Local category, Page 1882
Lower Burrell Council bestows honors for covid-19 response and city beautificationVideo
Call it pent-up gratefulness. Lower Burrell Council awarded a whopping four proclamations this week thanking residents and others. After covid-19 pandemic restrictions shut down public meetings for more than a year, Lower Burrell Council is in its second month of in-person public meetings. Council delayed publicly honoring residents and groups...
AG Shapiro meets with Pittsburgh nonprofit about PWSA donation to combat lead dangers
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro listened Thursday as the staff of a East Liberty-based nonprofit detailed how it is spending the $250,000 donation Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority agreed to make to the group to resolve a state investigation that found the authority exposed people to increased lead levels when...
Westmoreland controller blasts commissioner for failure to meet campaign pledge
Westmoreland Commissioner Doug Chew on Thursday defended his decision to withhold a promised donation to fund the county’s drug court program. During his campaign for county commissioner in 2019, Chew, a first-term Republican, pledged to donate 60% of his salary to help fund drug court. After questioned by county Controller...
Man found guilty of 1st-degree murder in Perry South shooting death
A jury on Thursday found a Troy Hill man guilty of first-degree murder in the 2018 shooting death of his girlfriend. Calvin Stewart Alston, 59, will be sentenced to a mandatory life prison term by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Beth A. Lazzara on Oct. 20. Alston was charged in...
Penn State trustees vote to raise tuition for 2021-22 school year
HARRISBURG — Penn State will impose its first tuition increase for incoming in-state undergraduate students since the 2017-18 school year, under a plan approved by trustees on Thursday. Incoming Pennsylvania resident students will see a 2.5% tuition increase at all campuses for the 2021-22 school year. At the University Park...
Apple’n Arts organizers discuss 2021 festival options with Delmont council
Apple’n Arts Festival organizers will present a scaled-down version of the annual fall event after being asked by Delmont council members to offer a proposal for 2021. “We haven’t yet sent out applications for vendors,” organizing committee member Brandy Walters said. “What we’re hearing is that a lot of craft...
Churchill Planning Commission recommends plan for Amazon center
Churchill’s Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend approval of a conditional use application for a potential Amazon distribution center in Churchill on Wednesday. Their recommendation is non-binding, but will be considered when Churchill Borough Council renders a final decision in the coming months. Texas-based Hillwood Development submitted the conditional use...
Pittsburgh receives another $7 million in federal cash for rental assistance program
A rental assistance program to help tenants pay past due rent and landlords to recover unpaid rent because of the coronavirus pandemic was awarded an additional $7 million in federal funding, Pittsburgh officials announced Monday. The money will bolster a program started in March that brings together the city, Allegheny...
Suicide prevention resource center opens in IrwinVideo
A resource center has opened in Irwin to provide support and suicide prevention information to those in emotional distress who may be contemplating suicide or have been impacted by it. Come, Talk Inc., a nonprofit resource center inside the Norwin Chamber of Commerce offices at 321 Main St., is “for...
Guffey Road in North Huntingdon to close for slide repairs
A section of Guffey Road in North Huntingdon road will be closed beginning July 19 to allow crews to repair a slide, PennDOT said. Guffey Road, which is Route 3049, will be closed until Aug. 31 between Route 3047, known as Turner Valley Road, and Mickanin Road, PennDOT said. A...
Monroeville Mall security director Bruce Morrison retires after 40 years
Longtime Monroeville Mall security manager and director Bruce Morrison retired July 9 after 40 years of service. The Wilmerding resident got his start as a mall security guard in 1981. Searching for a summer job after leaving college, Morrison applied to work at the mall. He envisioned a short stint...
Second man charged in slaying of Penn Hills teen
Police this week filed homicide charges against a second man in connection with the May slaying of a Penn Hills teenager. Daeshuan Eric Smith, 19, of Penn Hills, is charged with homicide, conspiracy and carrying a firearm without a license. He’s alleged to have taken part in the May 23...
Penn-Trafford happenings: Benefit, Kid’s Day, blood drive
‘Back the Blue’ event to benefit police The Schoolhouse Tavern in Claridge will host a “Back the Blue” event at 7 p.m. July 31 to benefit the Penn Township Police Department. A $10 donation will include a performance by Dallas Marks and an all-you-can-eat cookout at the tavern, 2001 Main...
Greensburg Salem’s potential hybrid learning model includes more time in classrooms
Greensburg Salem School District has every intention of offering students in-person instruction five days per week when classes resume Sept. 1. But, in the event covid-19 pandemic concerns force a return to a hybrid instructional model, the district has a plan that will provide slightly more time in the classroom...
Sewickley officials to no longer log how council members vote unless roll call is requested
Sewickley council no longer plans to keep track of who voted, and how they voted, in its minutes unless a roll call vote is requested. Councilman Larry Rice made the announcement at the July 13 meeting. Rice is handling minute preparation in lieu of a borough manager. He said he...
Pedestrian struck, killed by vehicle in Homestead
A pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle Thursday morning in Homestead, according to Allegheny County Police. The incident happened about 10:35 a.m., authorities said. A man, who they did not identify, was struck by a vehicle near the intersection of West 7th Avenue and Howard Street. The man...
Catholic bishops in Pennsylvania reinstate obligation to attend Mass
Catholics in Pennsylvania will soon again be required to attend Mass. Bishop David Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Thursday along with bishops across the state that a special dispensation issued during the covid-19 pandemic will be lifted on Aug. 15. During normal circumstances, Catholics are obligated to...
Apple Hill Playhouse property sold to Washington County developer
The Apple Hill Playhouse property at 275 Manor Road in Salem has been sold to a Washington County corporation. Westmoreland County deed records from June 25 show the property, which previously belonged to the theater’s executive artistic director Pat Beyer, was sold for $150,000 to Manning Properties LLC, based in...
Irwin OKs Sunoco station owner’s request for liquor license transfer
Irwin officials approved a Sunoco gas station and convenience store owner’s request to transfer a liquor license so that beer and wine could be sold at the site along Route 30 sometime next year. Borough council this week approved the request from S&D Oil Co. of Upper St. Clair to...
La Roche University hosting event to collect hard-to-recycle items
North Hills residents who have been hanging onto hard-to-recycle items can unload them later this month at a collection event at La Roche University. The Pennsylvania Resource Council will be at the university from 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 31 to collect items that cannot be put out...
Whitehall restaurant hit with consumer alert for live roach infestation
Live roaches and roach nests in the kitchen prompted the Allegheny County Health Department to issue a consumer alert for a Whitehall restaurant this week, inspection reports show. The Namaste India II Restaurant on Radford Road was not shut down, though the department issued it a yellow consumer alert placard....
Westmoreland County housing director defends senior project for Irwin
Irwin will benefit financially from a proposed $14 million, 50-unit apartment building for low-income senior citizens, according to the county’s housing director. “We’re really heavily invested in Westmoreland County. We’re really heavily invested in Irwin Borough,” Michael Washowich, executive director of the Westmoreland County Housing Authority, told borough officials. Washowich...
News and briefs in the Murrysville area: July 13, 2021, and beyond
Police to host National Night Out on Aug. 3 The Murrysville Police Department will host the annual National Night Out event from 4:30-8 p.m., Aug. 3 at the police station, 4200 Sardis Road. National Night Out brings police and community residents together under positive circumstances for an evening of conversation...
Former Fox Chapel cardiologist convicted of health care fraud surrenders after skipping sentencing
A former Fox Chapel cardiologist who became the subject of an arrest warrant after missing his sentencing hearing on Wednesday turned himself in a day later. Dr. Samirkumar J. Shah turned himself in to the federal courthouse on Grant Street on Thursday morning, officials said. His sentencing hearing has been...
Greensburg Salem hires music teacher, OKs in-house superintendent search
Greensburg Salem School Board will rely on district staff to search for a new superintendent rather than spend $15,000 for a search service offered by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. The board also hired a new instructor for the district’s music department, as provided for in the 2021-22 budget. With...
