Local category, Page 2162
North Huntingdon auto dealership spreads Christmas joy with boxes of foodVideo
Like millions of other Americans, it’s been a terrible year for Michelle Davis of Monroeville. She lost her job months ago as a food delivery person for InstaCart when the economy plunged and covid spread across the region. Her father died last week in New York of a non-covid-related illness,...
Route 119 southbound reopens in East Huntingdon following fatal crash
The southbound lanes of Route 119 at Route 819 in East Huntingdon reopened just after 9 p.m., following a fatal crash involving a vehicle and pedestrian late Tuesday afternoon. The crash was reported just after 3:45 p.m., according to a Westmoreland County 911 supervisor. The Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office has...
Derry group plans Christmas dinner giveaway
A group of Derry residents who helped make Thanksgiving happier for those in need are doing the same thing for Christmas. Derry Area School Board member Sean M. Kemmerer and Larry and Jessica Gray, owners of Taps N’ At restaurant, started a donation drive to buy more than 150 Christmas...
Food Podcast: Pittsburgh food bank celebrating 40 years of helping others
In June 1980, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank opened its doors in the Hill District. The once-thriving steel industry, which had been in a slow, steady decline for nearly 30 years, began to rapidly deteriorate during the early 1980s. In January 1983, the region’s unemployment rate hit 18.2 percent,...
Police: Man wanted in alleged Northview Heights ambush shooting arrested in Wilkinsburg
A fugitive task force on Tuesday arrested a man wanted in connection with an alleged ambush shooting that killed a man in Pittsburgh’s Northview Heights neighborhood in August, authorities said. Authorities took Maurice White Jr., 19, into custody about 8 a.m. at a home in Wilkinsburg, according to Pittsburgh Public...
Westmoreland County issues final covid-relief grants
More than $615,000 in covid relief grants were handed out Tuesday to local volunteer fire departments and emergency medical service units as Westmoreland County exhausted its share of federal stimulus money to help struggling businesses, nonprofits and municipalities amid the ongoing pandemic. Commissioners awarded 24 volunteer fire departments and 10...
PIAA files suit claiming it should not be subject to Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is suing the commonwealth and the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, alleging that it should not be subject to the state’s Right to Know Law. The complaint, filed in Commonwealth Court on Friday, comes nearly 12 years after Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law took effect...
Westmoreland commissioners rescind covid grant to Salem gym, allow North Huntingdon to keep money
Westmoreland County commissioners on Tuesday rescinded a nearly $5,000 grant awarded last week to a Salem gym after it refused to accept a provision that requires recipients to pledge to adhere to state covid guidelines. Officials said representatives of Matshark Fitness, which operates as Wallace Training Systems, declined to sign...
Jerome Bettis plays Santa to Pittsburgh nonprofit after theft of gifts
The Grinch tried to steal Christmas from a nonprofit collecting donations for children in need, but former Pittsburgh Steelers star Jerome Bettis deftly stepped in to help them spread holiday cheer. Family Resources, a Pittsburgh-based organization that fights child abuse, was accepting donations for local children in need during the...
Assault, drugs among charges filed recently by Monroeville police
Monroeville police filed the following charges in October and December with District Judge Jeffrey L. Herbst. Charges were filed by Monroeville police: • Keira Linsenbigler, 29, of Pittsburgh with recklessly endangering another person, criminal mischief, carrying a firearm without a license and two counts of aggravated assault. Charges were filed...
Fox Chapel Area Adult Education builds on success of first online-only classes
The first-ever entirely remote semester of Fox Chapel Area Adult Education (FCAAE) proved to be more rewarding than organizers expected – so much so that they’re building on its success for a second round of virtual classes that begin in January. “I am so honored to work with a community...
Pittsburgh police brass tell city council they’re committed to reform
Pittsburgh police Chief Scott Schubert has walked a beat in about 30 of the city’s 90 neighborhoods in a quest to hear from the people about how they feel he’s doing the job. When he gets to all 90, he plans to start over because he wants to know what...
Pitt gets $2.5 million contract to study health effects of fracking
The Department of Health on Tuesday announced a $2.5 million contract with the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health to study possible health effects of fracking – particularly in Western Pennsylvania. “My administration is committed to ensuring that Pennsylvania is a healthy, vibrant place for all who call...
Oregon man charged with ransacking Greensburg church
An Oregon man is accused of breaking into a Greensburg church and dismantling and disconnecting electronic equipment hours before Sunday worship was set to be broadcast live, according to police. Timothy Lansdale, 55, was arraigned Monday on charges of burglary, criminal trespass, theft, receiving stolen property, criminal mischief and failing...
Man accused of stealing donation jar from Greensburg pizza shop
Greensburg police said a submarine sandwich helped lead them to a suspect accused of stealing a donation jar from a local pizza shop. Gabriel A. Smith, 41, of Jeannette is charged with theft and receiving stolen property in connection with the theft of approximately $100 in donations collected in a...
O’Hara appoints 3rd Ward rep to serve vacancy
A consultant who worked previously as the assistant athletic director for Fox Chapel Area High School was appointed to fill a vacancy on O’Hara council. Republican Greg Caprara will represent the township’s 3rd Ward through 2021. He is serving the remainder of a term vacated last month by Scott Frankowski....
Man acquitted in Wilkinsburg mass shooting pleads to gun charge
Darnell Mahone logged in to the federal court hearing Tuesday to watch the man he believes killed his daughter in a mass shooting plead guilty to a gun charge. It isn’t as much as he’d hoped for — the plea agreement Cheron Shelton reached with the U.S. Attorney’s office calls...
New Kensington man charged with hitting woman with hammer, threatening to kill her
A New Kensington man has been charged with aggravated assault after city police say he chased and hit a woman with a hammer and threatened to kill her last week, according to a criminal complaint. Ryan Christopher Grabigel, 40, is free on $10,000 bond while awaiting a preliminary hearing before...
Pennsylvania to freelance workers: Checks will be in the mail, but don’t know when
State officials want to assure about 500,000 jobless Pennsylvanians who are independent contractors, freelancers and tech workers that they will continue to get their unemployment benefits under the new $900 billion covid relief package, but they don’t when the checks will be in the mail. Labor and Industry Acting Secretary...
Westmoreland County covid numbers continue to make December worst month of pandemic
As the month winds down, covid cases and deaths in Westmoreland County continue to make December the county’s worst month of the pandemic. There were 302 new covid-19 cases and nine deaths reported Tuesday. Those figures bring total cases to 17,079 and 358 total deaths in the county. This month,...
Police find body wrapped in plastic in Brighton Heights, woman detained
Police following up on a tip in a missing persons case found a body wrapped in plastic at a home in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood, authorities said. Police discovered the body about 8:15 a.m. at a home on California Avenue, said Maurice Matthews, a spokesman for the Department of Public...
Arrest made in January homicide of Arnold man in New Kensington
An Arnold man who was shot and killed at a New Kensington housing complex in January died because of a robbery gone bad, according to a criminal complaint. Authorities said Letresse Tareke Williams, 30, of New Kensington, planned to rob Anthone Williams, 31, in a section of the East Ken...
Winners announced in Tarentum holiday window contest
Santa Claus sits in a chair, reading a magazine. Nearby is a Christmas tree adorned with bright bulbs and ornaments, along with colorfully wrapped presents underneath. A string of lights frame the space, and snowflakes decorate the scene. Santa has a couch decorated with fluffy pillows to lounge on. It’s...
Allegheny County reports 10 new covid deaths, 797 new cases
The Allegheny County Health Department reported 10 new covid-19 deaths Tuesday. There were 797 new covid cases reported, as well. After the new figures, there are 47,908 total cases and 790 total deaths in Allegheny County. There have been 19,504 cases and 281 deaths reported in December thus far, about...
Assault, harassment, trespassing among charges handled recently by Bridgeville, Carnegie, Scott judges
District court judges in Bridgeville, Scott and Carnegie handled these criminal cases recently. Defendants will have court dates set in appropriate district courts or the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Maureen McGraw-Desmet, Bridgeville • Michael Waite, 31, of Carnegie on charges of simple trespassing, theft from a vehicle,...
