clutches just yet. The National Weather Service is calling for a significant temperature drop this weekend and snow flurries to boot, said...
Highmark reports $22B in revenue
Highmark Health reported Tuesday that its health care system earned $22 billion in revenue last year, up $301 million from the year before. Highmark employs 37,000 people and provides health insurance coverage to patients in the Mid-Atlantic region. It is the parent company of Allegheny Health Network, which operates 14...
Brother’s Brother supplies donated from Pittsburgh reach Ukraine
A shipment of crucially needed medical and wound care supplies from Pittsburgh to war-torn Ukraine made it to an alternative destination Friday as Russian missiles hit an aircraft maintenance facility in Lviv in western Ukraine. “It was important for us to get it done and to help those people it...
Pennsylvania tick survey turns up concentrations of rare Powassan virus variety
In the final year of a statewide tick surveillance program that began in 2018, state researchers are seeing a troubling uptick in a form of Powassan virus carried by black-legged ticks, the same species that spreads Lyme disease. Deer tick virus was present in more than 80% of tick samples...
Week in pictures: March 14-20
A selection of photos from Tribune-Review staff photojournalists from the week of March 14-20. Previous weeks Week in pictures: March 7-13, 2022 Week in pictures: Feb. 28-March 6, 2022 Week in pictures: Jan. 10-16, 2022 Week in pictures: Nov. 29 - Dec. 5, 2021 Week in pictures: Nov. 22-28, 2021...
Democratic Senate candidates square off in political forum at CMU
Democratic candidates for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat on Sunday agreed on several important party platform items but disagreed when it came to big tech companies and the Supreme Court. Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, Jenkintown Borough Council member Alex Khalil and U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb...
Are Western Pa. gas prices headed toward $5 a gallon?
Rising gas prices have been causing headaches for drivers across the region and the country. In early March, gas prices hit a record average of $4.21 a gallon in Pittsburgh, slightly above the national average of about $4 a gallon. At some old-school gas stations in the region, such as...
Diesel price rise a pain at pump and consumer’s pockets
If the sight of over $4.30 a gallon for regular gasoline is cringeworthy, imagine $5.50 — or more — and having to fill a 150-gallon tank. Warren Horton has faced such a dilemma recently, including Tuesday when he stopped in Western Pennsylvania to fuel his big rig hauling a stacked...
Where are Western Pa. Girl Scout cookies? Arriving soon, hopefully
Most people in Western Pennsylvania are still waiting to receive their boxes of Girl Scout cookies, but not inmates at SCI-Fayette. The state prison received over 1,100 boxes of cookies this year during its third sale to benefit Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania. Inmates had the opportunity to buy up to...
Vail Resorts announces raise in base minimum wage to $20 an hour next ski season
Vail Resorts, the parent company of Seven Springs, Hidden Valley and Laurel Mountain ski areas, announced this week the company will be increasing its minimum wage to $20 per hour for next ski season. The company’s new Chief Executive Officer Kirsten Lynch announced the $20 per hour minimum wage for...
New owners of Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, Laurel Mountain optimistic about futureVideo
As the ski season at Seven Springs begins to wind down, all indications are that the three most well-known Western Pennsylvania ski resorts — Seven Springs, Hidden Valley and Laurel Mountain— bounced back after the covid-19 pandemic. Although the resorts’ new owner, Vail Resorts Inc., does not disclose resort-specific visitor...
Pa. sports betting slips, but March Madness may bring recovery
Pennsylvania’s sports betting industry took a hit last month, seemingly contributing to a downward trend in revenues recorded at casinos across the state in February, officials said. In all, casinos generated more than $375.6 million in revenues last month, according to a report from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. That’s...
Cranberry man charged in Jan. 6 Capitol attack
A Cranberry man with a military background faces federal charges in connection with the U.S. Capitol insurrection last year in Washington, D.C., federal officials said. Jordan Bonenberger, 26, is charged with disorderly conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; entering and remaining in a restricted building;...
Study identifies potential east suburb path to connect Westmoreland, Allegheny trails
Allegheny County officials on Friday released a feasibility study for a project connecting the Westmoreland Heritage Trail to the Great Allegheny Passage by way of the Turtle Creek Valley, which runs through Pittsburgh’s east suburbs. Several proposed routes could serve to link the Westmoreland Heritage Trail from its western terminus...
Go-kart track planned at Somerset County Fairgrounds
MEYERSDALE — For Kip Wilt, the chance to watch his uncle, Garland “Okie” Wilt, race hobby stock at Somerset County Fairgrounds led to a lifelong passion for dirt track racing. Now, that passion is coming full circle back to Meyersdale. The Grantsville, Md., man said he’s working to debut a...
