Western PA Local News category, Page 2658
Westmoreland County appeals order to turn over Register of Wills’ time records
Westmoreland County officials say they shouldn’t be forced to turn over the electronic swipe card records of Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton to the husband of a political opponent. County officials are appealing a ruling from the state Office of Open Records that allowed for the release of “electronic...
State grant boosts substance-abuse therapy using horses at Cook center
Cook Township-based Southern Tier Alternative Therapies (STAT) is stepping up the nonprofit’s work using horses to help people struggling with substance abuse, thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The grant should help cover the costs of 30 or more two-hour sessions, in which...
Alle-Kiski Valley school districts get state money for security, reducing violence
School districts in the Alle-Kiski Valley will receive money from a state committee aimed at school safety that ranges from more than $400,000 for the South Butler and Highlands school districts to $30,000 for Riverview. The School Safety and Security Committee was established under the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and...
Jeannette man seeks dismissal of attempted murder charges
A Jeannette man wants attempted murder charges against him dismissed because he was not present when a man and juvenile were wounded during a robbery at a Sutersville home. Police contend Aaron Brown, 27, provided the weapons used in the Nov. 16, 2018, incident and, as a result, was charged...
Good grief: Shaler funeral director moonlights as stand-up comic
Frank Perman is a mortician with a stand-up routine that always knocks ‘em dead. The supervisor of Perman Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Shaler takes his job very seriously. Comedy is an emotional outlet. On Feb. 21, before a sold-out crowd at Crafthouse Stage & Grill in Baldwin, he...
Crash near Freeport Area High School prompts districtwide delay
All schools in the Freeport Area School District operated on a two-hour delay Thursday following a crash that closed part of Route 356 for just more than an hour. A two-vehicle crash happened shortly before 6 a.m. on Route 356 at Cole Road in Buffalo Township, according to a Butler...
Duquesne Light restores power in eastern Pittsburgh neighborhoods
Duquesne Light crews have gotten a handle on power outages that were plaguing customers in three Pittsburgh neighborhoods Thursday morning, according to a company spokeswoman. The outages came at the same time the region saw colder temperatures than recent days, along with swift wind and some snow. Outages were reported...
Take a tour of Facebook’s Pittsburgh lab, where it is developing VR avatars
Facebook is developing virtual reality systems in Pittsburgh that it hopes will someday permit people located in separate parts of the world to communicate virtually as if they are sitting together in the same room. Let’s say people in China, the United States, Europe, South America and Australia want to...
The Stroller, Feb. 27, 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. Dance marathon...
Man in critical condition after rescue from burning Mount Washington apartment
A man was rescued from a burning apartment in Mount Washington late Wednesday afternoon. Pittsburgh authorities said city firefighters responded to a structure fire along the 800 block of Boggs Avenue around 5 p.m. Responders encountered fire in one of the apartments and discovered a man inside. Officials said the...
Cyclist struck by car in Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood
A woman was struck by a car while riding a bicycle Wednesday night in Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood, officials said. Shortly after 8 p.m., emergency dispatchers received a report the incident at the intersection of Baum Boulevard and South Negley Avenue, near where Friendship meets the city’s Shadyside neighborhood. When officers...
Carlynton introducing 3 new courses for 2020-21
Carlynton students in grades nine through 12 will be offered three new courses for the 2020-21 school year. Two of the courses — Entrepreneurial Innovations and Entrepreneurship and Product Marketing — are designed to tie The Shop and its features into the curriculum of the district. The other course will...
North Huntingdon officials hold closed-door session; discuss strategic plan
North Huntingdon Township commissioners held a closed-door meeting Wednesday with the leaders of various government departments, a gathering which one commissioner described as an “in-house retreat.” Attorney Bruce Dice, North Huntingdon’s solicitor, had advised township officials the meeting could be closed to the public because it is educational in purpose...
Westmoreland County school districts land state safety grants
Westmoreland County’s 17 school districts were awarded almost $1.1 million in state grants to improve school safety through a variety of measures, including hiring school resource and police officers, conducting school safety assessments, buying security-related equipment and hiring counselors and psychologists. The money is being allocated though the state’s School...
Cheswick appoints businessman to fill council vacancy
Cheswick’s vacancy board has appointed Brian Testa to borough council. Council members were encouraged that three candidates applied for the position after, earlier in the year, they hadn’t received interest from anyone for the open seat except a past councilman willing to help out. There are still openings on several...
Last day at Tarentum library like losing ‘family’Video
For nearly the past 10 years, 92-year-old Norm Jacobs of Natrona Heights, Harrison, has had a daily routine. Jacobs, a retired attorney who still has a law license, stops for eggs at Massart’s restaurant on Sixth Avenue, checks in at his nearby office, and then walks down Lock Street to...
Former Leechburg police Chief Michael Diebold to stand trial on alleged sex offender violations
Former Leechburg police Chief Michael Diebold will stand trial on charges that he didn’t comply with registration requirements for convicted sex offenders, a district judge confirmed Wednesday. Diebold, 42, was charged by state police in Armstrong County with two felony counts of failing to provide accurate registration information. The case...
Mayor Peduto pans design for planned 21-story office in Pittsburgh’s Strip District
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he wasn’t impressed with the design for a 21-story office tower that New York-based JMC Holdings has planned for the site of a cold storage warehouse in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Peduto said the company would have to come up with a design more in line...
Volunteers needed for Bull Creek and Deer Creek trout stockings
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is looking for more volunteers to help stock trout next month in Bull Creek and Deer Creek. “I am one person, and when I have two truckloads of fish, it’s hard to get them all into the water myself,” said Sgt. Mike Walsh of...
Lawyer for suspended Pirate Felipe Vazquez wants bail, statement to police suppressed
A new lawyer for suspended Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez wants a Westmoreland County judge to set a bond that would allow the former All-Star to leave jail as he awaits trial on child sex charges. Vazquez, 28, was charged last summer with statutory sexual assault and other offenses in...
Despite low unemployment rate, applicants flock to Hempfield job fairVideo
A low unemployment rate didn’t keep hundreds of job seekers from a career expo Wednesday. The Westmoreland Assists Native Talent (WANT) Job and Career Expo, held at the Ramada by Wyndham Greensburg Hotel and Conference Center in Hempfield, featured more than 65 employers and a range of potential employees. Expo...
Allegheny County Board of Elections facing lawsuit over voter rolls
An Indiana-based law firm is suing Allegheny County in federal court for allegedly failing to maintain its voter rolls. The Public Interest Legal Foundation — which is led by J. Christian Adams, a former member of President Donald Trump’s now defunct commission to investigate voter fraud — filed the lawsuit...
Pennsylvania reports 1st child flu-related death of season
Pennsylvania health officials have reported the first pediatric flu death in the state this season — one of a dozen new flu deaths in the past week. Deaths were recorded for the week ending Feb. 22 in each of the four age groups reported by the state health department. That...
Giant Eagle to stop doubling coupons
Giant Eagle will no longer double manufacturer coupons beginning Sunday. With so many e-coupons and digital choices, the store is changing to accommodate technology. The O’Hara-based retailer will continue to redeem the coupons for face value. “As customer usage of manufacturer coupons continues to decrease both in our stores and...
Gateway renews Spectrum Charter School’s charter for five years
The Gateway school board unanimously voted last week to renew a school’s public charter, keeping the school of 32 students alive for another five years. Michelle Johnson, Spectrum Charter School’s executive director, was pleasantly surprised by the move taken by the board at a Feb. 18 meeting. “Yes, I’m surprised,”...
