Local category, Page 2099
Latrobe considers county offer to inventory blighted propertiesVideo
Latrobe is considering a partnership with Westmoreland County to inventory blighted properties, if city officials can get assistance in paying for the project. According to Mayor Rosie Wolford, county staff would walk areas of the city to note dilapidated buildings, assess the extent of deterioration and determine what might be...
Cases handled in Judge DeLuca’s Penn Hills court for the week of Feb. 1, 2021
Penn Hills District Judge Anthony L. DeLuca handled the following cases recently. 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 • Kyra Starver, 20, of Plum on charges of burglary, criminal trespass and...
Police log: Monroeville police charges filed Jan. 26 through Feb. 1, 2021
Monroeville police filed the following charges Jan. 26, 29 and Feb. 1 with District Judge Jeffrey L. Herbst. Charges were filed by Monroeville police unless otherwise noted: • Magdelena Rose Ludwig, 23, of Pittsburgh with possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia. Charges were filed Jan. 26 in connection...
Missing man found safe, Pittsburgh police report
A missing man Pittsburgh police said was considered endangered has been found. Richard Varek, 62, of the South Side Slopes was located and was safe, police said Tuesday morning. Varek had last been seen around 1 p.m. Monday getting off a Port Authority bus at Smithfield and Carson streets. Varek...
The Stroller, Feb. 9, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
The Stroller is compiling a list of fish fries taking place Ash Wednesday and/or Fridays during Lent. To your non-profit’s fish fry listed in the paper and online, send complete information in writing to Carol Pinto-Smith, Valley News Dispatch, 210 Wood St., Tarentum, PA 15084 or email cpinto-smith@triblive.com. Riverview Community...
Police say woman found dead in Lawrenceville
Pittsburgh police are investigating the death of a woman in Lawrenceville Monday night. Officers responded to a report of a vehicle that struck a utility pole around 9 p.m. along the 4400 block of Davison Street, Public Safety spokesperson Maurice Matthews reported. It was there first responders discovered the driver...
Plum paving contract awarded to Oakmont company
Plum officials have tapped an Oakmont-based construction company to pave more than 20 streets and alleys this year. Council unanimously voted Monday night to award its paving project to A. Folino Construction. They were the lowest of nine bidders at about $872,500. The borough budgeted about $900,000 for paving this...
Civilians, emergency responders honored for helping to save Plum woman from fire
Plum Mayor Harry Schlegel honored the residents and emergency responders who helped save a woman from a fire last month. The fire took place at about 2:15 p.m. on Jan. 7 at 211 Frontenac Road. A 77-year-old Plum woman was taken to a hospital for evaluation after being rescued from...
North Huntingdon-Irwin area covid cases continue to slow
The spread of covid cases in the North Huntingdon-Irwin area slowed to a trickle over the past week, with only 43 additional confirmed cases being reported from Feb. 1 to Feb. 8, according to state Department of Health data. The state reported Monday there was only a 1.6% increase in...
Apollo-Ridge students to run T-shirt printing operation with help of $25K Arconic grant
Apollo-Ridge School District now has a direct-to-garment printer that will provide students creative and commerce opportunities. Arconic’s foundation and its technology center in Upper Burrell jointly worked on awarding the $25,000 grant to the district. The Pittsburgh-based metals manufacturer awards grants to community and educational efforts in areas where they...
Trout group to study Westmoreland County’s Linn Run
A fishing organization plans an extensive two-year study of the wild trout in Linn Run and the impacts on their habitat, from the stream’s headwaters atop Laurel Summit, down through Linn Run State Park in Cook Township to where it empties into Loyalhanna Creek in Rector. The Forbes Trail Chapter...
Allegheny Township man charged with 5 sexual assaults seeks house arrest
An Allegheny Township man charged with sexually assaulting three juveniles and two adults wants a Westmoreland County judge to release him to house arrest while he awaits trial. Police contend Eric Alan Wright, 49, raped two children over a 20-year period dating to 2000, fondled another teenage girl, exposed himself...
Commonwealth Court hears argument on challenge to 2nd-degree murder penaltyVideo
An attorney for the Pennsylvania Parole Board argued Monday that Commonwealth Court is not the right place to hear a challenge to the state’s mandatory life-without-parole penalty for second-degree murder. Six people serving that sentence filed a petition against the state Board of Probation and Parole in July, arguing that...
Covid hospitalizations continue to decline in Pennsylvania
The number of Pennsylvanians hospitalized because of covid-19 continues to decline at a rapid pace. According to the latest data from OpenData PA, which tracks hospital numbers in the state, the number of patients hospitalized has dropped 12% in the past week and 46% in the past month. As of...
Westmoreland prosecutors claim anti-bullying advocate threatened police
A Derry man who calls himself the “Bully Monster” was placed on house arrest Monday after Westmoreland County prosecutors say he threatened a police officer. Justin Juan De La Cruz Martinez, 41, originally was charged with trespassing, criminal mischief and resisting arrest in November 2019 after he refused to comply...
Building in Pittsburgh’s South Side partially collapses in fireVideo
Part of an East Carson Street building on Pittsburgh’s South Side collapsed Monday afternoon as flames shot through the roof, and authorities say the building will likely have to be demolished. A portion of the four-story brick building collapsed around 4 p.m., about an hour after the fire was reported....
Covid figures tallied for the week of Feb. 8, 2021, for greater Murrysville area
The most recent data from the state Department of Health shows 1,190 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Murrysville area since the pandemic started in March. Of those positive results, 19 cases were reported in the past seven days. The health department on Monday released figures for the three ZIP...
Pittsburgh’s new LGBTQIA+ Commission a ‘strong and impressive’ group
After delays wrought by the pandemic, Pittsburgh’s LGBTQIA+ Commission will be staffed with people Tuesday, when city council is expected to make 17 appointments as recommended by Mayor Bill Peduto. The mayor created the commission in June. It replaces a mayoral advisory council with a permanent city commission to act...
Veteran sheriff’s department officer from Youngwood seeks Hempfield district judge post
A veteran Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Department officer, currently assigned to the U.S. Marshals Service’s fugitive task force, will run for an open district judge’s seat in Hempfield. Irvin Shipley, 44, of Youngwood, said he will cross-file and run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries May 18 for the seat...
Murrysville recreation planning ‘Egg My Yard’ event for Easter
Vaccination rates may be ramping up across Pennsylvania, but when it comes to Easter, there’s no concrete way to know what the situation will be, especially for larger social events such as egg hunts. With that in mind, Murrysville Recreation Department officials are bringing the hunt to families with “Egg...
Peduto asks Gov. Wolf to vaccinate Pennsylvania teachers immediately
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto issued a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday, calling for the state’s Department of Health to immediately prioritize the vaccination of teachers. His letter follows weeks of sluggishness in the state’s covid-19 vaccine rollout, including confusion and frustration from many educators in the region. Many...
Free training program launches in Pittsburgh for people seeking tech jobs
A nationally-known technology training provider will launch operations in Pittsburgh and offer free training to its first local class in March. When the first class of 30 people completes the 12- to 15-week program, they’ll be prepared for an entry-level programming job that pays between $50,000 and $60,000 per year,...
Police say Ruffs Dale man assaulted own grandmother for prescription pills
A Ruffs Dale man was arrested on assault and robbery charges after police say he entered his 73-year-old grandmother’s home early Sunday and hit her with a cane after she refused to let him take her prescription pills. John S. Accipiter, 25, was arraigned on charges of harassment, resisting arrest,...
Crack’d Egg seeks stay to injunction while appeal is heard
The owner of Brentwood’s Crack’d Egg restaurant has filed a motion for a stay pending an appeal to Commonwealth Court. The motion filed Friday said that a decision by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge John McVay last week is contrary to a federal court ruling in September that found Gov....
Lower Valley libraries combine literacy and laps for StoryWalks
Colorful pictures, entertaining text and fresh air will converge to engage Lower Valley families through a year-long series of StoryWalks. Hosted by Sharpsburg Community Library and Cooper-Siegel Community Library, the walks are scheduled to begin later this month and run through November. “Families will be able to walk and read...
