Western PA Local News category, Page 1790
Hammers appointed to serve as Derry district judge
The Pennsylvania Senate on Wednesday unanimously confirmed Kelly Tua Hammers to fill the remaining two months in the term of Derry Magisterial District Judge Mark Bilik, who retired in August. Hammers, 49, a Democrat from Derry, won both the Democratic and Republican primaries in May and is unopposed on the...
Defense seeks 2nd ballistics expert for Loyalhanna triple murder case appeal
A second expert will be sought to review ballistics as part of an appeal to be filed for a former Indiana County man on death row for the killing of his mother, sister and elderly aunt in 2009 at a family-owned automotive glass repair shop in Loyalhanna. Westmoreland County Common...
2 candidates seeking supervisor seat in Gilpin
Gilpin residents will have a choice of two political newcomers to help represent them on the board of supervisors for the next four years. Democrat Charles Chaz Minnich and Republican Kevin M. Miller are vying for one four-year seat. Incumbent Republican Jeremy Smail is running unopposed for a six-year seat....
Harrison neighbors, former co-workers vie for 2nd Ward commissioner seat
Harrison neighbors Jamie Nee and Jeffrey “JR” Reynolds learned they were running for the same township commissioner’s seat when they ran into each other turning in paperwork at the county elections office. They had worked together for years at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison, where Nee still works as director...
Penn Hills High School theater students return to stage in fall play
Penn Hills theater students are focusing on bringing normalcy back to the department after their fall play was canceled last year due to covid. The first step in that direction is performing their annual fall play after a successful return with their spring musical “Mary Poppins” in February. Director Ben...
I-70 eastbound reopened near Yukon exit after 4-vehicle crash
The eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 reopened before noon Thursday after a crash among two tractor-trailers and two tri-axle trucks, according to PennDOT and a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The crash was reported just after 7 a.m. near the Yukon exit in South Huntingdon and the highway was shut down for...
Mayor Nowalk faces challenger Mooney in Whitehall mayor race
The race for Whitehall mayor has incumbent Mayor Jim Nowalk facing newcomer Chris Mooney. Here are the candidates and their responses to questions posed by South Hills monthly. Chris Mooney Age: 63 Political party: Republican Education: BSBA Robert Morris College Occupation: Retired If elected, what are two short-term...
Chartiers Valley student’s death at basketball practice triggers grief, donations
A 12-year-old student from Chartiers Valley School District died Wednesday after collapsing at basketball practice, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. Jayson Kidd, of Bridgeville, collapsed during warm-ups at about 5 p.m. and was taken to a local hospital where he died. Kidd was a student at the...
Body of missing Ford City man found in Allegheny River lock
The body of a Ford City man missing since Sunday was discovered in the Allegheny River on Friday morning, according to the Armstrong County coroner. Todd Tremont, 59, was reported missing by family members, police said. Initial search efforts were focused along a Rails to Trails path near the Allegheny...
‘We just can’t forget what happened here’: Community observes 3 years since Tree of Life shootingVideo
Andrea Wedner was among the hundreds of people who gathered Wednesday to remember the victims of the Tree of Life synagogue attack three years earlier. Wedner’s mother, Rose Mallinger, was among the 11 people killed. “It helps to be with people,” Wedner said outside the synagogue. It helps to talk,...
North Allegheny’s Carson Middle School boosts security after unclear, online threat
Students at Carson Middle School in North Allegheny School District saw extra security when they arrived to class Thursday after someone posted an online threat that was vague but still concerning to district officials. Officials were notified Wednesday of an online threat against a “CMS student,” Superintendent Melissa Friez told...
The Stroller, Oct. 28, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your club meetings, community events and fundraisers for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Food items needed for Leechburg weekend distribution The Leechburg Food Bank and Leechburg School District sponsor the Community Providing Alternatives to...
Murrysville proposal to hike earned-income, real-estate transfer taxes spurs debate
Murrysville resident Larry Schultz said he’s surprised the municipality has gone 14 years without a tax hike. “I appreciate how blessed Murrysville has been, based on their very sound spending and management,” he told council members recently. Schultz supported a potential 0.2% bump in the municipality’s share of earned income...
No one injured in fire that spread to several homes in Pittsburgh’s Perry South
Some residents of Kennedy Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Perry South section had to jump to safety after their homes caught fire early Thursday, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety officials. No one was injured in the fire that spread to at least three homes. The fire, which started in a two-story home...
Incumbent, familiar newcomers compete for two Harmar supervisors’ seats
An incumbent and two familiar newcomers will be contending on Tuesday for two open seats on Harmar’s board of supervisors. Incumbent Harry Lenhart, 78, was elected in 2017. He said he wants to continue to improve the township with work on roads and the sewage system while keeping taxes low....
Police accuse Pittsburgh man of robbing 2 businesses several days apart
A Pittsburgh man was jailed Wednesday on accusations that he robbed two businesses on Pittsburgh’s South Side in the past two weeks, city police said. The suspect, Dakota Face, 23, was placed in the Allegheny County Jail on Thursday, awaiting arraignment on charges filed in connection with the two robberies,...
Leetsdale withdraws objection to Quaker Valley School District request for Leet Township zoning exception
Leetsdale officials have withdrawn their objection to a special exception request from the Leet Township Zoning Hearing Board for a new Quaker Valley High School. Meanwhile, several township residents testified Tuesday night that the proposed main entrance of the facility is on a winding, treacherous road with additional traffic likely...
Murrysville news: Westmoreland Symphony, medical marijuana program, fall church sale, more
Submit news briefs and event information by emailing pvarine@triblive.com. • • • Westmoreland Symphony program at library Members of the Westmoreland Symphony will present a Nov. 6 program at the Delmont Public Library based on the story, “Itzhak: A Boy Who Loved the Violin,” and talk about some of the...
3 families get upgrades thanks to the Great Roof Giveaway
Pittsburgh company Schultheis Bros. is celebrating its 75th anniversary with the Great Roof Giveaway. Schultheis Bros. President Katie Rullo. a third-generation Schultheis, came up with the idea of a roof giveaway to both honor her uncle Bill, and the legacy of her grandfather, Richard J. Schultheis, who began the business...
Freeport Halloween parade includes about 200 participants, hundreds more look on
A calm and cool Wednesday night brought out a couple hundred ghouls, ghosts, hippies and high schoolers for the annual Freeport Halloween parade. The event is organized every year by the borough’s volunteer fire department. About 200 people marched in the parade led by Freeport and South Buffalo Township fire...
Excela unveils $10 million robotic surgical center with focus on cancer
Excela Health unveiled a new $10 million surgical institute Wednesday with a focus on cancer treatment at the health system’s Latrobe Hospital. Officials said it will allow residents in the region to receive state-of-the-art robot-assisted surgery and care at the local facility. The robot-assisted surgery that has been performed the...
Family doctor guilty of giving patients opioid painkillers, Xanax in exchange for sex
A family doctor who practiced in Westmoreland and Fayette counties has pleaded guilty to illegally prescribing opioid painkillers in exchange for sex, federal prosecutors said. Emilio Ramon Navarro, 60, also pleaded guilty to health care fraud for billing the federal government to pick up the tab for illegal prescriptions, Acting...
Kiski Township couple charged with beating toddler, lying to police
A Kiski Township woman was arrested by township police, accused of spanking a 3-year-old girl so hard that red marks and swelling were still visible days after she was struck, according to police. The woman’s boyfriend, who is the father of the child, also was arrested in connection with the...
Somerset County prosecutor’s law license suspended
Somerset County’s district attorney has temporarily lost his law license in the wake of sexual assault charges filed against him last month. The Disciplinary Board of the State Supreme Court on Wednesday announced the temporary suspension of Jeffrey Lynn Thomas’ law license. The board noted that the ruling does not...
PICT Classic Theatre returns live with Shakespeare tale of love, laughter
After an 18-month pandemic intermission, PICT Classic Theatre will return to live, in-person performances with William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” “As our opening production, we wanted to give our audience something to lift the spirits, and ‘As You Like It’ fits the bill perfectly,” said Alan Stanford, PICT artistic...
