Local category, Page 1965
Police investigate Bridgeville shooting death
An 84-year-old man who was pronounced dead Monday morning was a gunshot wound victim, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. Matthew Knepp, of Bridgeville, was found at a South Fayette home in the 2700 block of Ravenwood Drive around 8:30 a.m., according to the examiner’s report. South Fayette Police...
Oakmont officials don’t want coal tar in the borough
Oakmont has become the most recent Allegheny County community to frown on the use of coal tar. Citing health concerns, council unanimously voted to adopt a resolution banning the use of coal tar, a material linked to stomach and bladder cancer. “Coal tar has a very high concentration of what...
Police: Man shot multiple times in Stowe
A man was shot multiple times along a Stowe Township street Monday night. Allegheny County police said they were dispatched for a shooting around 9:20 p.m. along the 600 block of Woodward Avenue. Officers found a man with multiple injuries and other evidence of a shooting, according to a county...
Fire under investigation in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood
Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a three-alarm fire that heavily damaged an apartment building in Bloomfield on Monday night. The fire was reported shortly before 9:45 p.m. in the 4100 block of Main Street, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety officials. The fire quickly was raised to three...
Plum’s Monday Market opens with new vendors, new opportunitiesVideo
Plum’s Monday Market is open for its fourth season with several new vendors. Hours are 3 to 7 p.m. nearly every Monday through the end of October at Plum Creek Park along New Texas Road. There is no market on Memorial Day, July 5 and Labor Day. “We grew it...
Volunteers clean up Laird Cemetery in Plum
A group of volunteers spent a day restoring a sign and did some landscaping at Laird Cemetery in Plum, the final resting place of some of the borough’s first families. Resident Jennifer Zafris said she would pass the site at New Texas and Saltsburg roads often and wanted to do...
Penn Hills reverses decision on hiring former Wilkinsburg police officer under investigation in shooting death
Penn Hills community members and activists celebrated Monday after the Municipality of Penn Hills pivoted on the hiring of former Wilkinsburg police officer Robert Gowans. Penn Hills council held an emergency meeting Monday afternoon that resulted in letting Gowans go, after facing backlash from the community over his hiring in...
Former WCCC accountant pleads guilty to theft from school
A former accountant at Westmoreland County Community College was ordered to serve five years of probation for the theft of more than $54,000 from the school’s student government account. Shirley Ferrenberg, 60, of Unity, pleaded guilty Monday to one felony theft count in connection with the funds police say were...
No injuries as truck crashes into ditch on Route 366 in Washington Township
No one was injured Monday afternoon when a tractor-trailer cab ran off Route 366 and landed in a ditch in Washington Township. The crash was reported shortly after 2:45 p.m., according to a Westmoreland County 911 supervisor. The truck, which was not hauling a load, broke through a guardrail and...
Heat wave finally on the way to Western Pa.
Get those air conditioners ready. A warmup is expected to kick in with temperatures in the low-80s by Wednesday and the mid- to upper-80s by Friday. Seemingly gone for good are the below normal temperatures that brought frost potential earlier this month. “We’re coming off a period of cold weather...
Freeport man convicted of threatening 2 women with a gun in 2019
A Freeport man was convicted of multiple criminal charges relating to an incident in which he threatened two women with a gun in 2019. Michael Rivera, 30, of Freeport, was convicted last week for carrying a firearm without a license — a third degree felony — and five misdemeanors, including...
Braddock man pleads to 2019 Arnold homicide
A Braddock man will spend at least 18 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to killing another in Arnold nearly two years ago. Allen Duwayne Herring, 34, admitted that he killed Gregory Ray Wynkoop, 35, of East Franklin, on June 28, 2019, in an attempted robbery. Wynkoop, a heavy...
3 vying for GOP nomination in Gilpin supervisors race
Three Republican candidates are vying for one nomination in the GOP primary race for the Gilpin Board of Supervisors. Incumbent Jeremy Smail faces challengers Renee E. Hileman and Justin Rishel in the May 18 primary. Smail, 38, has served on the board since being appointed to fill a vacant seat...
‘It’s a personal choice’: Western Pa. residents have mixed reactions to mask guidelinesVideo
Since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, some have embraced face masks while others resisted them. Even now that the CDC says fully vaccinated people can go mask-free in many public settings, masks remain the topic of much debate. In Pennsylvania, the mask mandate now requires fully vaccinated people wear...
Police charge man they say wore only underwear while breaking into South Huntingdon homes
A West Newton man is behind bars after state police accused him of wearing only underwear and breaking into two South Huntingdon homes Saturday, according to court papers. Stephen Levi Wilson, 25, is charged with burglary, criminal trespass, theft, disorderly conduct and related offenses. Police say he broke into a...
Murrysville-Export-Delmont covid figures tallied for the week of May 17, 2021
The most recent data from the state Department of Health shows 1,490 coronavirus cases in the Murrysville area since the pandemic started in March 2020. In the past week, 13 new cases were reported. The health department this week released updated figures for the three ZIP codes that comprise the...
Greensburg Salem looks to draw on fund balance to cover 2021-22 revenue gap
A $1 million operating surplus forecast for Greensburg Salem at the end of the current fiscal year is expected to help the school district avoid a tax increase for 2021-22. But it won’t be enough to avoid dipping into the fund balance to cover next year’s expenses, according to a...
Pittsburgh Public Schools outlines long-term changes supported by federal ESSER funds
Pittsburgh Public Schools will use federal dollars to purchase new technology, air purifiers and other supplies to update the district in myriad ways, leaders said at a news conference Friday. District leaders outlined their plans for the covid-19 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds last week, while also...
Coronavirus vaccines for homebound individuals underway in WestmorelandVideo
It was as if a higher power had something to do with getting a coronavirus vaccine into Greg McNaughton’s New Alexandria home on Monday. “Ave Maria” played on the television in McNaughton’s room while his left arm was injected with the vaccine by Lorenzo Garino, director of operations with Mutual...
Springdale High School baseball coach enters batterer’s intervention program
Springdale High School baseball coach Brett Burger on Monday agreed in court to enter a batterer’s intervention program in exchange for dismissal of criminal charges connected to an April incident involving a woman. At a preliminary hearing before Harmar District Judge David Sosovicka, Burger’s attorney David Chontos said Burger has...
Mt. Pleasant motorcyclist arrested with drugs, gun after going 85 mph in a 35 mph zone, police say
A Mt. Pleasant Borough man told investigators he was on drugs during a short police chase in New Stanton Saturday that ended when he crashed his motorcycle, according to court papers. Troopers said they seized a loaded gun and drugs from Joshua Scott Lucot, 24. He was being held at...
Owners of Frick Park Market, celebrated in Mac Miller song, retireVideo
The Frick Park Market in Point Breeze is closed — at least temporarily. Late Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller, who grew up nearby, boosted the market’s visibility through a tribute song and video about his love of the place. The cut is from Miller’s 2011 debut album, “Blue Slide Park,” a...
Teen testifies to sexual relationship with ex-Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez, says initial contact was ‘super cool’
A 17-year-old girl testified Monday she thought it was “super cool” when Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Felipe Vazquez responded to her social media message in which she wished him a happy birthday in July 2017. Six weeks later, with her parents away for the day, Vazquez had sex with her...
Fire extinguished at Derry Borough apartment building
A fire at Derry Manor Apartments was quickly extinguished by fire crews on Monday, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The building on West Fourth Avenue in Derry Borough was evacuated. It was unclear if anyone was hurt. An air conditioning unit reportedly was on fire, according to dispatch reports....
Capacity restrictions on Port Authority buses, trains will end next month
The Port Authority of Allegheny County will begin a two-step process for lifting bus and train capacity limits starting May 31, officials said Monday. Masks will still be required, as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week. The new mask guidance declared that those who are...
