Tawnya Panizzi stories, Page 43
Funnel Cake Friday by Sharpsburg-Aspinwall Rotary makes a sweet return
Sharpsburg residents who live near Kennedy Park are in for a sweet surprise. The aroma of fried dough with powdered sugar will be wafting from the concession stand on Aug. 25 during an encore Funnel Cake Friday, hosted by the Sharpsburg-Aspinwall Rotary Club. The event is part of “Music in...
Eureka Hose, Unity and Holiday Park firefighters score $430K for new air packs
Unity Volunteer Fire Department in Plum is still repaying a loan it took out in 2008 to buy breathing packs for its 25 members. “Can we afford it? No,” Chief P.J. Mudar said. “Is it something we have to do? Yes.” The worst part is that before they’re even paid...
Tarentum kicks off junior council program, seeks Highlands student
High school juniors and seniors who live in Tarentum will have a chance to see firsthand how local governments operate through a new program starting this fall. The borough is implementing a “junior councilperson” program through which teens with an interest in politics can engage in local lawmaking and develop...
Fox Chapel Rotary golf outing to benefit Foxwall EMS
Hitting the links for the Rotary Club of Fox Chapel Area’s Charity Golf Classic could be a lifesaving proposition this year, members said. Proceeds benefit Foxwall Emergency Medical Services, which responds to more than 1,000 calls a year in Aspinwall, Fox Chapel and the surrounding communities. Registration is open for...
Tarentum Council to decide fate of proposed Weleski electronic billboard
After an initial denial by Tarentum, longtime business Weleski Transfer will get another crack at an appeal in its effort to erect an electronic billboard along West Fourth Avenue. The borough’s zoning board on Monday had a public hearing and decided to refer the issue to council to consider it...
Harrison paving project to include busy Broadview Boulevard
Ten Harrison roads will be paved this month, including the busy section of Broadview Boulevard in front of the Heights Plaza Shopping Center. The nearly $312,000 project is scheduled to begin Aug. 14. Commissioners approved the bid in February from Shields Paving. Members said they were pleased to see the...
Tarentum boaters have until Oct. 31 to remove items from boat docks
A decision by Tarentum Council to eliminate boat docks at Riverview Memorial Park has enraged longtime users who feel they are scapegoats for what they called the borough’s swankier aspirations. Boaters have until Oct. 31 to dismantle sheds, roofs and other amenities because of concerns over a lack of state...
Marching Foxes hit the field in preparation for 2023-24 season
The Marching Foxes are in full swing preparing for the upcoming season. The 2023-24 Fox Chapel Area marching band began band camp Aug. 7, with members learning the ropes before the group’s annual performance at Kennywood. That presentation will be during the Kennywood Fall Fantasy Parade on Aug. 20. The...
Boat dock leases terminated in Tarentum
Boaters demanded answers from Tarentum Council on Tuesday night regarding future leases at the riverfront, but most people didn’t like what they heard. Council voted to terminate dock leases on Oct. 31 due to aged utilities, safety issues and legal concerns. The move infuriated longtime boaters who said they’ve poured...
Breakfast program impacts student health, participation in school, leaders say
Gov. Josh Shapiro spent his lunch hour Tuesday at Penn Hills Elementary School talking about breakfast. The recently approved state budget includes a $46.5 million increase for the Universal Free Breakfast Program, resulting in morning meals for the state’s 1.7 million public school students. Funding will level the playing field...
Paving to impact parking at several Highlands buildings
Parking at several Highlands school buildings will be impacted this week and next as crews pave the lots in preparation for the start of classes Aug. 31. Work is part of $25 million in construction upgrades that will include new sidewalks and paved lots at the high school, elementary and...
Woods Family Band to rock Natrona with free concert
Blues musician Tim Woods will light up Natrona Community Park on Thursday with soulful sounds from his newest album, “For You,” currently charting in the Top 10 on the National Blues Rock radio list. The Greensburg resident will belt out classics with his five-piece Woods Family Band, which includes his...
Elderly man rescued from hillside fall in Harrison Hills Park
An elderly man suffered minor injuries after falling over a hillside Saturday in Harrison Hills Park, according to emergency crews. “He must’ve tripped and fell because when we got to him he was laying on the hill with his arms stuck under some branches,” Citizens Hose EMS Chief Jim Erb...
Faces of the Valley: Guardian Angels parishioner Joan Cupec ‘born into’ church volunteerism
As the Guardian Angels Parish Summer Festival draws hundreds to its carnival for four straight days, an army of volunteers is sweating in the basement kitchen, drumming up hot sausage sandwiches and French fries. Among the workers is Joan Cupec of Creighton, buzzing between stations to slice fruit or whip...
After much-hyped billboard goes up in Tarentum, longtime business seeks approval to raise one
The billboard wars might be heating up again in Tarentum. On the heels of a yearslong legal battle from Oliver Outdoor and the eventual erection of an electronic billboard on Fourth Avenue, another company is seeking to raise a billboard in town. Weleski Transfer, a longtime moving company with offices...
Fate of Tarentum docks to be debated
Boaters who lease dock space in Tarentum could find themselves without a home on the water next spring. Council is debating whether to renew the borough’s 34 slips while it addresses aged electric codes and other safety violations. “It’s a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer,” said longtime boater Ray Fortuna, a...
‘The Center Shines On’ 40 years later; O’Hara facility serves 10,000 people a month
Inside the kitchen of a home in the Falconhurst neighborhood in the early 1980s, friends Sue Golier and Gretchen Montgomery plotted the beginning of something magnificent. They just didn’t know it yet. The pair discussed the need for a community center in the Fox Chapel Area, and at the same...
Trib Total Media partners with Citizens to support clean energy efforts by nonprofits
Local nonprofits with a commitment to clean energy/utility efficiency can win $50,000 and media coverage through a new program from Citizens Financial Group and Trib Total Media. Applications are open for the Champions in Action program in the category of energy efficiency/renewable energy at citizensbank.com/champions. The deadline is Aug. 18....
Tarentum residents will pay $10 monthly fee for extra trash cans
Tarentum residents who require an extra trash can will pay an additional $10 a month for the service. The borough on July 1 changed from unlimited collection to a new “cart service” contract through Waste Management, which allotted each property one 96-gallon can. The $10 monthly fee is a switch...
Newly consolidated Tarentum/Brackenridge police force begins patrols
The Brackenridge Police Department has officially disbanded, but its officers will still be patrolling the borough. A newly minted Tarentum police force, which absorbed the three Brackenridge officers, begins Tuesday. Both councils voted Friday for shared police services for a five-year trial period. Schedules, pensions and administrative issues will be...
Grocery store eyed for West Tarentum
It’s been several decades since Tarentum residents had a full-fledged grocery store to shop for anything but chips, pop and frozen foods. Councilwoman Carrie Fox recalled browsing the A&P grocery aisles as a child, saying her parents shopped at the Fourth Avenue store and, later, at the Town and Country...
Dredging estimates at Tarentum pump house nearly double; work likely delayed
Dredging at the Tarentum pump house likely will be postponed after bids came in nearly double what was expected. The work helps make sure that the facility operates efficiently and reduces the amount of particulates to be filtered out at the water treatment plant. Borough Manager Dwight Boddorf said council...
Tarentum to foot the bill for new roof at Summit Hose
Summit Hose Company, one of Tarentum’s three fire departments, could be getting a new roof courtesy of the borough. Or, more accurately, half of a roof. Council on Friday voted 5-0 to spend up to $22,499 to replace the shingled part of the station’s roof at 321 W. Seventh Ave....
Fawn No. 2 Volunteer Fire Company proposes new cell tower on its property
A communications tower might be erected in Fawn to help boost cellphone coverage. The Fawn Zoning Hearing Board will consider a variance request from the Fawn Volunteer Fire Company No. 2 to build a cell tower at its property. The fire company is at 182 Fawn Drive, off Ridge Road....
Public pitches in during exotic pet fundraiser in Sharpsburg
Mila the iguana soaked up the sun, and lots of attention, during an animal-themed fundraiser at Kennedy Park in Sharpsburg on July 22. Nanners, the albino ball python rescued in Ross after being released by its owner, was also a hit with people at the Sharpsburg event. “It was a...
