Western PA Local News category, Page 2355
On the move in the Murrysville area
Mark Persichetti of Export brought home two first-place finishes at a barbecue competition held Aug. 8 and sponsored by the Export Moose Riders. Persichetti took first place in both the pork loin and people’s choice categories. • • • Grace Keibler, Jacob Ross, Caleb Scutt and Colleen Zilka of Murrysville...
Pennsylvania colleges take a hit in undergraduate enrollment
A new national survey of fall college enrollment trends by the National Student Clearinghouse found the impact of covid-19 and a shrinking pool of new high school graduates has left its mark on Pennsylvania colleges. The survey based on preliminary numbers from about 22% of the nation’s colleges and universities,...
CNX applies for new Utica gas wells in Washington Township
CNX Resources is applying for permits to develop and operate a Utica shale gas well pad along Evans Road in Washington Township near property owned by the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. CNX, which has other gas wells on authority property, plans to develop up to seven Utica wells at...
Leechburg Area students to return to face-to-face instruction Oct. 5
Leechburg Area School District students will return to face-to-face instruction Oct. 5. “I’m thrilled that the students are coming back,” Superintendent Tiffany Nix said. Students have been learning online exclusively since school started Sept 2. The original back-to-school plan approved in June offered students a choice of returning to school...
Pittsburgh police: 1 man dead, 2 others injured in Homewood shooting
A man is dead and two others injured Wednesday night in a shooting incident in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the deceased as Anthony E. Williams, 44, of Swissvale. Police responded to a ShotSpotter alert of multiple shots fired around 9:20 p.m. along the 7100...
Plum EMS hosts car seat safety event at ambulance station
Plum EMS recently hosted a car seat safety check with assistance from PA Team Educators for Child Safety. Certified car seat technicians checked equipment and instructed about a dozen families on how to properly install the seats at the ambulance station at 1990 Old Mine Road. Participants needed an appointment...
Oakmont girl’s crosswalk project aims to improve pedestrian safety
An Oakmont girl’s summer project could have a lasting impact on her hometown. Audrey Myers, a ninth-grader at Riverview High School, examined about 120 intersections. She noted the quality of the crosswalks and wherther there were sidewalk ramps. Audrey also took photos of all the intersections. “I was really happy...
Oakmont officials consider allowing cycling, off-leash dogs in Dark Hollow permanently
Oakmont officials are considering an ordinance that would formally allow cycling and off-leash dogs in Dark Hollow Woods Park. Bicyclists and dogs roaming free have been permitted in the park off Crystal Drive during parts of the day and in certain sections of the site for more than a year...
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...
