Tawnya Panizzi stories, Page 29

Columbia Gas lines do not appear to have been involved in the Dec. 12 cottage explosion in Sewickley Heights, the state Public Utility Commission said Friday. Pipeline safety engineers from the PUC are investigating the incident which injured one person and destroyed a structure at 543 Backbone Road. “At this...

Police are searching for a Pittsburgh man they said is responsible for stabbing a woman overnight in Carnegie. Joshua Meyer, 41, is described as 6-feet, 2-inches tall and weighs about 240 pounds. He is known to frequent Carnegie and the city of Pittsburgh’s Elliott neighborhood. He fled the scene. Allegheny...

A 2-year-old boy was found dead in Oil City, Venango County, stuffed inside a bag in a basement. The body of toddler Keaton Morrison was found Wednesday in a home along North Street, according to Tribune-Review news partner WTAE. Police said the boy’s mother, Caleigh Gladfelter, reported him missing the...

Employees of a popular diner in East Liberty will be paid back wages after allegations that thousands of dollars in tips were mishandled. Square Café, along S. Highland Avenue, was investigated by the U.S. Labor Department after reports from restaurant servers, according to Tribune-Review news partner WTAE. Under federal law,...

Anyone who has never had the chance to see an axolotl up close is in luck. The slippery little aquarium creature, made popular by the Minecraft video game craze, will be on display at the Pittsburgh Reptile Show & Sale making its new home at the Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer....

A Clairton man on Wednesday waived to court charges of attempted homicide after being accused of shooting a Monroeville police officer during a November car chase through Allegheny Township. Bruce Alvarado, 39, of Toman Avenue was scheduled for a preliminary hearing at Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec’s office for charges that...

Tarentum officials were praying for a miracle to salvage the borough’s failing water distribution system. On Tuesday, they got one. The borough is among 15 Alle-Kiski Valley municipalities and water authorities to split nearly $7 million in federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act. “We believe that access to...

The good news for Tarentum residents is that property taxes will remain the same for the 20th consecutive year. The bad news is utility costs are going up. That includes garbage, water and electricity. Councilwoman Carrie Fox said the increases mostly are because of rising supply costs and contractual obligations...

Anyone craving a Whopper soon will be able to have it their way again — and in a familiar Harrison location. Burger King at 1509 Freeport Road, in the heart of the Natrona Heights business corridor, is opening in the same location that formerly operated as a Home of the...

Highlands junior Carter Anderson admits he was a bit nervous stepping into the arena at the Villanova Fall Festival, a three-day competition that is the largest student-run Special Olympics event in the world. The 17-year-old vied for the powerlifting title in his 120-pound weight class in three categories — dead...

Alle-Kiski Valley residents who need help with income taxes, state-issued licenses or notary services will have a one-stop shop in Tarentum. State Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel, is opening a satellite office along Corbet Street in an effort to be more accessible to residents. The office will be inside the...

While the covid pandemic shut down most of the world in 2020, it opened an opportunity for online learning. Fox Chapel Area Adult Education, kicking off its winter class schedule, has learned to lean on the convenience of Zoom to draw a wider enrollment for language, cooking and fitness sessions....

A major sewer project is finally moving forward in Tarentum, four years after council first started considering the work. Manager Dwight Boddorf said work near East Seventh Avenue and South Ormond Street is back on the books. “This is big for us,” he said. The work is part of a...

Motorists who use Route 28 near Fox Chapel should allow extra travel time this week. Single-lane restrictions in both directions will be in place Wednesday and Thursday while crews install message boards, PennDOT announced. In the northbound lanes, work is scheduled from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. between Exit 7...

The race for Indiana Township supervisor in District 1 has been decided by one vote. Republican incumbent Paul Jorgensen will retain his seat after beating Democratic challenger Amy Giammattei by the narrowest of margins, 218 votes to 217. The contest landed in a tie on election night, leaving the candidates...

Organizers of an after-school program for Highlands teens peg it as a home away from home. But The Teen Spot, geared toward students in grades six through 12, is also a learning facility, life skills provider and extended family for many of the 70 participants. “These are my kids,” said...

The basketball court at Tarentum’s “Hoops on Sixth” park was barely usable before a local business owner stepped up to assist. Eric Hashim, owner of Tripak Industries in West Tarentum, donated heavy-duty hoops with steel nets and a new swing set with a toddler space and high-bucket seats. The equipment,...

Ten-year-old Nastya Shytnikova has a short Christmas list. She didn’t ask for an iPhone or a doll. “I’d really like Legos, candies and cookies, and a warm shirt,” Nastya wrote in a note to St. Nicholas. “My biggest dream is for the war to end.” The Ukrainian girl — orphaned...

From its early days as sacred salt-gathering grounds for Native Americans to the manufacturing of the pesticide DDT for war efforts in the 1900s to today’s steel mill, Harrison’s Natrona neighborhood oozes historical contributions to modern industry. Scandalous tales are a close second. Fanny Sellins, the first woman union organizer,...

Few answers have turned up in the year since Tarentum was robbed of nearly $140,000 in an online phishing scam. The investigation by the borough’s insurance carrier is ongoing. Officers determined the person or group responsible for the crime netted a total of between $800,000 and $900,000 from many victims,...

Fox Chapel residents are likely to pay the same in property taxes next year after council approved its tentative $9.2 million budget. The tax rate is expected to remain at 2.95 mills, the same as it’s been since 2019. “It’s the 16th lowest in Allegheny County, and it includes garage...

Residents in the Highlands School District should not expect to see a property tax increase for the 2024-25 school year beyond 7.6%. The school board agreed to keep any tax hike next school within a limit that’s tied to inflation. The tax rate for residents is 25.13 mills. The owner...

A failing water distribution system in Tarentum coupled with an impractical contract for wholesale water costs to East Deer will spur a rate increase this spring for people in both municipalities. Costs will climb by $1.30 per 1,000 gallons — about an 11% increase in Tarentum and about a 29%...

Two years after a raging fire swept through St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Arnold, support has swelled to see the rise of a new $2.2 million sanctuary. The disaster on Dec. 4, 2021, could easily have destroyed the congregation of just 35 members. Instead, it made the parish stronger....

Fox Chapel Area junior Ben Fiedler is an aspiring astrophysicist with an itch to travel the world. He got the chance on a nearly three-week summer visit to Kenya, the East African country nearly 7,700 miles across the globe. Known largely for its safari landscapes and wildlife preserves, Kenya borders...