Harry Funk stories, Page 10
Packed house sings along to Three Dog Night hits at Carnegie HomesteadVideo
A band with a serendipitously catchy name spotlighting its three lead vocalists once dominated American radio. Three Dog Night scored 21 consecutive Top 40 hits during half a decade starting in 1969, reaching an apex of sorts when Billboard magazine named “Joy to the World” as the No. 1 pop...
Pine-based Variety provides adaptive bikes, strollers to families at no cost
The parade involved simply turning a couple of corners inside a Robinson Township building. But to its young participants, it may as well have taken place along 34th Street on Thanksgiving. Thanks to Variety — the Children’s Charity, based regionally in Pine, six children had the opportunity to navigate their...
Pine-Richland board tables decision on historical novel for 9th graders
Next year’s Pine-Richland High School freshmen must wait to learn if the historical novel “Angel of Greenwood” will be required reading. The school board on Jan. 22 tabled a vote to approve the book as a core text for the ninth-grade English curriculum, as recommended by a selection committee following...
‘You are the family historian’: Hampton library hosts monthly scrapbooking program
If you have a smartphone, you’re a photographer. “More pictures are being taken now, millions and millions of pictures,” Marie Golio acknowledged. “But we don’t do anything with them, so they’re being lost.” Sure, many of the images turn up on social media or online sharing platforms. But even more...
Creed Bratton delivers stellar mix of music, ‘The Office’Video
Conventional wisdom holds that there are two Creed Brattons. One is the musician in the 1960s Top-40 band the Grass Roots, which he left because he felt that music-industry management practices of the time — with the amount of money involved, they probably still do — tended to stifle artistic...
24th annual Unity Breakfast in McCandless celebrates Dr. King
Beyond his three adult children and 11 grandchildren, Judge Dwayne Woodruff sometimes is greeted by younger folks introducing themselves as “one of your kids.” When his wife, Joy, heard such a statement for the first time, the judge had to explain that the person was someone he met through juvenile...
Ground broken for new elementary school in Bethel Park
Today’s soggy patch of dirt is tomorrow’s new school. On the rain-soaked afternoon of Jan. 9, Bethel Park School District officials hosted a groundbreaking for a a $133 million elementary center to replace the five buildings now in operation. Despite the weather, members of the community packed the space under...
Pine-Richland board to vote on programs of studies for high school, middle school
Pine-Richland School Board is scheduled to vote Jan. 22 on programs of studies for the high school and middle school for 2024-25. During the board’s Jan. 8 planning meeting, administrators presented information on updates to the programs, which have been subjected to continuous review and modifications since their introduction in...
Be the Match for Jax: Pine-Richland psychologist seeks marrow donor on behalf of son
With the start of a new year, Jax Ramirez started guitar lessons. “He made his first G chord,” his mother, Missy, reported, and if all goes well with the online instruction, he soon will be jamming to the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and AC/DC. Befitting a boy about to turn...
Former Tamburitzans host ensemble’s show at Gateway High School
Four years of performing with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans wasn’t quite enough for Frank Bozicevic. So after he graduated, he remained involved the multicultural song-and-dance ensemble by driving its tour bus. Along the way, he and one of the members at the time started dating, and eventually they married. Today,...
Bethel Park joins Wreaths Across America in honoring veterans
While active in the U.S. Marine Corps, Devlin Robinson fought in both hotbeds for post-9/11 American military action, Afghanistan and Iraq. He was in the same general age range of two Army servicemen from near his Bridgeville home, a few years older than Russell Kurtz of Bethel Park and slightly...
‘Sustained us through this heartache’: Neighbors continue to help Franklin Park family honor late son
Signs dotting Franklin Park’s Brook Park neighborhood show a smiling young man, either giving a thumbs-up in front of the car he restored or celebrating his graduation from the University of Dayton. Perhaps the cheeriness exhibited in the photos prompts passersby to smile, themselves, until they notice the word “memorial”...
Monroeville plans to hire new municipal manager
Retirement has arrived for Timothy Little, who attended his final council meeting as Monroeville’s municipal manager on Dec. 12. Council voted unanimously to advertise an ordinance appointing his successor, Alexander Graziani, with a vote on his approval expected in January. The ordinance includes approval of a contract that establishes the...
Conditional use approval helps cause for digital billboard in Monroeville
A billboard with rotating digital images may be coming to Business Route 22 in Monroeville. On Dec. 12, municipal council voted 3-2 to grant a request by Wolfgate Devco LLC for a conditional use as permitted in a municipal C-2 commercial district, paving the way for what is proposed as...
Gateway School Board caps tax increase, elects president
An increase in Gateway School District’s real estate tax rate is capped at 5.3% for 2024. The school board voted Dec. 5 to approve a resolution vowing not to exceed the index established for the district by the state Department of Education. Legislation adopted as Act 1 of 2006 calls...
Hampton Township School Board caps tax increase
A 1.15-mill real estate tax increase will be the maximum in Hampton Township School District for 2024-25, and early projections have the number slightly lower. The school board on Dec. 4 approved a resolution not to raise the rate by more than 5.3% over the current year, a figure that...
Remembering Wright’s: Members of same family owned Heidelberg business for 106 years
Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part story. Read the first part. During its 106-year run as a Heidelberg family business, Wright’s Seafood Inn doubled as home for its owners, starting with W.C. and Mary Wright with the opening of the Valley Hotel in 1898. Great-grandson Dave Davis...
‘Don’t Stop’: No-Shave November philanthropy continues for Hampton police
No-Shave November is extending into “Don’t Stop December, January and February” for Hampton police officers. Members of the department are participating in the annual effort to raise awareness about cancer while raising money for charity by letting facial hair take its natural course. “Our department policy, when it comes to...
Bethel Park increases taxes on real estate, earned income
As the longtime president of Bethel Park Council, Tim Moury has worked on municipal budgets each year going back to the 1990s. His final effort in that regard comes with a tough choice: raising the real estate tax rate by .75 mills and the municipal portion of the tax on...
‘Bridgeville in 1223 A.D.’: Historian discusses long-ago local inhabitants
Under what now is Interstate 79 as it passes through the westernmost part of Bridgeville, a settlement flourished nearly a millennium ago. Historian John Oyler remembers some related local folklore. “Anybody my age who grew up in Bridgeville heard about the Indian mound on Gould City Hill all their lives,”...
Grinch greets limo-loading gift givers in Monroeville
Combine one of the holiday season’s biggest stars with a seriously stretched vehicle, and you get to deliver a slew of seasonal cheer. That’s what the organizers had in mind with a load-a-limo event featuring the Grinch, which was held Nov. 25 event in the parking lot of Dr. Cleveland...
Bethel Park restaurant serves 400-plus free Thanksgiving dinners
During their Thanksgiving vacations, Sara Impellicceiri and members of her family would partake in free holiday dinners. “But I never helped volunteer for one, because I just never had the opportunity,” the Bethel Park High School junior said. “So being able to do this has been a great experience.” She...
No tax increase expected for Bridgeville
Bridgeville’s real estate tax rate is expected to remain the same next year, maintaining a consistent level since 2019. Borough council plans to vote Dec. 11 on adopting the 2024 budget, which calls for a rate of 6.5 mills on buildings and 10 mills on land. The budget for the...
‘Nobody’s happy about this’ : Board approves $341,000 in Gateway Middle School change orders
As renovations to Gateway Middle School continue well past the initially estimated completion date, more money is going toward the effort. The school board on Nov. 21 voted to approve $341,793.70 in change orders, representing deviations from the original scope of the project, with the bulk of the added expense...
’Tis the season for Hampton Band Association’s Holiday Extravaganza
The motto for the Hampton Band Association’s 12th annual Holiday Extravaganza could be: Bake it ’til you make it. “Our goal to the kids is to have 10,000 cookies,” high school band director Chad Himmler said. “So that’s what we are trying to do.” Besides the main attraction of music,...
