Fire damages businesses in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood

 

The fire happened at Pesaro’s Pizza, located in the 4300 block of Butler Street. Kickback Pinball Cafe, located next door, sustained some smoke damage.

The owner’s son told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that his father plans to rebuild and get back to business.

He also said firefighters believe it was an electrical fire that started in the ceiling.

Kickback Pinball Cafe, located next-door, sustained some smoke damage.

It is not known if Arsenal Lanes, which is above Pesaro’s, had any damage as a result of the fire.

Source: Fire damages businesses in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood

Pair of Johnstown clinics pick up vaccine pace | Coronavirus | tribdem.com

The state’s new COVID-19 cases topped 3,000 again Thursday for the third consecutive day, with 3,136 additional cases reported in the Department of Health update.

Richland Family Health Center, Johnstown Housing Authority and the 1889 Jefferson Center or Population Health joined forces for a vaccine clinic at Garden Terrace Apartments, 730 Bloom St., and Loughner Plaza, 51 Akers St. The Cambria/Somerset COVID-19 Task Force outreach inoculated about 150 people, health center CEO William Kurtycz said.

Source: Pair of Johnstown clinics pick up vaccine pace | Coronavirus | tribdem.com

Police Cancel Amber Alert For Diore Thomas Of East Pittsburgh – CBS Pittsburgh

The Pennsylvania State Police have canceled the Amber Alert for a child reported abducted in the Pittsburgh area.

The child was taken to a local hospital for observation and to be reunited with her mother. The child is doing well and was not harmed.

Police say three people are in custody. Police say Giante faces 10 charges, including five felonies. None of the charges are kidnapping.

Giante also had some outstanding warrants.

Source: Police Cancel Amber Alert For Diore Thomas Of East Pittsburgh – CBS Pittsburgh

Sen. Cruz: Illegals do get stimulus checks, Democrats are wrong | One America News Network

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Joe Biden has squandered U.S. national wealth by giving $1,400 dollar stimulus checks to illegal aliens. Democrat media attempted to fact check or censor Cruz by saying illegals couldn’t get stimulus checks because they do not have a social security number.

However, immigration officials refuted Democrat falsehoods that said many illegals who have overstayed their visas actually do possess social security numbers and are in fact eligible for IRS payments.

Source: Sen. Cruz: Illegals do get stimulus checks, Democrats are wrong | One America News Network

21 states sue Biden for revoking Keystone XL pipeline permit – CBS News

Washington — A coalition of attorneys general from 21 states sued President Biden and members of his administration for rescinding the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, seeking to undo the president’s attempt to effectively nix the 1,200 mile-long pipeline.

Source: 21 states sue Biden for revoking Keystone XL pipeline permit – CBS News

House passes bills providing citizenship path for Dreamers, farmworkers | TheHill

House Democrats passed a pair of bills Thursday that would create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and some migrant farm workers, taking a piecemeal approach as the fate of President Biden’s major immigration package looks increasingly uncertain.

The Dream and Promise Act, which passed 228-197, would provide certainty to undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children whose ability to go to school, get work and even remain in the country has hung in the balance from administration to administration.

Sponsor Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) called the bill “a major step in ending the veil of fear and uncertainty that has plagued the lives of our Dreamers for far too long.”

Source: House passes bills providing citizenship path for Dreamers, farmworkers | TheHill

Where did COVID originate? WHO thinks it knows – al.com

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic began, the question has been, “Where did COVID-19 originate?”

According to a report by NPR, a member of the World Health Organization investigative team says the most likely source of the COVID-19 pandemic are “wildlife farms in southern China.”

Peter Daszak, a disease ecologist with EcoHealth Alliance, and a member of the WHO delegation that traveled to China earlier this year, told NPR that during that trip, new evidence was found by the WHO team, that vendors at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan were being supplied with animals from these wildlife farms.

Source: Where did COVID originate? WHO thinks it knows – al.com

Paris to enter four-week lockdown as France faces third Covid wave | France | The Guardian

Since late January, when he defied the calls of scientists and some in his government to lock down the country, Macron has said he would do whatever was needed to keep the euro zone’s second-largest economy as open as possible. However, this week he ran out of options just as France and other European countries briefly suspended use of the Oxford/AstraZenca vaccine.

The prime minister, Jean Castex, said on Thursday that France was in the grip of a third wave, with the virulent variant first detected in Britain now accounting for about 75% of cases. Intensive care wards are under severe strain, notably in Paris where the incidence rate surpasses 400 infections in every 100,000 inhabitants. “The epidemic is getting worse. Our responsibility now is to not let it escape our control,” Castex told a news conference.

The lockdowns will start from Friday at midnight in France’s 16 hardest-hit departments that, with the exception of one on the Mediterranean, form a corridor from Calais to the capital. Barbers, clothing stores and furniture shops will have to close, though bookstores and other shops selling essential goods can stay open.

Source: Paris to enter four-week lockdown as France faces third Covid wave | France | The Guardian

Biden Under Pressure To Sanction Honduras’ President And Cut Security Aid : NPR

MEXICO CITY — The case made in the U.S. Senate’s Honduras bill sounds straightforward: Washington should cut security aid to Honduras and sanction its president over “deeply alarming corruption” and human rights abuses, its authors say.

And in the U.S. House, members recently reintroduced the Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act, named for the Indigenous environmental activist murdered in 2016, which also calls for withholding U.S. funds from Honduras’ military and police over corruption.

Accusations have piled up against President Juan Orlando Hernández, other Honduran officials and security forces, ranging from organized crime collusion to civil society repression. U.S. prosecutors even accuse Hernández of taking bribes to help an alleged drug trafficker move tons of cocaine into the United States, which he denies.

For Hernández’s critics in the Central American country, the sanctions would be welcome punishment at the highest level of government.”

Not even the arrival of a gifted shipment of [COVID-19] vaccines causes as much joy as the introduction of [the Senate bill],” columnist Gabriela Castellanos wrote in El Heraldo, a leading Honduran newspaper that largely supports the president.

Source: Biden Under Pressure To Sanction Honduras’ President And Cut Security Aid : NPR

‘Enough Is Enough’: Atlanta-Area Spa Shootings Spur Debate Over Hate Crime Label : NPR

Most of the victims were women of Asian descent. Authorities say it’s too early to declare the attacks a hate crime – but advocates say there’s a pattern that can’t be ignored.

Asian Americans and their allies are calling for solidarity and a push against discrimination and racist violence after a gunman killed eight people at three Atlanta-area spas Tuesday. Most of the victims were women of Asian descent.

Authorities said it’s too early to declare the attacks a hate crime – prompting a debate over when that label should be used and how to present the gunman’s explanation. In an incident report filed by the Atlanta Police Department, officers checked “no” under whether the attacks were a suspected hate crime. But police said Thursday they are still investigating the attacker’s motive.

The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, 21, has confessed, according to police, who said Long denied being motivated by racial animus. Officials in Cherokee County cited sex addiction and a “bad day” as possible explanations for the crime. Police suspect Long was under the influence of alcohol, according to the Atlanta incident report. He is being held in Cherokee, the county northwest of Atlanta where the shootings started.

Atlanta’s Deputy Chief Charles Hampton told reporters on Thursday afternoon that Long had purchased the weapon the day of the attack. He also confirmed Long had frequented at least two of the spas.

Source: ‘Enough Is Enough’: Atlanta-Area Spa Shootings Spur Debate Over Hate Crime Label : NPR

McCarthy files resolution to kick Swalwell off intel committee over past ties to suspected Chinese spy | Fox News

 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday filed a resolution aimed at removing Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence over past ties to an alleged Chinese spy named Fang Fang.

The two-page resolution — obtained by Fox News — says Swalwell, D-Calif., “has not denied public reporting that a suspected Chinese intelligence operative helped raise money for Representative Swalwell’s political campaigns” and “other troublesome elements of public reporting.”

The ties to Fang were first revealed by Axios, which reported that Fang helped raise money for Swalwell’s campaign and placed one or more interns in Swalwell’s office. Republicans have said that somebody who was so egregiously compromised by a foreign power should not remain on the critical intelligence panel.

Source: McCarthy files resolution to kick Swalwell off intel committee over past ties to suspected Chinese spy | Fox News

Police Issue Amber Alert For Reported Abducted 1-Year-Old Diore Thomas Of East Pittsburgh – CBS Pittsburgh

By: KDKA-TV News Staff

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The Pennsylvania State Police have issued an Amber Alert for a child reported abducted in the Pittsburgh area.

Police say 1-year-old Diore Thomas was reported abducted by 20-year-old Giante Thomas. He is believed to be armed, police say.

The child is wearing a pink t-shirt and sleeper. She was last seen Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at Bessemer Avenue in East Pittsburgh.

Giante is believed to be driving a white 2018 Jeep Compass with a Pennsylvania license plate number of LPB2547.

Source: Police Issue Amber Alert For Reported Abducted 1-Year-Old Diore Thomas Of East Pittsburgh – CBS Pittsburgh
By: KDKA-TV News Staff

26 million people under severe storm risk in tornado-weary South

Tornadoes that leveled parts of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi on Wednesday will linger over the South on Thursday and begin heading toward the Carolinas, Georgia and a sliver of Virginia, officials warned.

Thunderstorms, tornadoes and hail were expected to lash east-central Georgia, northeastern South Carolina, southern North Carolina and extreme southeast Virginia, according to the National Weather Service.

“All severe hazards are possible” the Weather Service said. Twenty-six million people were at risk.

Severe thunderstorms were also possible in the eastern Gulf Coast into the southern and central Appalachians.

Source: 26 million people under severe storm risk in tornado-weary South

Psaki says tax increase on high earners will apply to ‘families,’ not ‘individuals’ | Fox News

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that under President Biden’s plan to increase taxes on the wealthy, families, rather than individuals, making less than $400,000 could pay more.

Source: Psaki says tax increase on high earners will apply to ‘families,’ not ‘individuals’ | Fox News

Pittsburgh-Area Business Owners Say They Cannot Fill Open Positions

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The coronavirus pandemic caused a massive wave of unemployment in the Pittsburgh region.

Now that the economy is coming back, employers face a new problem — not enough workers. KDKA investigator Andy Sheehan looks into why employers now can’t fill positions.

READ MORE:Pittsburgh Weather: Rain, Wind, And Snow All Possible

After a year of shutdowns and indoor dining restrictions, the lunchtime crowd at the Juniper Grill in Cranberry is picking up. The problem now is a shortage of cooks, bartenders and waitstaff to serve them.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Pat McDonnell with Atria’s Restaurants. “We have eight restaurants and we need employees at all eight restaurants.”

Employers throughout the region have the same lament. Now that the economy is springing back, they can’t find the workers to fill the positions.

“People call for interviews and they don’t show up for interviews,” said McDonnell. “We’ve gone every place we could go to advertise, to get the word out we are hiring. It’s just been very, very difficult.”

“The labor force is down. The people looking for work is down. I think a lot of folks have moved on,” said University of Pittsburgh researcher Chris Briem.

READ MORE:Pa. State House Passes Bike Lane Safety Bill

At the onset of the pandemic, the region lost 200,000 jobs but got all but 78,000 back over the last year. Now that many of those jobs are returning, about 50,000 people have left the workforce and, according to Briem, are no longer available.

“I think some of our workers have retired early,” said Briem. “I think a lot of our younger workers include students. I think there are tremendous issues with folks taking care of children or other folks at home not being able to jump back into the labor force.”

“It’s a challenge to get them back because of the increased money they get,” said Chief Operating Officer of St. Moritz Security Services Chris Hansen.

Source: Pittsburgh-Area Business Owners Say They Cannot Fill Open Positions

James Levine, who ruled over Met Opera, dead at age 77

Conductor James Levine, who ruled over the Metropolitan Opera for more than four decades before being eased aside when his health declined and then was fired for sexual improprieties, has died. He was 77.

Levine died March 9 in Palm Springs, California, of natural causes, his physician of 17 years, Dr. Len Horovitz, said Wednesday.

Levine made his Met debut in 1971 and became one of the signature artists in the company’s century-plus history, conducting 2,552 performances and ruling over its repertoire, orchestra and singers as music or artistic director from 1976 until forced out by general manager Peter Gelb in 2016 due to Parkinson’s disease.

Levine became music director emeritus and remained head of its young artists program but was suspended on Dec. 3, 2017, the day after conducting a Verdi “Requiem” in what turned out to be his final performance, after accounts in the New York Post and The New York Times of sexual misconduct dating to the 1960s.

He was fired the following March 12 and never conducted again. He had been scheduled to make a comeback performances of Brahms’ ”Ein Deutsches Requiem” this Jan. 17 and 21 in Florence, Italy, but the concert were canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Source: James Levine, who ruled over Met Opera, dead at age 77

Bernie Sanders rips into Jeff Bezos: ‘You are worth $182 billion … why are you doing everything in your power to stop your workers’ from unionizing?

Bezos declined to testify at a hearing on income inequality, which included testimony from a pro-union Amazon worker in Alabama.

  • Bezos declined Sanders’ invitation to testify at a hearing, but the senator had harsh words for him.
  • Sanders criticized Amazon’s countering of a union drive in Alabama despite the CEO’s record wealth.
  • The hearing included testimony from a pro-union worker at Amazon’s Bessemer warehouse.
  • See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Source: Bernie Sanders rips into Jeff Bezos: ‘You are worth $182 billion … why are you doing everything in your power to stop your workers’ from unionizing?

Monessen man faces drug, gun charges after traffic stop | TribLIVE.com

A Monessen man was arrested Saturday in Rostraver after state police said they found him in possession of a gun and drugs, according to court papers.

Rashawn Ford, 25, is charged with drug possession, weapons violations and other offenses.

State police said they pulled over a car with an expired registration that was headed north on the Vance DeiCas Memorial Highway in Rostraver at 5 p.m. While talking to the driver, identified by police as Ford, troopers noticed numerous empty prescription pill bottles lying on the floor of the car, according to court papers.

Investigators in court papers referenced recent violence and drug activity in the Monessen and Donora area as a factor in the decision to ask him to step out of the vehicle. Troopers said they found 50 bricks of suspected heroin and a loaded pistol in Ford’s pants. Three more bricks and three bundles of drugs were seized from his jacket pocket, according to court papers.

Source: Monessen man faces drug, gun charges after traffic stop | TribLIVE.com

Biden says he plans ‘small to significant’ tax hike for those making over $400,000

President Joe Biden said in an interview broadcast Wednesday that he plans to raise taxes on Americans making more than $400,000 a year as his post-stimulus legislative plans come into focus.

“Anybody making more than $400,000 will see a small to a significant tax increase,” he told ABC News. “If you make less than $400,000, you won’t see one single penny in additional federal tax.”

Speaking with NBC News, two administration officials earlier confirmed that Biden and his top aides are discussing the framework to increase taxes on Americans making more than $400,000 and on large corporations. Bloomberg was the first to report the news.

Source: Biden says he plans ‘small to significant’ tax hike for those making over $400,000

Biden border wall freeze unlawful, 40 GOP senators tell GAO in letter | Fox News

A group of 40 GOP senators on Wednesday asked the Government Accountability Office to decide whether President Biden‘s decision to freeze more than $1 billion in congressionally approved border wall funding violates federal law.

The letter comes as an influx of migrants arrives at the U.S.-Mexico border, creating a humanitarian crisis.

The coalition led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., noted Biden’s immediate suspension of border wall construction on Inauguration Day.

In the weeks after Biden’s inauguration, “operational control of our southern border was compromised and a humanitarian and national security crisis has ensued,” the senators wrote.

“The President’s actions directly contributed to this unfortunate, yet entirely avoidable, scenario,” the letter states. “They are also a blatant violation of federal law and infringe on Congress’s constitutional power of the purse.”

Source: Biden border wall freeze unlawful, 40 GOP senators tell GAO in letter | Fox News

Opinion | Biden just fired a warning shot at Mitch McConnell and Republicans

Mark it down. President Biden has now declared in his most explicit terms yet that Democrats may soon face a stark choice: reform the filibuster or accept that their agenda is a dead letter.

At bottom, this constitutes the firing of a warning shot at Senate Republicans, especially Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Or it should, anyway: It will only matter if Biden and Democrats are actually prepared to act on it, because McConnell will proceed as if they are not.

Biden’s new comments came in an interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos, in which Biden came out for reforming the filibuster. This is generating headlines, but what may be even more important is this: Biden displayed a newfound recognition of basic realities about today’s GOP — and about our politics in general — that can’t be wished away.

Source: Opinion | Biden just fired a warning shot at Mitch McConnell and Republicans

Derek Chauvin jurors dismissed over $27M George Floyd settlement

he murder trial of ex-cop Derek Chauvin in George Floyd’s death hit a new snag Wednesday when a Minneapolis judge was forced to dismiss two jurors who had already been seated in the high-profile case.

Hennepin District Judge Peter Cahill questioned the seven jurors who had been seated before news broke of a $27 million settlement of a civil wrongful death lawsuit filed by Floyd’s family — and determined that two of the panelists could no longer be impartial.

“It will impact it a lot,” one juror, identified as Juror 36, told Cahill on Wednesday morning.

“So, last time I was asked about my strong opinions about Chauvin,” he told the judge. “Clearly, the city of Minneapolis has some strong opinions as well. And this kind of confirms my opinions that I already had.”

The second juror, Juror 20, conceded that the amount of the settlement “shocked me” and “kind of swayed me a little.”

Only two of the seven said they had not heard of the settlement, and three others said they knew of it but it had not changed their opinion of the case.

Source: Derek Chauvin jurors dismissed over $27M George Floyd settlement

Officials: Wisconsin man kills 2 co-workers, later dies

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A worker shot and killed two colleagues at a supermarket distribution center near Milwaukee before crashing his vehicle during a police pursuit and then killing himself, a union official and police said Wednesday.

The attack happened Tuesday night at the Roundy’s distribution center in Oconomowoc, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Milwaukee, said Thomas Bennett, secretary-treasurer of General Teamsters Local Union No. 200. He said all three men were in their 40s.

Oconomowoc police said the suspect’s vehicle was spotted in Milwaukee after the attack and officers began to pursue it. The vehicle crashed and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to authorities, who didn’t release the names of any of the shooter or victims.

Union stewards said the two men were shot in different areas of the massive warehouse, according to Bennett. One was shot in the loading dock and the other was shot in an upper area of the facility.

Source: Officials: Wisconsin man kills 2 co-workers, later dies

Stimulus check update: U.S. issued 90 million checks worth $242 billion

The U.S. has thus far issued 90 million stimulus checks worth a collective $242 billion as part of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.

  • The U.S. has thus far issued 90 million stimulus checks worth a collective $242 billion as part of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
  • The first batch of payments were mostly sent by direct deposit, and some recipients started receiving their checks this past weekend, the government said.
  • The checks began processing on March 12 and some Americans have already seen the deposits as pending prior to today’s official payment day.

Source: Stimulus check update: U.S. issued 90 million checks worth $242 billion

Half-ton of marijuana valued at over $8 million found by dog on routine traffic stop – ABC News

The incident occurred at approximately 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday, March 16, when an Indiana State Police trooper stopped a van for a moving violation near the town of Lowell, Indiana, about 50 miles southeast of Chicago, according to a statement released by the Indiana State Police.

The officer approached the vehicle with police to speak with the driver — later named as 31-year-old Christopher S. Colburn from McKinleyville, California — which subsequently led to an investigation of the exterior of the vehicle, including a canine sniff, that caused the officer to ask about what was inside the van.“

During that search, troopers discovered 38 large boxes and 6 black garbage bags.,” said the Indiana State Police. “The boxes were wrapped in black plastic wrap. Inside the boxes contained a total of 1,264 individually sealed bags, each weighing approximately 1.5 lbs., and contained a green plant material. A field test of the content revealed it to be marijuana.”

Source: Half-ton of marijuana valued at over $8 million found by dog on routine traffic stop – ABC News

Fire damages several floors of home in Jeannette

Fire damaged several floors of a home in Jeannette, Westmoreland County.

The fire broke out shortly after 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at a home on Good Street.

Crews shut down several blocks of the street as they responded to the scene.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

Source: Fire damages several floors of home in Jeannette

Yaphet Kotto, ‘Alien’ and ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ actor, dead at 81 – CNN

(CNN)Yaphet Kotto, an actor known for bringing gravitas to his roles across television and film, has died, according to his agent, Ryan Goldhar. He was 81.

Kotto died on March 14 at 10:30 p.m. local time in the Philippines, where he lived with his wife, Goldhar said. Information on the cause of death was not provided.
Kotto’s on-screen body of work began in the late ’60s and remained steady through the ’90s. In that time, he amassed an array of memorable roles that spoke to his transformative talent.
His notable film work includes roles in “Alien,” “The Running Man,” “Midnight Run” and “Live and Let Die,” in which he played iconic Bond villain Mr. Big.

Source: Yaphet Kotto, ‘Alien’ and ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ actor, dead at 81 – CNN

Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s fan-created GoFundMe page ends after dismal showing: report | Fox Business

A GoFundMe page set up to pay off the mortgage on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s $14.6 million California estate has gone bust — after raising a measly $110, a report says.

Anastasia Hanson, 56, of California told Britain’s the Sun that she started the fundraising effort because she seriously felt sorry for the multimillionaire royal couple — after Harry publicly whined to Oprah Winfrey about being financially cut off by Buckingham Palace.Meghan Markle and Prince Harry bought their Santa Barbara mansion

“When they came to the USA, they were without jobs and with limited funds,” said Hanson, who lives about 25 minutes from the princely pair’s palatial estate in swanky Montecito.

“They’ve stated that they’ve had a very rough time, so this fundraiser is a way to give help, compassion, and love by paying their home loan in full.”

Source: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s fan-created GoFundMe page ends after dismal showing: report | Fox Business

China and U.S. appear set for a frosty Alaska summit – POLITICO

The U.S. and China are setting vastly different expectations for their first high-level meeting under the Biden administration, casting a chill on the talks set to begin in Alaska on Thursday.

American officials set to attend the summit — including National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken — have characterized the meeting as a one-off event where the U.S. will confront the Chinese on a range of security and human rights issues that Beijing will need to address before it can improve relations with Washington.

Chinese officials, by contrast, have spun the meeting as an opportunity for Washington and Beijing to reset their relationship and, as the world’s leading powers, hash out the new international order. China’s Yang Jiechi, a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo and the country’s top diplomat, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be meeting with Blinken and Sullivan in Anchorage over two days.

Competing statements from both sides last week emphasized the rift: “This is not a strategic dialogue,” Blinken said of the meeting in testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian, quickly contradicted him: “China, invited by the United States, will have a high-level strategic dialogue with the U.S. side in the coming days.”

Source: China and U.S. appear set for a frosty Alaska summit – POLITICO

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