Western PA Local News category, Page 1033
234-apartment development proposed for Strip District
Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission is considering a proposal to bring more than 200 new apartments to the city’s Strip District. The proposed development would include two new six-story apartment buildings, each with vehicle and bicycle parking and amenities. One building would be on Smallman Street and the other would be on...
Pitt’s dean of education to become president at Charlotte HBCU
The University of Pittsburgh will be searching for a successor to School of Education Dean Valerie Kinloch, who is leaving to become the president of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C. She will assume the role of president of the historically Black college on Aug. 1 Kinloch has been...
Pittsburgh synagogue attacker had ‘very serious mental health history from a very young age,’ expert says
“He moves through the world under a vague feeling of threat and paranoia.” “He is quick to agitation.” “Active psychosis makes it impossible for him to assess stimuli and read the world appropriately.” All of those findings, an expert in neuropsychiatry and epilepsy testified Wednesday, mean that Robert Bowers could...
Opposition continues on proposed Yough river power plant
A proposed natural gas-fueled power plant a few miles north of West Newton would pump more pollution into a region that already has poor air quality, environmentalists and activists said at a community meeting this week. More than 100 people attended the meeting organized by the Environmental Health Project of...
Westmoreland Symphony tuning up for annual ‘Summer Sparklers’ concert
Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s “Summer Sparklers” is always a bit of something old mixed with a bit of something new. Set for 7 p.m. Sunday in Greensburg’s St. Clair Park, the free concert annually celebrates the Fourth of July with a salute to the armed forces and a rousing finale of...
Pittsburgh synagogue shooting memorial mural met with approval in Squirrel Hill
As with Pittsburgh’s efforts to come to grips with the horror of the events of Oct. 27, 2018, a Tree of Life shooting memorial mural unveiled Wednesday in Squirrel Hill is a work in progress. The mural includes a line of human figures holding hands against a background of hearts...
Fayette County camp bus crash injures 25 kids, 3 adults
Nearly 30 people were injured when a summer camp bus veered off Route 711 in Fayette County and landed in a field early Wednesday, according to state police. Troopers and first responders were called to the intersection of Pine Slopes Road and Indian Creek Valley Road (Route 711) in Saltlick...
Woman accused of attacking McDonald’s coworker with headset ordered to stand trial
A former employee at the McDonald’s restaurant in Lower Burrell was ordered to stand trial on charges of assaulting a new co-worker by hitting her in the head with a $900 drive-thru window headset. Nicole Monique Brundage, 37, of the 200 block of Freeport Road in New Kensington, was charged...
Westmoreland happenings: free veterans dinner, poker run, golf outing, more
Submissions from nonprofit organizations for Briefly Speaking can be emailed to cpinto-smith@triblive.com. Include a complete address and daytime phone number. Submissions are due at least two weeks prior to the event. Each announcement is printed once; there is no fee. Church News • First Presbyterian Church of Irwin, 617 Main...
Larry Lagattuta, founder of Enrico Biscotti Co. in Strip District, dead at 65
The founder of a popular Strip District bakery and cafe has died. Larry Lagattuta, who left a corporate job three decades ago to open The Enrico Biscotti Co., died on Monday, according to a post by his family on social media. He was 65. Family members said Lagattuta was passionate...
Shaler North Hills Library offers a variety of summer programming
Shaler North Hills Library, 1822 Mt. Royal Blvd., will be closed for the July 4 holiday. Patrons are encouraged to return items using the outdoor book drop, with no late fees. The library will have a table at Shaler Township Community Day from 6 p.m. until dusk. For more information...
Morning Roundup: Cop, 2 teens in stolen car hurt in crash along East Busway
Here are some of the latest news items from Wednesday morning: 3 people injured in crash on East Busway Three people were injured after a stolen vehicle crashed into a police cruiser along the East Busway on Tuesday night, according to authorities. Two teenagers were traveling inbound on the dedicated...
The Stroller, June 28, 2023: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Household, personal items needed at Allegheny Valley Association of Churches The...
Westmoreland 250: 10 unique things in Jeannette
(Editor’s note: To mark Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday this year, we’ve come up with a list of 250 things — 10 things in 25 communities — that we consider to be important to the makeup of our area. This series will appear each week through December. If you have a...
Fox Chapel Rotary honors 10 Shady Side grads for service, academics
Ten Shady Side Academy students were honored by the Rotary Club of Fox Chapel Area for embodying ideals of good citizenship and service to others, as well as for academics. Rotary members honored the graduating seniors during an end-of-school luncheon at the Indiana Township municipal building. Students were chosen by...
Battery suspected as cause of North Side fire
A fire in a Pittsburgh house last week may have been caused by lithium-ion batteries that ignited while being charged in a solar-powered, after-market charging system, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire said Tuesday. Firefighters responded to a one-alarm fire on June 23 inside a bedroom at a home along the...
Westmoreland Commissioner Thrasher appointed to state appeals board
Westmoreland Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher was confirmed on Tuesday to fill a vacancy on the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. Thrasher, 37, a Democrat from Hempfield is serving out her second four-year term and announced in February she would not seek reelection, instead focusing on a career as a lawyer....
Opinions in Jewish community differ on seeking death penalty for Pittsburgh synagogue shooter
Robert Bowers murdered Donna Coufal’s friend. But she doesn’t want him to be executed for it. “I hope that, whatever happens in (Bowers’) trial, people find peace,” said Coufal, 69, a member of Congregation Dor Hadash who lives in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill. “And I hope no other jury would have...
Route 981 lane restrictions ahead in Mt. Pleasant Township
Traffic will be restricted to a single lane on two sections of Route 981 in Mt. Pleasant Township beginning Friday. The restrictions are related to work on the Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project and are expected to be in place through late August, according to PennDOT. Traffic will be controlled...
Derry Township hay storage hut saved from fire
Quick action by a Derry Township farmer Tuesday morning saved a Quonset hut where fire had started in the storage area that held bales of hay, a fire official said. The fire at the Eaglehouse family farm on McCullough Road ruined the round hay bales, but the farmer was able...
Pair accused of defrauding SBA, banks of $14 million in covid-related aid
A Pittsburgh woman and a Detroit man have been accused of defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration and at least two lenders of about $14 millions by obtaining fake loans for hundreds of companies from a program designed to help business recover from the covid-related financial losses, the U.S. Attorney...
Smoke from Canadian wildfires prompts events to move indoors
Smoke from wildfires in Canada is again impacting air quality in Western Pennsylvania and affecting how people work and play, and will continue to do so on Thursday. The state is advising young children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems to limit outdoor activities Wednesday because of unhealthy pollution...
Gilpin family celebrates million-dollar lottery win in Allegheny Township
A Leechburg Area High School senior is having a summer to remember. Summer St. John, 17, celebrated the news Tuesday of her mother’s million-dollar lottery win with a commemorative check presentation at the Giant Eagle in Allegheny Township. Summer and her parents, Paul and Tricia St. John, shared hugs, smiles...
South Greensburg woman to stand trial on aiding suicide charge in ex-boyfriend’s death
State Trooper Phil Dern testified Tuesday he believes it is clear that a man took his own life at a Hempfield apartment in 2021 because he repeatedly was told to do so by his former girlfriend, Mandie R. Reusch. Dern said the man posted messages he received from Reusch, 35,...
Camp Invention tradition continues at Gateway High School
The future of Camp Invention at Gateway High School was in question after James Pottinger stepped down as director after the 2022 session. “I saw how the kids didn’t want camp to end. They loved it so much,” Chris Jordan, a camp instructor at the time, said. “And I thought,...
