Western PA Local News category, Page 1229
North Allegheny students recreate sweet treats for tree.
Thirty fifth-grade students from North Allegheny’s Ingomar Elementary School decorated sweet treat ornaments for the tree at Millie’s Homemade Ice Cream on Perry Highway in Wexford. The shop invited the students of IES teacher Lauren Clore’s art classes to pick a favorite holiday sweet and recreate it. Shop owner Nicole...
Injuries reported in Route 819 car crash
At least one person was injured in a car crash Friday evening on Route 819. The crash happened just after 7 p.m. in East Huntingdon in the area of the Route 119 exit ramp, according to a Westmoreland County dispatcher. State police out of Uniontown are handling the incident, the...
Carnegie man acquitted of 2021 Scott stabbing death
A Carnegie man accused of killing a 70-year-old man at a homeless encampment in Scott last year was found not guilty Friday. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer announced his verdict in the nonjury trial following three days of testimony, which began on Nov. 1. Vendell Nasir III, 29,...
Bond set for Jeannette man charged in Rialto stabbing
A Westmoreland County judge ruled a Jeannette man charged with attempted homicide during a stabbing in front of the Rialto Bar and Bistro last month in downtown Greensburg can be released from jail as he awaits trial. Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani set a $250,000 straight cash bond for Anthony...
Irwin man among 3 suspects nabbed in West Mifflin drug bust
An Irwin man was among three people jailed in Allegheny County this week after drugs, guns and cash were found during a raid in West Mifflin, West Mifflin police said. Police said the illegal items confiscated were heroin, cocaine, pure fentanyl and fentanyl pills, marijuana, as well as four handguns,...
Zappala criticizes Gainey administration, Pittsburgh police over response to city violence
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. on Friday criticized Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and the city’s police department for failing to curb violence and ensure that the public feels safe. “You have to have the cooperation of the elected officials,” Zappala said. “The city’s a problem right now....
Police: Homeless man took drugs into Latrobe library
A homeless man faces charges after, police say, he took drugs and hypodermic needles into Latrobe’s Adams Memorial Library. According to police, Alexander Kimmick, 24, locked himself in the library bathroom with the drug paraphernalia on Monday. Library staff told Kimmick to leave to no avail. Kimmick continued to refuse...
Police charge Blairsville man in connection with Latrobe burglary, theft
A Blairsville man faces charges after police say he burglarized a Latrobe home and stole a laptop from it. Thursday morning, a man told police that someone entered his Spring Street home and stole his MacBook, backpack and several other items. Using security cameras, Latrobe police found that Vincent Skillings,...
Pittsburgh police to survey residents in effort to improve community relations
Pittsburgh police in the city’s Zone 3 said they plan to use survey results to improve relations with residents. Starting Monday, police in Zone 3 will launch a trial of AXON My90, a program that uses brief surveys to allow community members to provide feedback on police interactions. “The anonymous...
Army soldier charged with murdering sergeant from Plum
FORT STEWART, Ga. — The Army has charged a 28-year-old soldier with murder in the fatal shooting of a sergeant at a Georgia base. Officials at Fort Stewart identified the suspected gunman Friday as Spc. Shay A. Wilson of Cambria Heights, New York. He has been charged in a military...
Shell issued violation notice for exceeding emission limits during startup of Beaver County cracker plant
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has issued a notice of violation against Shell’s multibillion-dollar ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, which became fully operational last month. Shell was hit with the violation notice on Wednesday after the DEP said it exceeded the emission standards set between the company and...
Zappala to seek 7th term as Allegheny County district attorneyVideo
Surrounded by hundreds of people representing many of Pittsburgh’s labor unions, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. on Friday announced he will seek a seventh term in office. Zappala, a Democrat from Fox Chapel, made the announcement at the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Christmas party in the Champions...
Online fundraiser set up to help 3 young daughters of slain New Kensington man
An online fundraiser has been set up to help the three young daughters of a New Kensington man who was found shot to death in the parking lot of his apartment building. The GoFundMe page was established for the children of James Michael Hayes, 31, who was found shot to...
Vote totals from recounted precincts certified in Westmoreland County
The Westmoreland County Election Board this week issued a final certification of results from five voting precincts subjected to a court-ordered recount. Voters from precincts in Salem, Hempfield, Loyalhanna, Lower Burrell and Ligonier Borough petitioned the courts to recount votes cast as part of the Nov. 8 general election for...
Chartiers Valley Middle School named ‘School to Watch’
Chartiers Valley Middle School has been named a PA Don Eichhorn Schools: “Schools to Watch.” The designation recognizes the level of academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, social equity, and organizational structures and processes at the school. “What an honor to be recognized for our outstanding team and their commitment to helping...
Apollo police accuse convicted felon of pointing gun at woman, felony charges filed
Apollo police accused a man whose criminal history prohibits him from possessing a gun with pointing a pistol at a woman and threatening her. Roberto J. Santiago-Cruz, 35, of the 300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue was charged with a felony count of illegal possession of a firearm along with reckless...
Proposed 2023 Penn Township budget focuses on capital projects
Penn Township commissioners will vote on a proposed 2023 budget Dec. 21 that includes a host of capital improvement construction projects. The $10.3 million spending plan does not raise any taxes or cut any services, according to township finance director Colleen Gain. Most notable in the budget, Gain said, are...
Tarentum trash collection fee unchanged but will be limited to 1 container
Tarentum residents will pay the same for garbage collection in 2023 but will no longer have unlimited service. Council was notified in October that Waste Management was not able to extend the borough’s current contract that provides unlimited service because of a lack of drivers. The borough advertised for bids...
Leet zoning hearing board considering appeal of ruling on proposed Quaker Valley high school
Leet zoning hearing board members have called for a special meeting to consider appealing an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge’s ruling regarding a proposed high school. Senior Judge Joseph James issued his six-page opinion on Nov. 28 overturning the township’s zoning board decision, which in March refused to grant a...
Westmoreland commissioners agree to settle 2 federal lawsuits
Westmoreland commissioners on Thursday approved payments totaling $45,000 to settle two federal lawsuits. One case involved a whistleblower lawsuit brought in 2017 by a deputy sheriff who claimed the department’s drug-sniffing dog was removed from his care as retaliation for speaking with state investigators probing suspected election law violations by...
Texas truck driver granted bail in Hempfield hit-and-run case
A Texas man was granted bail Thursday after spending two weeks behind bars in connection with a Hempfield hit and run that left a man seriously injured. District Judge Joseph DeMarchis set $100,000 bail for Quantae Beavers, 25, of Dallas. DeMarchis previously denied bail after Beavers’ Nov. 30 arrest in...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Dec. 16-18
‘Tis the season for holiday music, theater and partying and, from the classics to prog rock to on-screen hilarity, Pittsburgh is filled with it this weekend. Trans-Siberian Orchestra The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is back in Pittsburgh for 2022 with the return of “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve: The Best of TSO...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County this weekend: Dec. 16-18
Christmas classics Westmoreland Performing Arts will stage these holiday shows on Friday in Science Hall Theater at Westmoreland County Community College, 145 Pavilion Lane, Hempfield: • “A Christmas Carol,” 6 p.m. WPA’s Home and Cyber School Theatre Troupe will present an adaptation of the Charles Dickens’ classic through a series...
Some Pine-Richland parents upset about mindfulness lessons
Some Pine-Richland parents say the district violated the First Amendment’s religious provisions and side-stepped parental medical decisions after eighth-grade students participated in a week of “mindfulness” lessons created by Allegheny Health Network. In November, the district hosted the “Chill Mobile” — a mobile mental health clinic launched by AHN and...
Pine-Richland School Board approves administrative staff changes
Pine-Richland School District will welcome some new faces and say farewell to a familiar one in the next few months. The district’s director of student services and special education, Noel Hustwit, who has been with the district since 2012, is retiring in March. Initially hired as the director of special...
