Western PA Local News category, Page 1789
Westmoreland commissioners told to ‘do the right thing’ with covid relief money
Westmoreland County residents have a big shopping list for federal coronavirus relief funds but one unified message: “Do the right thing.” That was the common refrain from the dozens who testified Thursday during two public hearings held at Westmoreland County Community College about how county leaders should spend $105 million...
Pittsburgh police’s graffiti squad seeks suspect in Bloomfield, East End vandalism
An Upper Saint Clair man wanted on a felony criminal mischief charge is accused of vandalizing Pittsburgh sites with graffiti. Pittsburgh police graffiti squad detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating Michael Coliane, 23, for whom a warrant has been issued. Coliane is accused of vandalizing Bloomfield’s Exercise...
Officials identify truck driver killed in crash with train in Jefferson Hills
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the man killed in a Jefferson Hills truck-train crash Monday as a West Virginia resident. Michael Peters, 64, of Rock Cave, was dead at the scene along Route 51, after his dump truck collided with a Wheeling and Lake Erie train. The...
Fox Chapel Area senior masters softball, taekwondo
A hands-on approach to life is serving up new opportunities for MacKenzie Borkovich of Indiana Township. A senior at Fox Chapel Area High School, Borkovich began playing softball and started taekwondo lessons when she was 6. More than a decade later, she’s a star pitcher for the Foxes and Ohio...
Westmoreland commissioners told to ‘do the right thing’ with covid relief money
Westmoreland County residents have a big shopping list for federal coronavirus relief funds but one unified message: “Do the right thing.” That was the common refrain from the dozens who testified Thursday during two public hearings held at Westmoreland County Community College about how county leaders should spend $105 million...
McKeesport man who kept ‘ghost guns’ inside tattoo parlor gets 2-plus years behind bars
A McKeesport man has been sentenced to 2½ years behind bars for storing so-called “ghost guns” and other illegal firearms inside his tattoo shop, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Richard Watson, 33, was caught with several unregistered weapons, including silencers and home-milled, AR-style pistols, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen R....
Pittsburgh police: Human remains found in woods near Crawford-Roberts neighborhood
Pittsburgh police are investigating human remains discovered Thursday afternoon near the city’s Crawford-Roberts neighborhood. Officers responded at about 2 p.m. to the 1900 block of Colwell Street and were directed by a work crew to the remains in wooded area. Detectives with the Mobile Crime Unit processed the scene. Additional...
Trib recognized with 2021 Edward R. Murrow Award
The Radio Television Digital News Association on Wednesday night recognized Trib Total Media with a national 2021 Edward R. Murrow Award. The awards gala, held in New York City, honored news outlets from all over the country for outstanding achievement in digital and broadcast journalism. The Trib received an award...
New Kensington boy, 16, remembered as ‘sweetest, kindest soul’
Isaiah Parks was too good of a person to go unnoticed. “He was honestly the sweetest, kindest soul ever,” said Jenelle Cole, a life skills teacher at Valley High School in New Kensington, who had been Isaiah’s teacher for four years. “He could be grumpy, but he just always made...
Pittsburgh emergency crews recover body found in Ohio River
Pittsburgh police, emergency medical crews and River Rescue responded at about 2:45 p.m. Thursday when a body was spotted in the Ohio River. According to Pittsburgh Public Safety, a survey crew found the body near the old state penitentiary. River Rescue took the body to its North Shore boathouse for...
Unity sewage authority sues over appointment to Latrobe authority, 199-year agreement
Unity Township Municipal Authority this week filed two civil suits in Westmoreland County — protesting in one of them how an appointee was chosen to represent the township authority on the board of the Latrobe Municipal Authority. In the other suit, the Unity authority (UTMA) is challenging the 199-year length...
Carrick shop owner pleads to 105 animal cruelty charges for selling baby turtles out of store
The owner of a clothing shop in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood has pleaded guilty to 105 counts of animal cruelty for illegally selling turtle hatchlings that were being raised in poor conditions. A plea agreement accepted by Allegheny County Judge Kelly Bigley on Thursday forbids store owner Edward Muhammed Christian, 44,...
McCandless Town Council rejects hike in Northland Public Library contribution
McCandless Town Council rejected a funding increase for Northland Public Library as requested in the library’s proposed 2022 budget. The library had proposed a funding increase of 5.23% from its local municipalities, including McCandless, per a presentation by library Executive Director Amy Steele. “This is an unprecedented move as the...
Police investigate swastika taped inside Mt. Lebanon classroom
A handmade swastika found inside a classroom at Mt. Lebanon School District’s Jefferson Middle School on the third anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting has prompted Mt. Lebanon police to investigate. An unknown vandal or vandals made a swastika out of masking tape and affixed it to a...
Northbound Route 28 weekend crossover scheduled in O’Hara Township
A busy last few months of road construction work on Route 28 continues this weekend. PennDOT District 11 has announced work requiring a weekend crossover on Route 28 North will begin at 8 p.m. Friday and continue through 5 a.m. Monday, weather permitting. Northbound traffic will be crossed over into...
North Allegheny School Board meets in empty auditorium after some in audience fail to mask up
North Allegheny School Board met in an empty auditorium Wednesday, Oct. 27 after some in the audience failed to comply with the district’s mask mandate, and the board asked everyone in the audience to leave. The board meeting, which was being held at the high school auditorium, was delayed by...
Long-awaited Pa. Turnpike interchange in Penn Township set to become a reality
Penn Township will be getting a Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange as the commission overseeing the highway has been relieved of a multimillion-dollar annual obligation to PennDOT, officials announced Thursday. It remains unclear when work on the $30 million connection at Route 130 might start, but it won’t be completed sooner than...
North Allegheny considers changes in posting agendas, public speaking times
The North Allegheny School Board discussed possible policy changes that would give it more time to complete its agenda before a public meeting, but give residents less time to see what’s on it. Board members also discussed setting new time limits for individual comments from the public. Superintendent of Schools...
University of Pittsburgh issues non-sexist language guidelines – including term ‘yinz’
What’s in a name? Enough to lead people to be unintentionally dismissive and disrespectful of someone by misgendering them, according to the University of Pittsburgh. But now, Pitt has published a gender-inclusive language guide that includes a set of “non-sexist language guidelines and resources” to help students and faculty avoid...
UPMC’s Dr. Kurt Weiss received grant for research on cancer he’s experienced
Kurt Weiss was supposed to go mountain climbing with the Boy Scouts. He never went. Little did he realize that there was another uphill challenge in front of him. Weiss’ right leg hurt so badly the day of that Boy Scouts’ adventure in 1989, his mother took him to the...
13th man charged in drug ring linked to ATF officer being shot
Federal prosecutors announced new charges this week and named a 13th defendant linked to a far-reaching narcotics investigation into a Hill District-based street gang linked to the shooting of a federal agent last year. Jeremiah Irving, 32, of New Castle is the latest suspect indicted on charges of participating in...
Pittsburgh poised to turn Hays Woods into newest city park
Pittsburgh is poised to take ownership of Hays Woods and turn it into the city’s newest public park. City Council on Wednesday advanced legislation that would allow the city to buy the land from the Urban Redevelopment Authority for $1 plus costs. “This is going to be a really unique...
Proposed composting program in Pittsburgh awaits vote on funding
Pittsburgh City Council is expected to vote next week to authorize funding for a two-year pilot program on composting in the city. Next week’s vote would clear the way for the city to use $90,000 in grant money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the composting program. The program...
Threats at 2 Westmoreland schools investigated; 1 connected to Florida incident
Social media threats in two area school districts were investigated this week and Greater Latrobe authorities connected a threat there to an arrest in Florida. Jeannette students switched to virtual learning Thursday out of “extreme caution,” Superintendent Matt Jones said in a letter sent to parents Wednesday. In it, he...
Delmont man, 21, charged with dealing drugs out of apartment complex
A 21-year-old Delmont man faces drug charges after police said a search of his apartment turned up more than 3 1/2 ounces of marijuana, 60 grams of THC vapor cartridges and more than 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana “wax.” Delmont Police Chief T.J. Klobucar said his department had been contacted...
