March 5, 2020 4:12 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A Pennsylvania state laboratory is improving its ability to handle samples that it is testing for the new coronavirus that is sickening people across the globe. State health officials said Wednesday that the lab can now handle about 25 samples a day. A spokesman said that rate should increase in the coming days after the lab gets a piece of equipment, an extractor, that boosts its testing capacity. Officials say there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. Hospital and state officials in Pennsylvania are encouraging people who fear they may have contracted coronavirus to call their doctor or hospital.
March 5, 2020 4:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Two brothers allege in a lawsuit that a tour bus driver behaved recklessly before a Pennsylvania Turnpike crash that killed five people. Anthony and Quwanjay Ellis were both hurt when the Z&D Tour Inc. bus crashed about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh on Jan. 5. They filed a lawsuit Thursday in a New Jersey court. According to the suit, Quwanjay Ellis observed the driver going faster than normal about a half-hour before the crash. In the suit, they claim negligence and seek damages. A message was left at a phone number listed for Z&D Tour Inc. of Rockaway, New Jersey.
March 5, 2020 4:09 am
No injuries resulted following a house fire late Wednesday night in Houston Borough. Washington County 9-1-1 says a caller reported their home was on fire just after 11:30 p.m. in the 20 block of East Grant Street. Both occupants were out of the home by the time firefighters arrived. The fire was put out in about 15 minutes. There is no word of what may have caused the fire.
March 5, 2020 4:01 am
The Charleroi Borough Council was updated by financial consultant Dennis Martinak on the progress of the Borough’s participation in the commonwealth’s Strategic Management Planning Program. The STMP is an early intervention program that allows municipalities to hire financial consultants to help guide them through difficult financial times. Council president Mark Alterici made clear that no borough tax dollars are being spent on this project. All monies are coming from grants from the commonwealth. Early indications from the report suggest that the Charleroi is not as bad off financially as people feared when the program started 18 months ago. Charleroi, like all of western Pennsylvania is suffering a population decline, but with companies moving into nearby municipalities like Speers and Allenport, Charleroi could benefit from those new jobs. Borough Council President Mark Alterici impressed upon council the need to welcome the idea of regionalization and disregard the rigid borders that have impeded progress in the Monongahela River Valley.
March 5, 2020 2:39 am
(WPXI) – Pittsburgh-based Levin Furniture has been saved from going out of business with the return of its former owner, who is coming out of retirement. “I’m coming back as the owner of Levin Furniture for the employees who were at risk of losing their jobs,” Robert Levin said in a statement. “They are the most loyal, dedicated, and hardworking people I’ve ever known.” A deal reached Wednesday has Levin acquiring Levin Furniture and Wolf Furniture locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio through a court restructuring of parent company Art Van Furniture, a news release said. “It will be a privilege and honor to once again lead this company as we prepare to celebrate 100 years in the furniture and mattress business,” Levin said. Levin is assuring customers that their deposits and purchases are safe and secure. Levin Furniture was founded in 1920 in Mount Pleasant by Robert Levin’s grandparents.
March 4, 2020 12:42 pm
CHICAGO (AP) – From Hawaii to Pennsylvania, states are scrambling to curb the impact of a new Trump administration rule that could cause nearly 700,000 people to lose food stamp benefits. They’ve filed a multi-state lawsuit, expanded publicly funded job training and created pilot programs. They’ve also doubled down on efforts to reach vulnerable communities, including the homeless, rural residents and people of color. The new rules hit particularly hard in places like Illinois, which is dealing with a separate, similar change in the nation’s third-largest city. The Trump administration has said the new rule will get people working and save $5.5 billion over five years.
March 4, 2020 11:06 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Billionaire Mike Bloomberg has ended his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and endorsed Joe Biden. Bloomberg says he’s doing so to help “defeat Donald Trump.” It’s a stunning collapse for the former New York City mayor, who had pinned his 2020 hopes on the Super Tuesday states and pumped more than $500 million from his fortune into his ultimately unsuccessful campaign. Bloomberg announced his departure Wednesday after a disappointing finish on Super Tuesday in the slate of states that account for almost one-third of the total delegates available in the Democratic nominating contest. Some of his former Democratic rivals had coalesced around Biden as the moderate alternative to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
March 4, 2020 4:22 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – A lower-level meeting of the G7 will be held in Pittsburgh at the end of March, sources confirm to our news partners at Channel 11. Sources said the meeting will involve secretaries of states. It will be hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo. The City of Pittsburgh has started preparing police and Public Safety for the event, sources said. It will be held March 24-25 at the Omni William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. The last time Pittsburgh hosted an event with the G7 community was in 2009 when the city hosted the G20. This year’s meeting won’t involve high-level world leaders such as presidents and prime ministers. Instead, the officials will be mostly cabinet members, so the intense protests that happened in 2009 aren’t expected this time around. Almost 200 people were arrested during those protests over a decade ago.
March 4, 2020 4:17 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The number of deaths from devastating tornadoes in Tennessee has risen to 24. Gov. Bill Lee announced the increase Tuesday at a news conference with Nashville Mayor John Cooper. Rescuers were searching through shattered neighborhoods for bodies less than a day after the storms ripped across the capital city and other parts of the state as families slept. Authorities say some of the victims died in their beds. The governor declared an emergency and sent the National Guard to help with search-and-rescue efforts. An unspecified number of people were missing.
March 4, 2020 4:16 am
SEATTLE (AP) – The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 11 with a victim succumbing in California – the first reported fatality outside Washington state. Officials in Placer County, northwest of Sacramento, said Wednesday an elderly adult who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. They said the victim had underlying health conditions. Washington also announced another death Wednesday, bringing its total to 10. Most of the deceased were residents of a nursing home in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle.
