Regional category, Page 24
Giant Eagle workers to see 3% to 5% raises under new union contract
More than 5,000 unionized Giant Eagle employees will see pay raises ranging from 3% to 5% each of the next four years under a new contract. The workers also will continue to have no-cost health benefits, a 401(k) and pension plans, depending on their role with the Cranberry-based company, according...
Highmark joins major insurers in prior authorization reform
Highmark was among more than 50 health insurers who pledged Monday to speed up and slim down prior authorization, the process through which patients and their doctors must seek insurance approval for certain care before it’s administered. “It’s all about decreasing the administrative burden,” said Highmark Chief Medical Officer Tim...
Blairsville Chamber Music Festival returns bigger than ever
Due to an overwhelming positive response in its previous years, the Blairsville Chamber Music Festival will return for another year from June 26-29. The festival was founded in 2022 by Blairsville native Sarah Marshall and her husband, violinist Avital Mazor. The couple was based in New York, but after multiple...
Bowling is on a roll in Western Pennsylvania
It’s a ritual with which many Americans are familiar, from childhood birthday parties or adult nights out over pitchers of beer. Put on the shoes. Choose a ball. Settle into the molded plastic seats and wait your turn to get up, scoot down to the end of the lane and...
Money talks: Younger generations lag in retirement investing
Michael Weleski has been working since he was 12. Now 21, he used the money he has earned to make a variety of investments for his future. “I don’t want to have to work a hard labor job until I’m 70,” Weleski said. The Penn State New Kensington student from...
Pa. Sens. Fetterman, McCormick support attack on Iran, but Reps. Lee, Deluzio question Trump’s authority
The Pittsburgh region’s congressional delegation shared mixed views after President Donald Trump announced U.S. airstrikes against three Iranian targets thought to be part of Iran’s nuclear program. Both of Pennsylvania’s senators, John Fetterman, D-Braddock, and Dave McCormick, R-Squirrel Hill, and one of its Republican congressmen, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, voiced...
Where to beat this heat? Here are some places to cool down
Even the most Pittsburgh of dads is ready to turn the air conditioning on as the first heat wave of 2025 is underway. For those who lack some form of a/c, here’s a roundup of cooling centers and their hours for Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. For those seeking other options:...
Solstice sizzle: Western Pa. braces for a surge in summer heat
Grab your water bottles. Summer’s officially here, and a uncanny stretch of consecutive days with temperatures in the 90s will accompany the solstice. For the first time in June since 1994, the Pittsburgh region is expected to have five or more days of temperatures in the 90s. And they’re coming...
Rapid flow on Kiski, Yough rivers increase risks as seasoned river runners urge caution
Neill Andritz keeps a close eye on water levels and speeds on the Kiski River to see if it’s safe for his business, The River’s Edge Canoe & Kayak, to rent equipment to customers. So far this year the river, which separates Westmoreland and Armstrong counties, has been too high,...
‘Roller coaster’: High-stakes drama marked Nippon’s winning courtship of U.S. Steel
Three Mon Valley mayors remember it well: A series of mid-December meetings with union leaders and Nippon Steel executives as Japan’s largest steelmaker aggressively courted U.S. Steel, the storied American manufacturer. Relations between the United Steelworkers union and Nippon — never friendly, exactly — had deteriorated over the course of...
Western Pa. politicians divided over Middle East conflict
Two Pittsburgh-area U.S. House members on Wednesday blasted President Donald Trump for opening the possibility of thrusting the U.S. into war in the Middle East without congressional approval. Social media posts by some of their Republican counterparts, meanwhile, did not mention the ongoing missile strikes between Israel and Iran but...
U.S. Steel, Nippon finalize $14.9B merger, security agreement
Japan’s Nippon Steel has finalized its $14.9 billion takeover of U.S. Steel, the companies announced Wednesday, as they unveiled details about the deal, which amounts to a tightly monitored merger. To win government approval, the companies also have entered a national security agreement meant to mitigate worries about Nippon having...
Hunting licenses for 2025-26 season go on sale next week
It’s that time of year again — hunting licenses will go on sale starting next week, the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced. On Monday, hunting and furtaker licenses for the 2025-26 season will be available for purchase. Antlerless deer licenses can be purchased when general license sales open per usual, but...
Morning Roundup: Police sergeant suspended after shoving man, mounted patrols to return to Montour Trail
Here are some of the latest news items happening this morning, Wednesday, June 18: Ellwood City police sergeant suspended after shoving man at Sheetz The Ellwood City Borough Council voted unanimously to suspend and demote Sgt. Robert Magnifico after he shoved a man at Sheetz in June. The decision comes...
Interest in skilled trades surges nearly 14%
At 15, Ryley Potlas already knows what she wants to do with her life. The Kiski Area School District freshman dreams of a career in welding, and she’s getting a jump on it by enrolling at Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center in New Kensington. “There’s a big need for...
The Peach Truck returns to Pittsburgh
The Peach Truck is rolling back into town this summer, delivering fresh produce just in time for Pittsburgh’s peak farm-to-table season. The Nashville-based Peach Truck will stop at 11 locations this summer throughout the Pittsburgh region. Stephen Rose, owner of the Peach Truck, got the idea for the company after...
Rev. Melissa L. Stoller elected 1st woman bishop of Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod
Rev. Melissa L. Stoller was elected the next bishop of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — the first woman to hold the position. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod spans the bottom left corner of the state, with West Virginia and Ohio as the south and...
Judge grants Fayette County mom new trial in daughter’s death; DA unsure about retrying case
A Fayette County judge on Tuesday granted a new trial to a woman who was imprisoned for starving her young daughter to death. Andrea Dusha, who has been free on bail while an appeal of her conviction is pending, appeared in court in Uniontown expecting a hearing. Instead, Fayette County...
21-year-old motorcyclist dies in Washington County crash
On Monday night, Pennsylvania State Police responded to a one-vehicle fatal crash on Interstate 79 at mile marker 40/Exit 40 in South Strabane Township. Nathan Scott Boyd, 21, was traveling south in the left lane when he “failed to negotiate a right-hand curve” at around 8:17 p.m., police said. He...
Police search for suspects in fatal Washington County home invasion
A woman was shot and killed and her son wounded Monday during a home invasion in Washington County, state police said. Renee Lynn Gill, 37, was shot at around 1:15 a.m. inside her residence on Eleanor Street in Smith Township. She died at 5:01 a.m. inside her home, according to...
Prepare for a rainy week in Western Pennsylvania
It’s time to break out the umbrellas for rain in Western Pennsylvania. There’s a chance of showers and thunderstorms every day this week, according to Liana Lupo, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Moon. “It’s going to be more of a scattered coverage,” she said, which is similar to...
Morning Roundup: Large fight on South Side
Here are some of the latest news items happening this morning, Monday, June 16: Bicyclist critically injured in Homewood vehicle collision An adult male bicyclist is in critical condition after he was struck Sunday night by two vehicles driving side by side on the roadway, Pittsburgh police said. Officers responded...
Mom convicted of daughter’s death pins hope for freedom on disputed autopsy findings
Editor’s note: A prior version of this story was inadvertently missing several paragraphs, which have been restored in full. In 2016, Uniontown police charged the parents of a little girl with starving her to death. The most powerful piece of evidence against Lydia Wright’s mother and father came from an...
The other side to farmers markets: A boost to local economies
Late spring and earlier summer are some of Jennifer Jackson’s favorite times of the year — the farmers markets are open. “I wait all year long for this to open,” said Jackson of Brackenridge as she relaxed recently at Lower Burrell’s market. “I go to all of them.” In addition...
Here’s where to find farmers markets in the region
Hampton Farmers Market When: Wednesdays, 3 p.m.-7 p.m., June 4- Oct. 8 (no July 2) Where: 3101 McCully Road, Allison Park Monroeville Lions Farmers Market When: Saturdays, 9 a.m.-noon, May 10- Nov. 22 Where: 501 Mall Circle Drive, Monroeville Ross Township Farmers Market When: Wednesdays, 3 p.m.-7 p.m., May-October Where:...
