Michael DiVittorio stories, Page 88
Freeport firefighters and borough businesses to host community events Tuesday evening
Freeport firefighters and local businesses will be hosting events Tuesday to help showcase community services and commerce. The volunteer department will have its doors open and engines out for touch-a-truck and fire prevention demonstrations from 5 to 7 p.m. at the station along Market Street. There will be prizes and...
Gilpin Trunk-or-Treat, police dog fundraiser to take place at the fire department on Halloween
Gilpin Volunteer Fire Department will host a police K-9 unit fundraiser during the township’s Halloween event. Police Chief Chris Fabec is Gilpin’s K-9 officer with his police dog, Rudy, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois. He said the K-9 unit is sustained through fundraisers and donations, with the rally being something new...
Bates Street on-ramp in Pittsburgh to close this weekend
The Bates Street on-ramp to eastbound I-376 in Pittsburgh will be closed this weekend, weather permitting. The closure is scheduled from 8 a.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Monday as crews from Allison Park Contractors conduct drainage installation work. Traffic will be detoured: • From Bates Street, take Second Avenue westbound...
Neville Island Bridge northbound closed this weekend
The final northbound closure on the I-79 Neville Island Bridge in Robinson and Neville townships and Glenfield is happening this weekend. A full closure was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Friday and last through 5 a.m. Monday. Crews are making bridge and roadway concrete repairs, patching the roadway, replacing...
McKees Rocks shooting victim identified
A man who died after being shot in McKees Rocks on Thursday afternoon has been identified. Brian Irby, 35, of McKees Rocks died of a gunshot would to the chest, according to an Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office report released Friday evening. The shooting occurred around 4:30 p.m. along Fair...
Country star Eric Church to perform without his band due to members catching covid
Country star Eric Church will be performing tonight at PPG Paints Arena without his band due to players having covid. The singer announced the change via his Facebook page. “Despite thorough safety protocols, a limited number of breakthrough covid-19 cases have occurred within the Eric Church Band,” the post reads....
Brentwood School District security guard arrested for alleged inappropriate communications with student
A Brentwood High School security guard was arrested Friday for allegedly sharing inappropriate images and communications with a student. Daniel Stiefvater, 23, of Brentwood is charged with institutional sexual assault and other felonies. Allegheny County Police said Stiefvater sent the student images and communicated with the student via phone, social...
Freeport Area School District officials considering adjustments to meeting, public comment policies
Proposed changes to the Freeport Area School District’s meeting and public comment policies will not impact scheduling or speaking opportunities, according to school board members. Instead, language adjustments to two policies are, in part, to reflect what is in state statutes and to codify existing meeting processes. Board President Dan...
Fatal Armstrong County crash victim identified
An Armstrong County woman died after losing control of her vehicle and hitting an embankment in Perry Township. Alisha Diets, 34, of Parker was pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Coroner Timothy Graham. The crash occurred along Knox Road around 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Diets was traveling south in a...
Quaker Valley School District officials, architects feeling good about proposed high school process
With a proposed Quaker Valley High School project still in its early design phase, district officials and architects feel things are heading in the right direction. “Although this has been a time-consuming process, we want our community to know that we remain steadfast with our excitement for this building project,”...
Verizon Wireless service restored in Freeport
Verizon Wireless service has been restored to the Freeport area after cuts to fiber-optic cables disrupted service Tuesday. Company communications manager Chris Serico said service was restored Wednesday afternoon after technicians fixed the cables. He said one cut was made by wildlife and the cause of the other cut still...
Marconi Club in Leechburg to celebrate 110 years in the borough this weekend
A well-known Leechburg lodge is set to celebrate a milestone this weekend. William Marconi Lodge of Mutual Benefit marks 110 years at 135 River Ave. “We’re trying to give back to the members (and the public) because of the dismal year last year, and we couldn’t really do much with...
Freeport and Verizon officials working to address cellular service issues in borough
Freeport officials are working with Verizon to address possible problems making cellphone calls. Borough fire marshal Michael Greiser said late Tuesday that cell service is “unreliable” in parts of the borough, especially for Verizon Wireless customers or those with a carrier that connects to their towers. Greiser said the company...
Bethel Park School District officials hire new technology director, promote 2 other administrators
Bethel Park School District officials recently hired a new administrator and promoted two others from within the district. Bret Slezak was named the new director of technology. David Muench was named the new director of student support services and district assistant director of special education Sarah Shue was moved up...
Man hospitalized after crashing truck along Route 909 in Plum
A man was hospitalized after being injured in a crash Tuesday afternoon in Plum. Allegheny County dispatchers said the one-vehicle crash occurred along the 300 block of Route 909 around 2:45 p.m. Witnesses said a white truck was traveling toward Somma Pizza Restaurant and Sports Bar when it went off...
Vandergrift officials peck away at residential chicken ordinance
Vandergrift officials want a little more time to address regulations for backyard chickens. Discussions began about three months ago, when a three-person committee was formed in response to residents wanting to raise chickens. A draft ordinance that would establish a permitting process, regulations on coups and possible punishments for violations...
Leechburg area teens learn firefighter basics through new pilot program
George Tuttle wants to save lives and follow in his father’s firefighter footsteps. “Any time I can have a chance to help somebody, I’ll always help them,” he said. “There’s a lot more people that you can help with being a firefighter. It’s not anything to do with crime or...
Vandergrift emergency responders earn state honors for saving boy from house fire
A 12-year-old Vandergrift boy is alive thanks to the quick work of borough first responders. Lifesavers included firefighters Eric Sorrels and John Uskuraitis, police officers Nathan Rigatti, Jerrod Thompson and Sgt. Anthony DePanicis. They all received the Valor Award from the Firemen’s Association of the State of Pennsylvania at Monday...
Street party in New Kensington’s Mount Vernon neighborhood helps neighbors get to know each other
Zach Heidenreich recalled running through neighbors’ yards, knocking and ringing doorbells quickly before taking off down Greenridge Road in New Kensington’s Mount Vernon neighborhood. He and his friends would play football on the street and use telephone poles as end zones. That was in the late 1990s and early 2000s....
Quaker Valley High School to be closed Tuesday after bed bugs discovered
Quaker Valley High School will be closed Tuesday due to bed bugs, school district officials announced Monday night. A staff member discovered the bugs on a student’s clothing, according to a post on the district’s website. “Out of an abundance of caution, an extermination company will treat the high school...
Kody, Steller’s sea eagle that escaped National Aviary, found in Pine
Kody, the Steller’s sea eagle that escaped from an outdoor enclosure last month, has been found. National Aviary spokesperson Molly Toth said the bird was located by a team of animal care experts Sunday afternoon at a home in Pine. Kody, short for Kodiak, got out of his habitat Sept....
Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival brings magic, merriment to South HuntingdonVideo
For about six weeks a year, Leechburg dentist Dr. Annette Merlino puts down her tools and picks up an English accent to peddle wares at the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival. “It’s so much fun,” she said while standing Sunday afternoon near the center of Morelandshire in South Huntingdon. “It’s like a family...
Freeport Area sophomore Anne Lindsay runs story time, other library programs
With about a dozen children and parents gathered round in a semi-circle, Anne Lindsay greets them all with a few strums on her ukulele and a welcoming song. Some sing along, while a few youths decide which is more comfortable, a couch or the floor, and then another tune about...
Crash closed portion of Route 908 in Fawn, knocks down utility pole
A section of Route 908 in Fawn that was blocked off Wednesday night when a car went off the road and sheared off a utility pole has been reopened, according to an Allegheny County 911 supervisor. The crash occurred around 8:10 p.m. along the 400 block of Route 908, according...
Verona’s community garden formed, seeds to be plantedVideo
A community garden project several years in the making has taken root in Verona. More than 50 volunteers spent their afternoons Sept. 25 and 26 building wooden beds, shoveling dirt, moving stones and laying hay on a vacant lot along West Railroad Avenue in the lower section of the borough....
