Michael DiVittorio stories, Page 110
South Fayette budget adopted with no tax increase, EMS funding approved
South Fayette Township property owners will not have to worry about a real estate tax hike as part of next year’s municipal budget. Commissioners unanimously adopted their 2021 spending plan Wednesday. It maintains the millage rate at 4.73 mills, the same as the past few years. Projected revenue and expenditures...
Restaurants along Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell run the gamut of compliance with pandemic restrictions
For business owners like John Clark of Clark’s Diner in Lower Burrell, the new covid mitigation efforts instituted by Gov. Tom Wolf are as much of a threat to his workers’ livelihood as the virus itself. As a result, he’s ignoring them and allowing indoor dining to continue — in...
Police: at least 3 people shot outside Monaca bar early Saturday morning
At least three people were shot outside of a bar in Monaca early Saturday morning. Borough police said they responded to the shooting incident just after midnight outside of Whiskey Rhythm Bar along the 1200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. Information about the victims, including their conditions, was not released. Anyone...
Lower Burrell family keeps Italian nativity scene tradition alive, new pieces added yearlyVideo
An Italian Christmas tradition encompassing a couple generations continues in a Lower Burrell household. For at least six weeks out of the year, retired cabinet maker Pat Pesce shows off the family’s presepe, or nativity scene. It has grown from a small manger set that could fit on a coffee...
Plum Municipal Authority water, sewage rates going up next year
Plum homeowners should not expect to see their real estate tax rates go up next year, but their water and sewage bills will increase slightly. Letters were to be sent out this month to Plum Borough Municipal Authority customers informing them of the rate hike, which will be reflected in...
Sewickley woman makes pandemic masks for charity
A Sewickley woman has used her sewing talents to keep people safe and raise more than $12,000 for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden. It all started in March when covid-19 cases reached pandemic proportions and a friend asked Cheryl Redmond to make masks for area nurses. “It’s really...
Pittsburgh police: Man in stable condition after being shot in Arlington neighborhood
A man was hospitalized in stable condition after being shot in the stomach in Pittsburgh’s Arlington neighborhood Thursday. Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews said city police responded to a ShotSpotter alert and 911 call for a shooting around 6:10 p.m. along the 200 block of Rothman Street. Officers located the...
Plum High School toy drive going drive-thru, no students this year
Plum High School’s sixth annual Stuff-a-Bus toy drive will be in a different format this year due to the covid-19 pandemic. The event is still set for 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday in the high school parking lot at 900 Elicker Road. However, there will be no hot chocolate...
SouthBridge EMS asks Bridgeville, Cecil and South Fayette townships for financial help
SouthBridge EMS, the ambulance service provider for Cecil and South Fayette townships and Bridgeville, is in some financial distress due covid-19. Executive Director Daniel Miller said patient transports dropped by 40% in March and April. Calls also went from an average of 230 per month to about 150, and transportation...
Penn Hills school board retains its current president, appoints new vice president
Erin Vecchio and Jackie Blakey-Tate were named Penn Hills school board president and vice president, respectively. The board unanimously voted at its Nov. 1 reorganization meeting to keep Vecchio in her leadership role for the fifth straight year. She is in her fifth nonconsecutive term on the board. She was...
Serra Catholic High School to resume in-person classes, athletics suspended
Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport will resume in-person instruction on Wednesday, according to Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh officials. However, all athletic and extracurricular activities are suspended due to possible covid-19 exposure. Spokesman Bob DeWitt said the school has also taken other student action out of an abundance of caution....
Plum School Board maintains current president, vice president
Mike Devine and Michael Caliguiri will remain Plum School Board president and vice president, respectively. The board voted to keep both men in the top leadership roles at its Dec. 1 reorganization meeting. Devine was reappointed by a 5-4 vote while Caliguiri received unanimous support. “I’m happy that the majority...
Quaker Valley School Board appoints new president, vice president
Quaker Valley School District has a school board new president and vice president. Jonathan Kuzma and Marna Blackmer were unanimously appointed to the board’s top two leadership positions at the Dec. 1 reorganization meeting, respectively. Kuzma is in his second four-year term on the board and served this year as...
Police: Man shot in the face in Pittsburgh’s South Side
A man was hospitalized in critical condition after being shot in the face in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood Monday night. Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews said officers responded to a Shotspotter alert for a shooting around 9:30 p.m. along the 1500 block of Bingham Street. Responding officers were later notified...
Oakmont’s budget nearly finalized with no tax hike
Oakmont property owners should not expect to pay more in real estate taxes or garbage collection as part of next year’s borough budget. “We’re 99% done. That’s a big relief,” said councilwoman and finance committee chair Nancy Ride after Monday night’s near four-hour budget workshop. It’s been about five years...
1 injured in Penn Hills crash when 3 vehicles collide
At least one person was injured in a crash in Penn Hills on Saturday evening. Allegheny County dispatch said three vehicles collided along Verona Road near Sandy Creek Road around 7:43 p.m. Police and EMS were treating at least one person at the scene for injuries. It was unclear if...
Plum School District moves to all online classes due to rising covid cases
Plum School District will move to all remote learning through Jan. 4, district officials announced Wednesday. It is one of several districts in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties to make the change this month from hybrid in-person classes to virtual schooling due to surging covid-19 cases. “We will continue to monitor...
Pittsburgh forms task force to enforce new covid-19 restrictions
Pittsburgh Public Safety has formed a task force to enforce new covid-19 restrictions. It was formed at the request of Mayor Bill Peduto to help enforce Gov. Tom Wolf’s renewed coronavirus mitigation efforts, Public Safety Spokesman Chris Togneri said Wednesday. “The task force will conduct random, unannounced compliance checks at...
Several Allegheny, Westmoreland county school districts moving to online learning
Several school districts in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties have announced plans to move to remote learning in light of surging covid-19 cases. Here are the districts and the plans that have been announced:Allegheny Valley School District officials announced Wednesday that full virtual instruction for all students will start Dec. 1...
Riverview senior selected to perform in National Honors Symphony Orchestra
Riverview High School senior Alexio Ciorra has been selected as one of eight bassists in this year’s All-National Honors Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra, under the direction of world-renowned international conductor and violinist Nobuyoshi Yasuda, features the top high school musicians from across the nation. They usually perform at a festival...
Quaker Valley School District switching to all online learning to slow covid spread
Quaker Valley School District will move to all online learning on Monday to help slow the spread of covid-19 after Thanksgiving. District officials plan to welcome students back in the buildings on Monday, Dec. 14. “This is not a closure,” officials said via post on the district’s website. “This is...
The Tull Family Theater names Sewickley community leader as its new board member
A Sewickley woman and nonprofit executive has been named the newest Tull Family Theater board member. Carla Smith Nash will share her 30 years of experience in consulting, executive coaching and leadership, financial processes and strategic planning with the nonprofit cinema. The Tull Family Theater is a film-driven arts organization...
Penn Hills School District forms committee to address possible mascot, nickname change
A committee has been formed to discuss the future of the Penn Hills School District’s Indian mascot. The school board approved its members Nov. 24. They include Class of 2020 student school board representatives Faith Crawford and Cassidy Byrnes; elementary parent Lauren Javens; high school counselor Amy Alexander; high school...
Penn Hills School District halts plans to have more students in school 4 days a week
Plans to have more Penn Hills School District students attend in-person classes four days a week have been halted due to rising covid-19 cases. Students in first through 12th grade will instead remain in the hybrid model through the end of the year. Educational options will be reexamined in January....
Penn Hills School Board vice president has resigned, letters of interest accepted
Penn Hills School Board Vice President Yusef Thompson Sr. has resigned. The board accepted his resignation Tuesday night. President Erin Vecchio thanked the first-term Democrat for his service to the district. “He’ll be missed, and good luck to him,” Vecchio said. Board member Rob Marra said Thompson was an active...
