Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Aug. 6:
Downtown crime stats for week of July 29-Aug. 4
Pittsburgh police have released the latest arrest and citation statistics from the department’s new initiative, Downtown High-Visibility Patrol. The patrol is made up of officers from Downtown Public Safety Center (DPSC), violence prevention, narcotics, traffic and K9 units that focus efforts on the Downtown area of the city. The initiative began after Pittsburgh police saw an uptick in crime in that area earlier this summer.
DPSC made 24 arrests, 54 non-traffic citations, four parking citations, three tows, five traffic stops, five traffic citations and they met with four businesses. Traffic and K9 units made three non-traffic citations, 91 parking citations, 23 traffic citations and 10 tows. The violence prevention and narcotics units made one arrest.
Harmar motorcycle crash victim identified
The Allegheny County medical examiner identified a man killed after a crash between his motorcycle and another vehicle in April.
Joseph Draxinger of McKeesport died in the crash at the intersection of Freeport Road and Alpha Drive in Harmar Township just before 4:30 p.m on April 26. He was 61 years old.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Red Cross blood shortage
The American Red Cross has introduced another donation incentive to encourage blood and platelet donations.
In an effort to combat decreasing blood donor rates, the nonprofit will be emailing out a $20 Amazon gift card to donors for coming to give in August.
This comes after multiple incentive projects created by the Red Cross including a Super Bowl sweepstakes in January.
The nonprofit has reportedly entered an emergency blood shortage. According to a statement from the organization in January, over the last 20 years, the number of people donating blood to the Red Cross has fallen by about 40% and the nation is facing the lowest number of people giving blood in 20 years. Since July 1, the Red Cross national blood supply has fallen by more than 25%.
Heat reportedly affected more than 100 blood drives in July in almost every state where the Red Cross collects blood – compounding other seasonal obstacles to blood donation, such as travel and summer activities. These factors contributed to a shortfall of more than 19,000 blood donations in July. At the same time, hospitals still need blood products. According to an August statement from the Red Cross, blood products are being sent to hospitals faster than donations are coming in. Right now, type O inventory is so low, distributions of the blood type are reduced below what hospitals count on.
Upcoming Local Events
The Red Cross supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood annually. Blood supply has fallen to critically low levels across the country, and members are asking blood and platelet donors to make a donation appointment to help alleviate the shortage and help ensure medical procedures are not put on hold.
“It’s critical hospitals have both type O positive and O negative blood ready to go for patients in the most life-threatening situations,” Eric Gehrie, executive physician director for the Red Cross, said in a statement. “Type O is especially important for victims of accidents and other trauma who are receiving emergency treatment. Now is the time for donors of all blood types to give and ensure hospital shelves can be restocked before any impact to patient care.”
To make an appointment, download the Red Cross Blood Donor app, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Kennywood holiday light show expansion
A Pittsburgh staple, Kennywood announced this year’s holiday light show will be expanded for visitors this November.
There will be a meet-and-greet with Rudolph, as well as Clarice, Bumble and Sam the Snowman.
There will be a new light show added to the attraction. The show will take place around the park’s lagoon with new displays and animations. The park will also be adding more dates to the event and extend seasonal food, ride and activity offers.
Stage AE experiences power outage
Concert goers experienced a delay Monday night at Stage AE after a localized power outage affected operations.
The concert venue posted on its social media that the outage coincided with the doors opening for the Chevelle show set to start at 6:30 p.m. Stage AE posted about the outage at around 7 p.m.
Power was restored on the North Shore just after 7:36 p.m.
Haley Daugherty is a TribLive reporter covering local politics, feature stories and Allegheny County news. A native of Pittsburgh, she lived in Alabama for six years. She joined the Trib in 2022 after graduating from Chatham University. She can be reached at hdaugherty@triblive.com.