Western PA Local News category, Page 2157
Man held for trial in connection with shooting of McKeesport officerVideo
The McKeesport police officer shot in December by a man he was transporting recounted the incident during a hearing Friday. Geriasimo Athans testified that one bullet that struck him the afternoon of Dec. 20 went straight through his neck, and another, still lodged in his body because it’s too dangerous...
Allegheny County to open 2nd covid vaccine dispensary
Castle Shannon will be the site of the Allegheny County Health Department’s second covid-19 vaccine dispensary. It will be staffed by members of Allegheny County Emergency Services who have been trained in storage, handling and administration of the vaccine, according to the county. Beginning Tuesday, the Castle Shannon dispensary will...
Diocese of Pittsburgh to merge 4 elementary schools
The Diocese of Pittsburgh on Friday announced the two mergers of four elementary schools, “as part of the regional school board’s efforts to strengthen Catholic schooling in the south region.” In the 2021-2022 school year, Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin in Whitehall will merge with Saint Elizabeth of Hungary...
Valentine’s king and queen named at Greensburg Care Center
It’s no question who rules the halls of the Greensburg Care Center. Donning red crowns and capes given out Friday afternoon, residents Gary Sanner, 78, and Anna Carnes, 104, received their official titles of Valentine’s Day king and queen. “They were thrilled,” said Jennifer Ezykowsky, activities director at the nursing...
Westmoreland County man charged with carrying unlicensed firearm at airport
Security agents caught the third gun in nine days – and the second this week – at Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday, Transportation Security Administration officials said. Security officers stopped a Westmoreland County man at the security checkpoint after they spotted a .38-caliber handgun in the man’s carry-on bag. Allegheny...
Health department orders aim to speed up, streamline Pa. vaccination process
New orders from state health officials will try to speed up and streamline Pennsylvania’s vaccination process, requiring vaccine providers to administer the bulk of their allotted first doses within one week of receiving them. Effective Feb. 22, vaccine providers will have to administer 80% of the first-dose vaccines that they...
Plans for Route 228 project in Buffalo, Clinton townships to be made available online
People will be able to go online starting Tuesday to review PennDOT’s plans for an $8.3 million project along Route 228 in Buffalo and Clinton townships. The project on Route 228, also known as Ekastown Road, includes improvements such as resurfacing and widening the road from a roundabout at Saxonburg...
Beaver County man charged in connection with Capitol riot
A Beaver County man who traveled to Washington with his wife and mother to rally for Donald Trump was arrested Friday on accusations that he participated in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S Capitol. Russell James Peterson, 34, of Rochester, is charged with knowingly entering any restricted building or...
Crews make quick work of installing new pedestrian bridge to Marshall Island in North ParkVideo
It took decades for the wooden bridge leading to Marshall Island in North Park to become so creaky that it was shut down to the public. On Friday, crews from Pugliano Construction and Alvarez steel fabricating took just a few hours to put up a new one. Using a 166-foot...
Grove City College receives largest unrestricted gift in its 145-year history
From his birth in a Brackenridge garage, to growing up in Harrison, to becoming a business owner in Southern California, Richard Staley says the success he’s found in life has been part luck, part hard work. “At so many points along the way, things could have turned ugly very quickly,”...
Associate of 11 Hunnit gang gets 5 years for dealing crack cocaine
A man associated with a Hill District street gang, 11 Hunnit, will serve five years in federal prison for selling crack cocaine. Tyree Campbell, 30, pleaded guilty in October before U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines to one count of conspiracy with intent to deliver more than 28 grams of cocaine....
YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh permanently closes Camp Soles in Somerset County; sale in works
The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh has permanently closed Camp T. Frank Soles in Middlecreek, Somerset County. The 263-acre camp was a destination for kids, families and school groups for generations. The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh was unable to sustain the camp because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Carolyn Grady,...
Westmoreland County reports 66 new covid cases, no deaths
Westmoreland County on Friday reported 66 additional cases of covid-19, below the seven-day average of 77 cases. Of the new cases, 32 are confirmed via 141 new PCR tests. The county has seen a total of 25,668 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. Of those, 18,338 were confirmed via PCR...
Seward woman charged with child endangerment
A Westmoreland County woman was charged this week in Indiana County with four counts of child endangerment after state police said she overdosed in a Brush Valley home with four young children nearby. Kayla Jo Harnett, 29, of Seward, was found unresponsive in a residence along Route 56 just before...
Fox Chapel, O’Hara police investigating recent burglaries
There have been a total of five burglaries in Fox Chapel and O’Hara over the past two weeks, according to police in the two communities. Fox Chapel police Chief David Laux said the burglaries in the borough all happened the same night, Jan. 29, along Fairview Road. Laux said his...
Pitt researchers find Black Americans nationwide must travel farther to get covid vaccine
A study from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Pharmacy shows that Black residents in many regions of the U.S. will have farther to travel to receive a covid-19 vaccine — creating a potential accessibility issue. “Pharmacies should be easy to access, but in some places there’s low...
New bronze Abe Lincoln statue coming to Wilkinsburg
President Abraham Lincoln, who was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hodgenville, Ky., would have been 212 years old Friday. Two years ago, when he was a mere 210, the Wilkinsburg Historical Society announced plans to raise $70,000 to build a bronze, life-size statue of the 16th president of the United...
Allegheny County adds 252 new covid cases; 7-day average continues to drop
The seven-day average of covid-19 cases in Allegheny County on Friday continued to drop as 252 additional cases were reported, according to county and state health department data. The seven-day average of 270 is the lowest since early November. It peaked at more than 1,300 in December. Of the newly...
Freeport Area approves remote learning program to possibly nix snow days
Snow days may be a thing of the past for Freeport Area School District students. The district was approved by the state for the Flexible Instructional Day Program, which allows schools to engage in remote learning rather than canceling and rescheduling school days because of factors like hazardous weather, damage...
Ex-journalist from Sewickley finds purpose in retirement from California as novelist
When Reg Henry left the newspaper industry and retired in an unincorporated town in California’s Big Sur region, he couldn’t escape his craft. Instead, he reinvented it. Henry, 73, a former nationally syndicated columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, retired from the company in 2014 and quit writing the column in...
Chartiers Valley welcomes new principal to primary school
Chartiers Valley School District welcomed a brand new addition to its primary school on Feb. 1. Emily Mather, 38, of Pine Township, will serve as the school’s academic principal, a position that was recently created to help younger students transition to higher learning levels. The school district places students into...
‘Lady Gaga of Vietnam’ finds a home in PittsburghVideo
She is known as the “Lady Gaga of Vietnam.” Her name is Mai Khoi (pronounced “my coy”) and she is a successful Vietnamese pop star turned activist who was forced to leave her home country after being harassed and silenced by the Vietnamese government. The 38-year-old Khoi has found refuge...
Police say driver crashed into gas station in effort to steal ATM
A man crashed a pickup into a Hill District gas station Friday morning trying to steal an ATM machine, Pittsburgh police said. Police and medics responded to the report of a vehicle into a building in the 2300 block of Centre Avenue shortly after 7 a.m. Officers found a large...
Squirrel Hill’s Amazing Books & Records to write a new chapter with moveVideo
Eric Ackland’s love of books came from before he was born. “I feel like I’ve been reading since the womb,” said Ackland, standing in the newest location of Amazing Books & Records in Squirrel Hill on Thursday. “My mom was an English teacher. I was reading by age 3. I...
North Huntingdon woman to run for Westmoreland County Clerk of Courts
A North Huntingdon woman said her experience as a crime victim will be an asset needed to run the Westmoreland County Clerk of Courts office. Dorey Stabile McCarron, 46, a Republican, announced her candidacy this week to run the courthouse office that oversees the filing of criminal court records and...
