Editor's Picks category, Page 351
IUP alums dig deep as the university works to remake itself
Fighting an uphill battle to cut costs and end declining enrollment, Indiana University of Pennsylvania raked in record levels of financial support and set a new record among state-owned schools in a recently completed fundraising campaign. The 30-month comprehensive fundraising campaign, dubbed Imagine Unlimited, recently ended six months early with...
Export distiller partners with Penn Township company for ’boutique bourbon’ run
There is a lot of alliteration involving the letter “B” flying around White Valley Distilling in Export: things like “boutique bourbon” and “bloody butcher.” One is the special bourbon order that owners Jim Battaglia and Will Ramaley are making in partnership with Ventana Windows in nearby Penn Township. The other...
‘It is the hardest thing ever’: 5 Western Pennsylvanians share their anguish of losing a sibling
A sibling is often someone’s first friend. The person who best understands the family’s dynamic. Someone who travels through life’s stages, shares memories of childhood. Many forge lifetime bonds. The death of a sibling can leave a cavernous hole. “A sibling’s death becomes an anchor marker,” said Paul Friday, chief...
Watch Super Bowl commercials here before the gameVideo
The biggest game of the NFL season is almost here. But before you take in the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, get a head start on some commercials on the Super Bowl LV broadcast, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Sunday on CBS. From a flat Matthew McConaughey...
Hikers take advantage of cold but sunny day to walk through Murrysville trail, parkVideo
The cold weather didn’t stop a group of adventure seekers from taking to a snow-covered wooded trail Saturday in Murrysville. Maybe it was the promise of hot chocolate at the end of the nearly 3-mile hike or a desire to get outdoors with others during a time when indoor activities...
‘One Lens’ project seeks to archive state residents’ covid-19 experience
Looking at photos from a specific period in history can be very telling. American photographs from the years of World War II, without any words, can tell the stories of battle-worn soldiers, the families they left behind and the efforts of those at home to support them. Pennsylvania First Lady...
Tiny chameleon a contender for title of smallest reptile
It fits on a human fingertip, but this chameleon could make a big splash. Scientists from Madagascar and Germany say a newly discovered species of chameleon is a contender for the title of world’s smallest reptile. Frank Glaw, who was part of the international team of researchers that classified the...
Harrison native to keep streak alive of attending every Super Bowl
Harrison native Tom Henschel will make a short, 15-minute drive from his home to Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium on Sunday to continue a remarkably long streak. Henschel, 79, has attended all 54 Super Bowl games. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, attendance at this year’s Super Bowl, the 55th, will be...
Oscar-winner, ‘Sound of Music’ star Christopher Plummer dies
NEW YORK — Christopher Plummer, the dashing award-winning actor who played Captain von Trapp in the film “The Sound of Music” and at 82 became the oldest Academy Award acting winner in history, has died. He was 91. Plummer died Friday morning at his home in Connecticut with his wife,...
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez seek climate emergency declaration from Biden
WASHINGTON — With Democrats in charge of Congress and the White House, progressive lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are pushing the Biden administration to act ever more aggressively on climate change. A week after President Joe Biden signed executive orders intended to combat the worst effects...
More GameStops possible as small investors flex muscles
LOS ANGELES — GameStop and a handful of other stocks whose meteoric rise last month shocked Wall Street began falling back to Earth this week. But the campaign that briefly pushed GameStop up by 1,600% at the expense of hedge funds that were betting it would lose value, known as...
Label Shopper fills need for Alle-Kiski Valley residents, Hyde Park Plaza
A New York-based discount chain opened a new store in Allegheny Township in October, but it took a while for many people to notice. “Nobody even knew we were here until we got our sign last week,” said Jessica Campbell, manager of the Label Shopper store in Hyde Park Plaza....
TV Talk: 1st-time Western Pa. filmmaker enters ‘Red Woods’; CBS reboots ‘The Equalizer’Video
For his directorial feature film debut, Western Pennsylvania’s Nick Danko looked no further than his own backyard. Danko’s “Red Woods” is a found footage film in the vein of “The Blair Witch Project” (minus the shaky-camera effect) that follows an urban explorer group as they tromp through abandoned houses in...
Parler CEO John Matze says he’s been terminated by company’s board
Parler, the social media platform partial to the far right, has dismissed its CEO John Matze, according to several media outlets. Matze confirmed the decision in a text to Reuters, which was originally reported by Fox News. Parler CEO John Matze said he was fired on Friday by the social-media...
‘New chance at life’: New Jersey man gets face, hands in rare transplant surgeryVideo
NEW YORK — Almost six months after a rare face and hands transplant, Joe DiMeo is relearning how to smile, blink, pinch and squeeze. The 22-year-old New Jersey resident had the operation last August, two years after being badly burned in a car crash. “I knew it would be baby...
Food Podcast: American Heart Month focuses on heart-healthy dietary, lifestyle habits
Each year, American Heart Month shines a light on the importance of good cardiovascular health. Over the last 40 years of Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s operations, the focus on sourcing and distributing healthy foods has greatly increased. Many of these foods are heart-healthy, meant to prevent or reduce the...
GameStop’s stupefying stock rise doesn’t hide its reality
NEW YORK — Behind GameStop’s stock surge is the grim reality of its prospects: The video game retailer is floundering even as the industry around it is booming. GameStop has been swept up in a battle between big-moneyed hedge funds betting against it and small investors trying to prop it...
Rick Stafford: What Dick Thornburgh meant to Pittsburgh
When I first met Dick Thornburgh in 1971, I was one of a small group of graduate students at Carnegie Mellon. We were working under a federal grant to develop a computer model for more effectively allocating law enforcement funds for Allegheny County. In our 20s, idealists about government, none...
Madden 21 picks Chiefs to beat Buccaneers in Super BowlVideo
The winner of Super Bowl LV is…. The Kansas City Chiefs, according to this year’s Madden simulation. The EA Sports franchise simulated the Super Bowl 55 matchup between the Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Madden 21. The result was a 37-27 final with the Chiefs winning their second straight...
Jeff Goldblum’s vaccine photo post stirs confusion
With his particular flair, Jeff Goldblum shared a message on social media that he recently received the covid-19 vaccine. The 68-year-old actor, a native of West Homestead, shared a photo of himself wearing a plush robe, black athletic pants and leopard-print slippers. He also wore a mask. This was all...
Things to do in Western Pa.: Feb. 3, 2021Video
Feeling down after Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter? Maybe what you need is a good laugh. You’re in luck. Arcade Comedy Theater has a reading of classic Black sitcoms, South West Communities Chamber of Commerce has a comedy date night and Rowhouse Cinema has its annual “Sweded”...
DA directs case closed in snow-related murder-suicide
The triple shooting in Plains Township motivated by a dispute about snow removal will be officially ruled a murder-suicide, according to the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office. Authorities said Jeffrey Spaide, 47, shot and killed his neighbors, James Goy, 50, and his wife Lisa Goy, 48, on Monday morning as...
Primanti Bros. teams up with 412 Food Rescue to fight food insecurity
Primanti Bros. is partnering with 412 Food Rescue to address food insecurity in Western Pennsylvania. The collaboration will allow anyone ordering from Primanti Bros. online to request the restaurant make a monetary donation to 412 Food Rescue, a local nonprofit that fights hunger and food waste. Customers can enter coupon...
‘Silence of the Lambs’ house in Fayette County sells again
The sale of a Fayette County home made famous by its appearance in “The Silence of the Lambs” couldn’t have been more timely. The Perryopolis home — at 8 Circle St. — sold last week, just a few days shy of the 30th anniversary of the release of “The Silence...
Johnstown Rotarian will hike the Appalachian Trail to help fight polioVideo
When Owen Standley set out to lose a little weight, walking 2,200 miles along the Appalachian Trail was not the plan. But when Standley, 34, of Ferndale, Cambria County, joined his wife in a diet and exercise plan, it included a journaling assignment to list something he thought he could...
