Editor's Picks category, Page 394
‘This Is Us’ stars Mandy Moore, Justin Hartley co-host Red Nose specialVideo
Mandy Moore and Justin Hartley, stars of the Pittsburgh-set TV show “This Is Us,” will co-host NBC’s Red Nose Day special to raise money and awareness for children in need. The network’s sixth annual event, airing 9-11 p.m. Thursday, will include musical performances, sketches and short films that illustrate how...
Social distancing costs mount for fire companies forced to cancel fundraisers
Gun bashes that can bring in thousands of dollars for fire departments aren’t allowed. Neither are purse bashes, cash bashes, drag queen bingos, burger sales or any of other typically crowded fundraisers that are the lifeblood of local fire departments, which struggle with finances even in good times. Throw in...
Editorial: Local leaders should be better than Congress
Vandergrift Council’s recent Zoom meeting might be the perfect example of the relationship between some government officials amid the coronavirus pandemic response. It had everything. Important things that needed to be done. Action to be taken to stay in compliance with a higher authority. A dictate that was really pointless...
University students recreate campuses in Minecraft to host graduationsVideo
The notion of a video game enthusiast as a sweaty, jobless loser alone in his mother’s basement goes back as far as video games, themselves. Not only do gamers come in all shapes, sizes, ages, genders and income brackets, but the concept of players as antisocial is equally outmoded. Many...
Married music teachers use old-school rendition to show they miss studentsVideo
Time away from the classroom isn’t just affecting students. Teachers are feeling the impact as well. Two music teachers, who are a married couple, have found a creative way to cope with withdrawal from their pupils. Joe Wilson is music department chair and marching band moderator at Central Catholic High...
Pittsburgh hospital flyover to salute those on front line of covid-19 pandemic
The Pennsylvania Air National Guard is planning a flyover of several Pittsburgh-area hospitals Tuesday afternoon in honor of covid-19 front-line responders. Two aircraft, piloted by airmen from the 171st Air Refueling Wing at Pittsburgh International Airport and the 193rd Special Operations Wing at Middletown, are slated to appear in formation...
Parade honors Richland World War II veteran who turns 100 on Armed Forces DayVideo
It’s fitting that Bryce Billetdeaux turned 100 on Armed Forces Day. It’s also fitting there was a parade to celebrate the milestone. The World War II U.S. Navy veteran was honored Saturday. With covid-19 restrictions in place, cars lined up at the Richland Township Municipal Building on Dickey Road and...
U.S. layoffs surged to record high of 11.4 million in March
WASHINGTON — U.S. layoffs soared in March to a record 11.4 million after state and local governments closed restaurants, bars, movie theaters and other nonessential businesses in response to the intensifying viral outbreak. The Labor Department also said Friday that job openings plunged, and hiring fell, though those changes weren’t...
Coronavirus pandemic causes shift in environmental, sustainability efforts
With its economic and health impacts unmistakable, the coronavirus pandemic is revealing environmental tradeoffs as it lingers on. From a spike in hand-sanitizing wipes to paper towels to personal protective equipment (PPE), sustainability has been moved to the back burner. “In the middle of a global health pandemic, you want...
Leaders warn that coronavirus in care facilities presents wide-reaching public health concern
As coronavirus cases in nursing and personal care homes continue to rise, a growing chorus is calling for those numbers to be recorded separately from the overall number of cases and deaths. Those cries are getting particularly loud in Pennsylvania, where one of the metrics for easing pandemic-related restrictions focuses...
CDC alerts doctors to covid-19 linked condition in childrenVideo
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning doctors about a serious rare inflammatory condition in children linked with the coronavirus. In an alert issued Thursday, the CDC called the condition multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. The agency’s case definition includes current or recent covid-19 infection or exposure...
Invasive lizards that eat ‘anything they want’ invade GeorgiaVideo
Tegu lizards could eat “murder hornets” for breakfast. Tegus, the latest creature scare that appears in the form of a four-foot lizard and known to have a voracious appetite, have been sighted for the third straight year in Georgia. Biologists say the tegus, which established themselves in Tattnall and Toombs...
Pennsylvania’s largest area code is finally reaching its limit
One of Pennsylvania’s four original area codes finally is getting a little too crowded. The state Public Utility Commission announced Thursday the 814 area code would be assigned a new overlay code of 582. The change also means residents who never needed to dial more than seven digits to make...
Mad Mex’s Gobblerito going away, for now
The Gobblerito is almost gobble gone. The famed Mad Mex menu item, normally available in the fall, will see its current run on the menu end next week. On Instagram, the restaurant said the last day to order the Thanksgiving burrito would be May 21 and other favorites would be...
Pittsburgh creator makes 1st fluorescent, black-light comic bookVideo
Pittsburgh comic book creator Jim Rugg set out to make a book that would shine — literally. “Octobriana 1976” will be what he called the world’s first fluorescent, black-light comic book. Rugg, known for his work on “Street Angel,” “Afrodisiac” and “The PLAIN Janes,” based his comic on Octobriana, a...
Zoom to open research and development center in Pittsburgh
Zoom, the video-conferencing software company whose popularity has skyrocketed in the social-distancing age, announced Thursday it will open two new research and development centers, including one in Pittsburgh. The company is seeking an office location near Carnegie Mellon University in Oakland. It will open another center in the greater Phoenix...
10 quarantine habits to keep after shutdown endsVideo
We breathe a tentative sigh of relief as much of Western Pennsylvania approaches the yellow phase in the gradual easing of coronavirus-related restrictions, beginning Friday. There are a few things we won’t miss when we emerge from the covid-19 quarantine — things like social distancing that keep us apart from...
Joe Buck says Fox will pump in crowd noise, add virtual fans to NFL broadcasts
If NFL games are played in stadiums without fans, “Here we go” and “Renegade” might not blast in Heinz Field, but those songs might be pumped into your home on the TV broadcast. According to Fox Sports broadcaster Joe Buck, networks are planning to add crowd noise and virtual fans...
Season that wasn’t: Spring claimed by coronavirus pandemic
By the time spring arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, the pandemic had the world firmly in its grip. The vernal equinox arrived March 19, the day California handed down the first statewide stay-at-home order in the United States. Most of the country would soon follow suit. In the coming weeks,...
Relatives parade past loved ones at Brackenridge nursing homeVideo
The covid-19 pandemic has kept families separated from their loved ones at a Brackenridge nursing home for two months, their contact limited to video calls and window visits. That came to an end Wednesday afternoon, when relatives of residents at Platinum Ridge Center for Rehabilitation and Healing took part in...
McKeesport woman remembered as extraordinary teacher, friend of community
No one was surprised when Jamie Brewster Filotei came back to McKeesport after college, first earning a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s. Friends say the woman who attended Mansfield University of Pennsylvania on a basketball scholarship could have gone anywhere, but her roots were in McKeesport. And the city...
‘New lease on life’: Hempfield man recovers from covid-19, donates plasma to help othersVideo
Monte Swauger had been coughing for weeks. One night in March, he got worse. An emergency room visit to AHN Hempfield Neighborhood Hospital on March 19 set off six excruciating days for his wife, Carrie, and their three sons. Swauger, 49, was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia. His positive coronavirus test...
Black bear spotted in Ohio Township, Sewickley Hills
Lifelong Ohio Township resident Jocelyn Smith had heard about bear sightings from neighbors, but she hadn’t seen one herself until Tuesday evening. “A neighbor saw it and called me, kind of yelling, like, ‘There’s a bear in your yard!’ So I ran. I had to go to the second floor...
Drive-in theaters across Western Pa. set to open Friday
Drive-in movies theaters are set to open Friday across southwestern Pennsylvania as the state begins to loosen some coronavirus restrictions that have been in place since March. They include Evergreen Drive-In Theatre near Mt. Pleasant and Dependable in Moon. Others are Brownsville in Fayette County, Riverside in Armstrong County, Skyview...
When Disney parks reopen, masks will likely be the normVideo
Disney amusement parks in Orlando, Fla., and Anaheim, Calif., are still closed, but with the park in Shanghai reopened Monday, there are signs of what may be in store for the other parks when they reopen. Among the measures in place in Shanghai are: smaller number of people in the...
