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PITTSBURGH (AP) — The mayor of Pittsburgh has announced plans to sign a declaration of disaster emergency for the city in light of last week’s collapse of a bridge in a city park. Mayor Ed Gainey said the declaration would increase availability of federal funds and speed cleanup and reconstruction of the Frick Park bridge. Gainey said the declaration would be in effect for a few days but called on council members to extend it. On Friday, Gov. Tom Wolf signed a proclamation of disaster emergency for Allegheny County. Five vehicles and a city bus were on the bridge. Several people were taken to hospitals.

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By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party committee members are deadlocked on their endorsement vote in the party’s hotly contested primary race for U.S. Senate. Winning an endorsement at Saturday’s meeting was a high hurdle to clear, requiring two-thirds of the party’s roughly 350 committee members. Third-term suburban Pittsburgh Congressman Conor Lamb came closest at 60%. His campaign has worked for months to win favor with committee members. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman suggested that even if his campaign lagged Lamb in popularity with committee members, he is leading the pack in other important ways, including in polls and fundraising.

(AP Photo) By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer
Concern about new high-speed wireless service interfering with airplanes appears to be easing. Federal safety regulators said Friday they have cleared the way for Verizon and AT&T to turn on more 5G towers. The Federal Aviation Administration says the move is possible because the telecom companies are providing more information about the location of their wireless transmitters. Aviation groups and the FAA had warned that 5G service could interfere with planes because it uses part of the radio spectrum that is close to that used by radio altimeters on planes. Altimeters measure the height of planes above the ground, and they’re crucial for landing when visibility is poor because of bad weather.

PITTSBURGH (Jan. 28, 2022) – Allegheny Health Network (AHN) today announced an impending leadership transition at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH). David Parda, MD, is stepping down as AGH’s President to take a new role as AHN’s Publication and Research Collaboration Physician Executive. Imran Qadeer, MD, AGH’s Chief Medical Officer, will assume the role of hospital President on an interim basis while AHN commences a national search for a permanent successor.

Dr. Parda, who was appointed AGH President in 2019 and previously served as the founder and longtime Chair of AHN’s Cancer Institute, is an internationally recognized radiation oncologist and cancer researcher. He was a key architect of the new AHN Cancer Institute innovation hub that opened at AGH last year, as well as AHN’s unique cancer partnership with Johns Hopkins Medicine and its greatly expanded system of affiliated community cancer centers. Over almost his entire tenure as President of AGH, Dr. Parda has successfully guided one of the region’s busiest critical care hospitals and its thousands of caregivers through the unprecedented challenges of the COVID pandemic.

“One of the advantages of being part of a large health care enterprise is having a deep, diverse talent pool that allows us to continually reassess and align the right leaders with positions and projects that are critical to our strategic vision and success,” said Cynthia Hundorfean, AHN President and CEO. “We look forward to the vital work that Dr. Parda will continue to do for our organization in that regard, particularly the role he will play in leading the integration of our Institutional Review Board, electronic health record platforms, and Johns Hopkins research collaborations which will greatly enhance our ability to analyze patient data, advance clinical innovations with clinical, academic, and industry partners, and become a world leader in healthcare quality, outcomes and efficiency.”

Dr. Parda will oversee the review, optimization and approval of all patient clinical trials within the organization as well as work across teams at AHN and Highmark Health to lead scholarly activities, including publications and presentations, that support Highmark Health’s Living Health strategy, correlating improved health outcomes with lower healthcare utilization rates and costs.

Dr. Qadeer joined AHN’s academic hospitalist medicine staff in 2009 and has also served as Medical Director of AGH Observation Services, AHN Lead Chief Medical Officer, Lead Physician Advisor, and Chief Quality Officer for the AHN Medicine Institute. He has been a pivotal member of AHN and Highmark Health’s COVID-19 pandemic response team over the past two years.

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(Hanover Twp., Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver said via release that they were called to an address on Pa State Route 18 in Hanover Twp. Beaver County on January 2, 2022 for a complaint from an un-named victim that 68-year-old George Roberts of Hookstown had dumped a load of trash at the location on route 18. Through investigation Roberts admitted to Troopers that he dumped the load of trash at the location. The victim decided not to proceed with charges because Roberts paid restitution for the offense.

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Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano
(Aliquippa, Pa.) Aliquippa officials reported the water line break on Kennedy Boulevard in front of the fire station has been repaired. It was reopened in the late afternoon Thursday.
Route 65 southbound and the Ambridge Bridge are open after yesterday’s water line break under the Ambridge /Aliquippa Bridge. The road was closed from Merchant to 8th Street. The road opened late afternoon Thursday, according to an Ambridge Water Authority official.

Key Pa. Dems to miss Biden visit, cite scheduling conflicts
By STEVE PEOPLES and MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — When President Joe Biden goes to Pittsburgh on Friday, two of the three Democrats on Pennsylvania’s statewide ballot this spring who were invited to appear with Biden will not be in attendance. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a leading Senate candidate, and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the likely Democratic nominee for governor, will be absent because of scheduling conflicts. Another top Senate candidate, Rep. Conor Lamb, a longtime Biden supporter based in Pittsburgh, will, however, be in attendance. The notable absences come as Democrats in other states have begun taking modest steps to distance themselves from the first-term president, whose approval ratings have fallen sharply in recent months.

Here, kitty: Bidens welcome cat named Willow to White House
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have added a cat to their pet family. The cat’s name is Willow, and she’s a 2-year-old, green-eyed, gray and white tabby from a Pennsylvania farm. A spokesperson for the first lady says Willow is settling into the White House with her favorite treats, toys and plenty of room to sniff and explore. The first lady named Willow after her hometown of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Willow joins Commander, a German shepherd puppy the president introduced just before Christmas. The Bidens have a second German shepherd, Major, who no longer lives at the White House.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — A two-lane bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh, prompting rescuers to rappel nearly 150 feet while others formed a human chain to help rescue multiple people from a dangling bus. The collapse early Friday came hours before President Joe Biden was to visit the city to press for his $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which includes bridge maintenance. Authorities say there were minor injuries from the collapse but no fatalities. Police reported the span, on Forbes Avenue over Fern Hollow Creek in Frick Park, came down just before 7 a.m. A photo from the scene showed a commuter bus upright on a section of the collapsed bridge.