Western PA Local News category, Page 2699
Leechburg Area Pool in Gilpin needs help from public to stay afloat
The future of the Leechburg Area Pool could be in jeopardy if it can’t recruit new board members, officials said Monday. The six-decade-old pool in Gilpin could potentially dissolve, which is akin to a form of bankruptcy, the pool’s board told members in a letter posted to Facebook. “We need...
Bar Louie gastrobar chain files for bankruptcy
Bar Louie, a national gastrobar chain with two locations in the Pittsburgh area, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company announced Monday. The two local Bar Louie locations are at The Waterfront in Homestead and on the North Shore between PNC Park and Heinz Field. Both of those locations,...
Brackenridge, Harrison and Tarentum continue joint planning effort
An effort to develop a joint comprehensive plan for Brackenridge, Harrison and Tarentum is scheduled to take another step forward with a public meeting next month. “We want everybody to come,” said Elaine Kramer, a designer and planner with the Pittsburgh-based consulting firm Pashek+MTR, which has been working with a...
WCCC approves sale of former Latrobe center to Arizona firm
Westmoreland County Community College’s former Laurel Education Center may soon have a new owner after sitting idle for more than four years. WCCC trustees this month agreed to sell the shuttered Latrobe building to SimonCRE, a commercial real estate development firm based in Scottsdale, Ariz., for $410,000. That’s $10,000 more...
Westmoreland Prison Board elects new leadership
Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert was elected Monday to serve as chairman of the county’s Prison Board. The panel oversees operations of the county jail in Hempfield. Members include the sheriff, all three county commissioners, Controller Jeffrey Balzer and District Attorney John Peck. For more than a decade, the county’s...
Carnegie Mellon tuition among the highest in nation, inching higher
No one said it would be cheap or easy to get through college, but annual costs at Carnegie Mellon University are edging toward a six-figure sticker price. Officials at the Pittsburgh research university recently approved a 3.2% tuition increase for the 2020-21 school year. Parents of incoming freshmen may be...
Pittsburgh planning aid for sister city of Wuhan, China, stricken with coronavirus
Pittsburgh is planning a care package for its sister city of Wuhan, China, ground zero for the deadly coronavirus that’s so far killed at least 80 people in China, Mayor Bill Peduto said Monday. The disease has sickened nearly 3,000 people, almost all in China. About a dozen other countries...
Westmoreland lockup cashing in with online books, movies
Westmoreland County collected more than $161,000 last year from jail inmates who rented movies and books and made phone calls on tablet computers. Warden John Walton said the money from the first year of the program, which allows inmates recreational use of the tablets from the privacy of their cells,...
CMU students paint The Fence in memory of Kobe Bryant
The Fence at Carnegie Mellon University was painted yellow and purple in memory of former NBA star Kobe Bryant and eight other people who were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday in California. Bryant played basketball at Lower Merion High School in suburban Philadelphia. He came to play in...
Cops: Fayette County man jailed for assaulting, threatening plumber
A 58-year-old Fayette County man is in jail after barricading himself inside his Mill Run home when a dispute with a plumber turned physical, police said. Frank H. Bowers was arraigned on charges of arson, harassment, making terroristic threats, simple assault and theft. The charges were filed by state police...
Longtime Lower Burrell bartender mixes up a variety of drinks, flavors
Editor’s note: Building the Valley tells stories of businesses big and small and the employees who make them special. If you know of any standout employees, bosses or companies with a great story to tell, contact Senior News Editor Tom Fontaine at tfontaine@tribweb.com. Amber Adda can’t remember how she landed...
Peduto pitches gondola connecting the Strip, Hill District, Oakland
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he plans to transform the city’s Parking Authority into a “mobility authority” that would promote and invest in all modes of transportation, including gondolas, marinas and autonomous vehicles within the city’s borders. Peduto, who appeared Monday on a panel of experts discussing Pittsburgh’s potential for...
Manor Borough agrees to provide winter maintenance in Woods at Brandywine plan
When Matthew Gerega pulls out of his driveway and turns left onto Brandywine Drive, “it’s about a 10 or 15% grade, and in the winter, it can get slick.” Gerega and other residents in the Woods of Brandywine in Manor are more at ease now that borough officials agreed to...
Owner of Allegheny Lumber and Supply remembered as businessman with big heart
William Schrecongost, who owned the Allegheny Lumber and Supply Co. in Tarentum, was known in the industry for his knowledge and hard work. What many did not know about him was that he was a music major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the late 1950s. “He was an excellent...
Fee Waybill talks Tubes, Bowie, and White Punks on DopeVideo
For nearly a half-century, Fee Waybill has been the voice and the face of The Tubes, the San Francisco-based band that made a name for itself in the early days of MTV with hit songs like “Talk to Ya Later” and “She’s a Beauty” — and the memorable videos that...
Seton Hill slates speaker and service day in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
Seton Hill University was on break when the nation observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 20, but officials at the Greensburg school will hold their own observances in memory of the slain civil rights leader in February. The university will host a well-known sociologist who specializes in community...
Community mourns Penn-Trafford grad’s death in auto accident
Maclean “Mac” Maund was a typical teenager who liked to have fun. But he knew when he stepped up to the pitching mound, it was time to get serious. Maund was an elite talent in his senior year in 2019 at Penn-Trafford High School, where he was a pitcher and...
Billboard art project to highlight strength of diversity in Westmoreland County
County highways will take on a new look this fall as the Westmoreland Diversity Coalition’s Diversity Billboard Art Project begins to blossom. The Heinz Endowment’s new Just Arts program, a grant initiative designed to support communities that harness the power of arts to address social issues, recently awarded the coalition...
U.S. Steel to hold info sessions about Clairton, Braddock plant upgrades
U.S. Steel will host two information sessions this week to preview how a $1.2 billion investment in its Mon Valley Works facilities will move forward, the company announced Monday. Two identical sessions will be held Tuesday, Jan. 28 and Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. at the U.S. Steel training...
Police: East Huntingdon woman abandoned kids, locked them out in cold, rain
An East Huntingdon woman remained in the county jail Monday after state police accused her of abandoning her children for hours Friday before returning home “intoxicated” and then locking them outside in the cold and rain. Donna Louise DeAugustine, 37, is charged with multiple child endangerment and corruption charges. Murrysville...
$2.39 million Match 6 ticket sold in Butler County
A Match 6 ticket worth $2.39 million was sold in Middlesex, Butler County. The ticket correctly matched all six winning numbers, 01-06-19-25-34-42. It was sold in Saturday’s drawing at the CoGo’s at 1370 Pittsburgh Road. The store will earn a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. The Lottery said...
State police looking for Hempfield hit-and-run driver
State police are looking for the driver of a blue Honda car that was involved in a hit-and-run this month in Hempfield. The Honda rear-ended another vehicle at 4 p.m. Jan. 16 in the westbound lanes of Route 30 at Millersdale Road, according to troopers. The drivers discussed pulling into...
New clouded leopard cubs at Pittsburgh Zoo get names
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium has given names to its new clouded leopard cubs. Zoo officials announced Monday that the cubs were named Gale and Lynn. The names were chosen by the daughter of a longtime zoo docent, Gail Noden. “In honor of my mother, who loved the zoo...
County network brings broadband service to Westmoreland libraries
Patrons connecting to the internet at many Westmoreland County libraries may have noticed a marked improvement in download speed in recent months — and for good reason. Beginning in July and ending this month, 16 community libraries gradually gained fiber-optic broadband service through a project initiated by the Westmoreland Library...
Police: Mt. Pleasant Township man out on bail in domestic case tries to kill accuser
A Mt. Pleasant Township man who was freed Saturday on domestic violence charges is accused of going to the woman’s home that day and trying to kill her, according to state police. Troopers said John Michael Pisula Jr., 30, held a rifle to the woman’s head and apparently pulled the...
