Local category, Page 2444
North Shore police memorial vandalized for 2nd time this spring
The word “deceit” was spray painted on a police memorial on Pittsburgh’s North Shore Wednesday night, police said. Officers found the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial on North Shore Drive near Heinz Field defaced with white spray paint around 9:45 p.m., according to Maurice Matthews, spokesman for the Pittsburgh Public Safety...
Police say Latrobe man fled after car chase without clothes on
State police are seeking a Latrobe man they say led them on a chase and then fled the scene without his clothes on. State policein at Greensburg are seeking John Mekic, 34, of Latrobe in connection with a report of a man undressing in his car on Andrew Lane in...
Police: Pittsburgh man wanted in Brookline shooting in custody
A Pittsburgh man wanted in connection with a shooting in Brookline turned himself in to city police Wednesday morning. Authorities said Edward Phillips, 44, came to the city’s warrant office around 5:30 a.m. He was charged with recklessly endangering another person, person not to posses a firearm, carrying a firearm...
West Mifflin man convicted of stealing $250,000 in taxpayer money
A former subcontractor at the Bettis Atomic Energy Laboratory in West Mifflin was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being convicted of stealing $250,000 in taxpayer money, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady announced Wednesday. Robert Lazur, 31, was working for BWXT Technical Services Group performing a subcontract at the...
Gateway’s 2020 grads mark their day in Monroeville Mall parking lotVideo
Gateway High School graduates made history Wednesday as they graduated from a mall parking lot during a “hybrid commencement ceremony,” as the school’s principal put it. Traditionally, the high school graduation ceremony marks finality – a last hurrah before parting ways. But this year their last day was effectively March...
Proposed Greensburg Salem budget cuts staff instead of raising taxes
The Greensburg Salem School District would lose two teachers and eliminate several positions through attrition if a proposed budget is adopted to hold the line on taxes while making up for projected revenue losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The school board held a virtual special meeting this week to...
9 Westmoreland locations will provide free meals through summer food program
Nine sites in Westmoreland County will serve free meals to children this summer through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program. Administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania children received more than 4.5 million meals in 2019 from approximately 2,400 food program sites, with $13.5 million in...
Cal U student from Greensburg sues over online learning
A California University of Pennsylvania student from Greensburg has sued the university for failing to refund pro-rated tuition for the online instruction she and thousands of other students received for the last part of the spring semester because covid-19 restrictions forced colleges to close. Ashleigh Coffman claimed that the online...
Penn Township hiring agency holding drive-by resume dropoffs
A Penn Township employment agency is giving job seekers the chance to drop off their resumes Thursday without ever leaving their car, thus maintaining safe social distancing while enhancing their chances for a new job. The drive-through job fair at Express Employment Professionals will give those who are laid off...
Bishop Zubik: 61 Catholic parishes to merge into 15 in Allegheny, Washington counties
Sixty-one Catholic parishes in Allegheny and Washington counties will merge into one of 15 newly created parishes, Bishop David Zubik said Wednesday. The mergers — which don’t yet call for any church building closures — advance a years-long restructuring effort by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh to make the...
North Huntingdon historian seeks volunteers to help digitize WWI burial records
Andrew Capets’ initial interest in World War I was finding out more about his grandfather’s unit, the 313th Machine Gun Battalion. That research led the North Huntingdon resident and amateur historian to write “Good War, Great Men,” which focused on his grandfather’s battalion and its exploits, including fighting in the...
Friends group hopes $25K donation will help Dormont Pool open in 2020 season
The Friends of Dormont Pool organization is donating $25,000 to the borough in the hope the money can be used to open the community’s popular swimming pool this summer, which would mark its 100th anniversary. It remained unclear this week whether the financial contribution would prompt borough officials to reconsider...
No cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome reported in Allegheny County
Allegheny County officials are not yet aware of any cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in the county, a severe condition that has been spotted in areas that have been hot spots of the coronavirus. “Which is a great relief, but we are watching this closely,” Allegheny County Health Department Director...
Mt. Pleasant Fire Department looks for other fundraising efforts after canceling street fair
Mt. Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department has canceled its week-long June street fair out of concern about holding large gatherings during the covid-19 pandemic. It’s just the second time the annual tradition has been sidelined. The first time was in 1972, with the arrival of Hurricane Agnes. “It was a big...
Kiski Area School Board expects a slight raise in its real estate tax
Property owners in Kiski Area School District could owe slightly more in property taxes next school year. In the preliminary budget the board discussed last week, Westmoreland County residents would see an increase of 1.46 mills to 92.06 mills. At that rate, the owner of a property assessed at $16,492...
Gov. Wolf: Restaurants in yellow counties can begin outdoor dining services June 5
Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday released new guidelines for outdoor dining during the yellow phase, as well as general guidelines for the green phase as counties gradually reopen. Restaurants and retail food services in yellow counties, including Allegheny andWestmoreland, can begin outdoor dining services June 5, with some restrictions. Indoor...
Westmoreland County recalling furloughed workers
Nearly half of the 475 Westmoreland County government employees furloughed in early April will be recalled to work by mid-June, officials said while making plans to increase courthouse office staff while meeting social distancing guidelines. “We hope everybody is back sometime in June,” Commissioner Sean Kertes said Wednesday. Furloughs came...
Cheswick goes back to in-person council meetings
Cheswick Council passed a resolution Wednesday to hold its public meetings in person at the spacious Cheswick Volunteer Fire Co. hall. Council met at the fire hall Wednesday night, with borough officials and two members of the public attending. The vote retroactively authorized that meeting and future ones to be...
Pittsburgh police union says city overcharged members ‘millions’ for medical benefits
Pittsburgh is seeking to recover more than $250,000 it mistakenly provided police officers for 2019 uniform costs, but a union official on Wednesday said the city should first reimburse officers “millions” it has overcharged since 2017 in co-pays for medical benefits. On Tuesday, the city reported its Human Resources Department...
Police: Kiski man accused of inappropriately touching girl
Editor’s note: The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office withdrew the charges Aug. 19. West Deer police have charged a Kiski man with inappropriately touching a young girl several years ago. Police said Scott Goedicke, 46, touched the girl when she was 5 or 6 years old. The girl, now 12,...
PWSA repairing Pittsburgh’s infamous Downtown sinkhole
Pittsburgh is finally filling the sinkhole that swallowed a bus and nearly ate a vehicle last year. Contractors for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority were on the job Wednesday working on the hole that has closed 10th Street, Downtown, between Penn and Liberty avenues since October. The city and...
PennDOT again extends expiration for driver’s licenses, permits, ID cards to June 30
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will again grant an extension for the expiration of driver’s licenses, identification cards and learner’s permits because of the continuing covid-19 restrictions. Driver’s licenses, photo ID cards and learner’s permits set to expire on March 16 or after have been extended until June 30. Gov....
Court approves Robert Levin’s bid to revive Levin furniture brand
A federal judge Wednesday signed an order green-lighting Mt. Pleasant native Robert Levin’s plan to begin reviving the century-old family furniture chain he sold three years ago. Judge Christopher Sontchi’s order filed in U.S. District Bankruptcy Court in Delaware approved Levin’s $25.7 million bid to buy back the Levin brand...
Most serious charge dismissed against Leechburg man accused of shooting girlfriend
A Leechburg man was found not guilty of aggravated assault on Wednesday after he was accused of shooting his girlfriend in the face during a drunken attempt to play Russian roulette. Roy Edward Berry Jr., 50, was convicted in a nonjury trial before Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan...
Pennsylvania Game Commission seeks info on northern goshawks
The northern goshawk is an agile, secretive type of hawk with a long tail, gray and white body and intense orange to red eyes. With its population declining, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is asking anyone who catches the rare glimpse of these large raptors or knows where they nest to...
