Western PA Local News category, Page 1548
Blawnox-Glenover Volunteer Fire Co. celebrates 100 years of operation
Pam Stephens can count on three fingers the members of the Blawnox-Glenover Volunteer Fire Co. back in the late 1980s. A simple, yet sobering task, considering that she, fire company Engineer Scott Krause and her brother, Chief Jeff Stephens were the members. The others, “just retired, moved away (and) quit,”...
Greensburg, Delmont libraries to implement STEM grant aimed at digital literacy
Last summer, preschool-age children at the Delmont Public Library had a chance to work with robotics kits and get introduced to the science, technology, engineering and math concepts that are part of the STEM education model. Problem is, the library only had the kits on loan for a week’s worth...
Bots to brawl during high school robotics competition at California University
Robots will fight it out gladiator-style during the 17th annual BotsIQ high school robotics competition this weekend at California University of Pennsylvania. Students from 41 regional high schools will bring their 15-pound bots to the brawl on Friday and Saturday, according to a BotsIQ news release. The teams have spent...
Farmers markets reopening in Westmoreland County
Farmers markets are springing up in the region, including a sale this Saturday in Greensburg. About 15 vendors will be selling their homemade products at the farmers market from 9 a.m. to noon at Lynch Field in Greensburg, said Paul Sarver, manager of the Farmers Market Association of Central Westmoreland,...
Police arrest Wilkins man wanted on sexual assault charges
The Allegheny County Police have arrested a Wilkins Township man who was reported missing on Tuesday and charged with aggravated indecent assault, sexual exploitation of children and additional charges on Wednesday. Police said Frank M. Derzak, 59, of Wilkins, was reported missing by a family member on Tuesday. He was...
Architects give presentation update on proposed Quaker Valley High SchoolVideo
Leaders of Quaker Valley School District’s project team have delivered a presentation and update on the proposed high school project. Architects at the April 26 school board highlighted community engagement that took place the past year or so, and showcased some conceptual drawings of an estimated 167,000-square-foot facility. Alternate plans...
Lawyer for Greensburg shooting suspect claims self defense
The lawyer for a man awaiting trial for attempted murder told a judge his client acted in self defense when he fired one shot during a melee outside Rialto Cafe in Greensburg. Defense attorney T. Brent McCune said 23-year-old Evan Curley of Greensburg was acting to protect himself as bullets...
Jefferson Starship founding member David Freiberg discusses band’s staying power, lineup changes
Outside of the Rolling Stones, it’s difficult to think of a single rock band that’s kept going consistently since the mid-1960s. But Jefferson Starship, originally known as Jefferson Airplane, is one of those bands. The group has just released its first new studio album in 12 years, “Mother of the...
Sharpsburg Community Library may add materials, increase hours through O’Hara donation
Sharpsburg Community Library officials are considering adding hours and to its collection courtesy of a $20,000 donation from O’Hara Township. The Sharpsburg library is a branch of Fox Chapel-based Cooper-Siegel Community Library. O’Hara Council approved the gift on April 12 provided it be used specifically for the Sharpburg library and...
Penn Hills Arts Festival canceled for 3rd year in a row
For the third year in a row, the annual Penn Hills Arts and Music Festival will not be held. Penn Hills Arts Council president Catherine Meara said due to covid and other issues among its members, holding the festival was not possible. The event normally takes place in mid-July. “I...
Baby at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh dies while awaiting liver transplant
Eileen Halloran cradled her grandson, Chance, on Friday night. She noticed something different about the baby boy who had lived his entire life in a neonatal intensive care unit, attached to a ventilator. The past year had been filled with operations, medical tests and drama. He was under consideration for...
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority could receive $1.2M in city funding
Pittsburgh City Council is poised to allocate $1.2 million to the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority to fund several programs. “They’re investments back into neighborhoods, which we’d gotten away from for the last couple decades,” Councilwoman Deb Gross said. The investment would include $150,000 for the Pittsburgh Task Force on Employee...
Avian flu hits ducks, chickens, eagles in Pa.; officials ask public to report dead birds
Avian flu cases in wild birds, including eagles and ducks, are growing in Pennsylvania. The first detection at a poultry farm, where birds are especially vulnerable to the flu, was flagged April 16 in Lancaster. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced more detections in three commercial flocks, also in...
Hempfield Area art show returns with student exhibition that will benefit people in Ukraine
Hempfield Area High School art students are gearing up for an exhibit this weekend that will celebrate their resilience while also showing support for Ukraine. The student art exhibition, scheduled Friday through Sunday at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, is the first time in two years students...
2 hurt in Hempfield crash
Two people were taken by ambulance Wednesday afternoon from the scene of a crash in Hempfield, according to first responders. Two cars collided at the intersection of Slate Run Road and Route 130 around 1:30 p.m. One of the cars overturned and was sitting on its roof while first responders...
Bradford Woods Conservancy sponsors talk by retired geologist who hiked the Appalachian Trail
A retired geologist and author is slated to share stories of his experiences hiking the Appalachian Trail as part of an ongoing speaker series hosted by the Bradford Woods Conservancy. Craig Eckert, a retired geologist and author, will present a talk, “Rocks, Roots and Rattlesnakes” at Bradford Woods Community Church...
Greensburg Night Market opens with larger footprint, more vendors
The monthly Greensburg Night Market returns Thursday for its fourth year, with an expanded footprint covering three downtown city blocks. Set for 5:30-9 p.m., the market will stretch along South Pennsylvania Avenue from West Otterman Street to West Third Street. About 80 vendors will be present. “We’ve been wanting to...
Greensburg Civic Theatre stages sultry ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’
Greensburg Civic Theatre is traveling back to 1955 and the Mississippi Delta, where the weather isn’t the only thing that’s sultry. The company will close its 2021-22 season with Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Curtain times will be 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and...
Closures to impact Downtown streets during Pittsburgh Marathon
The Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon returns in person on Sunday. It’s one of several race-related and other events happening this weekend. The event was held virtually the past two years because of the pandemic. More than 40,000 people will be welcomed back to the 26.2-mile course, the 13.1 half-marathon...
Springdale power plant documented for history
Allegheny-Kiski Valley Historical Society Board President James Thomas remembers when Springdale was called “The Power City.” The establishment of the Cheswick Generating Station in 1970, producing 565 megawatts of electricity, was part of the borough’s claim to fame. The location’s proximity to coal mines and the river was the perfect...
Bethel Park teachers agree to 3-year contract
Bethel Park School Board and the Bethel Park Federation of Teachers have agreed to a new three-year contract that will run from July 1 through June 30, 2025. The federation includes approximately 330 certified personnel, consisting of teachers, counselors, psychologists, nurses, speech therapists, information technology specialists and librarians. “We are...
1 man injured in New Kensington shooting
A man is in stable condition after being shot Tuesday in New Kensington, according to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s office. Police responded at about 7:45 p.m. to the 1300 block of Leishman Avenue for reports of shots fired. The victim, Garrick Marshall, no age available, suffered multiple gunshot wounds....
Hempfield family unhurt in what they describe as explosion that sounded ‘like a gunshot’
A Hempfield home was damaged Wednesday morning after an incident that its occupants described as sounding “like a gunshot,” according to homeowner David Elliott. Firefighters were called to Cree Drive in the township’s Fort Allen neighborhood around 8 a.m. and found the home’s windows had been pushed out of their...
Westmoreland happenings: Strawberry festival, bingos and Mother’s Day tea
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Aaron Kress was icon of Westmoreland County legal community
When Aaron Kress first met his wife, Dorothy, he told her he was a window washer. “He didn’t want her to get any preconceived notions about him being a lawyer,” said their daughter, Becky Fenoglietto of Penn Hills. “They were married very quickly,” she said. “My dad brought her back...
