Western PA Local News category, Page 1336
Leechburg Area School District’s energy-saving renovations near completion
Leechburg Area School District is set for huge savings as it nears completion of renovations to ensure greater energy efficiency on campus. The district’s Energy Savings Project, implemented by Harrisburg-based McClure Co., began in June and is expected to wrap up in a few weeks. Eric Petrazio, McClure senior account...
Allegheny RiverTrail Park ready to Rock the River
Allegheny RiverTrail Park is getting ready to “Rock the River” one final time before fall with a concert on Sept. 30. Scott, Rob and Greg of longtime Pittsburgh-band, The Clarks, will perform for free at 7 p.m. in the welcome center pavilion. The large, open space provides for excellent acoustics...
Fox Chapel Area students named AP Scholars
The College Board named 154 Fox Chapel Area High School students and 2022 graduates as Advanced Placement Scholars for demonstrating college-level achievement on the AP examinations taken in May, 2022. The College Board recognizes three levels of achievement. AP Scholar with Distinction These individuals qualified by earning an average score...
Tarentum’s Pasta King gives takeout the royal treatment
Tarentum resident Dale Davis has earned his title as the pasta king. A longtime chef in restaurants across the Pittsburgh region, Davis made the leap to open the soul food takeout eatery Pasta King at 621 E. First Ave. in Tarentum just more than a year ago. “I started way...
Springdale Council promotes police captain to chief
Springdale has a new police chief, and he’s a familiar face to borough residents. Derek Dayoub was elevated from captain to chief this week by a 5-1 council vote with one abstention. Dayoub replaces George Polnar, who retired in June. A law enforcement member for 20 years, Dayoub will receive...
Missing Larimer girl found safe
A 12-year-old girl who had reported missing from Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood has been found and is safe. Kamarah Sanders, 12, had last been seen on Tuesday at her home on the 6000 block of Carver Street. Police described her as 5-feet-5-inches, 90 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She...
Pittsburgh police say missing Marshall-Shadeland woman has been found
Pittsburgh police said a woman who had been missing from the city’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood was found safe. Cayla Combs, 27, had been missing since Tuesday morning. Police describe her as 5-feet-1-inch tall, 200 pounds, with brown eyes. Her hair is half-black and half-blonde. Family members said Combs was a danger...
Pittsburgh man suspected in Brookline bank robbery apprehended
A Pittsburgh man wanted in connection with an August bank robbery in the city’s Brookline neighborhood was arrested Tuesday. Timothy Sowinski, 53, was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force and Pittsburgh Police Fugitive Apprehension Unit, Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews reported. He was wanted...
West Deer supervisors choose new colleague from 3 candidates
West Deer has a new supervisor. Supervisors chose David Harrison, a 32-year resident of the township who has served on various boards in the past, at a special meeting Thursday evening. He runs a consulting firm for sound and vibration engineering. A vacancy for District 4 supervisor was created when...
Heinz History Center offers kids free admission in October
Fall is upon us and as the weather cools down and convinces families to seek out indoor activities, the Senator John Heinz History Center has come up with an idea to make visiting the venue more affordable. The history center is offering free admission for all kids aged 17 and...
2 people left homeless, pets dead, after Salem mobile home fire
Two people were homeless Wednesday evening after a trailer fire that killed two of their pets. Neither of the homeowners was injured when a mobile home caught fire early Wednesday evening in the 100 block of Bennett Drive in Salem, fire officials said. Crews were called about 5 p.m. and...
Monroeville’s Divine Mercy Academy hits stride
In 2018, families with children attending the pair of Catholic elementary schools in Monroeville, St. Bernadette and North American Martyrs, learned of their impending merger. Principal Nikole Laubham thinks the combination of the two, Divine Mercy Academy, is hitting its stride with the start of another school year. “With any...
Former McKeesport teacher facing multiple sex charges waives preliminary hearing
A former McKeesport Area middle school teacher and youth basketball coach accused of sexually assaulting several boys waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday. Eric Fairman, 27, of Pleasant Hills was scheduled to go before District Judge Michael W. Thatcher on multiple charges including indecent assault, unlawful contact with minors, corruption of...
Fayette woman killed in head-on crash in Hempfield, police say
A Fayette County woman was killed in a Hempfield crash Wednesday afternoon, according to state police. Troopers said another vehicle slammed head-on into the Kia Sedona Betty J. Wagner, 73, of Franklin Township, was driving on Arona Road at 4:45 p.m. Wagner was pronounced dead at the scene. Wagner and...
Prosecutor says deadly force not justified in Penn Borough shooting
A Penn Borough man told a Westmoreland County jury Wednesday he was shot in the chest by his landlord last summer. Nathan Booher, 26, testified he was unarmed on Aug. 28, 2021 when he entered the house he had lived in the previous three years with his mother’s boyfriend and...
Tessa Pagone of Gibsonia crowned Miss Pennsylvania Jr. Teen
Tessa Pagone of Gibsonia was crowned the 2022 National American Miss Pennsylvania Jr. Teen at the state pageant held in Virginia in August. The Deer Lakes High School sophomore has participated in National American Miss pageants for six years and most recently competed in the age 13-15 bracket. She qualified...
Donora man contends bar fight that left three injured started by jealous boyfriend
A Donora man told a Westmoreland County jury Wednesday he pulled out a knife to protect himself during an all-out brawl three years ago at a North Belle Vernon bar that left three people seriously wounded. Eric Cook, 46, testified during the third day of his attempted murder trial that...
Expert refutes concussion claims in suit against West Mifflin Area School District
The neuropsychologist who invented the widely used ImPACT test to help diagnose concussions testified on Wednesday that symptoms experienced by a West Mifflin man hurt on the high school football field 13 years ago are unrelated to that injury. Dr. Mark R. Lovell told a jury that he believes Shane...
Bells Mills Road closed after vehicle strikes covered bridge
Bells Mills Road connecting South Huntingdon and Sewickley townships has been closed at the Bells Mills Road bridge, after a vehicle struck the bridge on Tuesday, according to PennDOT officials. Damage to the bridge necessitated the road closure, according to PennDOT spokesperson Melissa Maczko. Vaughn Neil, an engineer with Westmoreland...
Road work start in Penn Hills pushed to next week
The start of a closure on Verona Road at Second Avenue in Penn Hills was moved to accommodate the contractor’s schedule, according to Allegheny County’s Department of Public Works. The intersection will now close starting at 9 a.m. Sept. 26. The closure, which is expected to end in October, is...
Mellon Park plan calls for better connections and traffic calming
A public park in Pittsburgh’s East End is looking for some upgrades and a new plan details the desire to better connect the park’s two halves and to slow drivers down as they pass through. The Mellon Park Action Plan was released Wednesday, and it lays out the community’s priorities...
Derry Township man accused of taking $21K of guns through improper use of third-party financing
A Derry Township man is accused of taking $21,000 worth of guns and accessories from a Hempfield shop after state police said he misrepresented his financing through a third-party agency, according to court papers. David J. Cochran, 23, was arraigned Tuesday on a theft by deception charge. State police said...
Pittsburgh projected to spend $2 million more in gas for fleet this year
The city of Pittsburgh is expected to spend about $5 million in gas this year — about $2 million more than last year — to keep its fleet running amid soaring gas prices. The city spent $3.2 million in gas to fuel its vehicles in 2021, Councilman Anthony Coghill said....
Greensburg state store temporarily closed
There is no timeline for the Fine Wine & Good Spirits store in Greensburg to reopen after its temporary closure in early August because of what state officials described as “potential safety concerns.” The building’s co-owner John Rause said Wednesday that he has contractors lined up to assess moisture issues...
Jurors begin deliberations in 2017 Homewood triple fatal fire trial
The victims didn’t have a chance. Sandra Carter Douglas. Shamira Staten. Ch’yenne Manning. None of them, said Deputy District Attorney Brian Catanzarite, played any role in a fight Martell Smith had early on the morning of Dec. 20, 2017. A fight, the prosecutor continued, that drove Smith into such a...
