Local category, Page 2678
Harrison Township wants to tackle blight with $500,000 grant
Harrison plans to take on blight in a big way next year. The township is counting on a $500,000 grant from the state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. Harrison has up to 100 abandoned homes it would like to demolish, 30 in the Natrona section of the township. Township Manager Rich...
Giant Eagle to get rid of plastic grocery bags, straws by 2025Video
Giant Eagle announced plans to get rid of single-use plastics by 2025, aiming to keep flimsy shopping bags and fresh food containers from clogging oceans and rivers and piling up on land. The O’Hara-based retailer, in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh and Sustainable Pittsburgh, unveiled its plan Tuesday during...
Kiski Area improves performance, diversity in Advanced Placement courses
The number of Kiski Area High School students taking Advanced Placement tests is nearly nine times higher than it was three years ago, and students are passing four times as many tests, according to data the district shared this week. The high school also offers AP courses to far more...
White teacher sues Woodland Hills alleging racial discrimination
A Woodland Hills School District teacher who holds advanced degrees in administration and educational leadership is suing the district and alleging he wasn’t hired as an assistant principal because of his race. Charles Kost, of McDonald has been a teacher at Woodland Hills for 15 years. He has a master’s...
Westmoreland County tax hike, first in 15 years, on the table
Westmoreland County commissioners could vote Thursday to hike property taxes for the first time in 15 years. Commissioners Gina Cerilli and Charles Anderson said Tuesday they have yet to commit to the proposed 2.4% tax hike as part of a finance package that includes adoption of a 2020 budget and...
Pittsburgh’s $608 million budget includes no tax increase
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved Mayor Bill Peduto’s $608 million operating and $108 million capital spending plans for 2020 but noted the numbers could change, depending on the outcome of ongoing contract negotiations with the police union. The operating budget represents a $33 million increase in spending over this...
Trafford offers grant for facade improvements – but not for naked mannequins
Entrepreneurs who want to open a business in Trafford next year will have a shot at a $600 matching grant for improving their storefront’s facade, though there is a catch. The money is available to any business owner who has designs on sprucing up their storefront in Trafford “as long...
Duquesne University’s ‘puppy dog eyes’ study among most influential of 2019
A research paper that studied how “puppy dog eyes” evolved to help dogs communicate with humans was ranked as one of the top 100 most influential studies of 2019. The paper, co-authored by Anne Burrows, a biological anthropologist in Duquesne University’s Department of Physical Therapy, ranked 27th in the Altmetric...
Hempfield tax assessment appeal program up for vote in January
The future of Hempfield school district’s controversial tax assessment appeal program will be decided in 2020, after board members debated the process this week. The program, adopted in 2015 to target under-assessed commercial and industrial parcels, essentially raises property taxes to what they would be if officials did a countywide...
Mt. Pleasant man charged with child sex assault
A Mt. Pleasant man is accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old over 14 months, according to borough police. Jarrod Rochat, 27, was charged Monday with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse causing serious bodily injury, indecent assault, corruption of minors and child endangerment. Police said the child described during an interview this...
300 kids have wishes come true at Shop With a Cop eventsVideo
The notebook state Trooper Tavin Davis typically uses during investigations served a different purpose Tuesday. He used it to jot down the cost of toys for two Youngstown children at the Unity Walmart store to make sure they stayed within budget. Daniel Wallace, 3, put a Play-Doh kit in the...
Hempfield students use engineering magic to clinch competition crown
Want to see a card trick? Hempfield high school students have one, and it takes over 20 different steps to execute. Performed by a student-built contraption named “Ab’rube’cadabra,” Hempfield students clinched the top spot last week for the magic trick at the annual Chain Reaction Contraption competition held at the...
2nd Alta Via to open in McCandless; new Big Burrito eatery coming to Lawrenceville
Big Burrito Restaurant Group continues to expand. The company announced Tuesday it planned to opened a second Alta Via restaurant in McCandless and had another eatery in the works for Lawrenceville. The first Alta Via, an Italian restaurant, opened in April in O’Hara. The second location will be at 5300...
New Kensington residents won’t pay more with new garbage hauler
New Kensington will switch garbage haulers in 2020, but residents won’t pay more for trash collection. City council awarded the contract to County Hauling, a division of Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill of Rostraver. The company will replace Waste Management, which has been the city’s hauler for several years. The cost to...
Woman accused of stabbing Terrelle Pryor to be released from jailVideo
Shalaya Briston, the girlfriend of Terrelle Pryor who is accused of stabbing the professional football player, will be released from jail as she awaits a hearing on charges of attempted homicide and aggravated assault, a judge ordered Tuesday. Judge Jeffrey A. Manning released Briston, 24, to her parents’ home in...
Once upon a time, malls transformed into Christmas wonderlands
When Debi Hall’s daughter, Kelly, saw the Christmas decorations at the former Greengate Mall in Hempfield years ago, she thought she was at the North Pole. Each year, the mall was decorated with a towering Christmas tree set up near the Lazarus department store, curtains of string lights flowing from...
Police: Baby OK after being found on Brighton Heights porch
A baby was in good health after being found on a porch in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood early Tuesday morning. According to police, officers went to a residence in the 1900 block of Termon Avenue around 12:30 a.m. A woman told officers she heard knocking on her door for several...
Mon Wharf parking area expected to flood
The Mon Wharf parking area will be closed Wednesday because of flooding, the Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh announced Tuesday. All vehicles will have to be removed from the lot by 7 p.m. Tuesday, the authority said. The wharf will be closed until further notice. A flood advisory for the...
RubyRide pilot provides new transportation options in the South Hills
For South Hills residents living without a car, simple tasks like getting to the grocery store or doctor’s office can be a challenge. Access to transportation in the area is a steady problem, local leaders say, and they’re hoping a new pilot program will help chip away at the issue....
Lyft offering free rides to the unemployed around Pittsburgh through February
Lyft will offer free rides for unemployed Pittsburghers to and from job interviews, job training programs and the first two weeks of a new job, company officials announced on Tuesday. Lyft’s Jobs Access Program aims to close short-term transportation gaps for unemployed people who need rides to jobs and job...
Steelers’ Joe Haden delivers Super Bowl tickets to Cornell coachVideo
Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joe Haden made a special visit Tuesday to Cornell High School in Coraopolis to present football coach Ed Dawson with Super Bowl LIV tickets courtesy of the NFL Super Bowl Ticket Giveaway Program. “Coach Dawson has worked his tail off to build the program,” Cornell School District...
Owner of pit bull killed by Pittsburgh police cited for not having dog on a leash
A Pittsburgh man whose pit bull was shot and killed by police was cited for not having a leash on his dog when it attacked a poodle in the North Side, officials said Monday. Trevaugh Brown, 24, was sent a summons in connection with the incident, which began with a...
Plum suspends teacher accused of burglary, corruption of minors
The Plum School District placed a teacher on leave after police charged him with felony burglary and tampering with evidence in connection to an incident in January, officials said. Michael Richard Verrico, 47, who teaches physical education at Oblock Junior High School, is accused of burglary, theft, criminal mischief and...
Pittsburgh man caught trying to solicit sex from a minor pleads guilty in federal court
A Pittsburgh man caught trying to solicit sex from someone he thought was a minor pleaded guilty in federal court. Joseph Hamilton, 38, could be sentenced to life in prison for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, authorities announced Monday. He pleaded guilty...
Franklin Regional telethon has raised more than $139,000 over the years
When local viewers watch this year’s Franklin Regional Holiday Telethon, they will see four compelling reasons to consider donating to this year’s beneficiary, the UPMC Children’s Hospital Free Care Fund. “We have documentary segments on four (Franklin Regional) families who have been helped through the Free Care Fund,” said high...
