Harry Funk stories, Page 15
Music of the Heart: Event at Duquesne University showcases talent, behavioral health progress
Coming up is a concert with a cause that transcends entertainment. Not only do performers in the 13th annual Music of the Heart Recital have the chance to display their talents, they can demonstrate how participating in the Wesley Family Services Creative Arts Program has helped them overcome social, communicative...
Talent abounds at Bethel Park Arts Fest
Amid the dazzling array of artwork on display at Bethel Park High School was a graphite drawing that was on its way to a new home in Washington, D.C. Beginning in June, senior Tatum Brown’s “Canaries in the Coal Mine” will be exhibited at the U.S. Capitol for a year...
Bethel Park students meet auditor general, learn financial literacy at JA BizTown
Say you encounter an offer for a credit card that boasts a 0% introductory annual percentage rate for the first 12 months after opening an account. Oh, and the rate increases to between 18% and 29%, based on your creditworthiness, at the end of that year. Do you take the...
Bethel Park students help complete tree planting at Miners Memorial Park
Students in Bethel Park High School’s first-year environmental club helped complete a municipal Shade Tree Commission project at Miners Memorial Park. They also learned some relevant lessons, including best practices for mulching, their main activity for April 21, the day before Earth Day. “If you can just keep this in...
200 years of beer: Author shares Allegheny County’s brewing history
Milwaukee’s nickname may be Brew City, but the title just as well could apply to another town. “I know Pittsburgh had more breweries,” Richard Ober said, and he’s done the research to prove it. With “200 Years of Brewing in Allegheny County,” Ober and co-author Robert Musson compiled a comprehensive...
Proposed Hampton school budget includes real estate tax increase
A 0.86-mill real estate tax increase of is included in the proposed final 2023-24 budget, as approved unanimously on May 8 by Hampton Township School Board. The increase, projected to generate an extra $1.56 million for the school district, is necessary to help revenues meet an anticipated $61.51 million in...
Depreciation Lands Museum in Hampton celebrates 50 years
In 1973, a group of Hampton history buffs launched an effort to preserve and re-create the past at the Pine Creek Covenanter Church, built about 1837. On May 21, the community is invited to celebrate the golden anniversary of what became the Depreciation Lands Museum, with special activities planned from...
‘Not just one size fits all’: Autism Employment Network provides opportunities in Monroeville, other locations
For anyone who thinks people stopped taking pride in their work, meet Robert Hester. “You happen to have popped in on me at the same time I’m going to make my 100th package,” he told a recent visitor to his Monroeville Mall workplace, as Hester and a colleague placed a...
‘I want to see people reading’: Couple add to Plum’s Little Free Library offerings
Plum’s latest Little Free Library comes courtesy of a former teacher with a simple mission: “I want to see people reading.” In other words, Janice Murphy would like to encourage folks to share her interest. “I just love to read,” she said. “If I don’t have a book going, I...
Hampton Township School District addresses gap between revenues, expenditures
Even with implanting a real estate tax increase to the legal limit, Hampton Township School District faced a gap of nearly $287,000 between anticipated revenues and expenditures for 2023-24, according to information presented at an April 24 school board meeting. The district can raise the tax by up to 4.1%...
Monroeville conservation project among Allegheny Land Trust’s 30th-anniversary efforts
Allegheny Land Trust is marking its 30th anniversary by continuing to increase the amount of regional area dedicated to remaining green. The Sewickley-based nonprofit’s efforts include the Gateway Woods Conservation Project, which seeks to conserve 124 acres of forested land in Monroeville on a permanent basis. “It will connect with...
‘Worked together well’: Complementary styles spell Riverview success
In the world of Riverview School District sports, Sara Kirsch claims to be the yin to Jill Catanzaro’s yang. Or maybe it’s vice versa. Whatever the case, the two women bring leadership styles that turned out to be complementary as they combined to coach almost all the female athletes at...
Monroeville resident helps others through philanthropy, publishing company
In Kenya’s capital city is a school named after Monroeville resident John Stanko. “The African way is they do that to honor you,” he explained. “I don’t own it. I don’t have any say in it. But I’ve said, ‘If my name can help you, use it.’” Over the past...
Paper, not plastic: Students decorate Earth Day bags for Monroeville, Pitcairn stores
After unpacking their groceries, certain shoppers in Gateway School District may want to save the bags as keepsakes. Students at Dr. Cleveland Steward Jr. Elementary School spent an afternoon using their artistic abilities to decorate 500 brown paper bags with environmentally friendly images and messages. The bags will be delivered...
Chamber welcomes businesses to Collier
To put her pair of oversized scissors to use, South West Regional Chamber of Commerce executive director Mandi Pryor didn’t have to go far. In fact, an April 19 ceremonial ribbon cutting for a company’s relocated headquarters took place just outside the chamber office, where Contact One Communications is a...
North Pittsburgh Symphonic Band wraps up concert season
When his students learn that Sean Desguin actually plays an instrument, they often are surprised. As Hampton Township School District’s elementary band director — he serves in several other music-related capacities, too — Desguin normally is instructing and leading, rather than performing. But he has that latter opportunity through his...
Bethel Park kids pick favorite books in public-school library collaboration
Today’s Bethel Park first-graders won’t be eligible to vote for another dozen years or so. But thanks to a guest hosted by Washington Elementary School librarian Becky Minella, a class full of youngsters knows what the word “ballot” means. “You’re going to circle your favorite one, and then you’re going...
Parkway West CTC students’ artwork headed for space
The image practically was ubiquitous during the summer of 1969. An eagle, the national bird of the United States, carries an olive branch symbolizing peace as it touches down on the cratered surface of the moon, with three-quarters of the earth across the blackness of space in the background. Members...
Designer Bag Bingo: Sold-out fundraiser benefits revived Friends of Bethel Park Library
The big names were on the table at Bethel Park Community Center: Vera Bradley, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Patricia Nash. And of course, Coach. The game was Designer Bag Bingo, and a sold-out house of players tried their luck on April 16 in the first fundraising event for the rejuvenated...
Chill Mobile returns to Chartiers Valley
Picture yourself in a placid forest, surrounded by the sounds of songbirds, a breeze and babbling brook. Students at Chartiers Valley High School had the opportunity to relax amid a grove of trees without having to board a bus for a field trip or, in fact, exit the school’s parking...
New toys provided for Monroeville fire victims
Santa Claus arrived either eight months early or four months late, depending on your point of view. Actually, representatives of Allegheny Valley Marine Corps League Detachment 827 and the American Red Cross played the role of St. Nick in delivering toys on April 10. The gifts were for young victims...
Youngsters help prepare Verona Community Garden for season
Year 2 of the Verona Community Garden has begun. With the weather fully cooperating, a group of youngsters gathered on April 11 to help launch planting season in the former vacant lot at West Railroad and Allegheny avenues. Students of ARCH, Academics and Recreation for Christian Homeschoolers, assisted by tilling...
Monroeville works on updating 39-year-old zoning ordinance
Monroeville has functioned under the same zoning ordinance since 1984. Although it has been amended substantially since, officials are pursuing a consolidated update that contains an abundance of details and addresses various situations that have cropped up during the past 39 years. “Our current ordinance is under a hundred pages....
Two-plus tons of recyclable metal benefits Bethel Park school
A new generation is learning all about the importance of environmental stewardship. And according to Bethel Park fourth-grader Abby Burke, plenty of people her age are planning to continue to do all they can on behalf of the earth. She is a member of George Washington Elementary School’s Green Team,...
Monroeville addresses proposed zoning ordinance
While the draft form of a revised and updated zoning ordinance in Monroeville contains more than 400 pages, parts of the document addressing a particular topic are drawing practically all the public’s attention. Residents and property owners in Monroeville and nearby communities oppose provisions that would allow for extraction of...
