Kellen Stepler stories, Page 54
Proposed Lower Burrell budget has no tax increase, more money for firefighters
Lower Burrell’s proposed budget for 2024 includes no property tax increase for city residents and landowners. And, thanks to royalties from gas drilling at Burrell Lake Park, the city intends to provide additional funding to its volunteer fire departments. “What I’m going to propose today is that we got some...
Prospect of $4 million a year for trash collection leaves New Kensington seeking new bids
The prospect of paying nearly $4 million a year for curbside trash collection — more than four times what it currently costs — has New Kensington officials holding their noses. At a special meeting Tuesday, council members rejected a trash collection bid from County Hauling and authorized the city’s clerk...
Judge sets protocol for upcoming Springdale power plant site visit
The judge presiding over the Springdale injunction case has established ground rules before a site visit at the former power plant there, as a decision on imploding the plant’s boiler house is pending. An order written by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge John T. McVay Jr. outlines the protocol before...
November date set for West Deer well pad public hearing
West Deer supervisors have set a Nov. 9 public hearing date for another proposed deep well in Bairdford. Cecil Township-based Olympus Energy is looking to build the Tyche well pad at 201 Bairdford Road, west of the Pittsburgh National Golf Club. The property is zoned rural residential. If approved, it...
Upper Burrell supervisors to consider township’s 5th well pad proposal
Upper Burrell residents can weigh in on the township’s fifth proposed well pad next month. A public hearing for the Artemis well pad, which would be at 931 Merwin Road, will follow the Nov. 1 supervisors meeting, said supervisors Chairman Ross Walker. Olympus Energy of Cecil Township is seeking approval...
Cope, Felack on ballot for New Kensington-Arnold School Board seat
The only contested race in the New Kensington-Arnold School Board election this fall will pit an incumbent board member against a state representative’s legislative aide in the district’s Region 3. Incumbent board member and retired teacher John Cope and Eric Felack, a legislative aide for state Rep. Abby Major, will...
Man shot in New Kensington, airlifted to hospital
A middle aged man was shot in New Kensington on Thursday afternoon, according to police. About 3:30 p.m., police blocked off the 1000 block of Kenneth Avenue for a shooting. A landing zone was set up at Valley High School. Investigators at the scene directed all inquiries to the Westmoreland...
Springdale residents add Sunshine Act violation claim to reasons for stopping power plant implosion
Plaintiffs in the Springdale injunction case filed a motion in court Wednesday alleging that the issuing of a demolition permit for the former Cheswick Generating Station violated the state’s Sunshine Act. The complaint, filed by attorney John Kane, claims the violation is sufficient to block the implosion of the power...
Apparent demolition permit confusion leads Springdale Council to review policies
While recognizing a demolition permit was issued for the former Cheswick Generating Station, Springdale Council on Tuesday said it needs to review its policies for such permits. Council discussed the permitting process for the demolition at the former power plant, which included the two smokestacks that were imploded in June...
Springdale zoning officer, council members testify in power plant’s boiler house implosion case
The plant manager of the former Cheswick Generating Station in Springdale, Springdale’s zoning officer and two council members testified Tuesday as the injunction hearing to block an implosion at the boiler house continued in court. Last month, 16 Springdale residents filed an injunction to block the demolition of the boiler...
Demolition company president, contractor testify in Springdale injunction case
A prepared implosion of the boiler house at the former Cheswick Generating Station in Springdale is the safest way to take down the structure, the president of Controlled Demolition Inc. testified Monday. Mark Loizeaux, president of CDI, testified before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge John T. McVay Jr. as part...
Armstrong, Conley seek Upper Burrell supervisor seat
An incumbent and a newcomer are seeking a seat on Upper Burrell’s board of supervisors. Cari Armstrong, 40, and Mike Conley, 60, are running for township supervisor in the Nov. 7 election. The position is a six-year term. Armstrong, a Democrat, works as an end-of-life doula. An end-of-life doula is...
Building the Valley: Lower Burrell bookstore owner shares love of reading with community
The story of Karen Watkins’ business isn’t ending anytime soon. In fact, it’s starting a new chapter. Watkins, 52, of Lower Burrell owns The Last Word bookstore along Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell. She held a grand reopening of the store Sept. 15. “I’m here. I’m open. I will be...
2 charged in scuffle at Dollar General in Springdale
Springdale police say a fight between two men last week at Dollar General led to one dispatching pepper spray at the other, causing the store to be evacuated. On Thursday, police charged William Stephen Korbe, 59, of Cheswick and Donald William Brownlee, 64, of Springdale with simple assault and disorderly...
Testimony to resume in injunction case over boiler house implosion in Springdale
The court case to block the implosion of the boiler house at the former Cheswick Generating Station in Springdale is expected to resume Monday. Last month, 16 Springdale residents filed an injunction against the companies that were scheduled to perform the implosion at the site. The boiler house was scheduled...
Arson suspect heads to court; ‘not the type of person we want in the fire department’
Andrew Bischof, the former Arnold volunteer firefighter charged with arson in connection with four fires in Arnold and New Kensington earlier this month, waived his preliminary hearing Thursday morning before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. Police accuse Bischof, 21, of setting four houses on fire the weekend of Sept....
LCB grants East Deer noise exemption for concerts at Pittsburgh Brewing plant
Pennsylvania’s Liquor Control Board has granted East Deer’s request for the township to enforce its own noise ordinance, as a concert venue at Pittsburgh Brewing Co. plans to open next summer. East Deer established its own noise ordinance in June and sought the exemption from the LCB because of Pittsburgh...
Peck Yakopec, Zellers to vie for district judge seat
Vandergrift attorney Leslie Uncapher Zellers and Cheryl Peck Yakopec, the incumbent judge, will again appear on the ballot for magisterial district justice in northwestern Westmoreland County. Magisterial District 10-1-04 includes Lower Burrell, Upper Burrell, Allegheny Township, Vandergrift, Hyde Park, East Vandergrift, West Leechburg and Oklahoma Borough. In the May primary,...
Harmar police charge homeless man with threatening to kill officers
A homeless man is accused by Harmar police of threatening to fight and shoot officers after they responded to a disturbance call at a township hotel. David James Land, 48, was charged with terroristic threats, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. Officers were dispatched to the Marriott hotel at...
Attorney: Charges withdrawn against Springdale woman for not cutting grass since June implosion of smokestacks
The attorney for a Springdale woman who lives across from the former Cheswick Generating Station says the woman didn’t cut her grass because, if she did, it would reexpose arsenic and other toxins from the June 2 implosion of the plant’s smokestacks. Brittni Bair, 33, received two summary offenses in...
Springdale man charged after police say he threatened neighbors, officers
A Springdale man faces criminal charges after, police say, he threatened to fight officers and his neighbors. William Vokes II, 23, faces three counts of terroristic threats — one of which is a felony count— and one count each of vandalism, resisting arrest, defiant trespass, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness,...
Ideas sought for Springdale Township and East Deer river trail
An Oct. 16 meeting has been scheduled for the public to learn more about a proposed trail that would run through Springdale Township and East Deer. The Friends of the Riverfront will hold the public meeting on the Springdale-East Deer segment of the trail. The trail portion will begin where...
Pittsburgh Mills mall owner optimistic about property’s future, but mum on details, after averting sheriff’s sale
After paying off millions in delinquent assessment fees for the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer, owner Namdar Realty Group says it’s looking forward to the mall’s future but, so far, hasn’t said what that future will be. The Mills mall was scheduled for sheriff’s sale last week, but Namdar paid...
Girardi, Karaica seek Lower Valley district judge seat
The former presidents of Springdale and Cheswick borough councils will square off in their pursuit of the district judge’s seat in the Lower Valley. Michael Girardi, 37, of Cheswick and Mitchell Karaica, 51, of Springdale are seeking to replace David Sosovicka, who is not seeking reelection. Judicial elections are nonpartisan,...
Allegheny Valley School District to pay $1,000 to family of Acmetonia student after probe into bullying
The Allegheny Valley School District will reimburse an Acmetonia Elementary School family $1,000 following an investigation that found the district didn’t protect a student with disabilities after his classmates bullied and physically attacked him. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights on Sept. 21 announced it had resolved...
