Western PA Local News category, Page 2284
Gibsonia veteran, Unity in-law hop on crop trend to supply craft brewers
Devin Winklosky was the black sheep of his Derry Township farming family. While his three siblings all carried on the family’s agricultural legacy, Winklosky served in the Marines for two decades and has since lived in Gibsonia, specializing in commercial litigation as a Pittsburgh attorney. This year, he’s returning to...
75 years later, memories of World War II, USS Pennsylvania vivid for Greensburg veteran
More than 75 years later, memories of the USS Pennsylvania are still vivid for Bill Kowinski. The 94-year-old Greensburg man was a sailor aboard the battleship when a Japanese bomber struck it with a torpedo on Aug. 12, 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa in the waning days of World...
North Huntingdon man details Pitt football coach, Carnegie native who died in World War IVideo
A World War I history buff from North Huntingdon shed light on the University of Pittsburgh football coach who quit patrolling the Panthers’ sideline at Forbes Field more than a century ago so he could become a lawyer, only to be killed a month before the Armistice took effect on...
North Allegheny girls pen book, create website about personal finance for kids
Most people with questions about a topic they know little or nothing about seek out experts who can give them the answers. But North Allegheny High School juniors Alina Zaidi and Angela Wu decided that it wasn’t enough to simply teach themselves about personal finances. They wanted to make sure...
Fired Westmoreland sheriff captain sues county on racial discrimination claims
A former Westmoreland County sheriff’s captain, who was fired after he was accused of stalking a woman, is suing the county for race discrimination and retaliation. Travis Day, 26, alleges former Sheriff Jonathan Held had another deputy surveil him at his home when he was off duty, that he was...
Victim in Bedford Dwellings shooting identified
The victim in a Tuesday shooting at Bedford Dwellings has been identified. William Lee Jr, 33, of Pittsburgh, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office. Pittsburgh police are investigating the incident which happened just about 8 p.m. in the 2400 block of Chauncey...
Sewickley officials plan to hold the line on taxes in 2021 budget
Sewickley officials want to hold the line on real estate taxes with the 2021 budget. Council unanimously approved next year’s preliminary spending plan on Nov. 10. The millage rate is expected to stay at 6.25 mills. “I think that the budget is solid,” council President Jeff Neff said. “I would...
Sewickley Public Library’s $1.3 million repair project clears another hurdle
A roof and a heating, ventilation and air conditioning repair project at the Sewickley Public Library has cleared another hurdle. Borough council unanimously voted Tuesday night to approve a “certificate of appropriateness” for the HVAC portion of the work at 500 Thorn St. It granted the certificate for the roof...
Riverview School District welcomes students back in second 9-weeks hybrid model
The Riverview School District has switched to a hybrid learning model this grading period with most students back in school a couple days a week. The switch this month from all online learning to a mix of in-person student groups and continued at-home education was was welcomed by Verona parent...
Brackenridge woman accused of assaulting man who paid less than promised for sex
A Brackenridge woman is accused of assaulting and trying to stab a man who police said paid her less for sex than promised. State police charged Audra Lynn Divittorio, 33, with aggravated assault, prostitution and other charges in connection with the Oct. 28 incident. She was taken to Westmoreland County...
Clinic opens in Clairton to address pediatric asthma crisis
A new health center designed to treat the region’s growing number of children with asthma opened Tuesday in the industrial hub of Clairton. The Cornerstone Care Community Health Center, a pilot project launched with the backing of the Allegheny County Medical Society, held a ribbon cutting ceremony and immediately welcomed...
Westmoreland County ballot challenges to be heard Friday
Westmoreland commissioners will serve as the county’s elections board Friday to begin adjudication of challenges to mail-in and provisional ballots cast during the Nov. 3 election. Commissioners spent Monday and Tuesday reviewing 816 mail-in ballots that arrived at the courthouse between 8 p.m. on Election Day and 5 p.m. Nov....
Norwin covid-19 cases piling up
The covid-19 cases in the Norwin School District keep piling up. The school district on Tuesday said that a Norwin Online Academy student and a high school employee have notified the school officials that they recently tested positive for the coronavirus. The online academy students take courses through remote instruction,...
Allegheny County to count 2,349 undated ballots
The Allegheny County Board of Elections on Tuesday voted to count 2,349 ballots that appear to be eligible in every way save for the voter failing to put a date on the outer envelope. The ballots, which have not been opened, all arrived on or before Election Day, as they...
Harrison World War II veteran looks back at his time in the Navy, 99 years of lifeVideo
Howard Traenkner has trouble with his vision, but he still sees clearly into the past. The 99-year-old Navy veteran of World War II recalled his two years in the service, including 12 months on the USS Chiwawa AO 68, a 750-foot-long ship that traveled from Virginia to Texas to Japan,...
Pittsburgh allocates $3 million in federal funding for covid-19 relief programs
Five Pittsburgh-area programs will benefit from more than $3 million from previously-approved federal coronavirus relief legislation, Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration announced Tuesday. The bulk of the money, $2 million, will go to the Urban Redevelopment Authority for rental assistance under the URA’s Housing Stabilization Program. About 1,000 households have been...
State lawmakers call for creation of a panel to investigate, audit election
Citing a deluge of calls to their offices and legal challenges filed by the Trump campaign, state lawmakers in the Republican-controlled House called for an audit of the election Tuesday as well as an investigation, complete with subpoena power. The move, seeking to empanel a commission controlled by lawmakers, came...
Woman found shot to death in East Liberty
A woman was found shot to death Tuesday morning in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood, according to Pittsburgh police. Officers responded to 911 calls for a shooting just after 11 a.m., said Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz. Police found a woman shot in the head inside a home on Rippey Street....
Seward police chief accused of offering women leniency in exchange for sex
State police this week filed criminal charges against Seward’s police chief, who has now resigned, accusing him of offering two women leniency in criminal matters in exchange for sex. Robert I. Baldwin Jr., 49, who served as police chief for just over a year, formerly was a part-time officer with...
Lawsuit alleges sexual assault at Geibel Catholic Junior-Senior High School
The parents of student at Geibel Junior/Senior High School in Connellsville filed a federal lawsuit against the school, two administrators and a former student, alleging repeated incidents of sexual assault and harassment never were properly investigated. According to the six-count lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh,...
Pittsburgh native Cardinal Wuerl set to retire from Vatican roles
Pittsburgh native Cardinal Donald Wuerl is retiring. Wuerl is expected to resign from his role as a member of the Congregation for Bishops on Nov. 12 when he turns the mandatory retirement age of 80, according to a report by National Catholic Reporter. The retirement comes two years after Wuerl...
Greensburg budget would keep taxes flat despite ‘revenue killer’ pandemic
Greensburg City Councilman Randy Finfrock likes to pepper his annual budget presentation with jokes to keep it interesting for his fellow council members and residents. “That’s not happening this time,” Finfrock said Monday. “This is a difficult budget, it’s a difficult year.” Council is considering a budget that would keep...
Latrobe to hold line on taxes in 2021 while assessing new stormwater fee
Latrobe residents face a new stormwater management fee, but no property tax increase, under the proposed 2021 city budget. Council is expected at its Dec. 14 meeting to finalize the $6.5 million spending plan, which reflects an increase of about $500,000 from the 2020 budget. City Manager Michael Gray said...
Warmer weather to taper off beginning Wednesday
The unseasonably warm weather the past few days in Western Pennsylvania didn’t break any records for November, but they are certainly giving residents a chance to enjoy the outdoors before winter begins to set in. Temperatures Monday reached 75 degrees and Tuesday’s high is forecast at 77 degrees. “This last...
Gunman in April 2019 Monroeville Mall shooting pleads guilty to aggravated assault
A McKeesport man who was arrested and charged for spraying bullets into the doors of a Monroeville Mall entrance last year pleaded guilty Tuesday before an Allegheny County judge. Brandon Noel, 23, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in connection with a fight that broke out between two McKeesport gangs at...
