Local category, Page 2282
Fire outside Vandergrift house causes little damage but clogs afternoon traffic
Something smoldering against the outside a cellar door at a recently vacant house shut down busy Custer Avenue in Vandergrift for more than an hour Wednesday afternoon. Vandergrift Volunteer Fire Company Chief Randy Dunmire said Vandergrift police, who were first on the scene, had to force the door open to...
Community gathers to express support for Hempfield man diagnosed with rare diseaseVideo
More than 100 people gathered Wednesday evening at Hempfield Area High School as part of a rally for Eddie Coletta, a 1995 Hempfield graduate battling a rare disease. The high school marching band played “Sweet Caroline,” a nod to Coletta’s love for the University of Pittsburgh; cheerleaders chanted “Stay tough,...
GetGo celebrates store opening near Jeannette, presents grants to 2 school districtsVideo
Nearly all of the 45 available parking spaces were full Wednesday afternoon as GetGo celebrated the grand opening of its 266th location along Route 30 in Hempfield. Located at the intersection of Lewis Avenue, near the border of Jeannette, the 6,000-square-foot cafe and market employs 35. Offering made-to-order food, as...
County police: Baldwin couple charged with murder of their 1-year-old boy
A Baldwin couple has been charged with homicide and other crimes in connection with the death of their 1-year-old son. Thomas Snelsire and Tracy Humphreys, both 45, were charged Wednesday by Allegheny County Police with homicide, two counts of endangering the welfare of children, four counts of possession of controlled...
Pittsburgh schools will join districts suing JUUL, other e-cigarrette makers
Pittsburgh Public Schools will soon join the ranks of districts suing JUUL, the e-cigarettes manufacturer. The school board voted to retain legal counsel at a meeting Wednesday. “I think that this is a wise decision to join in and file and participate,” said board member Terry Kennedy. “It costs us...
Bloomfield’s Little Italy Days rescheduled again
Bloomfield’s Little Italy Days festival has been moved to 2021. The four-day Italian festival was originally to be held in August. It was then moved to Oct. 8-11 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The event will, hopefully, go on in 2021, producer Sal Richetti said Wednesday. Dates are tentatively set...
Ordered to close, Brentwood’s Crack’d Egg restaurant cracks back with lawsuit
A Brentwood restaurant ordered to close for failing to follow the governor’s orders to stop the spread of covid-19 sued Allegheny County and the health department on Wednesday, alleging civil rights violations. The owners of the Crack’d Egg, which opened in 2015 on Brownsville Road, were the subject of an...
Westmoreland prosecutors will seek death penalty for New Kensington man in 2-year-old’s death
Westmoreland County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a New Kensington man charged with the fatal beating of his paramour’s 2-year-old son earlier this year. In court documents filed Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Judy Petrush cited three aggravated circumstances that, if proved, warrant a sentence of death by lethal...
Allegheny County officials concerned about local drop in testing
Allegheny County health officials said Wednesday that they continue to be pleased with local covid-19 case numbers. “We have continued to see relatively low numbers compared to maybe what we expected as we entered September,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. The county has confirmed 1,152 cases in September so far,...
Westmoreland commissioners dole out $4.3 million in covid-19 relief grants
Westmoreland County commissioners Wednesday awarded more than $4.3 million in grants to 26o small businesses that suffered financial losses because of the covid-19 pandemic. The grants were funded through $31.5 million in federal funds funneled through the state as part of the government’s coronavirus relief program. “Our goal was to...
Hilda’s Soul Food Kitchen in Homestead serves Southern fare
The plaque below the photo of Hilda Auburn reads: “Do small things with great love.” “My mother inspired me, because everything she did she did with love,” said her daughter Avis Williams, who opened Hilda’s Soul Food Kitchen in July in Homestead to honor her late mother. “I want this...
Pittsburgh’s Columbus Day Parade canceled this year
There won’t be a Columbus Day Parade in Pittsburgh this year, the city said. A tradition in the city for decades, the parade has been held in Bloomfield nearly every year. Earlier this month organizers said it was uncertain if the parade would be held because of the coronavirus pandemic...
Pumpkin sale in Fox Chapel will help build schools, clinics in Haiti
Picking a pumpkin from a makeshift patch probably has never had such far-reaching effects. Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church (FCPC) will host a harvest sale Oct. 2 through 7 to benefit four rural villages in Haiti. Money raised at the fall-themed event will help pay for infrastructure in small towns across...
AHN opens new ‘neighborhood’ hospital in HarmarVideo
A gleaming new “patient-friendly,” micro-hospital was unveiled Wednesday in Harmar by Allegheny Health Network as AHN Harmar Neighborhood Hospital. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held with invited community leaders. AHN Harmar, on Freeport Road at Guys Run, is expected to start serving patients in October. Those behind it persevered through the...
South Park man in prison for stealing $1.2M from church now charged with tax fraud
A man already serving five to 10 years in prison for stealing more than $1 million from an Upper St. Clair church was indicted by the federal government this week on tax fraud charges. David Reiter, 51, formerly of South Park, faces 16 counts of failing to pay taxes and...
Woman who claims Pittsburgh police used excessive force on her up for $40K settlement
Pittsburgh City Council is poised to approve a $40,000 settlement for a Trafford woman who claims she was assaulted by officers in her own home five years ago. Deborah Trzeciak, 60, filed a civil lawsuit against the city and five individual police officers in December, alleging excessive force and failure...
Staff member of Gateway’s Mosside Middle School tests positive for covid-19
A staff member at Gateway School District has tested positive for covid-19. A letter addressed to parents Sept. 23 said the staff member is part of Mosside Middle School. Dennis Chakey, assistant superintendent and the district’s pandemic coordinator, said in the letter the district was notified of the positive test...
50,000 residents download Pennsylvania’s covid app in 24 hours
Pennsylvania’s new covid-19 contact tracing app has been downloaded by 50,000 people, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office said Wednesday. The mobile app, COVID Alert PA, was announced in August and officially launched Tuesday. The app notifies users if they have been exposed to covid-19 using Bluetooth technology. Without tracking identity or...
Pittsburgh Art Commission recommends removal of Columbus statue from Schenley Park
The Pittsburgh Art Commission unanimously recommended removal of the statue of Christopher Columbus that has been in Schenley Park for over 60 years. The recommendation, made during a Wednesday meeting of the commission, puts the issue before Mayor Bill Peduto, who will consider the issue and make a decision. The...
Baldwin couple wanted in connection with infant’s death turn themselves in to police
One month after a caseworker with Children, Youth and Families gave the all-clear on a Baldwin couple’s home, their 1-year-old infant was found dead from what police said Wednesday was a drug overdose. Thomas Humphreys was found dead in his parents’ Oakleaf Road home in Baldwin on Sept. 13. Investigators...
Lower Burrell fire department unveils refurbished truck
Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company No. 3 saved more than $300,000 by refurbishing its primary fire engine instead of buying a new one, according to a fire department official and city councilman. The 2001 Pierce fire engine was refurbished for $257,000 and the department expects the work will allow the...
Republicans seek to stay Pa. Supreme Court decision on ballot drop boxes and mail-in ballots
Top Republicans in Harrisburg have asked the state Supreme Court to stay part of its order allowing the use of ballot drop boxes and granting a three-day extension to count mail-in ballots while they appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. In an application filed Tuesday, the Republican lawmakers...
1 hurt after pickup crashes into Penn Township house
A 38-year-old man was hospitalized Wednesday afternoon when he apparently suffered a medical emergency and crashed into a Penn Township house. Police Chief John Otto and Harrison City Assistant Fire Chief Tommy Lamacz said the crash happened around noon on Boxcartown Road. No one was home at the time. The...
Fishing license sales jump 20% with covid-19 outdoor recreation boom
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has already sold about 150,000 more fishing licenses this year than it did all of last year. “We certainly think that the pandemic situation has had an impact, as more people sought outdoor recreational activities, and either discovered or rediscovered a passion for fishing,”...
Sewickley Heights hires full-time police officer, bringing force to 4
Sewickley Heights council officially welcomed the borough’s fourth full-time officer to the police force during its Monday meeting. Kayla Pavicic, 25, of Oakdale, will work full-time with the borough’s force. Council unanimously approved the hire. Her salary is set at $72,362. After four years, she will earn the force’s top...
