Local category, Page 2638
Western Pennsylvania sets record for organ, tissue transplants in 2019
Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia set a record for organ and tissue transplants in 2019, the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) announced. CORE, a nonprofit that coordinates organ, tissue and cornea donation, facilitated 661 transplants in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia last year — an increase from 2018...
Fort Pitt Museum cleans 18th-century Pittsburgh with a Q-tipVideo
Kneeling over the side of a massive diorama of 18th-century Pittsburgh, Mariah Simensky gently dabbed each tiny building, house, person and horse and buggy with a Q-tip dipped in water. It will take the visitor services and events coordinator at the Fort Pitt Museum in Point State Park about five...
Farmington man killed in Fayette County crash
A Farmington man was killed Tuesday when the SUV he was driving crashed head-on with a tractor-trailer in Fayette County, according to state police. Arnold E. Savage, 66, was pronounced dead at the scene on Route 40 in Henry Clay Township, police said. The crash was reported at 7:22 a.m....
Cathy Sarraf joins Greater Latrobe School Board as appointee
Unity resident Cathy Sarraf finished just out of the running in November’s election of five Greater Latrobe school directors, but she joined the board this week as an appointed member. With Eric Hauser absent, the school board voted 6-1 Tuesday to appoint Sarraf to serve the two years remaining in...
Pa. state police seize 300 pounds of heroin, fentanyl in 2019Video
Troopers across Pennsylvania seized more than $43 million in illicit drugs in 2019, according to state police. That figure includes almost 300 pounds of heroin and fentanyl, both of which have caused thousands of drug overdose deaths locally and nationally. Last year saw an increase in seizures of those two...
Police: Man in stable condition after shooting in Marshall-Shadeland
Pittsburgh police are investigating after a man walked into a hospital with a gunshot wound. According to a news release, the man said he was leaving a bar in the 2600 block of California Avenue in the Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood when he heard gunshots. He then realized he had been shot...
State police nab man after armed robbery in Fayette County
State police arrested a man Wednesday night after officers said he robbed a Fayette County convenience store at gunpoint. Jackie Lee Murray was arrested without incident after he allegedly took $280 from a Circle K in South Union Township. According to police, Murray was dropped off at the convenience store...
The Stroller, Jan. 16, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Allegheny Valley Hospital auxiliary sponsors vacation raffle Allegheny Valley Hospital Auxiliary is sponsoring a raffle for a seven night Hilton Head Hideaway vacation. The prize includes seven nights in a condo at Shelter Cove Harbor in Hilton Head, S.C. The winner will choose one of three available weeks to vacation....
North Huntingdon garbage complaints shrink, township officials sayVideo
North Huntingdon residents are filing fewer complaints about the township’s new trash hauler failing to pick up their garbage on time, township officials said this week. The township administrative staff “is not spending nine hours (a day),” fielding phone calls from residents upset that County Hauling of Rostraver failed to...
Water main break closes North Allegheny’s Marshall middle and elementary schools
North Allegheny’s Marshall elementary school and middle schools will be closed Thursday because of a water main break on the Marshall campus, the school district said. All after-school activities scheduled for Thursday, including the Marshall Elementary School Orchestra concert that was scheduled to be held at the North Allegheny Senior...
Authorities say man shot, killed at East Ken Manor in New Kensington
A man was shot and killed at East Ken Manor in New Kensington on Wednesday, authorities said. The shooting was reported just before 5:30 p.m. on Dent Drive, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher. Police Chief Bob Deringer confirmed a man was found inside a car with multiple gunshot...
McKees Rocks woman pleads guilty to narcotics trafficking for the GBK street gang
A McKees Rocks woman accused of conspiring to distribute crack, cocaine and heroin pleaded guilty in federal court, authorities announced . Tamra Moore, 35, admitted violating federal narcotics laws before Senior U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab. Authorities said Moore and her co-conspirators distributed the drugs November 2017 through June...
Food Podcast: How to keep public aware of hunger as communication landscape changes
Making the public more aware of hunger in the United States is a key priority of Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the country. “Feeding America only has about 50 percent awareness in the U.S., and that’s because we changed our name about 10 years ago,” Feeding America Chief...
Woman captures footage of swimming bear in Beaver CountyVideo
Lori Pepka had just finished pulling ticks off her mother’s dog following a walk in Raccoon Creek State Park early Monday evening when she saw something she had never seen before in the Beaver County park: a black bear. Not only that, it was swimming in Raccoon Lake. “My heart...
Westmoreland judge: Case against Greensburg man accused of threatening woman can proceed
Assault charges against a Greensburg man accused of threatening to shoot his live-in girlfriend last year can be prosecuted, a Westmoreland County judge has ruled. Chad Neil Snyder, 33, was charged with two counts each of simple assault and making terrorist threats after police said that on Nov. 8, 2018,...
Latrobe day care owner’s appeal rejected
A judge has rejected an appeal from the former owner of a Latrobe day care who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for endangering the welfare of children by allowing a convicted sex offender access to the minors at her business. Lisa Knecht, 59, of Derry, was convicted in 2015...
State attorney general: Washington County woman kept sister in wooden cage
A Washington County woman allegedly kept her 53-year-old sister in a wooden cage with a dirty mattress, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. His office charged Leona Biser, 51, of Vestaburg, with neglect of a care-dependent person, abuse of a care-dependent person, recklessly endangering another person, unlawful restraint, and...
West Newton man pleads guilty to heroin, gun charges
A West Newton man accused of being part of a Western Pennsylvania drug trafficking operation pleaded guilty in federal court to distributing heroin. William Kalna, 51, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin and one count of possession of firearms and ammunition by a person addicted to...
Witness in Jeannette murder trial says she can recognize defendant from twin brother
A woman whose former boyfriend was fatally shot nearly three years ago in Jeannette told a Westmoreland County jury Wednesday that she can identify the alleged killer by a tiny mole on his left cheek and by his stride. Sharnell Jackson testified she was in Jeannette on April 13, 2017,...
Pittsburgh steering new development toward neighborhoods
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Wednesday introduced the city’s new economic team to a group of local leaders and outlined plans for steering development toward neighborhood business districts and blighted, city-owned property rather than large-scale projects. Peduto noted that the city owns nearly 17,000 vacant lots, houses and buildings. He...
Allegheny Health Network expands partnership with Johns Hopkins to women’s health
Allegheny Health Network and Johns Hopkins Medicine will expand an existing collaboration to focus on women’s health, pulmonary disease and lung transplantation, the organizations announced today. This new expansion will create one of the largest coordinated research programs for gynecological and obstetrical health research programs in the country. AHN and...
Penn Township man charged with new stalking count after ex finds tracking device on her car
A Penn Township man was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday on accusations he stalked his ex-girlfriend for months after their breakup and damaged her new boyfriend’s truck. Instead, the hearing was postponed after the woman discovered a tracking device hidden inside her car. Charged in October with retaliation against...
Excela granted Magnet status for nursing care
Nurses at Excela Health System facilities now can count themselves among a small percentage nationwide who work at institutions that have earned the Magnet Recognition for nursing care. Excela officials announced the new designation Wednesday. Only 505 of the nation’s 6,300 hospitals have achieved the designation from the American Nurses...
McDonald’s in Pittsburgh’s Strip District closes without explanation
Pittsburgh’s Strip District has a case of fallen arches. A McDonald’s restaurant that been a longtime fixture along Penn Avenue in the Strip has closed without explanation, according to Dan Kamin, president of Kamin Realty and the property owner. Kamin said McDonald’s corporate offices notified him in late fall that...
Murrysville teen opened First Night festivities in PittsburghVideo
Most high school juniors spend New Year’s Eve enjoying themselves with friends or family. Lavanya Anantharaman, 17, of Murrysville, spent it a little differently: performing for thousands of Pittsburgh-area residents to open the First Night festivities Downtown. “I’ve been singing since I was 5 or 6 years old, and our...
