Deb Erdley stories, Page 34
Carlow inks agreement with Community College of Allegheny County
Carlow University is joining a growing list of schools that have agreed to partner with the Community College of Allegheny County to offer transfer students an opportunity to earn both associate’s and bachelor’s degrees. The two institutions will sign an agreement Wednesday, formalizing the arrangement. Through the reverse articulation agreement,...
Pitt commencement to feature Dereck Hogan, U.S. Ambassador to Moldova
The University of Pittsburgh will focus on public service at its commencement ceremonies in late April. The Pitt’s Oakland campus will host Dereck Hogan, U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, as its keynote speaker at undergraduate commencement ceremonies at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 28, at the Petersen Events Center,...
Ruffsdale market owner meets with Trump to discuss tax reform
Kristen Ranker raised two children as a single mom, worked three jobs at one time to make ends meet, rode her Harley from California to Washington, D.C., to raise funds for veterans and built a successful small business at Schaeffer’s Corner Market in Ruffs Dale. Monday, President Trump got to...
Petrarca bill would enhance caseworkers’ access to information in child abuse cases
More than a year and a half after a state audit found child welfare workers were underpaid and ill-equipped to deal with an increasing tide of abuse complaints, a Westmoreland County lawmaker has sponsored a bill to give caseworkers access to more information about at-risk children. The bill sponsored by...
Seton Hill to host Greensburg Big Table Discussion
The Seton Hill University community and Greensburg area civic leaders will gather Wednesday evening for a “Big Table Discussion,” at the university’s hilltop campus. The event, designed to explore new ways to create a strong and connected community, is among scores of such Big Table discussions that businesses, organizations and...
Pennsylvania primary voter registration deadline looms
Now that Tax Day has arrived, state officials are alerting Pennsylvania residents that the deadline for registering to vote in this year’s municipal primary is April 22. Acting Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said the state’s Online Voter Registration (OVR) is the quickest and easiest way to register to vote...
Pitt graduate workers begin union vote
Pitt graduate student employees began voting in a four-day union election today. The election open to some 2,000 graduate research and teaching assistants comes more than three years after graduate students began organizing under the auspices of the United Steelworkers in Jan. 2016. The organizers said they were seeking safeguards...
Most-Googled ‘is it safe’ queries vary wildly by state
Ever wonder what “Enquiring minds want to know?” ASecureLife.com, a company that reviews home security systems, stun guns and tasers, among other services, said it set researchers loose to find out the answer to the age-old question the National Enquirer once used to promote tales of alien invasions and political...
Pennsylvania fares better than 42 other states in physician-patient ratio
Pennsylvania might not be in such bad shape after all when it comes to the looming physician shortage. Experts have long predicted the U.S. is on the verge of a physician shortage, predicted to worsen as the baby boom generation ages and the demand for care increases. A recent estimate...
Seminar at Westmoreland County Community College to focus on workforce development
The Westmoreland-Fayette Workforce Investment Board, Westmoreland County Community College and the Westmoreland County Forum for Workforce Development will join forces Wednesday to network with employers concerned about “Building the Talent Pipeline.” The seminar designed to help employers tap the students of today to build the workforce of tomorrow opens from...
Pennsylvania National Guard family college benefit touted
Pennsylvania’s Adjutant General on Friday urged state lawmakers to endorse a family education benefit for members of the state’s National Guard touted as the first of its kind n the nation. Gov. Tom Wolf endorsed the concept of the Military Family Education Program or PA GI Bill, which has snared...
Doctor to Pittsburgh’s homeless to keynote Point Park commencement
A Pittsburgh physician who launched Operation Safety Net, a nationally known street medicine program that serves the homeless, will be Point Park University’s featured commencement speaker on April 27 at PPG Paints Arena. Dr. Jim Withers, a physician with the Pittsburgh Mercy Health System and an assistant clinical professor of...
Former Penn State Pres Graham Spanier ordered to prison – finally – in Sandusky scandal
The long-running criminal court drama over the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal moved to a conclusion Wednesday when a judge ordered Penn State’s former president to finally report to prison in three weeks. Graham Spanier, 70, has been free on bond pending appeals since his 2017 jury conviction for...
After a life of second chances WCCC student looks to help othersVideo
Emmanuel “Manny” Lebbie is all about second chances. The 23-year-old Greensburg man whose mother went missing in a civil war in the West African nation of Sierra Leone when he was a toddler has had his share of second chances. Now he says he wants to give back. Lebbie, who...
IUP names Todd Gazarelli athletic director
A University of Wisconsin-Whitewater administrator Wednesday was named athletic director at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. IUP officials said Todd Garzarelli, a Cresson native who earned his bachelor’s degree in sports management at Slippery Rock University, has more than 20 years of experience in intercollegiate athletics and higher education. Gazarelli will...
IUP honors philanthropy of Latrobe couple
A Latrobe couple who pledged $7 million to Indiana University of Pennsylvania and helped steer its ongoing fund raising campaign has received IUP’s inaugural Award of Excellence in Volunteer Leadership. Tim and Deb Phillips Cejka, of Latrobe and Houston, Texas, were honored for their generosity and work advancing IUP’s $75...
CCAC to open new Film Center at South Campus
Aspiring film technicians will have a new option to consider with the grand opening Thursday of the Community College of Allegheny County’s new Film Center. The Center, which will house CCAC’s expanding film technician program, is located at CCAC’s South Campus in West Mifflin. It includes a film studio, sound...
New gun law takes effect as more change debated
Pennsylvania’s first new gun law in 14 years takes effect Wednesday, even as lawmakers debate other proposed changes that could affect gun owners. In the future, the new Act 79 gives gun owners who are subject to a final protection from abuse order or a misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence...
Police follow gun background checks in Pennsylvania
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, says the rest of the nation needs the kind of oversight on failed background checks on gun buyers Pennsylvania has had for more than two decades. Toomey is co-sponsoring a bill that would require the FBI to notify state and local police across the...
Sen. Pat Toomey wants local cops informed of failed firearms background checks
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, is taking another run at the nation’s gun laws. This time, he has put his name on a bill that would attempt to close what he sees as a loophole that allows thousands of people who attempt to buy a gun illegally to walk...
Cal U, Slippery Rock to launch new degree programs
Two Western Pennsylvania public universities are launching new programs in physical therapy, veterinary technology and educational leadership and administration as part of an effort to increase enrollment and serve workforce needs. Officials at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education said California University of Pennsylvania will begin offering both associate...
Excela leadership shakeup comes amid financial losses, worker outsourcing
Excela Health’s abrupt announcement Friday that two top executives were resigning immediately followed months of growing financial pressures on the Westmoreland County health system that said it is seeking “fresh perspectives.” Recent developments suggest the health system that encompasses Latrobe, Westmoreland and Frick hospitals and is the county’s largest private...
Pittsburgh woman tapped to lead national higher education group for private colleges
No one could have predicted where Barbara Mistick’s story would go when she left college shy of a degree four decades ago. The Bethel Park native’s resume now includes a doctoral degree and stints as an entrepreneur and educator at institutions including Seton Hill University, the Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh...
Pa. selects pilot programs to boost support for those battling addiction
Western Pennsylvania human services agencies will play a major role in a new pilot program designed to help individuals battling opioid addiction remain in treatment and find stable housing. Gov. Tom Wolf on March 27 announced that agencies in Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties are among 16...
Erie Catholic diocese will open files to priest sex abuse victims
The Catholic Diocese of Erie, which recently settled a $2 million clergy sexual abuse complaint, is making “relevant” internal files available to abuse survivors for the asking, church officials said. The policy has been in effect since the diocese launched its compensation fund for abuse survivors in February, said Pittsburgh...
