Local category, Page 1749
Pittsburgh City Council introduces lead safety bill
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday introduced an ordinance that it said would address lead exposure, and it also urged Pittsburgh Public Schools and utility companies to take action to reduce potential lead exposure. “About 400 children each year in the region are found to have elevated blood lead levels,” Councilwoman...
Covid vaccine booster shots available in Springdale, New Kensington, Harrison
Covid vaccine booster shots are rolling out in New Kensington, Springdale and Harrison for those eligible to receive them. The Allegheny Valley School District will hold a vaccination clinic from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday at Springdale Junior-Senior High School. The clinic is in partnership with UPMC Children’s Hospital of...
Community Health Clinic offering covid vaccine booster shots in New Kensington
Covid vaccine booster shots are available in New Kensington for those who are eligible to receive them. Community Health Clinic, at 943 Fourth Ave., began giving booster shots Monday, clinic executive Director Raji Jayakrishnan said. The clinic has boosters for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines. Pfizer boosters are not...
Greensburg woman’s appeal rejected in drug delivery resulting in death case
A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday rejected an appeal from a Greensburg woman who was sentenced to serve a 14-year prison term for the sale of heroin that caused the fatal overdose of a woman last year. Jamie Lynn Dickant, 35, sought to rescind her guilty plea and contended she...
Allegheny Valley schools to hold covid vaccine and booster clinic for students, community
Allegheny Valley School District will hold a vaccination clinic from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at Springdale Junior-Senior High School. The clinic is in partnership with UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. It will be open to students and community members looking to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Third-dose Pfizer booster...
3 years after Tree of Life shooting, social media still a breeding ground for extremism, experts say
Federal prosecutors say the mass shooting that Robert Bowers carried out at a Pittsburgh synagogue three years ago was preceded by disturbing, hate-filled activity on social media. Since then, social media sites have continued to be linked to — and some say breeding grounds of — acts of violence and...
Teen gets 15 to 30 years after pleading to killing Homestead man, shooting 2 others
Corey Mickens, then 15, killed a man who had been his friend by shooting him in the head execution style on Feb. 5, 2019. Two weeks later, Mickens stood up through the sun roof of a car as it drove through North Braddock and shot and wounded a stranger on...
Lawsuit: FedEx truck driver’s headphones may have contributed to deadly 2020 Pa. Turnpike crash involving tour bus
If a FedEx truck driver hadn’t been wearing noise-canceling headphones, he might have avoided crashing into an overturned tour bus in January 2020 as part of a Pennsylvania Turnpike wreck that killed five people and injured 14 in Westmoreland County, according to a civil lawsuit. The complaint, filed in Philadelphia...
New Kensington declares 12 houses unsafe, orders demolitions
Squatters and wildlife in a dozen rundown New Kensington houses may need to find new places to live within a matter of months. City Council, sitting as the Board of Health on Monday, ruled 12 properties to be detrimental to the health, safety and general welfare of the community and...
Appearing on Guy Fieri’s Food Network show a dream for chef at Hempfield’s IronRock Tap HouseVideo
Arnold Ivey’s decadeslong dream of competing on a culinary television show will come to fruition this week when “Guy’s Grocery Games” airs on Food Network. The 42-year-old executive chef at IronRock Tap House in Hempfield will appear alongside two other chefs on Wednesday’s episode “ABC Mania,” considered one of the...
Pittsburgh police now required to publish incident data with race, gender breakdowns
Pittsburgh police will be required to publish data about certain incidents with breakdowns by demographics like race and gender. City Council on Tuesday approved legislation that requires city police to collect data including information on pedestrian stops; use of force and physical restraints; citations and warnings issued; misdemeanor and felony...
Sewickley Academy settles with Black former administrator who filed race discrimination lawsuit
The former director of admissions and financial aid at Sewickley Academy who was fired this summer has settled a federal lawsuit he filed against the school. Federal court records show U.S. Magistrate Maureen P. Kelly signed the order dismissing Douglas Leek’s case against Sewickley Academy on Monday. Attorney Sam Cordes,...
Austin’s Playroom opens at The Watson Institute in Leet
A new Austin’s Playroom has opened at The Watson Institute in Leet. “We’re so pleased to have an Austin’s Playroom in our newly-renovated space and know that it will bring smiles and laughter to our children and families as they await their appointments,” said Barry W. Bohn, president and CEO...
Pittsburgh police to lease former Steamfitters building in Duquesne Heights
Pittsburgh will lease a former Steamfitters Local Union 449 building in the city’s Duquesne Heights neighborhood to consolidate police operations, allowing the city to redevelop other sites that police are currently using. City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation allowing the city to lease 1517 Woodruff St. The city will...
Police: Youngwood man ‘forgot’ cocaine baggies in sock when booked into county jail
A Youngwood man told police he forgot he had two baggies of cocaine in his sock as he was being processed this month at Westmoreland County Prison, police said. When George R. Weightman III, 43, was picked up Oct. 9 on an arrest warrant for theft, a jail guard found...
New rule limits how much of Pittsburgh’s Stop the Violence Fund can be spent internally
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved a measure requiring at least 80% of Pittsburgh’s Stop the Violence Fund to be spent on community-based, non-government organizations. The ordinance, sponsored by Councilman Ricky Burgess, will allow no more than 20% of the fund’s money to be spent on internal operations. Limiting how...
Jack Bova OK’d as new member of Gateway School Board during a special meeting
Jack Bova will fill a vacant seat on the Gateway School Board. Bova, who previously was on the school board from 2018-2019, will serve a term through the first Monday of December 2023. He will be sworn in during a study session meeting Nov. 9. “I’m pretty excited, actually,” said...
Public hearing on proposed Amazon site in Churchill ends after 50-plus hours of testimony
A public hearing that spanned 14 days and included more than 55 hours of testimony regarding a proposed Amazon distribution center in Churchill has concluded, meaning local officials will render a decision on the project’s future within 45 days. A vocal group of residents has strongly opposed the project, which...
Chartiers Valley Middle School teacher named Pittsburgh Penguins Most Valuable Teacher
The Pittsburgh Penguins have recognized Chartiers Valley Middle School science teacher Scott Caplan as their September Most Valuable Teacher. The award recognizes teachers that bring STEM to life in the classroom through the Penguins’ Future Goals-Hockey Scholar Program, which uses hockey simulations and modules to explore the real-life applications of...
Pine-Richland soccer team honors alum with donation to Glimmer of Hope
The Pine-Richland girls JV and varsity soccer team gathered Oct. 25 to present a $1,000 check to the Glimmer of Hope Foundation. All 34 players met before practice to hand the check over to Glimmer of Hope Founder and President Diana Napper and Associate Director Alexis Curran. Glimmer of Hope...
Uncontested races in Etna, Millvale and Reserve
There are multiple uncontested municipal races in the Shaler coverage area. In Etna, Mayor Thomas Rengers is the only candidate on the ballot in the mayoral race. According to the Allegheny County Office of Elections’ unofficial candidate list, Alice Gabriel is running uncontested for the Etna Ward 1 council seat....
Letter to the editor: QV taxes not as high as ads would lead you to believe
The Quaker Valley Region GOP is running advertisements on behalf of Quaker Valley school board candidates suggesting that Quaker Valley residents are paying significantly more in school taxes than residents in Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon and South Fayette. The truth is the exact opposite. School district taxes are significantly...
North Hills students will learn online Wednesday so bus drivers can attend colleague’s funeral
North Hills School District students will learn online Wednesday so that district bus drivers can attend a funeral for longtime colleague Nancy Von Vreckin. A notice posted to the district’s website said Von Vreckin drove for the district more than 40 years. “Many of her closest friends were also her...
PennDOT policy change adds cost to Lower Burrell VFW’s Veterans Day parade
After decades of holding the annual Veterans Day parade in Lower Burrell, the local VFW doesn’t understand why they now have to pay $450 in insurance to stage this year’s parade. “For what we have done for this country, the sacrifice and soldiers risking their lives, and now with a...
South Hills communities, school districts have multiple uncontested races
All three school districts in the South Hills monthly footprint have uncontested races for school board. There are four candidates on the ballot for Baldwin-Whitehall School Director and four open seats. Incumbents Karen Brown and Amanda Priano should retain their seats and be joined by newcomers Karen Brown and Greg...
