Local category, Page 2579
The Stroller, Feb. 26, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
The Stroller is your go-to place for local meeting notices, charitable events and volunteer opportunities. Information for The Stroller may be dropped off or mailed at least a week in advance to: The Stroller, Valley News Dispatch, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084, email vndnews@tribweb.com or fax 724-226-4677. Today is...
Pittsburgh Army Corps of Engineers to hold hearing on proposed battery plant at Lordstown, Ohio
Plans to build a $2.3 billion electric battery assembly plant near General Motors Corp.’s shuttered automobile plant in Lordstown, Ohio, will be reviewed during a March 12 public hearing in Lordstown, which is about 75 miles from Pittsburgh. General Motors is applying for approval on behalf of GigaPower LLC of...
Harrison police investigate Natrona crash near North Canal Street houses
Police are investigating what caused a Harrison man to crash his car into a guardrail, then strike multiple objects in a neighbor’s yard before getting stuck along a short hillside, alarming nearby residents. Emergency dispatchers received a report shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday of the crash on North Canal Street....
PennDOT closes Fawn’s Millerstown Road for landslide repair
A $1.2 million landslide repair project has closed a portion of Millerstown Road in Fawn. The closure between Callen Lane and Bull Creek Road began Monday and is expected to last through mid-April, according to PennDOT. The slide occurred June 26, 2018. Signs will be posted to direct motorists around...
Threat leads to increased police presence Wednesday at Kiski Area High School
Police officers will step up their presence at Kiski Area High School on Wednesday because of a non-credible threat received Tuesday, the district announced. Police and police dogs searched the school Tuesday in response to an “anonymous, non-specific threat,” according to the district. Officers did not find any danger, but...
Latrobe congregation invites members of partner parish for Mardi Gras galaVideo
Volunteers prepared enough pancakes and sausages to serve an expected 120 guests Tuesday at the fourth annual Mardi Gras dinner at St. John the Evangelist Church in Latrobe. This year, the Catholic congregation invited members of a partner parish, St. Rose of Derry Township, to partake of the pre-Lenten festivities....
Brother of Western Pennsylvania cocaine ring kingpin sentenced to 12-plus years in prison
A Dormont man who authorities say was involved in one of the largest cocaine distribution rings in Western Pennsylvania has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison, prosecutors said. Robert Forbes, 46, is the brother of Hector Forbes, who authorities identified as the kingpin in a 17-member...
Standard Market and Pint House hopes to ‘raise Pittsburgh’s standard of dining’
A dormant spot in Downtown Pittsburgh’s version of restaurant row is reopening as a new venue looking to capitalize on the emerging trend of self-serve beer. The Standard Market and Pint House will open in the spring in a newly renovated space in the Courtyard by Marriott hotel first occupied...
Cheron Shelton, acquitted of murder in Wilkinsburg mass shooting, indicted on federal gun charge
Less than two weeks after his acquittal of murder in connection to the 2016 mass shooting in Wilkinsburg, Cheron Shelton is facing a new federal gun charge, records show. Shelton, 33, of Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood has been indicted by a grand jury for being a felon allegedly possessing a gun,...
Disinformation and hacking could threaten 2020 elections, former U.S. attorney warns
Threats to elections in the United States and democracy as we know it are a given in the age of the internet, said David Hickton, founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security. The good news: There’s something we can do about it, he...
Pittsburgh’s bond rating bumps up from stable to positive
Pittsburgh is in line for a better interest rate on a $50 million capital improvement bond it intends to issue next month after Fitch Ratings upgraded the city’s bond rating Monday to positive, Mayor Bill Peduto said. It had been rated as stable. “We had gotten up to stable, and...
Wesley Family Services’ $18.2M complex in New Kensington on target to open Aug. 1
Herb Hughes of New Kensington sees the positives of working on the Pioneer Apartments project in New Kensington. It’s close to Hughes’ home, and the project by Wesley Family Services aims to inject life into the city’s business district. The $18.2 million apartment building is being built on the site...
Slippery Rock student recounts ‘horrifying’ 80-foot fall at McConnells Mill
Jocie Van Kirk, the 21-year-old Slippery Rock University psychology student who fell 80 feet on Sunday while hiking at McConnells Mill State Park with her friends, recounted the experience as “definitely one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever been through.” “I was absolutely terrified,” Van Kirk said. She said...
Pittsburgh ordinance would ban ownership of crocodiles, alligators and turtles
Pittsburgh, which has more than its share of pet alligators roaming loose, is moving to ban the sale and ownership of the reptiles in the city. City Councilman Bruce Kraus on Tuesday introduced a bill that would repeal an ordinance passed by council late last year that permitted but regulated...
Leechburg looks to beef up police force
Leechburg is looking to hire a third full-time police officer. Council gave the Civil Service Commission permission to advertise for the position, which would help the borough come closer to having 24/7 police coverage, officials said. “It’s going to make it so we have better coverage,” Mayor Wayne Dobos said....
Pittsburgh airport to phase out using boarding passes at security checkpoints
Travelers flying out of Pittsburgh International Airport will soon not have to display a boarding pass to get past security, airport officials said this week. Boarding passes will still be required at the gate to board the plane. Officials with the airport and Transportation Security Administration announced that Pittsburgh is...
Former Uniontown funeral director sentenced to prison for scamming elderly clients
A former Uniontown funeral director who pleaded guilty to stealing from more than 80 elderly clients on Tuesday was sentenced to four to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $555,000 in restitution. Authorities said Stephen E. Kezmarsky III, 52, the former owner and operator of the Kezmarsky Funeral...
West Deer man charged with homicide by vehicle in fatal Hampton wreck
A West Deer man involved in a crash along Route 8 in Hampton in early December has been charged with causing the death of his passenger, Allegheny County Police said Tuesday. Investigators said Carl John Keating, 32, was traveling north at a high rate of speed on Dec. 11 when...
58th District candidate Prah gets backing of SEIU
Robert Prah, a Democrat seeking the vacant state House seat for the 58th District in next month’s special election, picked up an endorsement this week from the Service Employees International Union. Prah, 38, of Rostraver, is the director of Military and Veterans Affairs at California University of Pennsylvania. He’s a...
Comments sought for proposed Allegheny Tunnel Turnpike project in Somerset
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is accepting public comment through Thursday on six proposals, including one that would replace the existing Allegheny Tunnel in Somerset County with a $332 million-plus “cut” and bypass across the Allegheny Ridge. The commission and representatives from engineering consultant L.R. Kimball in Ebensburg recently held an open...
Carnegie Science Center looks to give mini railroad exhibit a makeover
The Carnegie Science Center’s beloved Miniature Railroad & Village has been around for more than a century. Now, after 100 years of wear and tear, the Science Center is looking to make sure the railroad keeps running for centuries to come. It is launching the Miniature Railroad & Village 100th...
New Kensington cop killer’s appeal contends his name, police presence at trial swayed jury
The man sentenced to death this month for murdering New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw on Tuesday contended Westmoreland County jurors reached a faulty verdict because of his “Muslim-sounding name” and because they were intimidated by a heavy law enforcement turnout during trial. Defense attorneys Tim Dawson and James Robinson...
Facade improvements contribute to revitalization of Latrobe’s Main StreetVideo
Rejuvenation of commercial buildings in the 300 block of Latrobe’s Main Street is set to continue as the nonprofit Latrobe Community Revitalization Program prepares to assist with a facade makeover of the two-story brick building that houses Hewitt Real Estate. According to LCRP Executive Director Jarod Trunzo, plans are to...
Unity couple accused of locking child in closet to attend birthday party
A 9-year-old Unity boy reported that he was locked inside a screwed-shut closet Sunday so two adults could attend a relative’s birthday party, state police reported. It wasn’t the first time, he told authorities. The Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau alerted state police after receiving a phone tip that the boy...
Program to explore Westmoreland coal history
Westmoreland County’s deep coal mining history will be explored during a March 14 program at the Westmoreland History Education Center at Historic Hanna’s Town on Forbes Trail Road in Hempfield. Marion Piccolomini, a native of Cardale, Fayette County and author of “Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Coal Region,” will speak about the area’s...
