Local category, Page 2654
Jeannette woman gets 15 to 30 years in prison for boyfriend’s death
A Jeannette woman convicted last year in the fatal bludgeoning of her teen-aged boyfriend insisted in court on Monday she did not intend for him to die. Crystal Belle, 40, said during her sentencing hearing she cared deeply for her 19-year-old boyfriend, Khalil Parker, even as she used the wooden...
New Westmoreland County commissioners say they’ll reopen the county’s budgetVideo
Westmoreland County commissioners Monday afternoon elected Republican Sean Kertes to serve as the new board chairman. Kertes, 33, of Greensburg, and Commissioner Doug Chew formed a new Republican majority on the board, which for the previous four years had been controlled by Democrats. The board’s lone returning member, Commissioner Gina...
$1 million New Year’s Millionaire Raffle ticket sold in Salem
Someone who shopped at a Salem convenience store wanted to be a millionaire, apparently. Now they are, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery. A winning $1 million New Year’s Millionaire Raffle ticket was sold at the GetGo store on State Route 22. The ticket matched one of four numbers picked in...
2 Pennsylvanians among the 5 people killed in Pennsylvania Turnpike crash
Two of the five people killed in Sunday’s deadly Pennsylvania Turnpike crash in Westmoreland County were from Pennsylvania. Dennis Kehler, 48, of Lebanon, a driver for UPS for 28 years, leaves behind his wife, Kathleen, a daughter and two stepchildren. “He was one of the most generous men I’ve ever...
Rostraver West Newton paramedic killed on I-70 remembered as dedicated, compassionateVideo
A 14-year-old Matthew Smelser showed up three decades ago for a youth emergency medical explorer program in Connellsville. Greg Cominsky, a longtime area paramedic, knew right away that he was destined for a career helping people. “Oh, Matt took an immediate interest in it. He was so eager, so dedicated...
Pittsburgh City Council elects new president, newest North Side rep takes officeVideo
As she continues her third term on Pittsburgh City Council, Theresa Kail-Smith had been content in a non-leadership role. “I was comfortable being led,” Kail-Smith said. That ended Monday, when Kail-Smith, 60, of the Westwood neighborhood in the city’s West End, was unanimously elected the new council president. “It was...
New Westmoreland County sheriff finds offices trashed
Newly installed Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert found a surprise when he arrived at work Monday morning. Stacks of boxes filled with old arrest warrants blocked the door to his administrative suite of offices, trash was strewn on floors and desks, and the former sheriff’s dirty uniforms were piled beneath...
Borings for bridge project slated on Route 906 in Rostraver
Motorists may encounter changing traffic patterns in the Rostraver community of Webster beginning this week, while boring is under way on a section of Route 906. According to PennDOT, workers will be completing geotechnical borings between Mechanics and Kline streets to prepare for a bridge replacement. The work is expected...
Hulton Road fully reopens after months of landslide repair in Penn Hills
A section of Hulton Road along the border of Plum and Penn Hills that had been closed since July reopened Monday, PennDOT spokeswoman Yasmeen Manyisha said. Hulton Road had been closed for slide repair between Iowa Street and Michael Drive since July 1. A landslide in that area occurred in...
PennDOT to close I-70 West Newton ramp for 8 months
Motorists using the westbound on and off ramps of the West Newton/Mt. Pleasant exit on Interstate 70 will have to detour several miles and for several months beginning Jan. 15, PennDOT said. The westbound ramps will be closed starting at 8 a.m. Jan. 15 until about August for ramp reconstruction...
Freeport man involved in Brackenridge crash dies
A man involved in a two-vehicle crash in Brackenridge on Dec. 20 has died. Shane Conklin, 31, of Freeport died Jan. 1 in UPMC Presbyterian hospital, Pittsburgh, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. The car he was driving collided with a van carrying a driver and two passengers...
The Stroller, Jan. 7, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Library announces annual Quilt Show Community Library of Allegheny Valley-Harrison will host its annual Quilt Show Feb. 1 to March 7. Entries will be accepted through Jan. 20 through Jan. 31 at the Harrison library, 1522 Broadview Blvd., Natrona Heights. Quits must be handmade, but the person submitting the quilt...
Stowe man given life without parole plus 10 to 21 years in 2016 beating death
A Stowe man was sentenced Monday to serve the rest of his life in prison for the 2016 beating death of a 74-year-old man from McKees Rocks. Branden Anthony Frazier, 28, was given the life sentence for his October conviction on charges of first-degree murder in the killing of Benito...
First day of jury selection in 2016 Wilkinsburg massacre yields 2 jurors
Two jurors were seated Monday in the trial for two suspects in the 2016 Wilkinsburg mass shooting, which killed five adults and an unborn child. Attorneys interviewed nine potential jurors in the first day of jury selection for the capital case against Cheron Shelton and Robert Thomas. Counsel for defense...
Police: 4 hurt when Jeannette man hits them with pickup while drunk
Four people were hospitalized after state police said a Jeannette man hit them with a pickup truck early Saturday. Dominic Giovanni Bellone, 20, was drunk when he hit two men and two women in Derry Township and fled, according to court papers. He is being held at the Westmoreland County...
Gov. Wolf orders state flags at half-staff to honor Rostraver West Newton paramedic killed Sunday
Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the commonwealth flag to be flown at half-staff Monday to honor Matthew Smelser, the Rostraver West Newton Emergency Services paramedic who was killed Sunday while responding to a crash on Interstate 70. Smelser, a 44-year-old paramedic supervisor from Charleroi, died when he was struck by a...
Police: Bus driver, 2 others ejected after hitting center barrier in deadly Turnpike crash
The driver of a tour bus involved in a deadly Pennsylvania Turnpike crash Sunday was ejected from the vehicle, as were two passengers, after it struck the center barrier at 3:30 a.m., state police said. Shuang Qing Feng, 58, of Flushing, N.Y., was driving west in the left lane when...
Westmoreland courthouse reopens after bomb threat
A bomb threat closed the Westmoreland County courthouse for nearly three hours Monday, the first day for new administration in the commissioner’s office and sheriff’s department. The Greensburg courthouse was evacuated after a threat was received shortly after 9 a.m., Sheriff Jim Albert said. Explosive-sniffing dogs from police agencies in...
T routes restored after stalled rail car causes delays
All light rail transit lines have returned to their regular routes after a rail car lost power at the entrance to the Washington Transit Tunnel this morning, according to Adam Brandolph, a spokesman for the agency. The stalled rail car caused delays across the system and forced Port Authority to...
Jury selection slated to begin in 2016 Wilkinsburg backyard massacre
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday morning for the trial against two men accused in the massacre of five adults and an unborn child in Wilkinsburg nearly four years ago. Cheron Shelton, 32, and Robert Thomas, 31, each face five counts of homicide, one count of homicide of an...
Pa. Turnpike tragedy: 5 dead in ‘horrific incident’ that could take weeks to investigateVideo
A deadly Pennsylvania Turnpike crash involving a tour bus and multiple tractor-trailers early Sunday left the vehicles so entangled that it took first responders hours to reach the dead and shut down the major thoroughfare for nearly 15 hours, authorities said. Five people died in what Pennsylvania State Police called...
Part of Banksville Road in Pittsburgh down to single lane for 4-month project
A section of Banksville Road in Pittsburgh will be down to a single lane starting Monday and continuing through the end of April for reconstruction work, PennDOT announced. The restriction begins Jan. 6 and will periodically affect a southbound lane of Route 19 between Banksville and Potomac avenues between 9...
Harmar eatery offers home-cooked Italian food in an actual homeVideo
It’s out with the old and in with the new at a longtime eatery in Harmar. Garlic Grille opened in June in the former Emilia’s Garden, serving Italian American home-style cuisine. “We just wanted to break away from Emilia’s Garden and start something new and fresh,” says co-owner and executive...
Westmoreland bars, clubs weigh pros and cons of going smokeless
Owners of public and private establishments in Westmoreland County had a lot to consider when deciding on a future for smokers at their establishments. “When you hear about a VFW that went nonsmoking and had to go back because they couldn’t sustain themselves, that’s really what it boils down to,”...
The Stroller, Jan. 6, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Cash bash planned Jan. 18 in Harrison Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament School, Harrison, will sponsor a Cash Bash Jan. 18 at the school Patterson Hall, 800 Montana Ave., Natrona Heights. Doors open at 5 p.m. and drawings for cash prizes will be every 15 minutes beginning at...
