Western PA Local News category, Page 2401
Findlay sues Moon, airport authority over water and sewer service
The Findlay Township Municipal Authority is suing Allegheny County, the Allegheny County Airport Authority and Moon Township’s Municipal Authority over which entity gets to provide water to Pittsburgh International Airport. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Common Pleas Court, contends that the airport authority is improperly purchasing all of its water...
Car slams into AAA office in Lower Burrell injuring the driver and an employee inside
An employee of the AAA travel office in the Crossroads Plaza in Lower Burrell was hospitalized Tuesday after a car slammed into the front of the building. A Toyota Prius jumped the curb, crashed through the storefront and pushed the woman into the front counter, according to Lower Burrell Fire...
Police searching for man who nearly hit officer with car during Kiski Township traffic stop
Authorities are searching for a man who police said nearly hit an officer with a car as he sped away from a traffic stop in Kiski Township over the weekend. Police said Jacob Matthew Hoover, 26, of no known address, led the officer on a high-speed chase through Armstrong and...
School districts tweak reopening plans again to require full-time mask use
Districts across the region once again are amending reopening plans after the state released additional guidance this week. Students attending in-person classes are now required to wear face coverings at all times while in school with few exceptions, according to the state education and health departments. The changes are based...
Leechburg Public Library will leave school, move to new home on Market Street
It’s the end of an era in Leechburg. For the first time in its roughly 100 years of existence, Leechburg Public Library will no longer be located inside Leechburg Middle/Senior High School. “It’s a bittersweet thing. It truly is,” said Doreen Smeal, the library board’s secretary and treasurer. “There’s two...
Mt. Pleasant school officials turn down PTO offer to buy, install air conditioning at elementaries
Mt. Pleasant school officials appreciate an offer from the parent-teacher organization to buy air-conditioning units for its three elementary schools, but according to the school board president, it’s one project too many right now. “Any new work done in these classrooms could delay the work already being done in the...
Pa. parole violators may be considered for ‘safe return’ through Sept. 4
Pennsylvania parole absconders will be given an 11-day window to voluntarily turn themselves beginning next week to receive a better chance of staying out of prison. The state Department of Corrections and the Parole Board on Tuesday announced a statewide Safe Return Initiative. The program will be offered Aug. 24...
Beer-guzzling baby nets probation sentence for Greensburg man
The lawyer for a Greensburg man told a judge on Tuesday his client didn’t even know there was a baby in his home when police found the 9-month-old girl guzzling a beer. Defense attorney Brian Aston said Reed Marino Smith was as a surprised as police officers when they spotted...
2 men to stand trial for 2017 fatal robbery in Youngwood
Trials for two men charged with the fatal stabbing and robbery of a Youngwood drug dealer nearly three years ago will be held this fall with a jury to hear evidence in one case and a judge to decide the outcome in another. Christopher David, 42, of Youngwood told Westmoreland...
Tales from ‘The Cage’: Bartenders chronicle the Squirrel Hill Café, Pittsburgh’s classic watering hole
When Anthony Bourdain asked novelist Stewart O’Nan to appear on the Pittsburgh episode of his “Parts Unknown” CNN program in 2017, O’Nan insisted on recording the interview at the Squirrel Hill Café. There are a lot of other places he could have picked. Why the Squirrel Hill Cafe? “It’s not...
Penn-Trafford High School changes course, adopts hybrid reopening plan
Penn-Trafford School District has backed away from a planned full reopening next week, instead adopting a hybrid approach at the high school due to state coronavirus guidelines. High school students will be split into two groups — “green” and “gold,” according to Assistant Superintendent Scott Inglese. Each group will attend...
2 Pitt students test positive for covid-19
Two University of Pittsburgh students tested positive for covid-19 in the school’s first round of surveillance testing, according to data released by the university. The university had announced it would choose students at random to participate in the self-administered testing. In the first round of testing conducted Aug. 12-13 as...
Unity man, 2 sons accused of igniting fireworks that caught neighbor’s house on fire
An amateur July 4 fireworks display that went awry in Unity and allegedly set fire to a home resulted in charges against a man and his two adult sons. State police filed multiple criminal complaints this week against John O. Brophy, 54, of 1307 Heritage Drive, located the Lawson Heights...
Flu vaccines are important, safe in midst of pandemic, experts say
With flu season rapidly approaching and covid-19 still spreading, health experts say it’s imperative — and safe — to get a flu shot this year. Dr. Marc Itskowitz, an internal medicine physician with Allegheny Health Network, said he recommends the flu vaccine this and every year. “It gives the immune...
Hot turf leads to burn injuries for Greater Latrobe basketball players, AD says
Three members of the boys Greater Latrobe High School basketball team have resumed workouts after district officials said they severely burned their hands last month on hot football field turf during a training session. Athletic Director Mark Mears said team members were doing off-season lifting and conditioning on July 20...
Amazon’s hiring of 1,500 in Pittsburgh region provides boost during pandemic
Amazon announced Tuesday that more than 1,500 people will be hired to work in its new 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center and a new delivery station, both of which are in Findlay and are set to open later this year. When Amazon broke ground on the fulfillment center in October, the...
Fox Chapel set to restore wetlands in Hardie Valley Park
Plans for Hardie Valley Park are underway in Fox Chapel with a six-year, $3.3 million development plan that includes wetland restoration and trail relocation. The borough purchased the highly-coveted 17-acre parcel in 2019, as it links the northern and southern tracts of the borough’s park system. “The new park will...
Move over pumpkin spice, Primanti’s and East End Brewing bring back pickle beer
Primanti Bros. and East End Brewing Co. are bringing back their “Almost Famous Pickle Beer” collaboration. They hope the second serving is as good as the first. “Last year, it was bonkers how fast it went,” said Scott Smith, owner of East End Brewing in Larimer. “People came to the...
13 new coronavirus cases reported in Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County saw 13 new cases of covid-19 added to its total Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported. The new cases make a total of 1,640 cases in the county since the virus was first reported there March 20. Of those cases, 1,591 are confirmed, 49 are considered probable....
Pennsylvania to launch ‘Covid Alert PA’ contact tracing appVideo
The Pennsylvania Department of Health will launch a mobile app in September that will use Bluetooth technology to assist state officials in contact tracing efforts, to curb the spread of covid-19. The state partnered with experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Pennsylvania and the developer NearForm...
Historic Bells Mills Bridge reopens after repairs
The historic Bells Mills Bridge reopened last week after repairs were made to the wooden decking that was damaged by hot embers. Westmoreland County engineer Vaughn Neill said the damage on the covered bridge wasn’t as bad as expected. Workers pulled off pieces of the decking after firefighters found smoke...
Allegheny County posts lowest new covid case count since June
On Tuesday, Allegheny County continued its trend of lower daily covid-19 case numbers in August. The county Department of Health reported 45 new cases — the lowest number of new cases since June 25. In the month of August, the county has added 1,455 covid-19 cases, as compared to 3,365...
Greensburg’s Lynch mansion, with 38 rooms and carriage house, on market for $900KVideo
A historic three-story brick Greensburg mansion built by an associate of industrialist Henry Clay Frick, replete with seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms, parlor room and a brick carriage house, is on the market for a mere $895,000. The 38-room, 6,000-square-foot stately manor was built for Thomas Lynch between 1905 and 1907...
Former Latrobe firefighters sue city, allege misconduct by fire chief
Five former Latrobe volunteer firefighters filed a federal lawsuit alleging they were kicked out of the department after speaking out against Chief John Brasile. The suit accuses Brasile of routinely showing up late to emergency scenes, falsely claiming to have responded to scenes where he wasn’t present, attempting to manage...
Plan to replace Abraham Lincoln statue in Wilkinsburg moving along
Abraham Lincoln could be back on his Wilkinsburg perch in time for his Feb. 12 birthday next year. For the past 18 months, a group of Wilkinsburg residents have been working to raise $70,000 to build a new bronze, life-size statue of the 16th president of the United States. The...
