Tawnya Panizzi stories, Page 31
Deer Lakes Middle School provides gaming club to build skills, friendships
For gamers like Deer Lakes seventh grader Lucas Channel, a school club dedicated to Super Smash Bros. and Minecraft sounded like a dream come true. “I love this club,” Channel said. “It’s a bit of time after school where you get to play in a nice surrounding.” The 13-year-old is...
Rabkin Gardens is Tarentum’s hidden gem
When Michael Rabkin purchased the 1890s 2nd Ward Public School Building in Tarentum to house his medical practice, the view was less than inspiring. “There was a hideous termite-infested shack that my office overlooked,” said Rabkin, a Brooklyn native and retired skin pathologist. “I figured I could spend the rest...
Dallas executive Kimberly Fields to take reins at ATI
ATI will have new leadership July 1. Kimberly Fields will assume the role of CEO to replace Robert Wetherbee, head of the specialty metals company since 2018. Fields of Dallas has served the past two years as chief operating officer and was named president in 2023. “I’m honored to succeed...
Highlands greenhouse aims to spur collaboration, instill ‘humanitarian heart’
Highlands School Director Eli Majocha believes a new outdoor classroom at the high school will help students flourish. A greenhouse spearheaded last year while Majocha was a high school senior will impact students through hands-on and project-based learning, he said. “I want these students to be engaged with the lessons...
Merle Norman boutique owner Olivia Grace thanks Tarentum for start, announces move to Oakmont
It’s been three years since Olivia Grace opened her Merle Norman Cosmetics store in the old Isaly’s building in Tarentum, helping to spark momentum for Corbet Street redevelopment. Now the Highlands graduate is taking another leap — she’s moving her growing business to Oakmont, where she hopes to capitalize on...
Frazer in no hurry to appoint police chief
It may be some time before Frazer has a new, permanent police chief. Supervisors will not vote at their meeting Tuesday to appoint a new chief, and there is no timeline for doing so, said Lori Ziencik, board member and township secretary. “That takes time,” she said. “We haven’t really...
Roof of vacant Sharpsburg duplex collapses during fire; no injuries reported
A brick duplex under renovation in Sharpsburg went up in flames Sunday evening, causing half of the building to be demolished just before midnight. “We had to tear half of it down because the roof had collapsed to the basement,” said Mike Daniher, chief of Southern Allegheny Valley Emergency Services....
Highlands, PA CareerLink focus on manufacturing jobs as alternative to college
Jim Rugh knows one thing for sure: Companies like his need workers to fill manufacturing jobs. As human resources manager for Washington Township manufacturer Composidie Inc., Rugh is familiar with the challenges employers face when looking for workers. “Anything we can do to help make people more aware of the...
Building the Valley: New concept in vet care, Pets After Dark, founded by Fox Chapel couple
It’s a problem that too many pet parents are familiar with — what to do when your four-legged friend is sick or injured after office hours. “The options are either go to the emergency room and wait for hours or take a chance to get them seen the next day,”...
Tarentum Council demands pothole fix from Norfolk Southern
Anyone who drives over the Norfolk Southern train tracks — and the adjacent potholes — in Tarentum knows it’s a bumpy ride. It might be smoothed out after council voted to press the rail lines and state officials for attention to the growing craters. Specifically, council urged repairs for the...
Morningside VFW to host 15th Fish Rodeo in O’Hara for hospitalized vets, those in care homes
It doesn’t get much better than a day at the park, fishing for blue gill and barbecue grilling with friends. Just ask veteran Thomas Stubler, a resident in the VA Pittsburgh Community Living Center. He is among the 100 or so hospitalized veterans who are treated every year to an...
Portion of Baileys Run in East Deer set for long-term closure
Tony Taliani knows as well as anyone the inconvenience that will be caused by the long-term partial closure of Baileys Run Road in East Deer. The township commissioner lives along the stretch of the road that will be closed at 9 a.m. Monday, May 6 by the Allegheny County Department...
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins rally for Summer Lee in Pittsburgh
Left-wing firebrand U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among the arsenal of high-profile politicians who rallied Sunday for Congressional Democratic incumbent Summer Lee, whose 12th District primary against Bhavini Patel has become a hot-button race. Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat who represents parts of New York City, joined Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, Allegheny...
Guaranteed doe licenses in most hunting areas expected to thwart repeat of 2023 system shutdown
Luke Wasilowski isn’t looking forward to June — when state hunting licenses go on sale. At least, he isn’t looking forward to a repeat of last year, when the state’s computer system ground to a halt on the first day of sales, leaving hunters waiting in lines, sometimes for hours....
Evolution Grille in Buffalo Township set to close
A Buffalo Township restaurant known for its farm-fresh entrees and bold flavors has announced plans to close. Evolution Grille along Route 356 posted to social media Friday, saying it is extending heartfelt gratitude to diners who have showered the restaurant with love. “Life, my friends, is a fickle sous-chef,” the...
Pittsburgh police seek help finding 12-year-old boy last seen at Westinghouse Academy
A 12-year-old boy last seen Friday at Westinghouse Academy in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood has not returned home, authorities said. Pittsburgh Police are seeking help to find Taeshawn Battles, who is considered at risk because of his age. Taeshawn is described as 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighing 130 pounds, with...
Missing 12-year-old girl near the city’s East End was found
Pittsburgh police said they have located a 12-year-old girl who went missing on Friday. Akiyah Willie went missing about 11 a.m. after an argument with her mom, police said. “Thank you to everyone who shared the information,” police said in the update. She is known to frequent the area near...
Police investigate 2 shootings within minutes in Sharpsburg, Etna
Allegheny County Police are investigating two shootings that occurred within 15 minutes Friday in Sharpsburg and Etna, communities that sit less than a mile apart. Police were called at 11:45 p.m. to the 300 block of Linden Avenue in Sharpsburg after a woman was shot in the leg. She was...
Coroner reports driver in Fayette crash that killed 5 had cocaine in his system
The driver involved in a three-vehicle crash in late March that killed himself and four others, including an infant, had cocaine in his system at the time of the collision, the Fayette County coroner reported Saturday. All five people killed in the March 26 crash on Route 40 were from...
Former Pittsburgh radio host Larry O’Brien, known via ‘O’Brien & Garry’ show, dies at 81
Pittsburgh radio host Larry O’Brien, who comprised half of the popular morning duo “O’Brien & Garry” for 20 years, has died. “He was a funny, bright man, and he kept up on Pittsburgh sports until the very end,” his wife, Winkie O’Brien, said from their home in Hilton Head, S.C....
Washington & Jefferson freshman Grace Vensel provides personal hygiene stations at Highlands
Highlands parent Liz Myers was beside herself when she learned that the efforts of an out-of-town teen will help protect the privacy of her teenage daughter at the middle school. Washington & Jefferson freshman Grace Vensel will provide Menstruation Stations at the district’s middle and high schools through her nonprofit...
Highlands parents urge district to ‘correct discrimination’ as civic groups offer to help district
Parent Pauline McKnight said she had to pull her teenage daughters from in-person classes at Highlands High School to protect them from being bullied and targeted because they are Black. “My daughter was called a monkey and they both have been harassed by a male member of administration,” said McKnight,...
Run For the Hill of It to benefit Foxwall EMS, Southern Allegheny Valley Emergency Services
O’Hara resident Adam Janosko feels the burn at the same point every year. An avid runner, Janosko is a repeat participant in the Run For the Hill of It fundraiser in Aspinwall and said it’s just at about Eighth Street when it really sets in. The race, although only 1...
Army reservists will use Tarentum site to train for battle
A vacant hillside overlooking Tarentum will transform into a makeshift battlefield several times next year. Army soldiers in tactical gear will temporarily inhabit the land off Bakerstown Road to practice blank shooting and nighttime strategies. Members of the 307th Military Police Co., a reserve station at 2450 Leechburg Road in...
Man rescued from East Deer blaze when passerby springs into action
Danny Simone was driving to work through East Deer early Friday when he noticed a ball of white smoke billowing above a row of homes. “I thought it was from the mill stack. That’s how high it was,” said Simone, an employee at Habitat for Humanity in New Kensington. As...
