The Stroller, June 8, 2025: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Follow the Stroller on X at @VNDStroller. Drive-thru food distribution set...
Greensburg seeks bubble gum lovers for shot at world record
Hundreds of bubble gum blowers are needed in Greensburg in an effort to break a world record. The Greensburg Business & Professional Association is hoping to get at least 1,200 people to converge Saturday on downtown in an attempt to top the record for the most people blowing a chewing...
Route 217 bridge rehab will trigger detour in Derry Township
A section of Route 217 in Derry Township will be closed to traffic beginning Monday while work is underway to rehabilitate a bridge that carries the road over McGee Run. The closure, between Ankney Road and Hillside Road/Old Route 217, is expected to continue through July 3, depending on weather....
Veteran fan, former Oakmont caddie offers suggestions for fans attending U.S. Open
Derek Gionta has seen the U.S. Open both inside and out. That’s because, in addition to attending multiple opens over the years, the 44-year-old Monroeville resident also was a caddie at the Oakmont Country Club during his high school and college days. “My brother was already doing it when I...
Allegheny County politician’s social media post on war in Gaza stokes divisions
The war in Gaza has triggered a war of words over antisemitism in Allegheny County. Western Pennsylvania’s largest Jewish group recently rebuked a County Council member for endorsing a pro-Palestinian activist’s comments on social media. “Another week of watching people burned alive in Gaza and we’re still required to be...
Classic characters, bubbly beverages and pampered pups: 3 new businesses come to Greensburg area
Jess Kunkle is on a twofold mission: to pursue her lifelong career aspiration and help revitalize the business scene in Greensburg, the town she has called home for nearly a decade. “I wanted to help put a business back into downtown Greensburg,” Kunkle said, “because downtown Greensburg has been kind...
U.S. Open offers chance to market Pittsburgh, but economic impact is modest, experts say
Economic development leaders hope to show the Pittsburgh region is a diamond beyond the rough at Oakmont Country Club as the U.S. Open unfolds this week before a national audience. Tens of thousands of fans are expected to flock to the world-renowned golf course and millions more will tune in...
Newborns, high school grads, elderly rescued from floods by Westmoreland County swift-water teams
The emergency response to flooding in the Murrysville area Friday night threw everything and the kitchen sink to swift-water rescue teams. The 95 evacuations in the roughly 300-yard space between Ginny’s Neighborhood Pizza Joint and Penn Vista Apartment complex included: a weeks-old baby, half a dozen Franklin Regional High School...
Mister Rogers Family Days features week of events in and around Latrobe
Mister Rogers Family Days featured a series of events held each day last week in downtown Latrobe. On June 2 an open house at the Fred Rogers Institute in Unity and Greater Latrobe High School featured Fred Rogers themed exhibits Daily activities included a farmer’s market, night market, children’s book...
Scottdale man celebrates 200,000 miles of bicycle riding
Lorne Peachey of Scottdale has ridden across the United States and on almost every rail-to-trail path imaginable on his way to 200,000 miles on a bicycle. Peachey, 86, celebrated his achievement with about 150 family, friends and bicycling acquaintances Saturday afternoon at the West Overton Village events barn near Scottdale....
Residents, businesses in Murrysville-Export area clean up from Friday’s deluge
Kim Zannikos has seen flooding before at her Murrysville town house, but nothing like what she saw Friday. It was so bad that her SUV, parked at the far end of the property, away from Old William Penn Highway, and with Turtle Creek on the other side, was not spared....
The Stroller, June 7, 2025: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Follow the Stroller on X at @VNDStroller. Leechburg Borough to celebrate...
U.S. Open offers fans full plate of culinary options at Oakmont Country Club
As soon as the U.S. Open’s final putt is sunk, Susan Lacz starts thinking about the next year’s tournament. Lacz is CEO of Ridgewells Catering in Maryland, the United States Golf Association’s longtime catering partner for the event. She’s one of the people in charge of making sure hungry U.S....
Vandergrift officials won’t let damaged roof in business district be ignored
Vandergrift officials are going after the owner of a building with a prime location on Grant Avenue for failing to fix its partly collapsed roof. Council voted Monday to pursue a nuisance complaint in Westmoreland County Court, which could result in the borough completing the repairs itself and billing the...
Riverview business manager recommends 2.23% tax increase
Riverview School District’s business manager doubled down on her recommendation for a tax increase for next school year. Business manager Sheila Lubert once again recommended a 2.23% tax increase for 2025-26 during the school board’s June 2 agenda meeting after reviewing the district’s proposed budget. The 0.5591-mill real estate tax...
SummerSounds opens season with The Seven Wonders
The Seven Wonders, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, opened the SummerSounds concert series in Greensburg’s St. Clair Park. The concert series amassed a combined attendance of 28,500 people and drew more than $1 million in economic impact to Greensburg last season, co-founder Gene James said. SummerSounds has focused on best...
Report: Medicaid cuts will hurt Pa. hospitals, patients
Some Western Pennsylvania hospitals could see an increase in uninsured patients and corresponding drop in reimbursements from Medicaid if the U.S. House-approved $723 billion in funding cuts to states is enacted, health advocates and state officials say. Ultimately, that could cause a reduction in services, officials said. “They’re (hospitals) going...
Flooding hammers Murrysville, areas near Turtle Creek; 95 people evacuated by first responders
Tim Wagner’s family was getting ready to watch him graduate from Franklin Regional Senior High School on Friday night when stormwater began rushing into their Murrysville basement. “We’ve never seen it like this before,” Bonnie Rockette-Wagner said. Thunderstorms roared through the region late Friday afternoon, and flash flooding hammered northern...
Pitt QB shaves head for girl recovering from transplant, family facing immigration issues
Pitt Panthers quarterback Eli Holstein, his teammates and coaches are doing their part to boost the spirits of Julia Espinosa. The 13-year-old patient at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh has complex health issues that prompted her to decide to shave her head after she lost most of her hair. Her...
Republican rift: Pittsburgh, Allegheny County GOP refuse to back Moreno for mayor
Two of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s largest Republican committees are refusing to back Tony Moreno, the GOP nominee for Pittsburgh mayor, as part of a widening split with a fractious candidate they view with suspicion and distress. The heads of the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County GOP committees told TribLive on Friday they...
New Bruster’s Real Ice Cream to open in Shadyside
A new Bruster’s Real Ice Cream location is opening up this summer at the border of Shadyside and Bloomfield. Owner Chad McWreath said the new location at 4815 Centre Ave. is anticipating an opening in mid-July. McWreath, 53, of Mt. Washington, already owns one Bruster’s location at 4584 Browns Hill...
Dick Skrinjar, affable, longtime spokesman for Pittsburgh’s mayors, PennDOT, dies at 74
Dick Skrinjar, who served as a spokesman for former Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O’Connor and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, died Thursday. He was 74. “The thing about my dad is that he was ultimately just a very loving person,” Zach Skrinjar, one of his sons, told TribLive Friday. “He loved...
Former Franklin Regional, North Allegheny basketball coach was ‘dedicated to excellence’
Robert Greenleaf’s slogan with his Franklin Regional basketball team was “Dedicated to Excellence.” And the longtime educator and basketball aficionado lived the motto in all aspects of his life, friends and family said. “He was well-known and well-loved,” said Bob Bozzuto, who worked with Greenleaf in both the Franklin Regional...
Oakmont deer could be target of survey
Whitetail deer are on the minds of Oakmont officials. During a recent council meeting, Councilwoman Debra Ormay floated the idea to make a survey available for residents to share whether there’s a deer issue in Oakmont. She said she has received a few complaints about the presence of deer and...
Verona man arrested in connection with December robbery and shooting
Verona police made an arrest Friday morning in connection with a December robbery and shooting in the borough. According to Verona Officer Thomas Dessell, Price Riley, 37, was wanted for allegedly robbing his Uber driver and later firing a gunshot inside a gas station bathroom in December. “With the assistance...
