Western PA Local News category, Page 2396
$650K Greensburg mansion eyed for group home for Torrance residents
A seven-bedroom brick mansion along Greensburg’s West Pittsburgh Street — and next to Morey Place, a tree-lined street in a neighborhood dotted with other well-maintained brick homes — could become a group home for people with intellectual disabilities transitioning back into the community. A proposed $1.4 million project to open...
Allegheny County Airport Authority sues IT company for alleged cybersecurity failures
The Allegheny County Airport Authority this week sued an information technology company, alleging that it failed to properly perform cybersecurity services, leading to vulnerabilities in its network that were ultimately critiqued by the federal government. The lawsuit against Involta LLC was filed Tuesday in federal court in Pittsburgh. It includes...
University of Pittsburgh announces required course on racism for incoming students
The University of Pittsburgh will require first-year students to complete a new course on anti-Black racism. In a letter to students Wednesday that also clarified updated covid-19 procedures, Provost Ann E. Cudd said the course, which will be free of charge and count for one academic credit, is part of...
Springdale Township worker receives electrical shock mowing lawn
Springdale Township officials are investigating an incident last week in which a road department worker received a serious electrical shock after running over a downed power line on a riding mower. Joe Luera, 56, a part-time Springdale Township employee, was rushed to UPMC St. Margaret hospital and then taken to...
Duquesne officials say they’ve met all of grieving mom’s demands for answers about her son’s 2018 death
Duquesne University officials said Thursday that they have met all of the demands of the mother of a student who died after he fell 16 stories from his dorm room in 2018. Dannielle Brown has been on a hunger strike for 48 days as she seeks answers from the university...
Passavant Memorial Homes extends extra pay when state rejects bid for aid
Despite not receiving state aid for hazard pay for frontline workers, a McCandless-based nonprofit will give its employees at 140 community group homes across the region an extra $3 an hour until late October — an initiative that will cost the company about $2 million. Passavant Memorial Homes Family of...
President of Private Industry Council of Westmoreland-Fayette stepping down
Longtime Private Industry Council of Westmoreland-Fayette President and CEO Tim Yurcisin will step down this fall after 21 years in the role and nearly four decades with the PIC. Yurcisin has helped shepherd the nonprofit corporation from a $10 million budget when he took over to a $23 million budget...
Tarentum’s Hometown Restaurant closed, victim of pandemic restrictions
After over 25 years in business, Tarentum’s Hometown Restaurant has closed. Rebecca Coy owned and operated Hometown Restaurant. She spent 25 years waking up at 4:30 in the morning to get to the restaurant before breakfast at 6 a.m. She made everything, from breakfast to salad dressing. “Everything was homemade,”...
Citing pandemic concerns, Greensburg bishop to offer public farewell in a virtual Mass
Citing the ongoing public health threat of the coronavirus, Bishop Edward C. Malesic will make his public farewell to the diocese’s 138,000 Roman Catholics in a virtual Mass. Officials with the Greensburg Diocese said Friday the Mass will be livestreamed at 3 p.m. Aug. 30 from Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in...
Pandemic takes toll on Derek Kotecki golf fundraiser, but event trucks on
Because of the covid-19 pandemic, organizers will make $8,000 less on the Ninth Annual Officer Derek Kotecki Golf Tournament at Hill Crest Country Club on Saturday. The golf outing honors the memory of Lower Burrell Police K-9 Officer Derek Kotecki, who was killed in an ambush in 2011. The golf...
Indiana Township woman who killed FBI agent seeks compassionate release after contracting coronavirus
The woman who shot and killed an FBI agent as he attempted to serve an arrest warrant at her home in Indiana Township in 2008 is asking for compassionate release from prison because she is still recovering from a covid-19 infection. Christina Korbe, who is serving a 15-year sentence at...
Monroeville restaurants struggle with covid restrictions
Layoffs, sickness and changing rules — it’s all part of the game right now if you own a restaurant or bar. In Monroeville, these types of businesses have been hurting. For some, it’s been tempting to scrap the ever-changing rules and regulations to follow their own. But most have chosen...
Mayor Peduto shakes up Pittsburgh police units after escalating clashes with protesters
Pittsburgh Police Special Response Teams trained in traditional crowd-control tactics will no longer be the first line of response during protests, Mayor Bill Peduto announced Friday, two days after police clashed with protesters just blocks from his front door. It’s one of a number of changes Peduto laid out in...
Auditor general: Brighton Rehab refused to let state watchdog examine the nursing home’s finances
Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center blocked the state’s chief fiscal watchdog from examining the Beaver County nursing home’s financial records earlier this year, Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said . DePasquale disclosed Brighton Rehab’s refusal to cooperate — or even take an initial meeting to discuss the possibility of cooperating...
Pittsburgh school board member forgets to turn off camera as she showers during virtual meeting
A Pittsburgh Public Schools board member learned the hard way Wednesday the mishaps that can happen in virtual meetings. Veronica Edwards was accidentally seen disrobing and stepping into the shower during the district’s public online agenda review meeting, which was streamed live. “Hopefully, someone can learn from my experience and...
Early Pittsburgh punk band Little Wretches release album recorded in 2001Video
When Robert Wagner got into the music business, he didn’t know how to hook up a microphone. He hadn’t even been to a live concert. But he knew it was something he wanted to continue for the rest of his life. “I know some of these people are going get...
Gilpin woman lives in subterranean house that she designed, built
Can you dig it? Judy Quick can. The 77-year-old Gilpin woman lives in a custom-built, subterranean home. “I mow my roof,” Quick said while giving a tour of her unorthodox three-bedroom, two-bathroom home that’s on more than 11 acres in rural Armstrong County. She said advantages of underground living include...
South Huntingdon man accused of threatening mother, firing gun after troopers arrived
A 30-year-old South Huntingdon man was arrested Thursday after allegedly threatening to shoot his mother with a 9 mm handgun and then firing the gun outside as state troopers arrived at the scene. Andrew C. Cyktor was arraigned before District Judge Chris Flanigan in night court on multiple charges of...
Greensburg’s new Green Beacon Gallery aims to encompass art, music, more
Three young entrepreneurs have ambitious plans for a new art and music space in downtown Greensburg. The name is painted on the window and art already fills the walls of the Green Beacon Gallery at 235 W. Pittsburgh St., but there’s no date yet for when the doors will open....
2 Pittsburgh-area restaurants closing: Larder of East End and Mt. Lebanon’s The Fairlane
Pittsburgh’s restaurant scene continues to endure losses as Larder of East End and Mt. Lebanon’s The Fairlane will close their doors permanently this weekend. Larder is a collaborative venture between chef Justin Severino and his partner Hilary Prescott, and East End Brewing Co. owner and head brewer Scott Smith. The...
Witness’ credibility left up to judge to decide in Bolivar man’s murder appeal
A defense attorney for a Bolivar man serving 30 years in prison for the 2011 murder of his newborn daughter wants a judge to decide the credibility of a witness who recently came forward with potentially exculpatory evidence. If jurors in Clayton Mibroda’s 2013 trial had heard from the new...
Troopers: Intruder jailed after making threats against Unity homeowner
A Unity man said he discovered a woman inside his home Wednesday who initially refused to leave and then threatened to kill him, state police said. Troopers said when the Lightcap Road homeowner told Lisa M. McCracken, 56, also of Unity, to get out of his house about 8:45 p.m....
Loyalhanna woman sentenced to house arrest, probation in $127K theft from Greensburg electric firm
A Loyalhanna Township woman was sentenced Friday to seven years of probation for taking nearly $127,000 from her former employer. Deborah L. Baker, 53, told Judge Christopher Feliciani that the money went to support her husband’s painkiller addiction. “This money was being siphoned off solely for his habit,” attorney Dennis...
Musicians from Western Pa., other states booked for Latrobe’s virtual banana split festival
Musicians from the region and beyond are lined up for Tuesday’s virtual Great American Banana Split Celebration in Latrobe. Because of pandemic restrictions on large gatherings, the annual festival this year won’t have any public participation in downtown Latrobe. Instead, it will feature a day of entertainment and activities streamed...
Travelers left more than $5,000 behind in Pittsburgh airport security bins last year
Travelers passing through Pittsburgh International left behind more than $5,000 at security checkpoints in one year, part of more than $900,000 that travelers nationwide forgot before their flights during that time. The Transportation Security Administration’s report on cash left behind at security checkpoints runs from fiscal year Oct. 1, 2018,...
