Local category, Page 2

Supporters of a new federal program that would grant tax credits to donors funding private school scholarships say it would expand Pennsylvania’s school choice options and give parents greater control over their children’s education. Detractors say it would favor high-income families, lacks oversight and could hurt people who live in...

Westmoreland County won’t have enough cash on hand to meet payroll and other operating expenses in about a month, officials said Tuesday. Commissioners said plans are being finalized for the county to borrow funds to keep essential public services in operation amid the ongoing state budget impasse that required Westmoreland...

The Ross municipal building and community center will be closed to the public Thursday through Wednesday, Oct. 22, the township announced Tuesday. The building is being closed while its parking lot is being milled and paved. All community center programming is canceled. The township’s parks and recreation, finance, community development...

Drivers heading north on Route 119 in Hempfield will encounter daytime lane restrictions beginning Thursday while work is underway on the bridge carrying the highway over the Pennsylvania Turnpike. According to PennDOT, a northbound single-lane restriction will be in place from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. between Technology Drive and...

Community Supermarket in Harrison will likely close its doors Wednesday, about two weeks ahead of schedule. “I was in there today, and we don’t have much left,” General Manager George Sears said. “We’re not 100% sure it will be Wednesday, but it looks like it.” Shoppers who want to peruse...

A month after voting down an earlier proposal, Penn State University’s board of trustees approved a plan to transfer WPSU-TV and public radio to WHYY in Philadelphia. The deal means Penn State won’t have to pay an additional $17 million subsidy over the next five years to keep WPSU operating,...

Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, Allegheny County’s only rape crisis center, is facing severe financial strain as Pennsylvania’s months-long budget impasse cuts off a key source of funding. Sadie Restivo, PAAR’s executive director, said the nonprofit relies on the commonwealth for about 20% of its budget. As the stalemate drags on...

Three of seven Shaler commissioners are seeking reelection on Nov. 4, but voters will see a contested race in only one of three wards. In Ward 2, Republican incumbent David Mizgorski is challenged by Democrat Josh Fleitman. Councilman Conrad Wagner is unopposed in Ward 4, while Councilman James Boyle is...

Voters in the Shaler Area School District’s first and second regions have choices to make for school board on Nov. 4. Five of the board’s nine seats are up for election, with contested races for three of the five — two seats in Region 1 and one seat in Region...

Jeannette City School District directors unanimously approved extending a tax break program officials hope will spur investment on commercial properties in Jeannette. Directors on Monday OK’d a five-year extension of the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program, or LERTA. It was established in Jeannette three years ago to allow developers...

A man is behind bars after North Huntingdon officers said he used a hammer to break into an Aldi grocery store and shatter the windshield of a police cruiser, according to court papers. Township police said they were called to the market on Norwin Avenue around 2 a.m. Tuesday for...

The Heights Plaza shopping center in Harrison is for sale. The 30-acre property, owned by New York-based Benbrooke Realty Investment Co., is on the market for $16 million, according to a listing on LoopNet.com. Rich Lubkin of Benbrooke did not return TribLive calls or email requests for comment. The sale...

Wards 2, 4 and 6 for McCandless Council are up for grabs on Election Day, Nov. 4. The incumbents, all Republicans, are seeking reelection. In Ward 2, Laureen Alt is running against incumbent Jack Casey. In Ward 4, Jack Hickerson is squaring off with incumbent Jason Singer. In Ward 6,...

A Pittsburgh councilwoman on Tuesday said she intends to introduce a bill that would freeze city spending. Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, said she believes the city needs to curb spending as the city is facing financial challenges. Pausing spending could help the city stave off a tax hike, which...

Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday rejected a proposal to ask neighboring Munhall for help with snow plowing after members pushed back last week against the idea of outsourcing the work in exchange for street cleaning services. Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, pitched the idea of an agreement with Munhall that would...

The CEO of a North Carolina corporation, who bought a minority stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers from a Steel City-bred billionaire, died in an all-terrain vehicle crash over the weekend, the business he founded said Monday. Doug Lebda was 55. In a company announcement, LendingTree confirmed that Lebda died Sunday...

A water main break along Freeport Road in New Kensington left many in the area with low water pressure for part of Tuesday. The main break occurred directly adjacent to the New Kensington Municipal Authority’s reservoirs. General Manager Ed Saliba said Tuesday afternoon that workers were still investigating the cause...

Pittsburgh solicitor Krysia Kubiak is leaving her post at the city later this month, officials announced Tuesday. When Mayor Ed Gainey took office in 2022, he appointed Kubiak to lead the city’s law department, which oversees attorneys specializing in corporate counsel, civil litigation, labor, real estate, tax, contracts, and workers’...

The annual holiday market that usually fills Market Square will move to Pittsburgh’s Cultural District this holiday season. It’s the latest annual event to be relocated as part of a Downtown revitalization effort that has limited use of public spaces like Market Square, which is undergoing a facelift ahead of...

A 47-year-old man died early Tuesday after his truck struck a concrete barrier and bridge pier, then burst into flames on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, shutting down the highway for hours between Bedford County and New Stanton, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The man, who authorities have not named, was driving...

West Leechburg residents will be seeing an addition to their tax bills starting next year. Borough council passed a 3-mill fire tax in a 6-0 vote. Council member Colleen Hoover was absent from the meeting. The West Leechburg Fire Department previously released a statement saying the department conducted multiple public...

Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Oct. 14: Police say man fired shots at Braddock Hills bar An East Pittsburgh man was being held Tuesday without bail in the Allegheny County Jail after he allegedly fired multiple shots at an area bar after the...

Michele Rubin of Murrysville still talks to her son every day, though he died in April 2017. Paul E. Lucas was 21 when he died of a fentanyl-laced drug overdose April 13, 2017, after what his family explained in his obituary was “a long battle with substance addiction disorder.” Rubin,...

A Pittsburgh man was arrested Sunday on animal cruelty charges after one of the dogs in his care died and police found three others “severely malnourished” inside the man’s North Side home. Xavier Williams, 37, of Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood was arraigned early Monday on a total of 29 charges, including...

Five people are in the running for four seats on the Carlynton School Board. Candidates for this fall’s general election are incumbents Leeanne Mitchell-O’Brien, Susie Puskar and Christine Simcic; and newcomers Brittany Bova and Reece Smith. Here’s what the candidates had to say in response to questions asked by the...