Western PA Local News category, Page 1298
Late Arnold fire chief remembered at memorial Oktoberfest, volunteer company’s fundraiser
Arnold Volunteer Engine Company No. 2 was like a second home for Keith Dziobak. The longtime public servant joined the company as a junior firefighter in 1982. Of his 40 years with the department, Dziobak was its chief for 12 years over two tenures. A life member, Dziobak had also...
Greensburg Hempfield library celebrates renovation with Children’s Pumpkin Patch Walk, food trucks
The Greensburg Hempfield Area Library held its first official public celebration since the start of renovations with a Children’s Pumpkin Patch Walk and a food truck fundraiser on Saturday afternoon. Library officials hosted crafts and activities, raffled baskets, held a used book sale and offered self-guided tours of the renovations....
‘Lick or Treat’ for dogs in downtown Irwin
Downtown Irwin was filled with costumed canines Saturday afternoon during the “Lick or Treat” celebration sponsored by PETals Boutique. The day included treats for pets at local businesses and prizes for the best dog costumes....
‘Breast Saturday Ever’: A colorful name for a colorful morningVideo
When Val Tressler of Mt. Pleasant started decorating the borough’s Diamond Street gazebo for Breast Cancer Awareness Month more than a decade ago and collecting donations for a regional charity, it didn’t take long for fellow downtown business owner Denise DeSabato to join in. The decorations — and the events...
West Virginia spring’s waters still drawing devotees
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. — Every couple weeks, Lauren Lee stuffs a few dozen gallon jugs into a big black laundry bag. She brings it to a covered pavilion right in the middle of Berkeley Springs State Park, which itself is right in the middle of downtown Berkeley Springs, West Virginia....
City Council, activists call for $10 million ‘food justice fund’ from federal covid money; mayor says money isn’t there
In a public hearing this week, Pittsburgh City Council members and activists called for the creation of a $10 million “food justice fund” using American Rescue Plan Act dollars, though the Mayor’s Office said that federal funding isn’t available for such an initiative. Councilwoman Deb Gross late last year sponsored...
Vandergrift police say man in wreck was Tasered twice while resisting arrest; felony charges filed
Vandergrift police say a Michigan man they found asleep behind the wheel after he wrecked into a parked vehicle had to be Tasered twice when he resisted arrest and ran from officers. Stanley Francis Molette, 35, of Farmington Hills was charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault and counts...
Lower Burrell police charge man with strangling child after investigating ChildLine abuse report
Lower Burrell police charged a man with a felony count of strangulation after investigators received a state ChildLine report that he choked a juvenile during an argument. Ronald Gregory Jefferies, 38, of Caribou Drive also faces charges of simple assault and harassment in connection with the incident that allegedly occurred...
Ex-teacher brings retro classroom vibe to new School House Bakery in Unity
Shoppers have a new option for sweet treats in Unity, with the Oct. 7 opening of the School House Bakery in the Latrobe 30 Plaza. Display cases are filled with grab-and-go cookies, brownies, scones, cupcakes, small cakes, muffins, seasonally flavored cinnamon rolls and more, all baked on site. Young patrons...
Hempfield book challenge policy could mirror one used for websites
The process for reevaluating challenged books and materials in Hempfield Area School District libraries could soon become more stringent after board members indicated they would like to model the policy after one used for Chromebooks. Rather than going through a process of informal and formal challenges, board members are hoping...
Youngwood’s Hospaws merging with similar program for pet care during human medical emergencies
Hospaws is ending its operations, but the Youngwood-based organization’s mission of providing temporary foster homes or assistance to pets whose owners are in need of medical care will continue, president Valerie Hoegel said. Many of the nonprofit’s volunteers and foster homes are going to work with a similar program managed...
Washington Township police charge man awaiting trial with trying to intimidate witness
Washington Township police say a man who is in jail awaiting trial on multiple felony counts was charged with another felony after he tried to intimidate a witness. Harold Michael Franks, 40, 300 block of Route 356 is in the Westmoreland County jail awaiting trial on felony charges filed in...
Norwin director objects to book on inclusion, diversity used in second grade classroom
A Norwin School Board member has criticized a children’s book read to some Norwin second graders because he claimed it celebrated sexuality while emphasizing diversity and inclusion, with drawings of same-sex couples with children, interracial couples and rainbow-colored items, which could symbolize gay and lesbian pride. “I feel it is...
Sheldon Park’s Pink Out proceeds benefit Highlands students’ Change for Cancer effort
Sheldon Park hosted a Pink Out celebration Thursday at the Lloyd D. Hayden Center, where people packed the facility to raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer. Residents Council President Sydney Hayden said fundraising efforts brought in nearly $500 to be donated to Highlands High School’s Change for Cancer...
In brief: News from Fox Chapel, O’Hara and Sharpsburg
Cooper-Siegel Community Library is hosting a weekend art studio 10 a.m. to noon on Oct. 29. The program is designed for youths ages 5-11 to explore different art media. The studio is open every Saturday. Materials will be provided. Registration is recommended. Contact Megan Fogt at fogtm2@coopersiegelcommunitylibrary.org or call 412-828-9520,...
Aspinwall officials exploring having charging stations in the borough
Aspinwall officials are in the early stages of exploring whether to create an official borough charging station for electric vehicles. Borough Manager Melissa O’Malley said several residents have their own charging devices, but there is no public station in town. “The environmental committee has met with Duquesne Light about their...
City Council, activists call for $10 million ‘food justice fund’ from federal covid money; mayor says money isn’t available
In a public hearing this week, Pittsburgh City Council members and activists called for the creation of a $10 million “food justice fund” using American Rescue Plan Act dollars, though the Mayor’s Office said that federal funding isn’t available for such an initiative. Councilwoman Deb Gross late last year sponsored...
North Allegheny student wins bus poster trophy
Ananyasri Boddupalli, a first-grader at Franklin Elementary, won second place in the Pennsylvania School Bus Safety poster contest. Ananyasri submitted the poster on her own when she was in kindergarten last spring and she was one of nine winners throughout the state. The contest was held by the Pennsylvania Department...
Pittsburgh airport security confiscates 5th gun in past 8 days
For the fifth time in eight days, a handgun has been confiscated from a passenger at Pittsburgh International Airport, authorities said. On Friday night, a California man was arrested at the airport when security officers found a carefully concealed Sig Sauer 9mm handgun in a passenger’s duffel bag at the...
Penn Hills man dies following Crescent Gardens Drive shooting
Police investigated a fatal shooting late Friday in Penn Hills in which someone shot two unoccupied cars in a driveway before shooting into a house, killing a 31-year-old man. Allegheny County Police reported that the incident took place shortly after 8:30 p.m. in the 300 block of Crescent Gardens Drive....
Pittsburgh man arrested in connection with August shooting
Pittsburgh police said a Spring Hill man has been jailed in connection with the shooting of a man in that neighborhood in August. Juan Still, 30, is accused of shooting the man in the chest and lower extremities around 9 p.m. Aug. 28 in the 1100 block of Brabec Street....
50th anniversary of The Tomb celebrated with gathering in Arnold
Daniel Crenner was among the first to walk through the doors of The Tomb in Arnold on Friday evening for a gathering celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Christian coffeehouse. Crenner, 69, who had lived in Arnold and Washington Township, made the trip back from his home in Sugarcreek in...
Kiski Junction Railroad Trail party attracts officials from state, region
The estimated 225 visitors Friday afternoon in Schenley celebrating the new Kiski Junction Railroad trail was about four times greater than the population of the village in Gilpin. Federal, state and local officials attended, including Cindy Adams Dunn, secretary of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; state Sen....
Scarecrows vie for votes as decades-long fall tradition continues in Ligonier
“Halloweena the Ballerina“ strikes a demi-seconde pose in her purple-and-black tutu, with arms stretched out and downward as she greets people walking near Ligonier’s central Diamond intersection. Creating her as a figure to enter in the Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce’s annual scarecrow contest was a natural for the staff...
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey announces measures to make neighborhoods safer
Pittsburgh is nixing a requirement that crossing guards have driver’s licenses. The city is also moving ahead with plans to install traffic calming measures in the city’s Glen Hazel neighborhood. The measures, which Mayor Ed Gainey said aim to create safer neighborhoods, were spurred in part by a community meeting...
