Local category, Page 2201

A 28-year-old North Side woman died Tuesday when her vehicle struck a tree in Pittsburgh’s Perry South neighborhood. Shronda Watkins was identified as the driver in the crash, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said. The crash, which did not involve any other vehicles, happened at about 10 p.m. Tuesday,...

U.S. Veterans Affairs officials are urging those who receive veterans benefits to sign up for electronic deposits to avoid extra fees and lower the risk of identity theft. During a dial-in virtual meeting Wednesday, Under Secretary for Benefits Paul Lawrence told former military members in Pennsylvania to consider switching from...

The woman killed Monday morning in Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes after the minivan she was riding in collided with a concrete mixer truck has been identified as Roberta Leonard, 55. the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Wednesday. A residence for Leonard was not provided in the medical examiner’s initial...

The water in Derry is safe to drink again. The Derry Borough Municipal Authority lifted a boil water advisory on Wednesday that was put in place following a Sunday evening water main break. The break at the corner of East Second Avenue and South Chestnut Street caused some residents to...

Southmoreland High School is shutting down for five days after two people tested positive for the coronavirus, the district announced Wednesday. The district was informed of the latest positive test this week. Officials have not disclosed whether the infected people are students or staff members. The high school will close...

Seven polling sites in Westmoreland County will be relocated for the Nov. 3 general election amid concerns related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. All 307 voting precincts will be open, but a handful — which could not meet safety protocols or are located near senior housing communities prohibited from hosting...

There’s going to be more businesses, more food and more music at the second Tarentum Night Market on Thursday. The once-a-month event, held on the third Thursday, is intended to draw shoppers into the borough’s business district by having participating businesses stay open later, from 5-8 p.m. The first market...

Allegheny Valley School District Superintendent Pat Graczyk is proposing expanded in-person learning at Acmetonia Elementary School. “I’m asking the board for our elementary students (K-6) to come back four days a week for in-person learning starting on Oct. 26,” he said. Under Graczyk’s proposal students would be in classrooms Monday,...

Jordan Tomson found a way to combine two of his passions when he established the annual Westmoreland Christian Academy 5K. Tomson was an avid runner, and the race raised money for students at the small Hempfield private school where he served as principal for the last 10 years. On Saturday,...

An additional staff member at Sunrise Elementary School in the Penn-Trafford School District has tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total count to five, the district announced Wednesday. No positive student cases have been reported. Sunrise closed Oct. 8. It will stick with its plan of reopening Oct. 22 despite...

A Westmoreland County Transit Authority bus driver has tested positive for coronavirus, officials said Wednesday. Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said the driver was last worked Monday and drove an undisclosed route. Transit officials were notified Tuesday about the positive test result and the driver will remain off the job...

Allegheny County officials on Wednesday said they are keeping an eye on the local increase in covid-19 cases, but they aren’t panicking. “This slow increase should remind us that things aren’t getting better in Allegheny County,” Health Director Debra Bogen said Wednesday. “But they also aren’t getting substantially worse, as...

Greater Latrobe School District’s decision to continue in-person instruction while reporting new covid-19 cases among students has prompted an email response protesting the decision. The anonymous email, signed “The Parents of the Greater Latrobe School District,” was sent to Superintendent Georgia Teppert on Wednesday. It charged that administrators failed to...

A local doctor has received an honor from the Department of Veterans Affairs for her innovations in education. Dr. Deborah DiNardo, 38, the director of women’s health at VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and a resident of O’Hara, was awarded the VA’s 2020 David M. Worthen Rising Star Award. The national...

Three cases of covid-19 have been identified in the Kiski Area School District in recent days. Superintendent Tim Scott said the district was in the process of consulting with the state Department of Health concerning the next step after a staff member at Kiski Area Upper Elementary tested positive. While...

First-time Democratic state Rep. Brandon Markosek has a challenger going into the general election in November. John Ritter, 66, a Republican from Monroeville who is a Gateway School Board member, has plans to fill the historically Democratic seat that represents a large chunk of Pittsburgh’s east suburbs. Markosek, 27, cruised...

While homecoming is a tradition at high schools and colleges across the U.S., there’s not likely to be anything traditional about it this year, given the additional health and safety guidelines in place during the coronavirus pandemic. At Franklin Regional, the homecoming ceremony Friday night, including crowning of the queen...

Charlotte Heyward’s parents were teachers. She learned the importance of an education. And she taught that same lesson to her son, Cameron Heyward, star defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers. “I know the impact of having the right tools to learn,” Charlotte Heyward said Wednesday as she handed out backpacks...

Westmoreland officials said Wednesday that five more residents tested positive for coronavirus at the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield. Cases at Westmoreland Manor have steadily increased since the middle of September and now 117 residents, or more than a third of those who live there, have tested positive. The facility...

Westmoreland County’s 911 dispatching operations were split into two operational locations Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning after officials discovered two employees tested positive for coronavirus. Public Safety Director Roland Mertz said 911 operations were uninterrupted even as the county instituted mitigation efforts and implemented its emergency response plan to...

Saheed Gayle was at work at the Monroeville Mall on Oct. 7 when he was shot and killed. The 20-year-old had last spoken to his mother, Theresa Kallon of Laurel, Md., on the phone the evening before he died. He had called her to get ideas for what to buy...

Due to overwhelming response, Westmoreland Cleanways and Recycling Center announced this week it would hold two household hazardous waste collections this fall. In addition to the Oct. 24 collection, a second collection was added for Nov. 21. Ellen Keefe, executive director of the nonprofit environmental organization, said it took just...

The screams are silent this season at a popular Halloween destination in Fawn. The Shadows, Alle-Kiski’s only outdoor haunted attraction, announced late last month on Facebook that it would not open for the season. Co-owner Chuck Lynn said the decision not to open was made because of covid-19. “It was...

About 15 students at St. Joseph High School in Harrison worked from home for two days until it was confirmed they had no contact with a person from another school who had tested positive for coronavirus, a school spokesperson said Wednesday. “Our soccer team played Serra Catholic over the weekend...

A Greensburg man is being held in the county jail after police said he broke into an office building at Seton Hill University, ransacking it and using the basement as a hiding place. Joseph Donald Lawrence, 27, is charged with burglary, theft and criminal trespass in the August incidents. University...