Regional category, Page 267
PennDOT reopens more rest areas
As covid-19 restrictions ease around the state, PennDOT is reopening indoor facilities at three additional rest areas. The three locations opening Monday include Interstate 70 westbound in Fulton County, 1 mile east of the Maryland state line, Interstate 80 eastbound in Columbia County and Interstate 80 westbound in Columbia County....
High school yearbooks go virtual for Western Pa. grads
For high school graduates of 2020, that chance to write a senior yearbook message has been taken away with the pandemic. But resourceful teenagers have found a way to sign a yearbook virtually. They’re creating yearbooks on Instagram, the social media platform that emphasizes photographs. In most cases, one student...
Gov. Wolf threatens action against Pennsylvania counties, businesses that ignore restrictions
Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday had strong words for politicians and business owners who choose to defy the state’s coronavirus restrictions, threatening funding and business licenses as some counties move to the yellow phase of reopening while others remain in the most restrictive phase. Wolf said funding to help counties...
Faces of courage: Ambulance personnel on coronavirus front lines
The call comes over their radio — the patient is having trouble breathing, they need an ambulance. Then, “call the center for special patient information,” says a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The paramedics know it’s likely they’re heading toward the invisible threat that everyone else is trying to stay away from...
Pa. National Guard to help Beaver County nursing home with covid-19 outbreak
A Beaver County nursing home where at least 61 people have died from covid-19 is getting help from the Pennsylvania National Guard to respond to the outbreak, officials said. “Throughout this unprecedented crisis, we have called on the state to provide us with the critical resources we needed to combat...
Police: Philadelphia man used counterfeit bills at stores in Indiana, Cambria counties
A Philadelphia man was jailed for using two counterfeit $100 bills at a Giant Eagle supermarket in Indiana County to buy flowers and other low-cost items last week, state police at Indiana said. The suspect, Bilal Basil Butler, 23, allegedly used the fake bills to buy merchandise at the supermarket...
Quarantine sparks creativity for Mother’s Day celebrationsVideo
Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention — and it’s taking a little inventiveness to celebrate Mother’s Day this year. With eat-in restaurant meals off the table and family gatherings giving way to social isolation, creativity kicks in. Many accepted the challenge of finding a new way to show...
Jeannette man jailed in high-speed pursuit through 2 counties
A Jeannette man was jailed in Armstrong County Saturday after allegedly leading police on a high-speed chase through two counties that ended when the car he was driving crashed into a vehicle that was occupied by a family. Rasheed Gordon, 28, was arraigned early Sunday on charges of possession with...
Some jobless workers still waiting for benefits as Western Pa. businesses look to reopen
Matt Kastner of Irwin has been waiting for almost two months for the day he can return to his job at a Blawnox music store, which has been closed since mid-March as part of Pennsylvania’s attempt to slow the spread of covid-19. “We haven’t received word when the store will...
Snow blows through before celebrating Mom’s special day
It’s just what every mother wants the day before Mother’s Day - a snowfall. That’s what many moms across Western Pennsylvania woke up to Saturday morning when a trace of snow was recorded at Pittsburgh International Airport, said John Darnley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Moon. If...
Pennsylvania business owners worry about ability to bounce back from covid-19 lockdown
Bob Sodini’s small accounting firm in Harrison was in its busiest month of the year — tax filing season — when Gov. Tom Wolf imposed a statewide lockdown to thwart the spread of covid-19. With the doors closed to Sodini & Co.’s office on Freeport Road, the firm’s four employees...
Greensburg, Pittsburgh Catholic dioceses announce slightly relaxed rules starting May 15
Catholic churches in both the Greensburg Diocese and Pittsburgh Diocese will be permitted to reopen their doors for private prayer beginning May 15, diocese officials have announced. Pittsburgh Diocese officials also eased restrictions on weddings and funeral Masses from having no more than 10 people in attendance to no more...
Western Pa. colleges making plans for online, face-to-face learning in fall semester
Universities that bring thousands of students to Southwestern Pennsylvania every fall are offering reassurances that they hope to reopen shuttered classrooms and dormitories in August. Although the region is scheduled to begin reopening on May 15, colleges and universities are not yet permitted to resume face-to-face operations in classrooms and...
WVU furloughing about 875 staffers as virus hits revenues
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University is furloughing around 875 staffers due to a possible $40 million loss from the coronavirus pandemic, the college said Friday. The school issued a statement saying the furloughs will start on May 24 and have staffers return to work either June 28 or July...
Census forms to be hand delivered to Western Pa. households next week
People across Western Pennsylvania could receive a census packet on their doorsteps starting next week as the bureau resumes some operations halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. On May 13, questionnaire packets will be left at households that typically do not receive mail at their physical address, said Susan Licate,...
Beaver County officials blast Wolf’s decision to keep county under heavy coronavirus restrictions
Beaver County officials blasted Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday for his decision to keep their county under the most restrictive pandemic-related guidelines, while the county’s district attorney declared he wouldn’t prosecute business owners who choose to flout the continued restrictions. Commissioners and lawmakers got ahead of Wolf’s 2 p.m. announcement...
Gov. Wolf announces most of Western Pa. moving to yellow phase May 15
Allegheny and Westmoreland are among the counties Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday can begin the first phase of a gradual reopening and easing of coronavirus-related restrictions. A majority of the Southwest and South-Central counties will proceed to the yellow phase of the tiered reopening plan on May 15. That includes...
Week-in-review: Pa. moves some counties to yellow, Pitt researcher killed, ‘murder hornets’Video
While covid-19 and the impact of the pandemic continue to dominate lives and news, other news continued to come in the past week. A missing woman’s body was found in McKees Rocks, while the motivation behind a murder-suicide in Ross came to light. In nature news, we learned about homicidal...
Pennsylvania reports 200 more coronavirus deaths, more than 1,300 new cases
Pennsylvania added 200 more coronavirus deaths to its toll on Friday along with more than 1,300 new cases of the virus, state health officials said. The new numbers bring the statewide death toll to 3,616. Of those deaths, 2,458 — 68% — have been in long-term care facilities. The total...
Western Pa. leaders respond as most of region set to move to yellow phase next week
Officials in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties applauded Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision Friday to move most of Southwestern Pennsylvania to a phase of eased coronavirus restrictions, though many said the decision was overdue. “It’s a step in the right direction,” Westmoreland County Commissioner Sean Kertes said. “This should’ve happened a week...
Record-breaking cold prompts freeze warning
The coldest temperatures ever recorded in May in the Pittsburgh area are expected overnight Friday into Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. A freeze warning is scheduled to run from midnight to 9 a.m. Saturday, with the low temperature expected to get down to 26 degrees, meteorologist Michael...
State senator: Greene, Washington counties to reopen next Friday
Two more Pennsylvania counties will reopen late next week, according to a post by Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington, on her personal Facebook page. According to Bartolotta, Greene and Washington counties will move from the red into the yellow phase next Friday as per Gov. Tom Wolf’s three-phased plan for reopening...
Windber woman helps provide food for low-income children
Donna LaMonaca of Windber has been a volunteer at the Saint Vincent de Paul Family Kitchen in the Altoona-Johnstown area since she was a child. When they called her last month to say they weren’t able to distribute all of the donated milk they had on hand, she got an...
Elected officials, businesses in 4 Pa. counties sue to end coronavirus shutdown
Citing growing frustration with emergency orders that closed businesses and halted political campaigns, three state lawmakers and U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, Thursday joined a group of local business owners and four southwestern counties in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders. County commissioners from Butler,...
Reopened campgrounds see rush of guests while observing social distancingVideo
Families anxious to get away from it all after weeks under Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home orders have flocked to the area’s privately owned campgrounds. Still, they haven’t escaped from social-distancing guidelines in force as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus. While camping facilities at state parks aren’t set to open...
