Local category, Page 1601
Portion of Sharpsburg’s Main Street to close through March
A long-term closure of Main Street in Sharpsburg is expected to begin Tuesday. Road construction will begin at 6 a.m., with crews working to install sanitary and stormwater sewer lines, PennDOT announced. Specifically, traffic will be detoured between Sixth and Eighth streets. Work is part of a $3.8 million improvement...
Police: Verona woman took daughter she didn’t have custody of to Illinois
A Verona faces woman kidnapping and other charges for taking a daughter over whom she did not have custody to Illinois, according to police. Brandi Bailey, 34, is charged with kidnapping, burglary, interfering with the custody of a child, concealing the whereabouts of a child and endangering the welfare of...
Hospital worker survey will help Gainey administration understand industry challenges
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s transition team plans to undertake a massive survey of Pittsburgh hospital workers, hoping the information gleaned will help the city lessen the challenges that are driving health care workers away from the bedside. Jake Pawlak, Gainey’s transition director and head of the city’s Office of Management...
Police: Mother charged for threatening student on Gateway school bus
A Monroeville woman is charged with terroristic threats and other crimes for allegedly threatening a Gateway elementary student on a bus. Jada Northcutt, 34, got on to a bus with Evergreen Elementary School students at the intersection of Garden City and SunnyField drives the morning of Jan. 27, according to...
Monroeville Public Library to hold event to educate on Medicare
A question-and-answer session regarding a basic understanding of Medicare will be held March 4 at the Monroeville Public Library. The hybrid event – being held in-person and on Zoom – will feature Kea Hardaway from Three Rivers Youth from 1-2:30 p.m. Hardaway has a background in health insurance, Medicare and...
Penn Hills School Board votes to remove plaques
Penn Hills School Board voted to remove plaques commemorating the school board members who were in office when Penn Hills High School and Penn Hills Elementary School were opened in 2012 and 2014. It was a move described by both board President Erin Vecchio and a resident opposed to the...
Police: Fayette County woman arrested in Arnold for trying to trade AK-47 for 2 bricks of heroin
Police say a Fayette County woman tried to trade an AK-47 rifle for heroin after a source tipped off agents from the Westmoreland County Drug Task Force who were conducting a drug sweep in Arnold. Jessica Sue Thorpe, 41, of Clinton Road, Saltlick, was charged with felony counts of illegal...
Norwin lifts modified lockdown over bomb threat
The Norwin School District Thursday afternoon lifted the modified lockdown that the school district had been under since early morning as a result of a bomb threat, Superintendent Jeff Taylor said in a message. The district did not release any details of the bomb threat, which it announced around 11:45...
Hampton council approves purchase of police body and dash cameras
Hampton council approved an initial purchase of body cameras and vehicle dashcams for the Hampton Township police department at its Feb. 23 meeting. Hampton Police Chief Thomas Vulakovich requested the approval to purchase the cameras and camera systems using $36,845 out of the Capital Improvement Fund budget. The total cost...
Motorists stop to assist driver of car that flipped on Route 28 near East Deer
State police are investigating the cause of a crash Thursday morning near the East Deer exit along Route 28, according to authorities. The accident was reported around 10 a.m. in the northbound lanes. Several passing motorists stopped to help the occupant of the vehicle get out before emergency crews responded...
Leechburg Area School Board lifts mask requirement for unvaccinated staff members
Unvaccinated Leechburg Area School District staff members will be able to choose whether to wear a mask in school buildings. The Leechburg Area School Board voted 5-3 Wednesday night to rescind its mask requirement. Members chose between voting yes to lift the requirement or no to hold off on a...
Highlands School District, teachers union agree to 5-year deal
Highlands School District teachers, who have been without a contract for more than seven months, have a five-year deal that runs through June 2026. The district and the Highlands Education Association announced the contract agreement Wednesday after the two sides ratified a plan that includes average annual pay increases of...
Highlands students create colorful community ‘quilt’ for library
Highlands Elementary second grader Stella Thiry slowly studied a box of markers before selecting her favorite colors. Classmate Isabella Malinsky chose ones that reflected bright rainbow hues. In a project aimed at fostering creativity and self-expression, the students collaborated on a colorful “quilt” to be displayed at the Community Library...
4 Pittsburgh chefs named James Beard Awards semifinalists
Four Pittsburgh chefs are semifinalists for this year’s prestigious James Beard Foundation Awards. Bethany Zozula of 40 North at Alphabet City on the North Side, Wei Zhu of Chengdu Gourmet in Squirrel Hill and Kate Lasky and Tomasz Skowronski of Apteka in Bloomfield are semifinalists in the category of Best...
Quaker Valley School District officials invest in new technology for students, staff
New iPads and laptops are expected to be in the hands of Quaker Valley School District students and staff next school year. District director of innovation and strategic initiatives Karyn Dobda said 320 iPads were purchased for first and ninth-grade students. It also approved the purchase of 100 MacBook Air...
Police say 1 wounded in shooting in Pittsburgh’s Crawford Roberts
Pittsburgh police are investigating a shooting early Thursday morning in the city’s Crawford Roberts neighborhood. Police confirmed one victim was transported to an area hospital after being shot around 3 a.m. near the intersection of Vine and Colwell streets. The victim’s condition is unknown and the shooting is under investigation,...
Ice storm warning issued in parts of Westmoreland, Fayette
The National Weather Service has issued multiple winter weather advisories for several counties in Western Pennsylvania. Jenna Lake, a NWS meteorologist in the Moon office, said a “mature and dynamic” weather system moving in from the plains/midwest section of the country will usher in a mixed bag of will rain,...
2 killed in Fayette wrong-way crash
Two men were killed Sunday in a wrong-way crash in Fayette County, according to state police. Troopers were called to the crash on Route 40 near Morgantown Road in South Union Township at 12:45 a.m. Sunday. Police said a Ford Taurus that was driven by Dylan Healey, 25, of Carmichaels...
Pine-Richland School District focuses on inclusion
In the Pine-Richland School District, each school and many organizations are working to celebrate differences in hopes of being more inclusive. Members of the Pine-Richland High School Peer Buddies organization are working on an inclusion project. The students are creating puppets for a live reading they are planning for elementary...
Hampton woman named among top volunteers nationally
After retiring from teaching in the Shaler Area School District 17 years ago, Elizabeth Spence decided she “wasn’t going to waste my time going to lunches.” So, she went to work – volunteer work, that is. Spence was named as one of the top 100 volunteers nationally for the 2021...
North Hills students rise to the occasion to bring ‘Once Upon a Mattress’ to the stage
Tired of the same old song-and-dance? Check out “Once Upon a Mattress,” the North Hills High School Drama Club’s spring musical. The lighthearted comedy, which is set in medieval times, puts a twist on “The Princess and the Pea” fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson. When the domineering Queen Aggravain...
Olympics help spur interest in curling in Western Pa.
The sport of curling — somewhat akin to shuffleboard on ice — is growing in popularity, spurred by the recent Winter Olympics in Beijing, even though the U.S. teams missed out on winning medals. After watching the 2010 Olympics, Bryan Spang of Hempfield caught the curling bug. He started learning...
Chartiers Valley High School gears up for spring musical ‘Mary Poppins’
Get ready for a magical weekend inside the Chartiers Valley theater, as “Mary Poppins” comes to life on stage from March 9 to 12. “It’s going to be a great show. I’m very, very excited,” said senior Nicolas Sperandeo, 17, who plays Bert. Kim Giffin, director, producer and choreographer, selects...
Police: Westmoreland County jail inmate pretended to be his brother
An inmate from Ohio arrested last summer in Unity on multiple drug counts and illegal possession of a 9 mm handgun also was charged with perjury Wednesday after authorities said he identified himself as his younger brother, who has no arrest record, according to court documents. Timothy J. Boyd, 40,...
The Stroller, Feb. 24, 2022: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
The Stroller is compiling a list of fish fries taking place Ash Wednesday and/or Fridays during Lent. To your non-profit’s fish fry listed in the paper and online, send complete information in writing to Carol Pinto-Smith, Valley News Dispatch, 210 Wood St., Tarentum, PA 15084 or email cpinto-smith@triblive.com. Donations needed...
