James Engel stories, Page 3

Allegheny Valley School Board members haven’t come to a consensus on students’ cellphone access and use in district schools. A debate came Tuesday night after Superintendent Patrick Graczyk recommended the district continue its current policy this school year, which allows cellphones to be used in areas like the hallway or...

Springdale Council has passed a public comment policy that sets new rules for potential speakers at borough meetings. The policy allows only residents and taxpayers of Springdale to take the podium. Each speaker also now has a three-minute time limit during comment periods at the beginning and end of meetings....

Students in Plum School District returned to the classroom on Wednesday for the beginning of the 2025-26 school year. Several pupils at Pivik Elementary School, which hosts kindergarteners through fourth graders, sprinted off the bus in anticipation. Over the summer, the district began planned improvements at Plum Middle School and...

Springdale Council is considering a new policy that would place parameters on public comment at meetings, as officials review plans for a massive data center in the borough. The policy would set a three-minute time limit on each speaker during comment periods at the beginning and end of meetings. It...

A new auto garage specializing in window tints and vinyl wrapping is set to open in Plum in September. Located at 7993 Saltsburg Road at Unit I, Mr. Tint PGH will offer commercial, residential and auto tints as well as customized wraps and coatings for cars, according to owner Eric...

After a summerlong closure, longtime Plum staple Nesbit’s Lanes reopened this week. The reopening offered bowlers their first glimpse of the bowling alley, which was completely renovated and redesigned after 78 years in business. Anthony Tierno, who bought the business from Rich Nesbit last year, said the changes included new...

Fear that her future in volleyball could be at risk was at least one reason the victim of alleged sexual assaults by a teacher and former coach did not report the incidents earlier, court records suggest. Jared Lampus, 50, of Buffalo Township was arrested Friday and accused of a bevy...

Workers laid down artificial turf Friday at the site of what is set to become the Springdale Dynamos’ new athletic home field. The field, across Butler Road from Springdale Jr.-Sr. High School, will host Allegheny Valley football and soccer this fall as well as track and field in the spring....

A constant livestream in the heart of Pennsylvania’s elk country has restarted as the species begins its mating season, called the elk rut. The Pennsylvania Game Commission announced Friday it had powered up its video and audio stream of an area near Elk State Forest and State Gamelands 311 for...

Allegheny Valley teachers and staff will have an additional safety tool this school year. On their first day back district employees will receive training to use Centegix’s CrisisAlert panic button system. The system will add a credit-card sized badge into the lanyards or clips that employees already wear, according to...

Plum School Board voted on Tuesday, Aug. 12 to hire two new principals about a week before the first day of school. Colleen Pegher joins the district as assistant principal at Plum High School, and Rachel Lintelman takes over as assistant principal at Plum Middle School. Pegher previously served 11...

In the face of fierce community opposition, the Buffalo Township supervisors gave developers the green light Wednesday for two controversial solar farms. After a summerlong discussion and two delayed votes, supervisors opted 4-1 to allow Atlanta-based SolAmerica to install solar arrays on an 81-acre spot off Bear Creek Road and...

Neighbors have filed three new lawsuits against several companies just ahead of the two-year anniversary of a house explosion in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood that killed six and caused damage throughout the housing plan. The suits, filed throughout early August, come after family members of those killed in the blast...

After a summerlong controversy surrounding two proposed solar farms, Buffalo Township supervisors are expected to cast a final vote to approve or reject the projects at their meeting Wednesday night. A vote already has been delayed twice. The first holdup happened in June after a group of residents opposed to...

Anthony Tierno said he’s hoping Aug. 18 will mark the beginning of a “new era” at Nesbit’s Lanes in Plum. That’s the date the 78-year-old bowling alley is set to reopen. The alley has been shuttered since May for renovations to its interiors and repairs to its roof after a...

After Springdale Police were called to check on two dogs at a home in the borough, officers said, they discovered not only a pair of animals covered in urine and feces without food and water, but also a large cache of marijuana. That netted Joshua Pawlak, 35, two felony counts...

Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad officials told South Buffalo residents that a wooden bridge that provides one of two access points to the township’s Clinton neighborhood will likely remain closed at least until October. That’s after crews abruptly closed the 115-year-old bridge, which carries Clinton Road over railroad tracks, with large...

The man charged with robbing a Bloomfield bank on Thursday had been ordered to stay away from financial institutions after his arrest four months earlier on a similar crime. Police said Aaron Roth brandished a revolver at a Chase Bank in Shadyside in April and made off with $500. Roth,...

Brian Regli thinks folks in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the Pittsburgh region in general should embrace the idea of data centers. The data center he’s pushing for in Springdale, he said, may only be the beginning of a much larger current in Western Pennsylvania. As consultant for the proposed center’s...

Here are some of the latest news items happening this morning, Thursday, Aug. 7: Two men shot in North Braddock vehicle Just before 12:30 a.m., police received reports of a shooting in North Braddock. The incident reportedly took place at the 400 block of Seddon Avenue. Soon after, police were...

Police say one man is dead after being shot by two officers late Wednesday evening in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield neighborhood. Around 10:15 p.m., Pittsburgh Police arrived at the 4100 block of Murray Avenue for a reported domestic disturbance, according to police. After being directed inside a residence, police said the officers...

Springdale residents got their first look at a proposed massive data center at the site of the former Cheswick Generating Station on Wednesday. At a well-attended planning commission meeting, representatives from the site’s land developer, Allegheny DC Property Co. LLC, presented their preliminary plans for what could be a massive...

Plum Borough School District students and visitors will be greeted by a new set of weapons detection systems in the district this school year. According to Plum Assistant Superintendent Ashley Boyers, the district has recently purchased two additional OpenGate weapons detection units, similar to the ones used at professional sports...

When firefighters arrived at the Deer Creek Boat Ramp in Harmar on Monday, it wasn’t a boat they found in the Allegheny River. The crews instead found a white Chevy Colorado pickup mostly submerged in the water, according to Allegheny Valley Fire Chief Jay Zangrille. The driver, who escaped without...

Allegheny County Police said they are investigating a shooting Monday night in McKees Rocks that left one man wounded. Around 10 p.m., first responders located a man on the 900 block of Gray Street who had sustained a gunshot wound to the leg. He was transported to an area hospital...