The Stroller, May 16, 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. Freeport Theatre Festival seeking...
Greensburg Salem contends with $2.1M budget deficit
Greensburg Salem will need to close a $2.1 million gap in its 2025-26 budget as it contends with rising health care and cyber charter tuition costs. The district’s projected budget includes $51.9 million in revenue and about $54 million in expenses — a deficit that would require a 9.2-mill increase...
Marking a milestone: St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Croatian Church in Millvale celebrating 125 years
Mary Theresa Petrich recalled walking from Hatfield Street in Lawrenceville over the 40th Street Bridge and up the hill to St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Croatian Church in Millvale to attend Sunday Mass. “My mother and father had me baptized in that church,” said Petrich, 97, who still lives in Lawrenceville....
As Rite Aid collapses, customers and other pharmacies bear the impact
It takes Kathy Younkins just a few minutes to walk to her neighborhood Rite Aid. The 67-year-old has picked up her prescriptions at the company’s Harrison location since the 2000s. But now the Philadelphia-based pharmacy empire is crumbling. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month, blaming “the...
Anchor Inn owners ready to retire, close Harrison favorite founded by their dad in 1953
Ask anyone from the Anchor Inn’s former “Wednesday Night Gang” what makes the Harrison restaurant and pub so special, and the answer is simple — good food, good people. “This town has been so supportive,” owner Joe Kolek said. “It’s been a great living and so much fun.” He and...
Pearl Jam rocks Pittsburgh again after more than a decade
Pearl Jam rocked the PPG Paints Arena on Friday night for the first of two sold-out shows. The seminal grunge-rock band is touring on their 12th studio album, 2024’s “Dark Matter.” Pearl Jam has played in Pittsburgh numerous times since their first appearance in 1991, but this is their first...
Motorcyclist killed in collision with car in Derry Township
A motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a car Thursday afternoon in Derry Township. Jarad R. Boyle, 49, of Derry Borough was pronounced dead at the scene on Route 982 at Lincoln Avenue, according to Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson. The crash occurred at about 4 p.m. just outside...
Hunt Elementary students write, advertise for Animal Protectors’ shelter dogs
Reagan Bondra and Sloane Matthews listened intently as their classmates at Roy A. Hunt Elementary School in Arnold asked questions about the dogs being paraded outside of the school. Is the dog docile? Does the dog do well in storms? What’s life like for a dog in a shelter? Ultimately,...
Pittsburgh population grew by nearly 3,000, census shows
Pittsburgh’s population is on the rise, new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau revealed. The city added 2,902 people from 2023 to 2024, bringing the total population to 307,668 — an almost 1% increase, according to census figures. Chris Briem, regional economist at the University Center for Social & Urban...
‘Tariffs are messing with everybody’: Walmart shoppers wary of tariff-induced price increases on horizon
Walmart used to be Charmaine Bianco’s go-to grocery store for low-price goods. But Bianco fears she will have to search elsewhere for good deals as the nationwide grocery chain plans to raise prices this month in light of tariffs ordered by President Donald Trump. Executives at the $750 billion company...
Disabled caseworker, Westmoreland County settle wrongful termination lawsuit
Westmoreland commissioners voted Thursday to pay $7,500 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a former children’s bureau caseworker who claimed he was improperly fired after one month on the job. Former Fayette County Controller Sean Lally contended he was discriminated against by supervisors in the county’s child welfare office...
Murrysville area: Blood drives, live music and more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Walk for a Healthy Community East Suburban Citizen Advocacy will join Highmark officials with a team in the annual “Walk For a Healthy Community,” set for June 14 at Stage AE on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. The ESCA team is seeking donations and...
Meeting on Penn State campus closures scheduled next week
The fate of seven Penn State branch campuses — including New Kensington and Fayette — could be determined next Thursday. The board of trustees will meet virtually 5 p.m. May 22 to consider the recommendation to close the New Kensington, Fayette, DuBois, Mont Alto, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York campuses, according...
Law enforcement officer memorial unveiled on Westmoreland courthouse square
The absence of Trooper Michael Paul Stewart III is felt on a daily basis, said his brother, Jason Stewart. Now the family has a spot where he can be remembered by them and the entire community as a memorial honoring Westmoreland County’s 28 fallen law enforcement officers was unveiled Thursday....
Shaler commissioners formalize agreement between Mt. Alvernia developer, residents
The dispute between residents of a Shaler neighborhood and a Pittsburgh-based developer came to a civil and uneventful resolution this month. Commissioners on May 13 unanimously approved an ordinance that includes the agreement reached between the Hawthorne Neighborhood Association and Q Development, which is working on a $100 million redevelopment...
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee reintroduces resolution for reparations
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee introduced a resolution Thursday that would effectively provide reparations to the descendants of Black American slaves amid a flurry of actions by President Donald Trump and a Republican-led Congress to remove what they term “woke” policies. Lee, a Swissvale Democrat who represents parts of Allegheny and...
Pittsburgh woman pleads guilty to defacing Jewish property
A Jewish woman accused of conspiring with an alleged Hamas sympathizer to vandalize two Jewish organizations in Pittsburgh last summer pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court. Talya A. Lubit, 24, of Pittsburgh pleaded to misdemeanor counts of conspiracy and damaging or defacing religious property. Those crimes call for a maximum...
2 campaigns promote candidates for 4 Ligonier Valley School Board seats
Seven candidates, divided into two campaign camps, are running for four seats on the Ligonier Valley School Board. Campaigning jointly and appearing only in the Republican primary are three incumbent board members — Donald L. Gilbert Jr., Cindy Brown and Josi Bennett — along with Robert J. Fryman, who previously...
Equalizing tax rates critical for Leechburg Area School District survival, residents told
West Leechburg property owners will get some relief from years worth of tax increases, according to Leechburg Area School District Superintendent David Keibler. During the school board’s Town Hall Tour on Wednesday night, Keibler told residents the district plans to earmark about $58,000 in Ready to Learn Tax Equity relief...
Report squarely blames Bucco Brick fiasco on Pittsburgh Pirates
A report commissioned by Pittsburgh’s Sports and Exhibition Authority places blame solely on the Pittsburgh Pirates for a controversial decision to scrap personalized, fan-purchased bricks at PNC Park without telling anyone. “It was the Pirates, not the SEA or any of its contractors, that made the decision to dispose of...
‘Global Scholars’ recognized at Chartiers Valley High School
Six Chartiers Valley High School seniors have been recognized for their efforts in learning a foreign language and global education. This year’s “Global Scholars” students at Chartiers Valley are Brady Baranowski, Mikayla Diyanni, Aislinn Myrah, Natalia Palumbo, Sky Schmidt and Sydney Trainor, said advisor and 26-year Spanish teacher Rochele Reitlinger....
ABC Transit celebrating end of school year with free community event in Shaler
ABC Transit will celebrate the end of the school year by asking folks to swing on by its Shaler terminal in June. The transportation and school bus company will host a free event for the community and their staff that they’re calling “Crash My Party” from noon to 4 p.m....
Sewickley Academy trio’s project raises money for livestock feed for animals in N.C. affected by Hurricane Helene
During the Christmas holiday break, Maria Sirianni thought the most joyous time of the year wasn’t so joyous for people in North Carolina. They were still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Helene, which struck the mid-South in September, claiming 248 lives and causing widespread damage in seven states. The...
Pine-Richland teachers union issues no confidence vote of school board majority
Members of the Pine-Richland Education Association issued a vote of no confidence in the school board majority Wednesday night. Accoridng to a news release from the association, concerns have been growing among educators and community members since 2023 when they fielded attacks from the board on social emotional learning and...
Union heads, elected officials demand $15-an-hour minimum wage in Pa.
When Aaron Allen took a minimum wage job in 2009, he found the $7.25-an-hour rate was barely enough to pay his rent. Allen worked more than 40 hours a week at a restaurant but put off medical treatments because he couldn’t afford to see a doctor. He recalled how he...
