Regional category, Page 248
71 Fayette Co. inmates test positive for coronavirus; courthouse reopening for business
More than half of the inmates at the Fayette County Prison tested positive for covid-19 as county officials prepare to reopen its courthouse Thursday after a two-week closure. The county has seen big jumps in the number of confirmed cases in recent days, and 32 county employees have tested positive...
AG Shapiro confirms investigation into embattled Brighton Rehab nursing home in Beaver CountyVideo
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has launched a criminal investigation into the embattled Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver County, the Tribune-Review has learned. A spokesperson for Shapiro confirmed Wednesday morning his office is exploring whether criminal charges are warranted related to the “conditions and practices” at the Brighton...
Fayette County singer in running for country music awardsVideo
A country singer from Fayette County is hoping to up her industry profile through awards from two music industry organizations. Katrina Lynn Whetsel of White, who performs as Katrina Lynn, is nominated for honors from the Atlanta-based International Singer Songwriters Association and Fair Play Country Music, an online magazine and...
Western Pa. leaders working to exceed census response rates from 2010
Fewer people have responded to the 2020 census across Western Pennsylvania than in 2010, new data shows. According to the Pennsylvania State Data Center, several area counties, including Allegheny and Westmoreland, are about 5 percentage points behind self-response rates recorded in 2010. That means fewer people so far have responded...
Clemente rookie card, 1900 Wagner team photo up for auction
Pittsburgh Pirate history buffs, get your wallets ready: a New Jersey auction house is taking bids on Roberto Clemente’s 1955 Topps rookie card, as well as a team photo of the Pirates taken during Honus Wagner’s first year with the team in 1900. The auction concludes Sunday. Bidding on the...
What Pittsburgh experts are saying about Russia’s covid-19 vaccine
Russia declared on Tuesday its covid-19 vaccine was ready for public use — an announcement met with global skepticism. While Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted the vaccine had proven to be efficient and had undergone proper testing, some health experts warned that it’s ill-advised to begin using a vaccine before...
School reopening plans could change multiple times prior to first day
Weeks before students are expected to return to school, some districts are scrapping reopening plans in an effort to match state guidance and to account for spikes in coronavirus cases. At least two area districts, Franklin Regional and Bethel Park, drastically altered health and safety plans school leaders worked on...
Sunny days bring uptick in air pollution to Southwestern Pa.Video
There’s a downside to a hot, sunny summer in Southwestern Pennsylvania: higher levels of ozone air pollution, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The region’s Air Quality Index has reached Code Orange four days this year, including Sunday and Monday. The average for an entire year is 3...
Community college leaders tout cost advantages as 4-year schools go online
As families weigh the rapidly evolving landscape at colleges across the state, officials at Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges say they are ready to accommodate students faced with last-minute decisions about the fall semester. “We estimate a student could save as much as $20,000 on the cost of an education if...
Missing Indiana County woman found safe, troopers say
State police in Indiana said a missing 71-year-old woman from East Wheatfield Township who was last seen Monday was found safe Tuesday afternoon. Police were seeking information on Cheryl L. Wieromiej who lives on Church Street near Armagh, Indiana County, just north of the Westmoreland County border, after her family...
Pa. leaders tell schools to be consistent but flexible in reopening plans, teaching methods
As schools prepare to resume teaching, the leaders of Pennsylvania’s health and education departments on Monday said districts should be consistent in approach but flexible in how they educate students. A spike in covid-19 cases in a county may require districts to change how they plan to teach students, said...
Police: Butler County man charged with child porn took photos of girls in bathroom
State police say a Jefferson Township man admitted taking photos of two underage girls while they were in a bathroom and had dozens of images of child pornography on his cellphone. Joshua Michael Pethtel, 33, allegedly told troopers he would take photos of the girls from an outside window, knowing...
412 Food Rescue plans second distribution at Fallingwater
One of the industries hardest hit by the covid-19 pandemic has been the tourism industry. This is especially true for the Laurel Highlands, where tourism supports about 15,000 jobs, according to some estimates. With this in mind, 412 Food Rescue has scheduled another food distribution for Wednesday from 11 a.m....
‘Let Our Kids Play in PA’ rally in Harrisburg to advocate for youth sports
Julie Wagner Burkart never realized how important sports were to her children until the covid-19 pandemic upended their athletic schedules. Burkart has an 11-year-old son who is involved in football, baseball, basketball and wrestling. Her 13-year-old daughter is a competitive dancer who runs for her school’s cross country and track...
Allegheny County leads Pennsylvania in animal abuse cases as 3rd anniversary of Libre’s Law approaches
Aug. 28 will mark the third anniversary of Libre’s Law, an anti-cruelty measure that strengthened the protection of animals in Pennsylvania. The 2017 law, also known as Act 10, was inspired by Libre, a Boston terrier puppy found badly neglected and abused in Lancaster County. Its passage increased penalties for...
Here are some tips for planting and growing crops in a fall garden
Tamara O’Brien has always planted a fall garden. She sows various types of greens, cucumbers and heirloom squashes much later into the summer than less-seasoned gardeners might dare and harvests all the way through October. Planting a fall plot is a strategy that lengthens the growing season and increases the...
Dispatch: 3 injured following shooting in Beaver Falls
Three people were injured following a shooting in Beaver County, according to an emergency dispatcher. Police responded to the intersection of 14th Street and 5th Avenue in Beaver Falls around 11:30 p.m. Sunday for reports of the shooting. Two people were transported by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh-area hospital and...
‘Code Orange’ air quality day for Sunday as temperatures near 90
Although National Weather Service officials said the region is trending down in terms of overall temperatures, it isn’t there yet, and Sunday will be another reminder of the summer heat it has experienced recently. Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection issued an air quality alert for Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette,...
‘I don’t want to die here’: Problems at Brighton Rehab didn’t start with coronavirus, Trib investigation finds
Talk. Kenneth Miller has heard a lot of it since March when night and day, people all around him began dying at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. There has been talk of change, talk of state and federal probes into how the aging, 589-bed Beaver County facility that one local...
Brighton Rehab under scrutiny for hydroxychloroquine use to thwart coronavirus
Evelyn Gilbert, 53, began her five-day dose of hydroxychloroquine while battling covid-19 in a room with three other infected residents at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. Kenneth Miller, 66, who had not shown symptoms of the virus, was jolted awake by a Brighton staffer urging him to sign a consent...
‘Covid cannot be used as a cover-up’: Brighton Rehab residents, families outraged by lax oversight during outbreak
As death became a constant at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in mid-April, so did certain daily rituals, according to some of the more than dozen residents, families and current and former staff members interviewed during a Trib investigation. Family members’ frantic pleas for updates about loved ones locked down...
After months of uncertainty at the top, Brighton Rehab has manager in place through end of year
A state-appointed manager will oversee operations at the troubled Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center at least through the end of the year, signaling some consistency after months of uncertainty about who is in charge. State officials confirmed Allaire Health Services, installed in mid-May to temporarily manage the facility where 73...
Veil of silence: As outbreak spun out of control, Brighton Rehab ownership group remained mum. It still does.
A knock on the door at two Long Island addresses listed for the owners of Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center did nothing to lift a veil of silence surrounding the company since 73 patients and a housekeeper at the Beaver County nursing home died earlier this year. The reporter who...
Daughter ready to run 10th Great Race in honor of her mother, a victim of amyloidosis
The Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race is about much more than running. For Ashley Gerken, it’s a tribute to her mother, who died of amyloidosis in 2008. The Great Race donates $1 per runner to amyloidosis research through the Richard S. Caliguiri Fund. The race is named...
Rare blazing star wildflowers in bloom in Butler County prairieVideo
The sea of tall, purple wildflowers known as blazing stars at Jennings Environmental Education Center are a rarity for Western Pennsylvania, and they won’t last much longer than this weekend. The flower is as exotic as its habitat: a prairie that was first preserved by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and...
