Western PA Local News category, Page 2689
Former state cop from New Derry convicted of false statements in gun buyback attempt
A former state police officer from New Derry was convicted Tuesday of falsifying official documents when he attempted to buy back his service weapons. Prosecutors said Chad Corbett, 40, misrepresented his criminal record on March 6, 2018, when he tried to take back ownership of his guns at the Army-Navy...
Freeport heads into second phase of sewer plant construction
Freeport Council voted 5-1 Monday night to enter the next phase of construction for a new sewage treatment plant. Phase II of the project would involve design, surveying, construction and inspection. Construction costs are estimated to be about $11.1 million. With the costs of design, surveying and legal responsibilities, the...
Civil claims against owner of Harrison’s Heights Plaza exceed $700K
Civil claims totaling more than $700,000 have been filed against the owner of Heights Plaza in Harrison. Pretium Property Management, the plaza’s court-appointed receiver, claimed in a civil complaint filed last month that Wild Blue Management, Indigo Management and Steve Kogut, all of Far Hills, N.J., fraudulently transferred nearly $650,000...
Pennsylvania flu deaths increase by 7, cases up 24%
Pennsylvania recorded another increase in flu-associated deaths in a season that has hit Southwestern Pennsylvania particularly hard. As of the week ending Feb. 1, flu-associated deaths increased by seven for a total of 40 this flu season, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Health. Most of...
Annual Hard-to-Recycle event planned at Pittsburgh Mills
The Pennsylvania Resources Council is offering four Hard-to-Recycle events this year, including one on May 9 at the Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer, for residents to get rid of items not typically collected by trash haulers. Residents can bring their e-waste, cellphones, alkaline batteries, Freon-containing appliances, tires and more to the...
Trial witness ties dealer to drugs prosecutors say killed Derry woman
Tyler Klapchar told a Westmoreland County jury Tuesday he watched his friend’s mother hand money to his drug dealer on Christmas Eve 2016. “It was very apparent. She gave him money and he gave her something. I definitely saw a hand-to-hand transaction,” Klapchar testified during the second day of the...
Inmate fight locks down state prison in Somerset; Fayette prison death being investigated as suicide
A portion of the state prison in Somerset County was placed on lockdown Tuesday after an inmate was injured in a fight, an official at SCI Somerset said. The injured inmate was transported to an undisclosed hospital for evaluation after the 11:30 a.m. altercation involving two inmates, according to prison...
Cook Township property protected by conservation easement
For 16 years, Michael Blehar and Beth Evans have had their very own cabin in the woods in Cook Township. The vacation cabin is on property — part woodland, part open field — that fronts Fourmile Run and has been a haven for the family for years. “When the opportunity...
Former Jeannette hemp plant employees receive inaccurate tax documents
About three months after employees at a Jeannette hemp processing facility found out they wouldn’t receive paychecks they were owed, they still haven’t been paid — and several say they have received inaccurate tax documents that further muddle an already confusing situation. Tammy McCann of Greensburg said she received her...
Pittsburgh jobless rate rises in December, highest since April 2018
The Pittsburgh region’s economy showed signs of slowing in December as the unemployment rate in the seven-county region rose 0.2 of a percentage point to 4.5%, the highest rate since April 2018, the state reported Tuesday. The unemployment rate, as adjusted for seasonal hiring factors, was 0.3 of a percentage...
New lingerie store coming to Westmoreland Mall
After myriad closures at Westmoreland Mall, a new store is set to open. Aerie, a lingerie and intimate apparel store, will open this spring in the former PacSun location, according to a sign posted outside the store. PacSun, an Anaheim, Calif.-based clothing store catering to teens and young adults, closed...
Wilkinsburg shooting suspect Robert Thomas released from jail after having charges dismissed
Robert Thomas went from facing a capital murder case to walking out of the Allegheny County Jail in the span of about 24 hours. Thomas, 31, was charged with six counts of homicide as a co-defendant in the 2016 mass shooting in Wilkinsburg that killed five adults and an unborn...
Not in my nest: Pittsburgh bald eagle dad pummels intruding eagleVideo
Don’t mess with dad. Footage captured by a webcam in Pittsburgh’s Hays neighborhood on Tuesday morning showed a male bald eagle pummeling a young eagle that had entered and stomped around the elder eagle’s nest. “Adult eagles are very territorial at their nest, which is to only be used for...
Alleged target of Wilkinsburg mass shooting testifies on Day 2 of trialVideo
The alleged target of the 2016 mass shooting in Wilkinsburg, Lamont Powell, testified Tuesday, acknowledging that he didn’t want to be in court and was cooperating only because he had been arrested for ignoring a subpoena. The second day of testimony in the case against Cheron Shelton, 33, revolved around...
Police: 1-year-old was in Rostraver motel room when mother overdosed
A Monongahela woman is accused of child endangerment after police said she overdosed in a Rostraver motel with her 1-year-old son in the room. Emily Ann Stout, 24, was found unresponsive at 7:30 a.m. Saturday at the Relax Inn on Finley Road, according to court papers. Township police said Stout’s...
Winghart’s Burger & Whiskey Bar on South Side to become new restaurant: Oddballs
The last remaining Winghart’s Burger & Whiskey Bar is under new ownership and undergoing a concept overhaul and rebrand. On Saturday, Winghart’s South Side location changed hands from the Bandhu Brothers Inc. — who retain rights to the Winghart’s name — to first-time restaurateur and Pittsburgh native Matthew Miklos, 35,...
Rita’s Italian Ice in Hempfield will not reopen, owners looking for new location
When Brian Meador closed the doors of his Rita’s Italian Ice restaurant in Hempfield at the end of last season, he didn’t know it was permanent. “It was very sudden,” said Meador, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Susan. “It was something we didn’t anticipate.” The Hempfield Rita’s location...
Police arrest man accused of fatally shooting 25-year-old man outside Clairton house
Police arrested a man accused of shooting and killing another man Tuesday morning outside a Clairton house, officials said. Gerald Johnson, 28, is behind bars at Allegheny County Jail awaiting arraignment, Allegheny County Police Inspector Andrew Schurman said shortly before 5 p.m. Johnson faces a homicide charge in the shooting...
Pittsburgh woman found dead after fire in Beechview
A Pittsburgh woman was found dead after a fire Tuesday morning in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the woman as Suzanne Green, 45. The fire was reported at about 7:40 a.m. in the 1600 block of Dagmar...
Pittsburgh better prepared for massive snow storms than during 2010 Snowmageddon
Western Pennsylvania was a disaster zone 10 years ago. An epic storm dubbed “Snowmageddon” dumped more than a foot of heavy wet snow across the region overnight, and it kept coming. Before it was over on Feb. 6, 2010, Snowmageddon had become the second largest snowstorm in Pittsburgh history with...
State grants will help Alle-Kiski fire companies pay debts, buy equipment
More than 60 Alle-Kiski Valley fire and ambulance companies were recently awarded more than $775,000 through the annual state Fire Company and Emergency Medical Service Grant Program. Some of the companies plan to use the money to pay down what they owe on new fire trucks. Others will buy protective...
The Stroller, Feb. 4, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Shamrock Shuffle 5K and Walk set for March 21 The 2020 Shamrock Shuffle 5K and one-mile Family Fun Walk will begin at 10 a.m. March 21 at West Leechburg Fire Hall, 1116 Gosser St. The course will run through the streets of West Leechburg and return to the fire hall....
Verizon outage hits Western Pennsylvania
Cellphone outages and spotty service were being reported by many Verizon Wireless customers Tuesday morning, with problems popping up across the Pittsburgh region and beyond. Customers from Ross to Moon to McKeesport have posted on social media about cell service being down — and then up and down again. Verizon...
Police: Pittsburgh woman transferred drugs during kiss with state prison inmate
State police accused a Pittsburgh woman of transferring drugs during a kiss with a prison inmate in Somerset County. Jasmine Lanell Livingston, 21, was visiting her boyfriend Anthony Jackson, 26, also of Pittsburgh, on Jan. 23 at the state prison in Somerset Township, according to troopers. Police said the pair...
Former Jeannette man loved family, city history
Edward Slonecki would often joke that he was “the man,” but that’s exactly what he was to his sons. “We never really had a need for anything because my father and my mother were both there to love us and support us,” Chad Slonecki said. “If he wasn’t there to...
