Deb Erdley stories, Page 18

State lawmakers say the social and economic pain from the coronavirus shutdown is not over and that there are still many questions as Southwestern Pennsylvania prepares to move from red to yellow zone status Friday. Gov. Tom Wolf, who imposed statewide stay-at-home orders as covid-19 cases began cropping up in...

Citing growing frustration with emergency orders that closed businesses and halted political campaigns, three state lawmakers and U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, Thursday joined a group of local business owners and four southwestern counties in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders. County commissioners from Butler,...

State officials say the covid-19 pandemic may be driving college decisions for students. Applications for Pennsylvania’s need-based grants for college costs are down by 31,000 — or about 8% — since mid-March compared to this time last year, officials with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) said Thursday. The...

Long-term care facilities that have become the epicenter of Pennsylvania’s covid-19 fatalities would be subject to new safety protocols during emergency disaster declarations under a measure state Sen. Kim Ward is promoting. Pennsylvania has recorded 3,106 deaths from covid-19, with about two thirds of those coming from 495 nursing homes...

County leaders across Southwestern Pennsylvania are trying to convince Gov. Tom Wolf to allow them to begin reopening as soon as possible — regardless of what is going on in Allegheny, the most populated area of the region, which also has its highest number of coronavirus cases. On Monday, 37...

Pennsylvania Sens. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, and Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, are tackling the coronavirus from distinctly different angles as Congress struggles to respond to the pandemic that has claimed more than 70,000 lives in the United States. Casey said he will introduce a bill this week creating a GI Bill-type benefit...

Lawyers from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office will be on deck Wednesday as the U.S. Supreme Court continues streaming oral arguments live for the first time in history. The case, Trump v. Pennsylvania, centers on the Trump administration and the Little Sisters of the Poor seeking to uphold a rule...

Giant Eagle will temporarily convert its Parkway Center Mall store near Pittsburgh into a curbside pickup center, effective Sunday, May 3. A company spokesman said the move is an effort to meet the increasing demand for curbside pick-up triggered by the concerns over the coronavirus. The site will fulfill next-day...

The Allegheny County Health Department reported three more deaths and 10 additional cases of the coronavirus Saturday, increasing the county’s total deaths to 102. The new count brings the total number cases to 1,329 since the first case was reported in the county on March 14. Of that total, 1,284...

Westmoreland County officials Saturday put out an urgent call for poll workers for the June 2 primary. Officials said they need to fill positions in Derry Township, Irwin Borough, North Huntingdon Township, Penn Township, Salem Township, Sewickley Township and Sutersville Borough. Poll workers are trained in advance and paid between...

Citing financial challenges families are facing in the coronavirus pandemic, officials with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education froze tuition for the second consecutive year. The move is the first time in the state system’s 38-year history that it has frozen tuition two years in a row. Base tuition...

A bill requiring the state to release home addresses of people diagnosed with covid-19 to Pennsylvania 911 centers is to be considered by House members in Harrisburg. The state Senate overwhelmingly passed the measure with a 47-3 bipartisan vote on Wednesday. Emergency management officials have said flagging such addresses in...

Carnegie Mellon University is freezing hiring and salaries and will reduce executive pay as the Pittsburgh school grapples with uncertainties created by the coronavirus pandemic, President Farnham Jahanian said Tuesday. In a lengthy letter to the university community, Jahanian said officials also developed an array of contingency plans for the...

Bob Ross had no idea when he’d get to see his mother again. The Hempfield man faithfully visited 96-year-old Ileen Osterwise at the Greensburg Care Center two or three times a week. During his last visit to the nursing home on March 12, Osterwise, who has Alzheimer’ Disease, had been...

When Robert Levin’s attempt to rescue his family’s former furniture store empire collapsed last month, the former CEO of Levin Furniture promised he wouldn’t forget the 1,200 workers left hanging when Art Van Furniture filed for bankruptcy. Concerned that hundreds of employees who had worked for Levin Furniture for decades...

This was supposed to be a big weekend — the kick-off of college commencement season that would culminate in graduation ceremonies for about 15,000 students at colleges and universities across the region over the next month. Pitt and Point Park University were poised to lead the way this weekend with...

The promise of “Pomp and Circumstance” remained Sunday, even as the University of Pittsburgh honored nearly 8,000 graduates in a virtual commencement. Families near and far gathered before screens to mark the day with newly minted graduates — now members of the Class of Covid-19 — and listened as Pitt...

The Allegheny County Health Department on Sunday reported no additional covid-19 deaths and only 13 new confirmed or probable cases of the illness. Officials, however, were reluctant to declare that viral infections have peaked. A spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Health Department noted that there are often delays in reporting...

Allegheny County Police are investigating the Saturday night slaying of a 24-year Pittsburgh man in McKees Rocks. Authorities say McKees Rocks Police and paramedics found Kwame Washington dead of an apparent gunshot wound to the torso at 11:42 p.m. Saturday when they answered the call of a shooting in the...

In a move that could set a standard across colleges facing financial shortfalls in the coronavirus crisis, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher and eight Pitt senior vice chancellors have pledged a portion of their salaries to the university. Their pledges — Gallagher promised to commit 20% of his salary...

Penn State will reduce spending for the coming year by 3% and furlough some 2,000 employees at half pay, effective May 4 through June 30, as officials struggle to balance their books in the face of a $100 million loss. The sprawling university, with a budget of $6.8 billion this...

A lot of people are relying on social media to stay connected while ordered to stay at home, but the FBI warns that those games you’re playing online could benefit identity thieves. “This is a hard time for everyone and we know social media has been a boon to help...