Allegheny County News category, Page 42
Abandoned property could help create unified area for Monroeville senior center, library, Gateway campus
An oddly shaped piece of property off Mosside Boulevard in Monroeville could be the key to creating an expanded area for use by residents, Gateway School District students and staff, and Monroeville Public Library patrons. “It’s a unique historical property,” Monroeville Municipal Manager Alex Graziani said of about 4.2 acres...
Trial testimony: McKeesport man accused of shooting his mother had violent past
Prosecutors on Wednesday set out to show John Malcolm Smith V had a history of violence before he allegedly shot his mother. On the second day of the trial, Danita Jones and Sonya Peoples of the neighborhood “happy hour crew,” testified on behalf of their dead friend, Antoinette Porterfield. “She...
Golf simulator business, comedy club opening soon in Ross
A golf simulation business and a stand-up comedy club are opening this Friday in Ross. At The Block Northway, 9 Yards Golf will have a soft opening Friday morning for its new location on the upper level of the south corridor. At Remo’s Event Center on Babcock Boulevard, The Comedy...
Team Friends announces new chapter, its first out of state, during annual fundraiser
A local nonprofit with four Western Pennsylvania chapters is following the yellow brick road to a new frontier — West Virginia. Supporters of Team Friends gathered Sept. 23 at Narcisi Winery in West Deer for its annual fundraiser. They spent the evening enjoying live music by Acoustic Union, wine tastings,...
7th annual Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival draws record crowd while supporting breast cancer survivors
Dragons were spotted recently on North Park Lake, but they weren’t the fire-breathing kind. And the misty morning provided the perfect backdrop for the seventh annual Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival on Sept. 27, hosted by Pittsburgh Hearts of Steel, a nonprofit breast cancer awareness organization. Dragon boat racing is a...
Chase Bank ATM firebombed along McKnight Road in Ross
Within hours of a shootout late Tuesday night at Ross Park Mall, an ATM was firebombed along McKnight Road, according to township police. A nearby witness reported the firebombing shortly after midnight, Ross Deputy Chief Brian Kohlhelpp said. The drive-thru ATM is located under a canopy in the parking lot...
Shoppers return to Ross Park Mall as police continue to investigate shootout in parking lot
People were shopping, eating and walking at Ross Park Mall on Wednesday, a sunny morning after a shootout Tuesday night in the mall’s parking lot left at least one person hurt. Gene Pancheri and his wife, Antoinette, of Pittsburgh were among the mall walkers getting in their steps, as they...
Meet the winners of the 2025 Phipps Sustainable Garden Awards from Phipps Conservatory
With such an abundance of wildlife and green space in the Pittsburgh area, it’s no wonder that the region boasts such passionate gardeners. Each year, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens recognizes local green thumbs who have cultivated exceptional outdoor spaces using Phipps’ principles of sustainable land care with the Phipps...
Etna, Reserve should form regional police department, study finds
A state study recommends that Etna and Reserve form a regional police department, while also finding that doing so will cost each municipality more for police services. The Governor’s Center for Local Government Services at the state Department of Community and Economic Development prepared the report at the request of...
Police investigating gunfight at Ross Park Mall parking lot, minivan sought
Ross police are investigating a gunfight that took place in a parking lot at the Ross Park Mall on Tuesday evening. Emergency calls for the incident came in shortly before 8 p.m. The incident occurred near the Dick’s Sporting Goods and Nordstrom store, according to news partners WTAE. Ross Township...
Crash closes Route 28 North between Millvale, Etna
Route 28 coming out of Pittsburgh is jammed because of a crash. The crash happened around 4 p.m., closing the northbound lanes between the Millvale and Etna interchanges, a PennDOT spokesman said. The crash was cleared and the road began reopening around 4:40 p.m., but traffic remained congested from the...
Anthony D’Imperio, former owner of D’Imperio’s Restaurant in Wilkins, dies
The owner of popular Monroeville-area eatery D’Imperio’s who was known as much for his hospitable nature as his restaurant was for its authentic Italian food has died. Restaurant owner, Vietnam veteran and first-generation Italian immigrant Anthony “Tony” D’Imperio died on Sept. 6 at age 81. No cause of death was...
Man on trial for killing his mom in Homestead acts as own lawyer
The accused stood nervously in front of an Allegheny County jury and pledged to prove he didn’t kill his mother and her friend in Homestead last year. Defendant John Malcolm Smith V, 26, of McKeesport was acting as his own lawyer Tuesday, the start of his double homicide trial. He’s...
Monroeville insurance agent charged for 3rd time with fraudulent business practices
A Monroeville insurance agent has been charged for the third time in less than two years with fraudulent business practices. Prosecutors in this most recent case with the Pennsylvania Attorney General say Chad G. Skena, 48, of Monroeville, talked a client into investing more than $75,000 in a phony business...
Man pleads guilty to wrong-way DUI crash on Parkway East that killed 2
A man whose blood-alcohol level was more than triple the legal limit when he drove the wrong way on the Parkway East earlier this year and killed two women will spend up to six years in state prison. Pedro Olan Morales, 57, of Charlotte, N.C., pleaded guilty on Tuesday to...
Shaler Area parents, residents pose questions, offer opinions on proposed reconfiguration
A proposed reconfiguration of the Shaler Area School District built around closing its elementary school has been met with a mixture of public support and opposition, along with questions and concerns. Superintendent Bryan O’Black took questions and comments from residents Monday at Shaler Area High School after giving a presentation...
Killer says he extinguished ‘light so bright’ in Blawnox love triangle murder
Last year, after Sean Black pointed a gun at his ex-girlfriend’s face, her grandmother called him. He assured her he wouldn’t have shot Courtney Smith and said he would give the guns to his mother. He didn’t. Instead, a month later, Black took his guns and walked into the Blawnox...
Police searching for driver of vehicle stolen in Ross, crashed in Shaler
Police were looking for a person who fled after crashing a stolen vehicle Tuesday morning in Shaler. According to Ross police, its officers followed a stolen vehicle out of Ross into Shaler and tried to stop it on Mt. Royal Boulevard near the Shaler North Hills Library. Shaler police deployed...
Older, disabled Pennsylvanians bear brunt of home care staffing crisis
Lisa Sprague does what she can on her own, but nerve damage caused by multiple sclerosis means she needs help getting out of bed, bathing and completing other daily tasks. The state pays for 13 hours of care every day at her Harmar home, a bungalow retrofitted with a wheelchair...
Franklin Park teen establishes nonprofit clothing company to help victims of domestic abuse
A North Allegheny senior is putting her heart where her needle is. Patricia Rae Shanahan of Franklin Park is the owner of Heart and Hem, a nonprofit that designs and sells clothes to raise money and awareness for survivors of domestic abuse, with proceeds directly benefiting the Women’s Center &...
Suspect in 2024 Stowe homicide taken into custody in Maryland
A Stowe homicide suspect on the run for nearly a year was taken into custody Monday in Maryland. Dacahary Sampson, 32, is charged with shooting and killing James Nelson Jr., 42, of McKees Rocks, the afternoon of Aug. 12, 2024, along the 400 block of Pleasant Ridge Road. The U.S....
Carbon monoxide, gas alarms triggered before fatal explosion at U.S. Steel Clairton facility, authorities say
Carbon monoxide and gas alarms were triggered leading up to a fatal explosion at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works site Aug. 11, according to information released by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. Preliminary investigations into the blast, released Monday by the CSB, indicate the explosion occurred...
Allegheny County steps in to maintain bus stops at Waterfront
Just days after announcing plans to close several Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus stops inside The Waterfront shopping mall in Homestead, county officials have reached a temporary agreement to keep the stops open. Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato said Monday that buses will continue to stop directly outside the Giant Eagle...
North Hills gathers on World Peace Day, champions late nun’s mission for social justice
Community members gathered Sept. 21 in North Park for the 21st North Hills International Day of Peace celebration hosted by La Roche University and several local organizations. Sarah White, executive director of inclusion and belonging at La Roche, said the annual event is an important opportunity for friends and neighbors...
Lawyer argues double jeopardy should bar murder retrial for Taco Bell manager in death of Harrison man
A former Taco Bell manager whose first-degree murder conviction of a worker at the restaurant was thrown out last month because of prosecutorial misconduct is arguing he cannot be retried based on the legal theory of double jeopardy. The attorney for Zairyre Simmons filed a motion Friday contending Pennsylvania’s constitution...
