Tom Yerace stories, Page 4

Members of the Arnold Volunteer Fire Department have to wait a little longer to see the firefighter tax credit become reality. Council was expected to vote on the credit, which would give the city’s volunteer firefighters a tax break for their service. The tax credit, approved by the state Legislature...

For the first time in its history, the West Deer Police Department has a deputy chief. Township supervisors Wednesday voted to promote Sgt. Timothy Burk to deputy chief. Chief Robert Loper recommended the move. Burk began his career with the department in 2000 as a part-time patrolman. He became a...

A federal lien could halt the condemnation of a structure Arnold Council deems a public health and safety hazard. Acting as the city’s Board of Health, council recently met for a hearing on two abandoned structures code enforcement officer Al Colelli brought forth as potentially hazardous. The buildings are at...

The Washington Township supervisors postponed the approval of a parking lot addition to a business which, a neighbor says, started construction without it. Tarp America and its owner, Michael Gazzo, requested the supervisors’ approval for an unlighted 60-foot-by-60-foot parking lot expansion and signs at its location, 920 Route 380. Tarp...

Freeport Area school directors will have more leeway to raise real estate taxes for 2024-25 than in the past 11 years. Brad Walker, Freeport Area’s director of finance and operations, said the district’s real estate tax inflation index calculated by the state will be 7.1% for the next school year....

For the third time in eight years, East Deer commissioners have cut real estate taxes for residents and businesses. That news emerged Thursday as the commissioners approved a preliminary budget for 2024. “There will be a real estate tax cut in this budget of 0.25 mills,” Commissioners Chairman Tony Taliani...

Superintendent Ian Magness will lead the Freeport Area School District for five more years. The school board approved a new contract that will keep Magness at Freeport Area until October 2028. “I am humbled and grateful that the school board is giving me an opportunity to lead the district for...

For a small school district with limited finances, stretching a dollar is a year-round school board proposition. Residents attending Freeport Area School District’s board meeting were reminded of that last week. This time it wasn’t computers, textbooks or teaching positions hovering over the chopping block but protection for the district’s...

Mayor Joseph Bia said he plans to rein in youths riding minibikes recklessly on Arnold’s streets before they injure somebody, including themselves. Bia brought the matter before city council at its meeting last week. “We’ve got a big problem with kids riding minibikes through the streets,” he said. “They’re breaking...

A vote granting volunteer firefighters limited tax relief may be on Arnold Council’s agenda in October. Council held a public hearing last week on a proposed ordinance that would allowed the city’s firefighters and EMS personnel to claim an earned income tax or a real estate tax credit each year....

Arnold Council is moving to formalize recreation activities by creating a city recreation commission. The move is intended to create a formal, legal body to plan, sponsor, sanction and oversee recreation activities in the city’s name and act as an advisory group to council. “Right now, the city is not...

A public-private road paving proposal in Freeport has hit at least a temporary obstacle. Freeport Council tabled action on a proposal from Freeport Terminals to pave a section of Dam Road with each picking up 50% of the cost. The reason council balked at taking action is a 60-foot section...

In a move to streamline police operations with Tarentum, officials in Brackenridge are revising two of their ordinances. Council last week gave Solicitor Craig Alexander the green light to prepare two draft ordinances that will mirror Tarentum’s and enable more seamless enforcement for the newly consolidated Tarentum-Brackenridge police force. Alexander...

Springdale Township officials will collect data on materials used in residential and commercial water connections when new meters are installed. The township commissioners agreed to include an advisory about that in letters being sent to residents whose old water meters are scheduled to be replaced with new remote-read meters. Commissioner...

Hamar supervisors recently approved a resolution to be included in the Allegheny County Community Development Block Grants and HOME Investment Partnerships Program for 2024 through 2026. But the move didn’t come without some concern. The vote was 4-1 with Supervisor Bob Exler dissenting. Exler objected to the HOME Investment Partnerships...

There might be a course Harmar officials can chart to do the Highland Woods sewage project without rebidding it. That’s what township engineer Matt Pitsch of Senate Engineering told the supervisors Thursday. “I still believe we can get this done for $400,000,” Pitsch said. What Pitsch proposes is the possible...

Students at Burrell School District’s Huston Middle School won’t be learning in air-conditioned classrooms any time soon. The school board Tuesday rejected bids to install air conditioning at the school. That’s because bids for the work, which was projected to cost about $1.2 million, came in at around $1.6 million....

The school subsidies included in the recently passed state budget reduces Freeport Area School District’s operating deficit by more than half. District Business Manager Brad Walker told the school board Wednesday the district will receive state allocations of $7.91 million for general education aid and $1.32 million for special education....

Facing double the expected costs for the Highland Woods pump station project, the Harmar supervisors are searching for another way forward. The supervisors Thursday rejected the bids received from two contracting firms to do the work. That work includes replacing more than 2,000 feet of sewer lines and rebuilding the...

The Washington Township supervisors have set the structure for a change in the police department’s leadership. Chief Scott Slagle is retiring after serving as chief for 27 years and working in the department for 33. His departure is not a surprise, though. He filed for the Deferred Retirement Option Program,...

Allegheny Township supervisors wondered how much the township sewer system would be worth to the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. The answer, at least in their eyes, turned out to be not enough. At their July meeting, the supervisors voted unanimously to inform the county authority that any interest they...

A proposed downtown New Kensington student housing development took a first step toward reality by gaining approval from the city’s planning commission. The commission voted, 4-0, Tuesday to approve a plan put forth by Jake Lydick, a downtown businessman. The plan would convert three vacant Fifth Avenue properties — 713,...

Allegheny Township supervisors voted to accept Manager Greg Primm’s resignation Monday amid praise for him and a question about the need for the position. Primm, who has been the township manager since 2009, submitted his resignation last week. On the very night the township supervisors accepted his resignation, he was...

Springdale Council is moving to create a “mixed-use overlay” in its zoning ordinance that will not change current zoning districts. However, the proposed overlay could allow for uses not specified in the current districts — including the 54-acre site of the defunct Duquesne Light power generating station, according to Carolyn...

Kiski Area School District residents will pay more in real estate taxes for the 2023-24 school year. The board voted 8-0 to raise taxes by 5.37 mills, a 5.7% increase, for the district’s Westmoreland County communities and 2.19 mills, a 5.1% increase, for Parks Township, the district’s only Armstrong County...