Haley Daugherty stories, Page 22
Riverside Park close to becoming home of pickleball in Oakmont
Pickleball is within sight for Oakmont residents. Borough Manager Scot Fodi said the basketball courts at Oakmont Borough Park are in the process of being converted into a three-court pickleball facility. The new basketball court planned for the upper level of the park is moving along at a pace similar...
Apollo shooting injures 1, rattles neighborhood
Gayle Moore said her 15-year-old daughter woke her just before midnight Monday night to say she heard three gunshots near their Apollo home. Still half asleep, Moore told her daughter to go back to bed. About 15 minutes later, her daughter returned to Moore’s room and informed her the street...
Leechburg, school district leaders to discuss safety protocols after school threat
What officials are calling a miscommunication over an unfounded school threat could lead to better emergency protocols in Leechburg. Officials from Leechburg and Leechburg Area School District plan to meet privately Tuesday to discuss protocols for emergency situations affecting the borough and school district. Borough Public Safety Director and Councilman...
Leechburg Area School District to implement new early dismissal policy
Starting Monday, the Leechburg Area School District is implementing a new early dismissal policy for students to follow. Students with a scheduled early dismissal will be required to have a parent or guardian come to the school’s office and sign them out. “For safety procedure, I want parents coming in...
Leechburg Area students caught with BB gun, no threat to school
Leechburg Area School District administrators called in local police after students were reported playing with a BB gun outside of school grounds, but close to David Leech Elementary School. “We had some older students who were clowning around with a BB gun,” said district Superintendent David Keibler. “They were outside....
Refurbished Leechburg playground open to public
Thomas Zimmerman and his two boys walked past the playground on Campbell Avenue every day for two weeks to see if it was finished. On Tuesday, he and his boys got what they were wishing for. About two months after the ground was broken, the playground was opened for use....
Local artist adds personal touch to Leechburg’s shopping district
Leechburg’s Market Street is a little more colorful these days. Artist Veronica Manzanilla painted 10 parking meters along the street for a beautification project headed by the borough’s mayor, Doreen Smeal. Smeal said she got the idea after attending a meeting for Experience PA in Kittanning where public art was...
Penn Forest to host first animal remembrance and blessing
Susan Thornton Lara has been a pet sitter for the past four years. Her German shepherd, Milachek, Mila for short, inspired the Penn Hills woman to change her career path during the pandemic. The pup was diagnosed with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, leading Thornton Lara’s family to take extra measures to...
Softball group plans spaghetti fundraiser for longtime coach suffering from kidney failure
When Gerald Horsley heard that his friend and fellow coach, Jeremy Dawson, needed a kidney, he wasted no time getting the word out. The two men coach together on the Penn Hills Girls Softball Association’s 15U team. Horsley, president of the association, said he found out about Dawson’s Stage 5...
Oakmont adopts sustainability plan
Oakmont now has a sustainability plan that stretches out over the next decade. The 2024 Oakmont Borough Local Sustainability Plan outlines short- and long-term goals for the borough. This is the borough’s first sustainability plan and was developed by a graduate student from the University of Pittsburgh. Simon Joseph, 24,...
Lower Burrell community rises to occasion in family’s time of need
The power of community never ceases to amaze. The Saulsberry family of Lower Burrell has seen this firsthand as their community rallies around them after they were left homeless when a Sept. 4 fire destroyed their Michigan Avenue home. Less than a day after the fire, Patrick Elston, co-owner of...
Construction to begin for 1-mile Leechburg bike trail
Leechburg residents will see some construction in the coming weeks as the Leechburg Area Community Development Corp. kicks off its Tow Path Trail project, which has the potential to give Leechburg access to almost 600 miles of trail. The milelong trail will connect Leechburg to the existing 4 miles of...
Volunteer fire crews knock down Oakmont garage fire
At least six fire companies responded to a garage fire Tuesday, Sept. 10 in Oakmont. Oakmont firefighter Steven Marsh said the call came in at 11:44 a.m. Joey Flanick, Oakmont’s fire captain, said four of his men were able to reach the scene in about a minute and established a...
New Leechburg Boy Scout troop welcomes girls, a sign of new interest in Scouting
Jessica Cummings doesn’t have much experience as a Scout leader, but she’s ready for the challenge as she starts Troop 6553 in Leechburg, a Boy Scout troop that welcomes girls. Cummings began the troop for her daughter, Lydia, 10, and her daughter’s best friend, Ivy McCullough, 10. Both girls have...
Community rallies around Lower Burrell family displaced by house fire
Community members are banding together to support a Lower Burrell family after they were left homeless when a fire destroyed their Michigan Avenue home last week. Less than 24 hours after the Wednesday blaze, Patrick Elston, co-owner of Gus Franco’s Pizza shop in Lower Burrell, began arranging a way to...
Building the Valley: Producer’s event stage in Tarentum offers ‘infinite-seat theater’
Jeff Revilla, a New Kensington man with more than 10 years of experience producing shows, wants to reach an infinite audience. His podcast studio, Poduty Live in Tarentum, has the capacity to do just that. The event stage on Corbet Street can house up to 40 audience members during a...
Leechburg prepares for 13th annual Pink Day fundraiser
Leechburg is preparing for its 13th annual Pink Day, a celebration and fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation established in 2011 by Gary and Vicki Peterman of Gilpin. The event is an all-day affair that shuts down Market Street from First to Third streets. This year’s event will start...
31 ears and counting: Kiski Township cornstalk vies for Guinness world record
For most of the summer, Julie Gerano didn’t think much of the cornstalk growing in the flower bed of her backyard garden in Kiski Township. Now, however, Gerano, 51, is looking at a potential world record with her stalk sporting 31 ears of corn. She filled out an application to...
Fire destroys Lower Burrell home, family left homeless
A Lower Burrell family was left homeless after fire gutted their home Wednesday. Scott Gloer, deputy chief of Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company No. 3, said most of the family was out of the house at 235 Michigan Ave. when the fire started. He said there was one child still...
Road reopened after crash in Fawn
Bull Creek Road has reopened after emergency services cleared a two car crash. Fawn Police Sgt. Kerry Myers said the two-vehicle crash happened occurred just before 4:30 p.m. on Bull Creek Road near Ross Welding Supplies in Fawn. He said one driver was taken to an nearby hospital, and another...
Woman accused of bilking Burrell cheerleaders once was treasurer for the Officer Brian Shaw Memorial Ride
The woman charged with stealing money from a cheerleading booster group while she served as its treasurer once acted as treasurer for another well-known local charity. Ashley Freiberg of Upper Burrell is accused of taking nearly $19,000 from the Burrell Cheer Booster club. In 2021, she was the treasurer for...
Leechburg Area School Board considers one meeting night per month
Leechburg Area School Board could be holding fewer public meetings if a test run over the next few months works out. Instead of holding the agenda-setting and voting meetings on different days, the board will experiment with holding both on the same night. “We talked to (Superintendent David) Keibler before...
Leechburg Area School Board decides against lawsuit against Westmoreland County
The Leechburg Area School Board will not be following through with a promised lawsuit against Westmoreland County after being presented with a possible solution to tax rate issues by Westmoreland County assessors. “The board is still considering all of its legal options,” said Ashley Coudriet, school board president. “Currently, Westmoreland...
Sustainability plan could bring a ‘greener’ Oakmont
Oakmont could be going “green” in the next decade. Borough council is expected to consider a sustainability plan that suggests ways to improve borough efficiency while reducing emissions and cutting costs to taxpayers. This is the first sustainability plan to come before council, and it was developed by an intern...
North Versailles man faces felony charge for gun in Verona park
A North Versailles man is facing a felony gun charge after, police say, he was caught trespassing during a Verona officer’s routine patrol on Saturday night. While an officer was securing Riverbank Park, a Verona park that closes at sundown, he came across two men, Rikquan Fulmore, 19, and another...
