Mary Ann Thomas stories, Page 51
Belvedere Hotel’s remnants set to be demolishedVideo
All it will take is about 45 truckloads to remove what is left of the 115-year-old Belvedere Hotel in Oklahoma Borough. Demolition starts Wednesday and is expected to last until Sept. 30, closing Orr Avenue from Route 66 to Hancock Avenue. The 11,000 motorists who travel Route 66 will not...
New Allusion microbrewery to open in Vandergrift early next year
It took years to perfect a much needed new brew for Vandergrift: Allusion Brewing Company has bought a building at 143 Grant Ave. with plans to open a microbrewery and tap room early next year. Allusion closed on the building last week, buying it for about $15,000 from the Vandergrift...
Wrestlers take down drainage problems at Lower Burrell’s Kotecki Park
Sometimes there are not-so-glamorous aspects of beauty that make ethereal places such as parks special. But mud and drainage issues can dash anyone’s dreams for a public space. Such was the case in planning for a dog park at Kotecki Park in Lower Burrell, where planning and the brawn of...
Get a $30 Walmart gift card for recycling car seat
Walmart and TerraCycle are partnering on a recycling program offering $30 Walmart gift cards to be used for baby merchandise for customers turning in an old car seat from Sept. 16-30. All car seats collected in this program will be recycled through TerraCycle, and each component will be diverted from...
Alle-Kiski residents lend voices to Vietnam War exhibit at Heinz History Center
Alle-Kiski Valley residents’ experiences and artifacts punctuate the Heinz History Center’s “The Vietnam War: 1945-1975.” And if you want to see them, you only have until Sept. 22. The Vietnam War exhibit has been one of the Center’s most popular exhibits attendance-wise, especially the guided tours on weekends, according to...
Opa! Last day of Greek Festival in McCandlessVideo
The Taste of Greece Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in McCandless will feature Greek food and entertainment from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, the final day of the festival. The church is located at 985 Providence Boulevard at the corner of Babcock Boulevard and Cumberland Road. There...
Black Hawk helicopter to be part of American Heroes Day in Kiski Township
After a three-year hiatus, the Apollo Salute to the Armed Forces Committee will bring back American Heroes Day this month. Highlighting the celebrations at Kiski Township Community Field will be the landing of a military Black Hawk helicopter as the event gets under way at 11 a.m. Emergency vehicles from...
First 911 Trail Challenge near Shanksville offers special closed road access for cyclists
The inaugural 911 Trail Challenge on Sept. 7 will offer bicyclists a 24-mile course, including an eight-mile section at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville that will be open only to cyclists. The Sept. 11 National Memorial Trail is a 1,300-mile network of bicycle and pedestrian trails linking the...
Vandergrift children’s garden grows on without stolen pumpkins
Vandergrift has its own Great Pumpkin Caper. About two weeks ago, pumpkins planted by children in the borough’s Franklin Park started to vanish. At least 10 have gone missing since, likely taken in broad daylight because the park is locked at night. “They weren’t even orange,” said Chloe Kruse, a...
Report: 21% of Pennsylvania’s boating fatalities linked to alcohol or drugs
A new Coast Guard report shows that drugs or alcohol played a role in more than 100 of the 633 boating fatalities across the country last year. The statistics were similar in Pennsylvania, with three of the 14 boating-related fatalities in 2018 attributed to alcohol or drug impairment. The Pennsylvania...
Animal Protectors’ new facility in New Kensington nears completion
The cement already is poured for the “catio” and framing installed for the addition of dog kennels at a former school in New Kensington’s Parnassus neighborhood that will soon be an animal shelter. Officials from Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley say the finish line is in sight for the New...
Butler photographer waited days for perfect shot of indigo bunting and sunflowerVideo
Visually, call it the last kiss of summer: A bright male indigo bunting singing his heart out on a fully blooming sunflower. It won’t be too long before the indigo buntings migrate south, flying about 1,200 miles to reach wintering grounds from southern Florida to northern South America, according to...
Furniture, crafts, gifts come full circle at Vandergrift store
Editor’s note: Building the Valley tells stories of businesses big and small and the employees who make them special. If you know of any standout employees, bosses or companies with a great story to tell, contact reporter Madasyn Czebiniak at mczebiniak@tribweb.com. At Full Circle Furniture & Gifts in Vandergrift, wood...
Burrell chooses grass over artificial turf for stadium makeover
Burrell School District and its architects will soon seek bids for a new, natural grass playing surface ringed by a new track at the high school stadium. Drainage problems have long plagued the stadium. The track replacement is estimated to cost about $757,000, while the stadium improvement with natural grass...
Apollo mayor appoints new acting officer in charge
Apollo Mayor Cindee Virostek appointed borough police Officer Dave Romagnoli this week as acting officer in charge. Apollo police Chief Jarred Kier submitted his resignation last month effective Aug. 15 to take a full-time patrolman’s job in Washington Township. Apollo is in need of more police officers. There are only...
Game wardens tranquilize 225-pound bear that stopped at beer distributor in Edinboro
The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) reported details today for tranquilizing a black bear roaming around town in Edinboro last week, including stopping at a beer distributor, according to the website yourErie.com. From the beer distributor, the bruin went into Edinboro Lake, and swam to shore where more residents spotted the...
4 Allegheny River locks in Armstrong County to open for Labor Day weekend
After recent weekend closures, the Allegheny River Development Corp. (ARDC) can pay to open four locks on the Allegheny River in Armstrong County on Labor Day weekend, plus two additional days later in September. The four locks are in South Buffalo (Clinton lock, No. 6), West Kittanning (No. 7), Boggs...
Rare night heron seen munching on cicadas in Duquesne
Maybe it’s the Monongahela River, or the healthier environment, or perhaps the plethora of cicadas that account for a rare immature yellow-crowned night heron spending nearly three weeks frequenting the grounds of an industrial building in Duquesne. “What a curious bird,” said Bob Mulvihill, ornithologist with the National Aviary. It’s...
Native fungi show promise to stop spread of spotted lanternfly
Penn State and Cornell university researchers found that a common soil-borne fungi can contain the spread of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive pest threatening the grape, tree fruit, hardwood and nursery industries. Although the spotted lanternfly is in the eastern part of the state, it’s on the move with its...
New McKeesport nesting platform protects osprey family from power lines
When a pair of osprey that have been nesting in the Homestead and McKeesport area decided to build their nest on a utility pole this year, Duquesne Light and the Erie Bird Observatory got busy and successfully moved the nest. A new nest pole and nest platform were erected in...
Lawmakers step in to keep Allegheny River locks open next summer in Armstrong County
A state lawmaker from Armstrong County said Tuesday that $160,000 in grant money has been secured to help a Kittanning nonprofit pay to keep locks open next year in the county’s portion of the Allegheny River. The announcement from state Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-Ford City, came a day after the...
Allegheny River group concerned it was victim of alleged scam
Boaters who can’t use locks on the upper reaches of the Allegheny River can count themselves among the alleged victims of what state prosecutors say was a scam. The Allegheny River Development Corp. (ARDC), a Kittanning-based nonprofit, canceled the opening of locks 6 through 9 in Armstrong County this past...
Grass or artificial turf? Burrell school board set to decideVideo
The Burrell School Board will decide Tuesday whether the district will pay to replace the high school stadium field with natural sod or artificial turf. The decision is part of a renovation project at the high school track and athletic field. Drainage issues have plagued the track, which has multiple...
Allegheny River locks in Armstrong County closed this weekend
The Allegheny River Development Corp., a Kittanning-based nonprofit that pays to keep the Allegheny River locks open in Armstrong County, announced that Locks 6 through 9 will be closed this weekend. In 2011, the Army Corps closed the five locks in Armstrong County because of lack of commercial traffic, opening...
Pennsylvania to slash prices for fishing licenses on Labor Day
You can legally fish for less than $3 this Labor Day. For Labor Day only, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is offering a specially priced fishing license for $1 plus a $1.90 processing and vendor fee. Also on Labor Day, special youth fishing at select lakes allows young anglers...
