Murrysville attorney accused of bilking more than $300K from elderly client
A Murrysville attorney who ran unsuccessfully for district judge in 2023 was charged Thursday with stealing about $312,000 from an elderly client. An arrest warrant was issued for Robert C. Klingensmith, 61, on three counts of theft and a single count of financial exploitation of an older adult. He did...
Giant Eagle to take over prescriptions from 78 Rite Aid stores
Giant Eagle will take over pharmacy prescriptions from 78 Rite Aid stores that are closing across Pennsylvania and Ohio, the supermarket chain announced Thursday. Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month. According to Giant Eagle, transferred prescriptions will go to locations most convenient for affected customers....
Construction work begins at intersection of routes 380, 286 in Murrysville
Delayed construction work at the intersection of Route 286 and Saltsburg Road in Murrysville, near the Plum border, began Thursday, Plum officials said. Canonsburg-based Olympus Energy funded temporary traffic improvements last year as part of its Hermes fracking well pad project, built nearby on the Murrysville-Plum border off Logan’s Ferry...
Murrysville area: Robotics presentation, trail festival and more
Robotics team presentation The Franklin Regional FRobotics team will be the featured presenters at the next Mother of Sorrows “Boomers & Beyond” speaker series on June 10. The FRobotics team has been competing against teams from the U.S. and across the globe as part of the FIRST Robotics Competition, founded...
Construction of Springdale turf field to begin this week
Springdale Jr.-Sr. High School’s new multipurpose turf field will enter the first stages of its construction this week, according to Allegheny Valley Public Relations Director Jan Zastawniak. Located along Butler Road, across from the school, the field will host the district’s football, soccer and track and field teams starting in...
Arnold man ruled incompetent for trial in 2024 home invasion, rape
An Arnold man was deemed incompetent Thursday to stand trial in an attempted homicide and rape case. Cue Anthony Freckleton, 29, will be sent from the Westmoreland County jail to Torrance State Hospital in Derry Township for treatment in an effort to restore competency, Judge Scott Mears ordered. “The doctor...
New Kensington man arrested for attempted homicide in Pittsburgh
A New Kensington man was arrested Wednesday in connection with a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Hill District last month. Pittsburgh Police spokeswoman Cara Cruz said Justin Boyd was taken into custody in the Parnassus section of New Kensington Wednesday by the Westmoreland County SWAT team and Pittsburgh Police’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit....
Pittsburgh council OKs Devine as acting police chief through rest of Gainey’s term
Martin Devine can stay Pittsburgh’s acting police chief through the rest of Mayor Ed Gainey’s tenure. City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a measure to allow Devine to lead the police bureau until Feb. 1, 2026. Gainey, who lost in last week’s Democratic primary, will end his term a month...
1 critically hurt in 3-vehicle crash on Route 30 in Unity
A woman was critically hurt in a three-vehicle crash Thursday morning on Route 30 in Unity. She and another motorist were taken by ambulance to AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville following the crash near the Theatre Street intersection, according to Mutual Aid Ambulance Service spokesman Shawn Penzera. In a news...
Monroeville police seek Derry woman facing hit-and-run, drug charges
Monroeville police are looking for a Derry woman who skipped court hearings after a 2023 drug arrest. Leann M. Wechtenhiser was taken into custody after a November 2023 crash near the U-Haul store on Route 22 in Monroeville. Police responded to a call for a rear-end crash, and discovered that...
11th annual Walk Like MADD 5K in North Park strives to raise awareness of impact of impaired driving
Impaired driving fatalities have increased by 7% in Pennsylvania since 2019, according to a statistic from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The national nonprofit, created in 1980 by a mother whose daughter was killed in a drunken-driving accident, is working to erase that number. “It is really something that is 100%...
Lower Burrell teen wins car at Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center
When Bryce Hrivnak graduates from Burrell High School next week, he’ll have a high school diploma and a job lined up as a general contractor with Scott Martin Homes. Oh, and don’t forget the 2011 Ford Escape he won Wednesday at Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center in New Kensington....
Route 130 traffic to shift to 1 lane for natural gas pipeline replacement in Penn Township
Traffic will be reduced to one lane overnight along a portion of Route 130 in Penn Township starting June 8 while Peoples Natural Gas works to replace aging pipelines. The project is part of the gas company’s decades-long plan to replace 3,000 miles of pipelines to make their system more...
Threat made against Kiski Area unfounded, district officials say
Threats made against Kiski Area Intermediate School were determined to be not credible, according to district officials. A letter was sent to district families Wednesday informing them that the district was aware and investigating a threat allegedly made by a student and directed at the Intermediate School. The investigation is...
Morning Roundup: Armstrong Tunnel reopens; boy shot in Wilkinsburg
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, May 29: Armstrong Tunnel reopens The Armstrong Tunnel is fully open to drivers for the first time since March 2023. Crews spent more than two years reconfiguring lanes, repairing deteriorating masonry and modernizing safety systems on the connector...
Ligonier Valley OKs proposed school budget with no tax hike
Ligonier Valley School Board has opted for a proposed $36.36 million district budget that avoids a property tax increase, a little over a week after reaching a 4-4 split vote over a real estate levy to support the spending plan. Since the successful budget vote occurred at a special meeting...
Tarentum woman says her family’s graves, and others, flooded for a decade at Mt. Airy Cemetery
Sola Samuels’ mother passed away in 2014, and, in nearly all that time, she’s not been able to find solace while visiting the gravesite. Buried at Mt. Airy in Harrison, Samuels’ mother is in a section plagued by flooding for about 10 years. “It’s a soupy mess,” said Samuels, of...
The Stroller, May 29, 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. Brackenridge community celebration to...
Monroeville area: Public meetings, upcoming convention center events, Camp Invention, more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com or bkikel@triblive.com. Upcoming meetings Upcoming public meetings include: • June 3: Monroeville council citizens night and council work agenda, 7 p.m. at the municipal building, 2700 Monroeville Blvd. An agenda is available in advance at Monroeville.pa.us. • June 9: Pitcairn council combined...
Riveters suffer team’s 1st loss in Cleveland
In the first three games in team history, the Pittsburgh Riveters have run the gamut of potential results. The Riveters tied their opener and won their second game. On Wednesday night in Cleveland, they experienced their first loss. The Cleveland Force scored a trio of second-half goals to send the...
TribLive earns 6 Golden Quill awards, 21 finalist nods
TribLive brought home six Golden Quill Awards and was a finalist for 21 others at the 61st annual awards dinner Wednesday night at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh. The Golden Quills, organized by the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, honors professional and student excellence in print, broadcast, photo, video and digital...
Northmont flood control project in Greensburg draws some critics
The engineer on a proposed flood control project in Greensburg said he plans to take resident concerns to state and federal officials. But whether those concerns are enough to change the project design remains to be seen. About a dozen residents participated in an informational meeting on the project Wednesday....
Ligonier Valley School Board can’t agree on appointment to vacancy; county court to decide
It will be up to the Westmoreland County Court to fill a vacant seat on the Ligonier Valley School Board after the remaining eight board members on Wednesday failed to agree on any of six applicants for the opening. At least three of those who sought a temporary appointment to...
Westmoreland write-in votes push Republican row office candidates to victory on Democratic ticket
Democratic and Republican voters in Westmoreland County nominated the same row office candidates to represent their parties in the fall general election. Republican challengers Katie Pecarchik and John Ackerman, as they did in the GOP primary, defeated current officeholders in the Democratic primaries for register of wills and coroner with...
Woman who died in Jeannette fire identified; officials describe scene as a hoarding situation
Raymond Gross tried to warn his neighbor about the dangers she faced by hoarding in her Jeannette home. “I told her about it several times,” he said. His neighbor, Elizabeth A. Liptak, died Wednesday afternoon when a fire that sparked on the kitchen stove quickly spread to the piles of...
