Janet Surma stories

This is part of an ongoing series highlighting Signature Dishes at locally owned restaurants in the region. See Trib Total Media’s new online directory of restaurants, Dine Local, at dinelocal.triblive.com. A combination of four different fish is incorporated into a single, housemade seafood linguine dish at Villa Ballanca in Lower...

Alle-Kiski Valley churches will be filling its pews on Sunday after not being able to hold in-person Easter services last year. Many churches had to resort to online streaming to deliver sermons during the 2020 Easter holiday. This year, church members can be present for Sunday’s worship where many will...

Authorities are investigating what caused a fire Tuesday afternoon at Siemianowski Funeral Home in West Deer. The fire was reported around 12:50 p.m. Volunteer fire departments including ones from West Deer and Rural Ridge responded. “We’re not sure how it started or where the origin of ignition is,” said West...

A peer-based suicide prevention program is being brought to Deer Lakes School District. Hope Squad, founded in Utah over 15 years ago, has a mission to prevent suicide through public awareness and education, reduce stigma, and serve as a resource to those touched by suicide. In March 2019, Deer Lakes...

Deer Lakes Middle School Student Council will hold an Easter Pop Up Shop fundraiser on Saturday afternoon. Student council members will be selling decorative Easter bags filled with candy and a scented pencil at the front entrance of Deer Lakes Middle School on East Union Road from 1 to 3...

The movies are returning to the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer. The mall’s theater will reopen under new management Wednesday. GQT Movies is replacing Cinemark, which closed the theater nearly a year ago. Six of the theater’s 18 screens will be up and running on opening day, while another three...

A Deer Lakes senior entered a national greeting card contest, and her uplifting message during the covid pandemic is striking a chord with the public. Annika Stankowski created her card design as a source of hope and motivation. Her artfully hand-drawn card includes an assortment of flowers and words of...

A New Kensington man became unresponsive earlier this month after police said he tried to swallow a bag of heroin while being arrested and the bag broke open. Stacey O’Neal Jr., 31, faces a handful of felony charges, including possession with intent to deliver drugs and two counts each of...

Deer Lakes School District began offering full-time, in-person instruction again last week. The school board voted in February to eliminate the hybrid approach that had been in place, leaving families a choice between full-time, in-person instruction or fully remote instruction for their child. Deer Lakes now has 1,324 students receiving...

Springdale’s Amanda Monnich is uniquely qualified to provide online classes teaching people how to decorate freshly baked sugar cookies. Formerly a teacher with cyber-school experience, Monnich, 31, became inspired to run her cookie business full-time after taking a cookie-decorating class in 2019. “It was just a fun hobby, and now,...

After clearing two parking spaces in front of his house free from snow, a Springdale man assaulted his neighbor for parking his truck in one of them, according to police. David Mann, 38, is facing charges including simple assault, strangulation and disorderly conduct. As of yesterday, he was arrested and...

Arlind Karpuzi was elected to the West Deer Board of Supervisors when he was 21 and became its chairman at 23. Karpuzi, now 25, brought a different perspective that, among other things, led the township to create a text-messaging service for residents to receive township updates. The move made the...

Deer Lakes School Board narrowly approved offering in-person instruction to students five days a week in a move that will eliminate the hybrid model now in place. Following a 5-3 vote to approve to change, Superintendent Janell Logue-Belden said she would meet with administration and staff to determine when the...

Deer Lakes School Board is expected to consider a possible return to full-time, in-person instruction when it meets Tuesday. Last week, the district temporarily closed East Union Intermediate Center and Deer Lakes Middle School after multiple people tested positive for covid-19 at the respective schools. At a meeting last Tuesday,...

While an electric Tesla SUV may seem like a luxury, Duster Funeral Home in Tarentum’s most recent vehicle purchase is actually a big step toward “going green.” The funeral home has set in motion a five-year plan to create an eco-friendly facility. The plan includes eliminating air pollutants by replacing...

The West Deer supervisors are studying whether the township’s nearly 70-year-old municipal building needs to be upgraded, expanded or replaced with a new one. West Deer’s township office complex, built in 1952, is located on East Union Road. West Deer Supervisor Chairman Arlind Karpuzi wants a study done to determine...

Don’t worry about the snow and frigid temperatures — conditions for baseball and softball are perfect at a new indoor training facility in New Kensington’s Pittsburgh Ice Arena. BB Sports Baseball & Softball opened Monday with several 50-minute training sessions for groups of local players. An open house at the...

Five Deer Lakes School District employees and students have tested positive for covid-19 in the past week, the district reported Thursday. Those infected include two staff members and one student at East Union Intermediate Center and two students at Deer Lakes Middle School, the district said. Deer Lakes has recorded...

A missing girl found in a car with three men during a traffic stop Sunday night in Tarentum told police the men had forced her to use drugs, drink alcohol and have sex with them, according to criminal complaints filed against the men. Police said the girl told them she...

Deer Lakes youth sports teams will now have a home at two of West Deer’s parks. The township approved annual leases to each association. The Deer Lakes youth baseball, softball, football, soccer and lacrosse associations were approved for almost identical leases at Bairdford Park and Nike Site Park. The leases...