Western PA Local News category, Page 2020
PennDOT prepares for Coxcomb Hill Road closure in Plum
PennDOT officials are preparing for a drainage improvement and shoulder reconstruction project in Plum that will close a 1-mile stretch of Coxcomb Hill Road beginning Monday, May 24. Work between Kerr Road and Logans Ferry Road is anticipated to begin next week, according to PennDOT District 11 spokesman Steve Cowan....
Primary election underway throughout Penn Hills
Voting has begun in the May 18 primary election. Polls in Penn Hills opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. Anyone in line at 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote. Masks are required. The Penn Hills Progress will update readers on election results throughout the day...
Murrysville man charged with arson in restaurant fire
A Murrysville man was arrested Tuesday on arson charges in connection with a weekend fire that destroyed a landmark restaurant along Route 22. Murrysville police Chief Tom Seefeld said Brian Paul Lucas, 43, confessed to starting the fire at Spaghetti & Steakhouse and Hot Rod Lounge early Saturday after authorities...
North Huntingdon man charged with double homicide in Penn Township killingsVideo
A North Huntingdon man is accused of killing a Penn Township man at his home as well as his girlfriend as she tried to escape early Monday, fulfilling what police say was “a grudge reconciliation weekend.” Before District Judge Helen Kistler on Tuesday night, Victor Steban, 53, of North Thompson...
Penn State to ditch ‘male-specific’ student titles like freshmen
Students at Penn State may soon be saying goodbye to the term “sophomore slump” and hello to “second-year slump.” According to a report in Penn State’s student newspaper The Daily Collegian, Penn State’s Faculty Senate voted to remove gendered and binary terms from Penn State course and program descriptions. As...
Gateway Education Association calls for a strike as contract negotiations linger for more than a year
Gateway School District’s teachers’ union has threatened to go on strike beginning May 24, according to union officials. The Gateway Education Association notified Superintendent William Short on Tuesday morning that a strike will begin next Monday if a tentative agreement has not been reached. The district and association have been...
Police log: Multiple charges filed in Monroeville court April 30 – May 7, 2021
The following charges were filed April 30 through May 7, 2021, with Monroeville District Judge Jeffrey L. Herbst. All charges were filed by Monroeville police unless otherwise noted: • Darrell Carr, 31, of Pitcairn with burglary, criminal trespass, stalking, criminal mischief and loitering, and prowling at night. Pitcairn police filed...
Burglary, drugs among charges handled by Monroeville Judge Jeffrey Herbst on May 10, 2021
Monroeville District Judge Jeffrey L. Herbst handled these cases May 10. Defendants will have court dates set in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. All charges were filed by Monroeville police unless otherwise noted. Held for court • Anthony Watkins, 43, of Pittsburgh on charges of retail theft and...
DUI, drug charges among those handled in Judge DeLuca’s Penn Hills court May 10, 2021
Penn Hills District Judge Anthony L. DeLuca handled the following cases May 10. Defendants will have court dates set in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Charges were filed by Penn Hills police unless otherwise noted. Held for court • Diorr Grier-Phillips, 22, of Penn Hills on charges of firearms not...
Belle Vernon area teen accused by troopers in 2020 brick-throwing incident on I-70
A 16-year-old is charged in Westmoreland County juvenile court in connection with a brick-throwing incident along Interstate 70 in North Belle Vernon last year, state police said. Trooper Brian McKee said evidence against the teen from the Belle Vernon area culminated with charges of criminal mischief, propulsion of missiles and...
11 new covid cases reported in Penn-Trafford area, May 10-17, 2021
The number of new covid-19 cases reported in the Penn-Trafford-Jeannette area continue to decline, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. In all, 11 new covid cases were reported between May 10-17 for the six ZIP codes covering most of the area. That’s compared to the 24 new...
Weekly spread of covid in Norwin area less than 1% again, as of May 18, 2021
For the second consecutive week, there was a less than 1% increase in the weekly rate of transmission of coronavirus for residents in the North Huntingdon-North Irwin-Irwin area, the smallest percentage increase since October, according to the state Department of Health. There were 24 additional confirmed cases of covid from...
Evidence suppressed in federal gun case against suspect in Unity woman’s disappearance
A 2018 search at a Potter County cabin was illegal, a federal judge has ruled, suppressing evidence against Thomas George Stanko in a weapons case. U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann ruled that federal authorities didn’t have a valid reason to believe that a gun would be found at the cabin....
Jeannette police dog vehicle funded solely by donations hits the streets
A new police dog patrol unit is on the streets of Jeannette after incredible support from the community helped handler Sgt. Jim Phillips keep a promise he made years ago. The entire cost of the 2020 Ford Explorer Interceptor — $47,611 — was funded solely by donations to the department’s...
La Roche hosting outdoor college fair featuring 50-plus schools
La Roche University in McCandless is hosting an outdoor college fair with more than 50 colleges, universities and educational institutions scheduled to participate. The fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 22. The rain-date for the event is at the same time on May...
Sewickley’s Nonprofit Corner for the week of May 18, 2021
Editor’s note: The Nonprofit Corner is a new weekly listing of the Sewickley area’s nonprofit events and fundraisers. To have your information listed, email Sewickley Herald editor Katie Green at kgreen@triblive.com. Fern Hollow Nature Center 1901 Glen Mitchell Road, Sewickley Heights. 412-741-6136. fhnc.org. National Get Outdoors Day In honor of...
Sparse voter turnout for Pennsylvania primary election; votes start being countedVideo
Voter turnout for Pennsylvania’s primary Tuesday was sparse compared to November’s election, but officials say it was bolstered by mail-in voting and statewide ballot questions drawing out third-party voters. Results are slowing coming in for Allegheny County and Westmoreland County races. In Allegheny County, voters requested 124,813 mail-in ballots —...
The Stroller, May 18, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Information about Memorial Day events should be sent as soon as possible to: Carol Pinto-Smith, Valley News Dispatch, 210 Wood St., Tarentum, PA 15084; e-mail cpinto-smith@triblive.com or fax 724-226-4677. Free fishing derby scheduled for Northmoreland Park A free fishing derby will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at...
North Allegheny teacher accused of dragging 6-year-old girl with Down syndrome won’t face criminal charges
A teacher at North Allegheny’s Hosack Elementary School who was placed on administrative leave May 4 while McCandless police investigated allegations that a young girl with Down syndrome was dragged across the floor during a gym class will not face criminal charges, according to authorities. The McCandless police department began...
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...
