Harry Funk stories, Page 14
Bethel Park School District budget calls for tax increase
Bethel School Board is scheduled to vote June 27 on adopting the district’s final budget for 2023-24. Property owners can expect a new real estate tax rate of 24.5526 mills, or 4.8% over the current fiscal year, according to the proposed budget made available for public review. The amount represents...
Always B Smiling lives up to name: Nonprofit hosts programs in Peters for young people with disabilities
Most youngsters spend nine or so months waiting, patiently or otherwise, to hear the proclamation: “School’s out.” Heck, a song with that title remains popular even though it’s been around for more than 50 years now. But Destiny Otricelli of Bridgeville, a student at Pathfinder School in Bethel Park, is...
Students help produce ‘Chartiers Valley History for Kids’ book
At ages 7 or 8, a group of Chartiers Valley Primary School students can lay claim to being authors. Just before the end of the school year, members of Shelley Territ’s second-grade class celebrated the release of “Chartiers Valley History for Kids,” a book toward which they contributed heavily with...
Service dog fundraiser in Peters exceeds goal
Numerous military veterans who are paired with service dogs can attest to their overwhelmingly positive effect on quality of life. Thanks to the success of what has become an annual event, three more vets will be joined by canine friends. A fundraiser held June 3 at Veterans of Foreign Wars...
Chartiers Valley instructor named scientific honors society’s Outstanding Teacher
Coming out of college, Jodi King took a job that she thought would relate strongly to the degree she earned in biology. It didn’t work out that way. “I called my biology professor from college, crying,” she recalled. “I told him what was going on, and he said, ‘Here, let...
Fitness studio with ‘after-50’ focus opens in Bethel Park
For folks in the stage of life where they start dreading the next birthday, Jason Zawodniak offers encouraging words. “We don’t believe that 50 is old, or 60, or even 70,” he said. “With the right programming, it doesn’t have to be.” In May, Zawodniak and his wife, Rachel, opened...
Chartiers Valley Middle School celebrates ‘Schools to Watch’ honor
Chartiers Valley Middle School students, an auditorium full of them, couldn’t help but laugh when a certain accomplished alumnus admitted: “If I could go back to eighth grade — I wouldn’t.” Former Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto took a more serious tone in acknowledging the difficulties faced by youngsters as they...
Municipality eyes taking over school properties in Bethel Park
With Bethel Park School District planning to close its elementary buildings by 2026, the municipality seeks ownership of two of the properties. The impetus is to preserve the land at Benjamin Franklin and George Washington schools for recreational purposes and green space, according to Tim Moury, municipal council president. “We...
Chartiers Valley Class of ’23 graduates with sense of optimism
Optimism abounds at high school graduations, as each year’s seniors look forward to receiving their diplomas while well-wishing family members and friends prepare to applaud. For those attending Chartiers Valley High School’s May 31 commencement, speeches by three particularly eloquent members of the Class of 2023 buoyed the overall sense...
‘Big cause of education’: Run in Plum benefits Fund for Advancement of Minorities
Considering that he runs one 5-kilometer event a year, Darryl Wiley conceded that his latest effort might not land him in the winner’s circle. “I’ll see you at the finish line,” he told fellow runners prior to the start of a June 11 race in Boyce Park. “I’m not going...
Verona supports Active People, Healthy Nation initiative
Verona joined a growing number of municipalities to pledge support for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Active People, Healthy Nation initiative. During their June 13 meeting, council members Dr. Nancy Carpenter, Red Craig, Trish Hredzak-Showalter and Sylvia Provenza took turns reading a proclamation that “recognizes the importance...
Bethel Park student’s work ethic pays off with musical opportunities
Forgoing the typical student’s summer vacation is par for singer Clara McGough’s course. “She practices all the time,” her mother, Julie, attested. “She doesn’t have a lunch at school. Instead, she takes a study hall, which is her practice period.” With the conclusion of Bethel Park High School’s academic year,...
Acoustics in the Park comes to Hartwood Acres
For the Hartwood Acres concert in Allegheny County’s new Acoustics in the Park series, the featured musician is a singer who grew up nearby. Aspinwall native Katie Simone will perform at 7 p.m. June 21 in Hartwood’s Sculpture Garden, accompanied by guitarist Mark Lucas. “This gig for the county at...
Speakers provide Riverview grads with encouragement
When he graduated from Riverview High School in 2007, Jack Craig knew exactly what he wanted for a career. Exactly one semester into college, he decided that his lifelong goal of being a zookeeper wasn’t for him. Actually, a clue in that regard may have come earlier. “My Riverview claim...
Singer-songwriter Jeff Black brings wealth of work to Hampton
He may have racked up decades’ worth of accolades for his songwriting and performing prowess, but Jeff Black likes to keep touring simple. “I just usually throw my guitar and my mandolin in the van, and I take off and I go,” he said. “Sometimes I have a banjo with...
Home is where the car is: Search for Vintage Grand Prix racer ends in North Hills
When Caliente Pizza & Draft House took on sponsorship of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix’s International Car Show, the next logical step was to enter a vehicle in the nation’s largest vintage street race. “We were thinking about building one,” Hampton resident Perry Bogacz said. “And we also were looking...
‘Always our dream’: Gateway robotics advances to world championship after winning regionally
They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that applies to convention centers. Picture the one in Monroeville, which seems sizable enough at 100,000 square feet. Now multiply that by 18 and try to visualize the scope of Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center. Gateway High School student Prince Sadam...
Grads’ speeches inspire at Gateway commencement
Midway through her Gateway High School Commencement welcome address, Juliana Guido had to pause. “I didn’t think I was going to cry,” she said. But the subject matter merited tears. “I think it’s appropriate to take a moment to remind all of my fellow classmates on this field with me...
Valedictorian of Aquinas Academy in Hampton inspires Class of ’23
As a prelude to her May 27 valedictory address, Hampton resident Maryam Bou Samra provided a disclaimer for her classmates: “If you think you see me crying at any point when I give my speech, I’m definitely not. It’s probably just something in my eye.” Other members of the Class...
Late master of ceremonies honored at Oakmont-Verona Memorial Day Program
In 2022, longtime Oakmont-Verona Memorial Day Program master of ceremonies Russell Truby asked U.S. Army Maj. Dimitri Facaros to provide remarks. “He had the idea that I come last year, and I couldn’t make it based on a work conflict,” Facaros said while serving as featured speaker for this year’s...
Oakmont celebrates new EV chargers
People have plenty of reasons to visit Oakmont, and assistant borough manager Phyllis Anderson struck up a recent conversation with folks who stopped by in their electric vehicle. “They were from out of town,” she said. “They saw on the map that we have charging stations. “So yes, we put...
Recent Plum grads show ‘High Q’ smarts
See how you do in coming up with six-letter answers for these prompts: “She played Hermione Granger in the ‘Harry Potter’ movies.” “This Anne was Henry VIII’s second wife.” “A common truck engine is named for this German inventor.” Those are examples of what a trio of then-Plum Senior High...
Impactful art: Class of ’23 grads leave lasting impressions in Monroeville
If you wonder what students in the 1960s possibly could have in common with today’s youngsters, a new mural at Gateway’s Ramsey Elementary School provides an answer. “Everybody loves Snoopy,” artist Hannah Gresock said. “And when I was in the hallway painting it, every kid was like, ‘Is that Snoopy...
Rain or shine, Tuesday is farm market day in Bethel Park
The Bethel Park Farmers’ Market is supposed to take place rain or shine. For the 2023 season, opening day provided the precipitation. And the following Tuesday supplied the sun. “Today more than makes up for last week,” market manager Lindsey Sibert said amid ideal conditions on May 9. “We’re hoping...
South West Regional Chamber honors visionaries
What now is called the South West Regional Chamber of Commerce was somewhat nomadic in the 1980s. Civil engineer Richard Kasmer, who served as chamber president for two years and was on the board of directors for 24, recalls meeting on the upper floors of a Bridgeville bank and dental...
