Harry Funk stories, Page 23
Monroeville resident earns national, regional performing awards
First came a series of auditions for potential colleges. Then Kylie Edwards’ senior year at Gateway High School started, with major roles in a pair of theatrical productions on the horizon. As graduation approached, she turned in an award-winning performance in Pittsburgh. And after having earned her cap and gown,...
Scaling Seven Summits: CEO’s climbs raise money toward providing free hearing aids
Scaling North America’s tallest peak is difficult enough without temporarily losing a vital means of communication. “You’re on this rope, and you can’t talk to anybody because you have to be separated on the rope,” Julie Beall-McKelvey said. “In case one of you falls, you can’t be right next to...
Plum student goes for Girl Scout Gold
While they’re not quite like Olympic medals, Girl Scouts of the USA does have its Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. And Mackenzie Kmonk is about to wrap up the trifecta. Prior to entering 11th grade at Plum Senior High School, Mackenzie has spent part of her summer conducting a free...
Taxing situation: examining Hampton Township School District’s 2022-23 budget
The start of Hampton Township School District’s fiscal year means that tax bills have been mailed to local property owners. For the majority of them, what they owe this year is more than what they paid in 2021, primarily because of a 0.69-mill increase in the real estate tax rate...
Hot Wheels: Glass center’s demonstration van comes to Monroeville
The temperature rose to the neighborhood of 2,150 degrees Fahrenheit. “At least ideally, that’s where we want it,” Rob Warden said. “Once the glass goes below a thousand, it will break. So we call a thousand cold.” He and fellow artist Chris Ross arrived at Monroeville Public Library on July...
Vegan expo attracts healthy crowd to Monroeville Convention Center
Empty parking spots were difficult to find outside Monroeville Convention Center’s North Hall on the afternoon of July 16, demonstrating that what Amy Cotrill began in the 1990s has come a long way. The occasion was the Original Pittsburgh Vegan Expo and Festival, a multicultural showcase for plant-based food and...
Operation Dignity honors unclaimed veterans at National Cemetery of the Alleghenies
The number of U.S. military veterans who cremated remains are unclaimed runs into the tens of thousands, and probably a whole lot more. Fifteen were given a proper sendoff during July 15 ceremonies in Westmoreland and Washington counties, culminating with their being laid to rest at the National Cemetery of...
Bethel Park market includes particularly healthy option
With apologies to Popeye, the road to eating healthfully isn’t as smooth as simply gulping some soggy greens. “No one is asking anyone to just drop everything and start eating spinach,” Asanté Bierria said. “That’s not realistic, and that’s not how it should go. You’re putting too much pressure on...
Famous Ribs restaurant opens in Collier
The promise of good food knows no boundaries, including state lines. “I have actually made the trek out to Weirton to partake in some Dee Jay’s wings, and they did not disappoint,” Devlin Robinson said. “They were definitely worth the drive.” The state Senator from Bridgeville made the acknowledgment prior...
Veteran pilots discuss ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ after screening in Collier
Watching “Top Gun: Maverick” must be an experience that hits close to home for alumni of the U.S. Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program. That’s the formal name what usually is called TOPGUN, the Navy’s school for flight officers in Fallon, Nev. Crafton native Evan Werner has been there and...
Collier music teacher celebrates 1st anniversary of studio
Ask youngsters about their favorite songs, and the answers are likely to be nursery rhymes or something they heard in a Disney movie. You may not expect Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Ronda Alla Turca.” The section of a sonata composed in 1783 made the top-two list of Becki Lewis’ three-year-old daughter,...
Bethel Park lacrosse coach focuses on players’ mental health
A casual observer simply may see teenage girls playing lacrosse Their coach tends to view a world of possibilities that transcends sports. “This is the future,” Becky Luzier said. “We’re looking at the ability to change every ill that exists in our society on this field right now, because someday...
Kerr Memorial Museum in Oakmont marks 20 years
A building at the corner of Oakmont’s Delaware Avenue and Fourth Street holds special memories for borough resident Jane Foster. “I had Virginia Kerr as a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher,” she said about the woman who lived there her entire life. “She was a friend of our family, because my...
Plum library program focuses on Bogart, Bacall
Among the true-life love stories that emerged from Hollywood was the unlikely pairing of a married actor in his mid-40s with a teenager making her first movie. Yet Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall worked as a couple. “Even though their ages were so different and their time together was really...
Escape the ordinary with Puzzle Room, Primal Pigment in Verona
Mix Jackson Pollock with Jimi Hendrix, plus a touch of Peter Max and Pink Floyd, and you get the general idea of what Jessica Dancisin calls “Pittsburgh’s one-of-a-kind blacklight splatter-paint experience.” Actually, the music pumped into Primal Pigment is customers’ choice. But the glow of the gobs of liquid that...
Blue sky greets return of Hampton Community Day
As had been the case with countless events, Hampton Community Day was waylaid by covid for two years. In planning to resume the extravaganza for 2022, organizers hoped that the coast would be clear as far as health considerations and, of course, the weather would cooperate. Their wishes came true...
Motorists gas up in Monroeville for $2.38 per gallon
To answer the question of how to handle motorists who are itching to gas up at less than half the going rate: “It’s like a well-oiled machine.” Certainly, Ashley Klingensmith, state director for Americans for Prosperity, couldn’t have said it better. But seriously, the process of offering regular unleaded for...
Stars, stripes align for Monroeville Independence Day celebration
After a two-year absence, the stars aligned — stripes, too! — for the return of the annual Monroeville Independence Day Parade. Under a blue sky, with the temperature well into the red and white teeth gleaming from myriad smiles, parade observers started to gather well before the 9 a.m. start,...
Hampton hosts Food Truck Day every other Wednesday
The lamb gyro was fantastic. So reported Hampton resident Shane Cowoski after he and his wife, Millie, enjoyed dinner from the eatery Pittsburgh Halal. And they didn’t have to venture too far from home. From 3 to 7 p.m. every other Wednesday, Food Truck Day is featured in the side...
Sight On Scene: Plum firm’s software enhances school safety
Essential to handling an emergency is accounting for everyone involved. Thanks to a Plum software development firm, responsible parties have a new tool to do so in a particularly effective manner. B-Three Solutions’ Sight On Scene application — yes, the acronym is SOS — offers an array of features with...
Former police chief’s badge, other possessions return to Bethel Park
For what probably amounted to decades, a woman on the West Coast had been in possession of family heirlooms that came from Bethel Park. More accurately, the aged gun holsters, identification card and silver badge originated in what then was Bethel Township, by way of her stepfamily. Whatever the case,...
Gothic Celt: Allison Park singer brings history, mysticism to music
If you think fairy tales are for kids, try reading the originals. Singer Tiffany Apan’s affinity for the work of Danish author Hans Christian inspired the lyrics for her latest single, the somewhat ironically titled “Lullaby.” “It’s ‘The Match Girl’ and the non-Disneyized ‘Little Mermaid.’ It’s a lot darker than...
Hampton’s Murder By Book Club celebrates 10th anniversary
Here’s a mystery: Why don’t more people read mysteries? At least, that’s what members of the Hampton Community Library-based Murder By the Book Club probably wonder as they delve into their latest whodunit. For a decade now, starting with “Mirror Image” by Dennis Palumbo in June 2012, the group has...
‘Be on the lookout!’: Bear sighted in Plum neighborhood
Let’s say that she or he was, uh, bear-ly noticeable. Following what probably were a series of double takes and/or rubbings of eyes, several Plum residents were quick to grab their smartphones to photograph an unexpected mid-June visitor. An ursine character of undetermined gender, at least from a layman’s cursory...
Art students follow in South Fayette teacher’s footsteps
Students enjoy hearing encouragement from their teachers, even if it comes with more than a hint of humility. “When they grow up, they’ll be much better than I am,” Selva Priya Sahadevan said. “Even now, I see kids doing much better than me.” Yes, her Priya Arts students tend to...
