Western PA Local News category, Page 1196
Lawyer says Youngwood murder suspect is not a killer
The lawyer for a man charged with the robbery and fatal stabbing of a man in his Youngwood home more than five years ago told a Westmoreland County jury Tuesday that his client is not a killer. Defense attorney Ken Noga said Michael J. Covington Jr. of Youngwood, now 25,...
Ross hires veteran Pittsburgh police commander to serve as its 1st female chief
Ross Township officials broke with the long-standing tradition of promoting their most senior police officer to chief when an opening comes up. With help from a consultant who developed a plan to restructure the police department, the township announced during a news conference Jan. 17 that it has hired its...
Allegheny County Jail inmate records videos from inside jail, has them posted to YouTube
A man awaiting trial on a rape charge may no longer represent himself in court after he used recording equipment inside Allegheny County Jail to make multiple videos — including a sample opening statement — and posted them on YouTube. James Taric Byrd, 44, has been incarcerated while awaiting trial...
Ligonier welcomes 32nd annual Ice Fest this weekend
Debbie Sarault, owner of clothing store Betsy’s of Ligonier, has a secret. But she’s not letting the proverbial cat out of the bag until Saturday, when the 32nd annual Ligonier Ice Fest begins. As a shop owner for 33 years, Sarault prides herself on having never missed the event. She...
Slain Monroeville teen remembered as ‘sweetest person’
Eloisa Creighton has read the flood of online comments and social media posts about her grandson, Aceyn Ausbrook, who was shot and killed last weekend outside a Monroeville birthday party. Now, she said she wants to add her voice to the chorus. “People say it all the time, but he...
South Fayette man pleads to Jan. 6 Capitol riot charges
A South Fayette man on Tuesday pleaded guilty to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Jorden Mink, 29, will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss on April 11 on two counts including assaulting, resisting or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon and theft of...
Pa. Resource Council asks amateur photographers to turn their ‘Lens On Litter’
Pennsylvania was home to a half-billion pieces of litter in 2020, and that was just along the roads, according to a survey commissioned by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and PennDOT. That’s disheartening news to Pennsylvania Resource Council Executive Director Darren Spielman, especially since the council’s annual Gene Capaldi...
Pennsylvania tree seedling sale underway
Looking to add greenery to your land this spring? The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s annual seedling sale is officially underway. For $12.50 to $16.25 per unit, residents can buy surplus tree and shrub seedlings that weren’t planted on state game lands this season. Each unit includes 25 seedlings, and those who...
State police were trying to arrest Hempfield man prior to daylong standoff
The man who authorities said died by suicide during a police standoff Monday in a Hempfield mobile home park was accused of threatening a woman with a gun two days earlier and firing two shots into the ceiling, according to court papers. Gerald A. Long Jr., 54, was charged Sunday...
15-year-old charged after assault at Fairfield juvenile treatment center
A 15-year-old boy is charged as an adult after state police said he attacked a worker at Outside In School of Experiential Education in Fairfield. Anthony Jenkins is being held on $200,000 bail on charges of aggravated assault, resisting arrest, strangulation and related offenses. Troopers were called to the facility...
Circus theme has patrons under ‘Big Top’ at Food Truck a Palooza inside Monroeville Convention Center
Food Truck a Palooza brought families from across Western Pennsylvania to the Monroeville Convention Center for some fun under the Big Top. The sixth annual installment of one of the nation’s largest indoor food truck festivala featured a circus theme complete with clowns, stilt walkers, puppeteers, face painting and much...
Food bank director receives Unsung Community Service Award in Bridgeville
Each year, the Bridgeville nonprofit One Music Fest Inc. presents an Unsung Community Service Award. The 2023 recipient is Tim Anderson, director of the Bridgeville Community Food Bank, who received his honor during One Music Fest’s fifth annual Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., held Jan. 16 at Bethany Presbyterian...
Duquesne University professor dead in apparent murder-suicide in Wilkins
A popular Duquesne University professor and his wife died Tuesday morning in Wilkins in what Allegheny County Police described as a murder-suicide. Emergency dispatchers received a third-party call just before 10 a.m. requesting a police check on a couple engaged in a violent domestic incident inside their home on Thorncrest...
Pittsburgh light-rail service temporarily shut down following fire beneath rail bridge
Pittsburgh Regional Transit shut down parts of its light rail service for about an hour Tuesday as a small fire started on the ground underneath Pittsburgh’s Panhandle Bridge. Spokesman Adam Brandolph said the fire originated from the ground on the South Side side below the bridge, which stretches over the...
$1.3B expansion of Mon-Fayette Expressway to begin soon, Pa. Turnpike Commission says
A $1.3 billion expansion project of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Mon-Fayette Expressway between Route 51 and Interstate 376 is expected to get underway soon, according to the Turnpike Commission. The 8-mile extension will expand the Mon-Fayette Expressway, which now stretches 54 miles from Jefferson Hills to Morgantown, W.Va. When complete, the...
Former Blawnox Mayor Tom Smith recalled as epitome of small borough
Friends are recalling former longtime Blawnox Mayor Tom Smith as the ultimate figurehead for the small Allegheny River town. He founded the Thomas M. Smith Funeral Home in 1966 and later delved into local politics as a way to spur community revitalization. “My family knew him all our life, and...
Bridgeville event celebrates life of Martin Luther King Jr.
For more than half a century, students in most American classrooms have learned at least a little something about Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. They may have memorized it as occurring in 1963 before a quarter of a million people in the nation’s capital, and that...
Gainey opposes plan to step up curfew enforcement in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s office said Tuesday that the mayor does not support a proposal to ramp up enforcement of the city’s curfew for minors. City Council President Theresa Kail-Smith on Monday said she is planning to introduce legislation this week that aims to enforce the city’s curfew for juveniles...
Raising Cane’s eyes new restaurant in Oakland
A popular fast-food chain specializing in chicken fingers could be coming to Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is looking to open a restaurant at Fifth Avenue and Atwood Street in a building that formerly housed the restaurant and bar Thirsty Scholar, according to plans presented to Pittsburgh’s Planning...
Twitter storm hovers over Allegheny County Council race between Hallam, Doven
That escalated quickly. A race for an at-large seat on Allegheny County Council had barely gotten underway this month when attacks started flying. Many of them came from observers of the race on social media, particularly Twitter, and almost immediately put the race’s two candidates on the defensive. Joanna Doven...
In brief: news from Longvue Acres Garden Club, AARP
Longvue Acres Garden Club Longvue Acres Garden Club’s January will present “The History of North Park,” an overview from prehistoric times to the present by Allegheny County Interpretive Park Ranger, Deaglan McManus on Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Northmont United Presbyterian Church, 8169 Perry Highway, McCandless. The club’s programs...
BNY Mellon plans to lay off around 1,500 workers
Bank of New York Mellon is planning to lay off 3% of its workforce, or about 1,500 jobs. The New York-based financial firm that employs thousands in the Pittsburgh region, did not specify where those jobs would be located or what categories would be impacted. “We continue to optimize our...
Derry Area student surprised with full tuition scholarship to Thiel
When Derry Area High School senior Cydney Wierzbowski was called down to the school guidance office early Tuesday morning, for a moment, she thought she might be in trouble. “I was in math class, and I was pulled out to go to guidance for I did not know what,” Wierzbowski...
New Kensington-Arnold selects vendor for classroom furniture
The New Kensington- Arnold School District hopes to have new classroom furniture in all of its schools by September, Superintendent Chris Sefcheck said. The school board voted last week to buy classroom seating and furniture from P.E.M. Co., an educational furniture dealership in the South Hills that was founded in...
New Kensington business earns first silver ‘sustainable workplace’ honor from Sustainable Pittsburgh
A downtown New Kensington business is among the first three to be designated as “sustainable workplaces” by Sustainable Pittsburgh. Trademark Threads, an embroidery and printing business at 1007 Fifth Ave., earned a silver level designation. The nonprofit Sustainable Pittsburgh says its program recognizes any business, nonprofit or other organization that...
