Chuck Biedka stories, Page 19
Work to extend Tredway Trail in Allegheny Township set to start in late April
Work on a 1.5-mile extension of the Tredway recreational trail in Allegheny Township is expected to start at the end of April and be completed in August. PennDOT has awarded the $245,000 contract to A. Folino Construction, Inc., which submitted the lowest bid. Folino is tasked with extending the trail,...
Markle Road slide area in Allegheny Township remains hazardous, one-lane
Next week PennDOT plans to install a lane barrier along a part of the two-lane Markle Road in Allegheny Township. But a permanent fix is nowhere in sight. It’s been more than a month since the Jan. 3 landslide closed one lane between Park and Pine Run roads. At some...
Goodwill names board officers, welcomes 2 new directors
Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s board recently elected board officers and two new directors. Shawn Hanlon, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, was elected for his second, two-year term as chairman of the Goodwill board. A member of Goodwill’s board since 2009, Hanlon lives in Gibsonia. Newly elected board officers include: David Lund, vice...
Virginia man, 19, found dead in burned-out Mustang in East Franklin
Investigators are trying to confirm the identify of a man whose body was found in the driver’s seat of a burned out car in East Franklin on Friday morning. The authorities believe the man is a 19-year-old from Manassas, Va. The 2000 Ford Mustang apparently had been driven off the...
Buffalo Township housing development gets OK for 5th phase
The Buffalo Township supervisors recently approved the last phase of the Village at Sarver’s Mill housing plan. Phase 5 allows the developer to construct up to 13 houses. The property is not far from the Butler-Freeport Community Trail and Little Buffalo Creek. It’s in the Freeport Area School District. According...
Rape suspect extradited from Israel to Pittsburgh
An Israeli man who authorities say was on the run for about 15 years for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl was extradited from Israel on Thursday, the FBI and Allegheny County sheriff said. Moshe Journo, 53, and a citizen of Israel, is accused of the September 2004 rape of the...
Pittsburgh man pleads guilty, awaiting sentence for federal drugs, gun charges
A Pittsburgh man who pleaded guilty to federal gun and drug charges is scheduled to be sentenced in June. Marvin Dennis, 23, pleaded guilty in federal district court in Pittsburgh on Wednesday to having a gun while trafficking drugs. He pleaded guilty to selling heroin and crack cocaine. Prosecutors said...
West Leechburg events to honor Plum girl who remains upbeat despite cerebral palsyVideo
Four-year-old Maelynn Tribendis’ infectious smile turns to giggles when she’s asked about her hot pink wheelchair and the therapist who is training her to use it. “She has a crush on him,” Plum’s Kaitlyn Tribendis, 30, said of her daughter’s therapist. “She goes to (therapy) two days a week. She...
Official: Employee stole $1.2M from Upper St. Clair church for vacations, Pirates tickets
A church administrator who handled the finances for an Upper St. Clair church siphoned $1.2 million from church accounts over the course of about 17 years for himself and his wife to use, according to a detective with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office. David and Connie Reiter of South...
Pittsburgh man pleading guilty to cocaine sales in federal case
A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty in federal court in Wednesday to conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Lawrence Morrison, 36, entered the plea before Senior U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab in Pittsburgh. According to prosecutors, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration started a wiretap investigation, primarily targeting the GBK street...
Arnold girl missing more than a week may be in Pittsburgh, public’s help sought
Police are trying to locate a 16-year-old Arnold girl who has been missing for a week. Tauja Brown has been missing from home since Feb. 10, police said Sunday. Arnold police Chief Eric Doutt said Brown, a student at Valley Junior/Senior High School, was last seen in Arnold at 6:30...
Black migration making great impact on Pittsburgh regionVideo
Jobs in the region’s steel mills were a draw for Southern black Americans in the 20 years before World War I, but their skills and experience were greatly ignored, members of the Allegheny-Kiski Valley Historical Society members were told at a Black History Month presentation Sunday. Among those steel mills...
Ex-boyfriend a ‘person of interest’ in disappearance of Kittanning woman Katie Stoner
Kittanning police are looking for the onetime boyfriend of a missing woman. Katie L. Stoner, 27, has been missing from Kittanning since about 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Police on Sunday confirmed they want to talk with John Eugene Colbert, 30, of New Castle. They say he is Stoner’s ex-boyfriend. Kittanning Officer...
Man surrenders to Pittsburgh SWAT in Mount Washington house
A man allegedly took a vehicle without permission in the Mount Washington section of Pittsburgh at about 12:50 p.m. Saturday then jumped out and ran into a house and refused to come out, a police spokeswoman said. Officers surrounded the house along the 100 block of Secane Avenue. The man,...
Amateur radio society recruiting members young or old
Amateur radio operators relay radio messages during natural and man-made disasters and fun events like Pittsburgh’s Great Race. And they don’t get a dime. They can’t, according to Federal Communications Commission regulations. Instead, their noncommercial messages relay information — often when cellphone towers are damaged and unavailable, such as in...
Kittanning police searching for missing woman, 27
Kittanning Borough police are getting tips about the whereabouts of a missing 27-year-old woman, but she was still missing as of 3 p.m. Saturday. Katie L. Stoner, 27, has been missing since 6:30 p.m. Thursday. “We’ve had some tips and we want others to call,” Officer Ken Bussard said. Police...
Spray paint defaces veterans memorial in Brackenridge Memorial ParkVideo
Someone used silver spray paint to deface the bronze on the veterans monument in Brackenridge Memorial Park. Who did it and why is unknown — for now. “Someone took it upon themselves in the middle of the night to come to Memorial Park to spray paint all of original bronze,”...
Body found in Bellevue, foul play not suspected ‘at this time’
Allegheny County and Bellevue police are looking for an identity and circumstances for a body found in a wooded area late Friday afternoon. The body was found near railroad property near Ohio River Boulevard and Bellevue Station. At about 5:40 p.m., Allegheny County 9-1-1 received a call from two juveniles...
Kittanning police searching for missing woman, 27
Kittanning Borough police said as of 3 p.m. Saturday a 27-year-old woman remained missing. But police said they are receiving tips concerning her whereabouts. Katie L. Stoner has been missing since 6:30 p.m. Thursday. “We’ve had some tips and we want others to call,” Officer Ken Bussard said. Police said...
Aliquippa man pleads guilty in federal court to selling cocaine in Allegheny County
An Aliquippa man pleaded guilty to having and selling cocaine in Allegheny County for several months in 2017. Rickee Dawkins, 52, was initially charged with five other men for a conspiracy to violate federal drug laws. He accepted a plea agreement. He was the last of the six to go...
Federal jury finds Beaver Falls man guilty of drug sales
A federal jury in Pittsburgh deliberated for six hours on Wednesday before finding a Beaver Falls man guilty of violating five drug laws. According to federal records, Anthony Taylor was accused of a conspiracy that sold almost 18 ounces of cocaine and three-quarters of an ounce of the synthetic painkiller...
Volunteers needed at Leechburg recycling center
Leechburg needs help at its recycling center. The center on Logan Avenue Extension separates plastic, glass, cardboard and paper and sends it to compactors, said Mayor Wayne Dobos. “We hope to pick up some volunteers. We have four regulars. Some of the volunteers were older and had to stop,” he...
State bill would add adult sex traffickers, customers to Megan’s Law lists
Sex trafficking is on the rise in Pennsylvania, and state Sen. Kim Ward wants authorities to better keep track of those convicted of the offense. Ward, R-Hempfield, is proposing a change to state law that would require those convicted of the sex trafficking of adults to be added to the...
Thieves targeting unlocked vehicles in at least 5 communities
It’s been a busy month for thieves who target unlocked vehicles. Police in at least five communities in Armstrong and Westmoreland counties have reported car break-ins involving dozens of vehicles. In the latest rash of thefts, a pistol, drivers license, debit cards, cash and change were stolen from a number...
Megan’s Law shines light on Alle-Kiski Valley sex offenders
Former Leechburg police Chief Mike Diebold’s headline-grabbing release from the Westmoreland County jail two weeks ago concerned some residents who felt he shouldn’t live near three schools because he’s a registered sex offender. Sex offenders rarely garner such attention when they get out of jail. Often, their neighbors are unaware...
