Allegheny County News category, Page 169
Kennywood’s classic Turtle ride to shut down for rebuild
There are only a few days left to ride The Turtle at Kennywood this season. Park officials said that after 96 years in operation, the ride’s center foundation needs to be replaced. The Turtle’s last day of the season will be Sunday. “It’s time,” said Gary Miller, the project manager....
‘Fishing for Keegan and Casey’ fundraiser to benefit family of Plum explosion victims
A Washington Township couple is hoping to help victims of Saturday’s house explosion in Plum by honoring one family’s love of fishing. Angela and Mike Blasko created a fundraiser in which one winner will land an all-expenses paid, full-day offshore fishing trip on Lake Erie on the Blasko’s charter fishing...
2 Plum officials among house explosion deaths, all 5 now identified
Plum Borough Manager Michael Thomas and Community Development Director Heather Oravitz were among the five people killed in a house explosion Saturday, Mayor Harry Schlegel confirmed Monday. Thomas was 57. Oravitz was 51. The other victims, all identified through their families, were Casey Clontz, 38, and his son, Keegan, 12,...
Community gathers for vigil honoring house explosion victims in Plum
The power of prayer united strangers and friends Monday during a daylong candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the house explosion Saturday in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood. Holy Family Parish’s St. Januarius Church on Renton Road in Plum hosted the vigil from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. “We just...
Plum family recalls neighbor’s cry for help after blast
Beth Napoleon felt the force of the blast that obliterated her neighbor’s home directly across the street from hers in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood on Saturday. Worse, she heard her neighbor’s cry for help. “I was in-between things. I was just relaxing on the couch with one of my dogs...
Carnegie Mellon cyber hacking team wins record 7th title in annual competition
LAS VEGAS — Carnegie Mellon University’s cyber hacking team, the Plaid Parliament of Pwning (PPP), defended its title in DEF CON’s Capture-the-Flag competition — its seventh victory in the past 11 years. The team joined forces with the University of British Columbia’s Maple Bacon team and hackers from CMU Alum...
‘It was my life’: Former North Hills resident continues 40-year photography business in Manor
Alicia Dallago’s journey with photography first took shape far outside Western Pennsylvania. Over a 40-year career behind a camera, she earned numerous accolades, including two Kodak Gallery awards. Dallago, owner of Alicia Photography, was a portrait photographer in the North Hills for 36 years. For the past year, she has...
‘A humbling responsibility’: Rustic Ridge’s Greg Renko leads neighbors through tragedyVideo
Greg Renko bounced from one house to the next on Sunday, one neighbor to the next, one phone call to the next. He consoled them. Answered their questions. Offered whatever insight he could provide, both as Rustic Ridge Estates Home Owners Association president and as an Allegheny County Police officer...
‘We’re so lucky’: Family forced from home after Plum explosion grateful to be aliveVideo
Jeremy Rogers arrived back in his Rustic Ridge Estates neighborhood Sunday morning, unsure what he would find. When he left Saturday, his neighbor’s house was still smoldering, having been consumed hours earlier by a fire that quickly spread when a neighboring home exploded. The Rogers family home, at 145 Rustic...
Rustic Ridge explosion sends different kind of shock wave through Plum’s Holiday Park section
A lot on Hialeah Drive in Plum’s Holiday Park neighborhood where a house exploded and burned in April 2022 is just a grassy space between two other homes today. Since the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s office released the scene, it’s been cleaned up and sold, with a new house expected...
Cause of Plum house explosion could take months or years to find, authorities say
Five people, four adults and one child, died in a massive house explosion in Plum on Saturday, borough police Chief Lanny Conley said at a news conference Sunday. None of the victims from the incident that destroyed three houses and damaged scores of others on Rustic Ridge Drive have yet...
Outpouring of support for victims of Plum house explosion
A deluge of donations poured into the Plum community to benefit victims of a devastating house explosion Saturday that killed five people. “My daughter gathered her money and wanted to donate,” said Donna Colamarino of Plum as her daughter Sophia, 9, placed money into a marked basket Sunday morning at...
Police: Man found unconscious in Swissvale was robbed, beaten
A man found unconscious Saturday morning in a Swissvale parking lot had been robbed and beaten earlier that morning, according to Allegheny County police. The man was taken to a hospital in critical but stable condition, police said. A call to county 911 dispatchers at 8:15 a.m. Saturday alerted authorities...
Pitcairn man attacks neighbor with hammer, police say
A Pitcairn man is behind bars after beating a neighbor with a hammer late Thursday, authorities said. William Alan Jackson, 42, was charged Friday with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and making terroristic threats, court records show. Police said they took Jackson, after a mental health evaluation,...
Bridgeville man surrenders in Fort Pitt Bridge ‘street takeover’ stunt
A Bridgeville man surrendered to Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies at a Downtown courthouse around 8 a.m. Friday, weeks after police charged him for his role in a July “street takeover” stunt on the Fort Pitt Bridge. Jason Stotlemyer, 31, was the first person charged in connection with the July 21...
Historian expands walking tours to benefit local nonprofit in Aspinwall
Aspinwall resident and historian Terry Nelson Taylor has revamped her informative historical public walking tour of Aspinwall. New this tour season has access to two secret gardens, one on Third Street and the other on Eastern Avenue. The 2023 program also focuses on the life of the woman who originally...
Dog abandoned by owner at Pittsburgh airport expected to move into foster home
A dog abandoned last week at Pittsburgh International Airport is expected to be moved into a foster home while Humane Society police officers and Allegheny County Police are investigating the case, according to Animal Friends. The dog, a male French bulldog, was found in a stroller in the airport’s short-term...
Vets Appreciation Picnic set for White Oak Park
A Veterans Appreciation Picnic is planned for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 17 at the White Oak Park Magnolia Pavilion, 2752 McClintock Road. The picnic will feature boxed meals from Mission BBQ in Robinson, sponsored by the Wounded Warrior Project, said Dorey McCarron, veterans outreach program specialist at the...
Northern Regional’s police dog getting protective vest with donation from Rich-Mar Rotary
Ballistic vests have long been an integral part of a the gear police officers rely on to protect them during dangerous encounters. So for officers who rely on a dog as part of their patrol duties, protecting their canine partners from serious injury is just as important. But until last...
Domestic violence charges withdrawn against DA Zappala’s son
State prosecutors Thursday morning withdrew domestic violence charges against the son of Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., court records show. Ohio Township police charged Stephen John Zappala, 31, of Ben Avon Heights, with simple assault and harassment on July 23, court records show. He was arraigned and...
Wooden boxes stocked with food, supplies placed in Wilkinsburg to aid underserved residents
A wooden box stands at the corner of Wilkinsburg’s Laketon Road and Douglas Drive. Behind a purple door adorned with the expression “Explore your full potential” are shelves stocked with everything from nonperishables such as boxed macaroni and cheese, long-grain rice and canned corn to jars of baby food, socks...
More than 25 dogs rescued from North Fayette home, had been neglected for months, humane officer says
When North Fayette police and Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh Officer Angela Fry entered Audrey Stevenson’s North Fayette home to check on her dogs in mid-July, “the odor was so severe that our eyes began to water and we were coughing,” Fry wrote in a criminal complaint. The Azalea Drive...
Allegheny County Jail Warden Orlando Harper announces retirement
Allegheny County Jail Warden Orlando Harper is retiring next month after 11 years as the jail’s top official, the county announced Tuesday. “I have been honored to serve in this role for over a decade and am announcing my retirement with mixed feelings,” Harper said in a statement. “When I...
Police say Pa. woman took 220-mile Lyft ride to shoot couple fostering her biological daughter in Kennedy Township
Police say a Dauphin County woman took a three-and-a-half hour Lyft ride Monday to Kennedy Township and began shooting at a family there. She is facing a half-dozen counts each of aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment. Kennedy police were called to a home along Julia Lane just after...
Allegheny County most wanted fugitive found in Ohio
A Duquesne man wanted on multiple warrants has been apprehended after being on the run for about two years, Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus said. Jordan Lattimer, 23, who was declared a fugitive in September 2021, was arrested without incident in Ohio by the Columbus police on Aug. 1. Kraus...
