Local category, Page 2657
Paid sick leave requirement daunting for Pittsburgh business owners
Pittsburgh employers say their biggest headache in complying with the city’s paid sick leave regulations will be tracking employee hours, particularly for part-time and seasonal employees. Starting March 15, business owners in Pittsburgh will be required to offer employees paid sick leave. The city’s Law Department last month issued guidelines...
Monroeville fighting Gateway’s MS4 appeal
Monroeville is continuing to fight for its newly implemented stormwater runoff fee. In the latest court filing, the borough asked a judge to declare the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System fee to apply to Gateway School District. The school district filed an appeal to its $90,000 MS4 fee with the...
1st rabid raccoon of 2020 found in White Oak, health department says
A raccoon picked up near White Oak Park is the first to test positive for rabies in 2020, according to the Allegheny County Health Department. The raccoon was found near Jacks Run Road in White Oak, the department said. It is the first positive rabies test of 2020, although the...
Brothers to address Westmoreland Woodlands group on Chestnut Ridge raptor count
Western Pennsylvania’s ridges can serve as superhighways for birds of prey migrating north each spring and south when fall arrives. Two Fayette County brothers have established that Chestnut Ridge, the western-most of those ridges, provides just such a route. At a Thursday presentation of the Westmoreland Woodlands Improvement Association, they’ll...
Nominations open for Western Pennsylvania Environmental Awards
In 2019, Murrysville officials retrofitted a half-dozen storm water detention ponds, with plans to do the same for about a dozen more. That’s precisely the type of project that should be nominated for a Western Pennsylvania Environmental Awards, given annually by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. The nomination period opened on...
Police seek pair in theft at Hempfield Best BuyVideo
State police in Greensburg are asking the public’s help identifying two suspects in the recent theft of a video gaming device and numerous accessories from the Best Buy store in Hempfield Township. Trooper Steve Limani said the thefts of a Nintendo Switch Lite gaming system, a speaker, and a gaming...
Troopers: Drugs smuggled into SCI-Fayette may have contributed to inmate’s death
Investigators believe drugs smuggled into a state prison in Fayette County contributed to the death of an inmate there who was serving a life sentence for killing a county fair queen in 2004. Joseph Gacha, 42, was pronounced dead at SCI Fayette in La Belle at 9:39 p.m. Dec. 30...
Theft cases among recent Monroeville police investigations
Monroeville police filed the following charges Dec. 21-23 in District Judge Jeffrey L. Herbst’s office: • Cierra Grimes, 31, of Pittsburgh with retail theft. Charges were filed Dec. 23 in connection with an incident along the 200 block of Mall Boulevard. • Shakera Sanders, 27, of Pittsburgh with retail theft...
DirecTV viewers lose WTAE after negotiations for a new deal fail
DirecTV customers cannot watch WTAE until a new agreement is made between its parent company, Hearst Television, and the cable provider. The companies are at an impasse as negotiations for a renewed retransmission deal failed Friday. Broadcasting was cut that afternoon. Customers saw a message on the scene when attempting...
5 Pittsburgh restaurants to try in 2020
Start off the new year by visiting some of the restaurants that opened in 2019. Whether you’re into upscale bar food and boozy brunch items or modern twists on classic dishes, Pittsburgh’s got a place to suit every palate. KIIN Lao & Thai Eatery, Squirrel Hill For a bite of...
Baldwin-Whitehall’s McAnnulty Elementary closed over boiler malfunction
Early Friday morning, prior to student arrivals at McAnnulty Elementary School in Baldwin-Whitehall School District as the teaching and professional staff began to arrive in the building, a malfunction was detected with one of the boilers in the building, according to a news release from the district. Carrie Butler, Baldwin-Whitehall...
Pa. Farm Show draws farmers, families and the public for competition, education
For the Davis family, the holidays are not just Christmas and New Year’s. The annual Pennsylvania Farm Show also makes the list. The Fayette County family has been going to the Farm Show since 2005. Their youngest child, Maddox, now 12, is showing a dairy goat and cow at this...
State Rep. Valerie Gaydos introduces bill to shrink state legislature
After being in office for about a year, state Rep. Valerie Gaydos, R-Allegheny, thinks there might be a few too many seats in the chamber. Gaydos, 53, of Aleppo, recently introduced legislation which would cut legislative districts in Pennsylvania from 203 to 151, a move that would require amending the...
Fire destroys couple’s Allegheny Township home, kills family dogVideo
Fire tore through a newlywed couple’s Allegheny Township home Friday morning, destroying all of their wedding gifts and other belongings and killing their beloved 1-year-old dog. “All of our wedding presents, everything, was inside the house,” Jason Femc, 38, said as he stood outside the South Glosser Hill Road home...
Pittsburgh musicians spread wings, find renewed verve
Robin Meloy Goldsby While attending Chatham College (now Chatham University), Robin Meloy Goldsby lived in Chatham Village and played the piano at Chatham Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. By the time she was 21, Goldsby longed to escape to a city where, presumably, there were fewer Chathams. “I had already been...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Jan. 3-5
Welcome in the first weekend for 2020. Here are a few ideas for Pittsburgh outings. Illumination This is the last weekend to run through sparkling icicles, take a seat in an illuminated horse’s carriage or walk under a tunnel of lights. Lumaze Pittsburgh closes on Saturday. The indoor holiday festival...
Norwin library compiling long-range studyVideo
Norwin Public Library officials plan to use the results of a survey to determine the course of the library’s future. Library Director Diana Falk wants to start implementing programs or services included in a long-range plan being developed. “We really want to look at it (the study) to see what...
The Stroller, Jan. 3, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Vandergrift Library seeking secretary for board of directors Vandergrift Public Library is accepting applications for the position of secretary on the Board of Trustees. This is a volunteer position and applicants must live in Vandergrift or the communities served by the library. Responsibilities include attending the meeting at 6:30 p.m....
Blackwood development plan gets tabled again
Jefferson Hills planning commission members said they had no updates this month on a controversial Blackwood housing plan to add 67 single-family homes in the Deer Park neighborhood. Commission members on Dec. 30 tabled the proposal initially presented in November for another month. Residents showed up in force in November...
John Oyler: New Year musings
Although it is still 2019 as I write this, we will be well into the new year by the time it is published. Rather than focus on my New Year’s resolutions, this column will discuss our wish list for the new year and for the new decade. A good place...
3 new Allegheny County Council members sworn in, new president selectedVideo
Applause erupted in the Gold Room of the Allegheny County Courthouse as Bethany Hallam, a newly elected at-large representative on Allegheny Council, gaveled in the legislative body’s first session of the year Thursday. The moment was nearly a year in the making: Hallam, a Democrat from Ross, upset Democratic party...
Helltown Brewing to host Tecmo Super Bowl tournament in Murrysville
For Dave Samuelson, tasting room manager at Helltown Brewing, the Sega Genesis console represented the apex of his video-game playing days, and one of the games Samuelson remembers playing best is Tecmo Super Bowl. “It was the first (football) game that had the real players,” said Samuelson, 45. “It had...
Police departments grappling with often ‘ignored’ officer suicides
A spate of suicides within the New York Police Department this past year put a renewed focus on the mental health of officers, but experts say the crisis has been simmering — and largely ignored — for years. Unlike line-of-duty deaths, there is no government entity tracking officer suicides, and...
North Hampton fire chief relieved of duties following suspected DUI crash
North Hampton Volunteer Fire Chief John Schwend has been relieved of his duties being charged with drunken driving and reckless driving. Charges stem from a Dec. 15 crash in Gibsonia. Schwend’s preliminary hearing’s set for Jan. 29 before Magisterial District Judge Tom Swan. The volunteer fire department announced via letter...
Buffalo Creek in running for Pennsylvania River of the Year
Buffalo Creek in Butler County is in third place in online voting being conducted to identify the Pennsylvania River of the Year. State residents have until Jan. 17 to cast their vote at the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers website. The group that nominated the winning river will receive...
