Western PA Local News category, Page 2700
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...
Pittsburgh man wanted in Homewood double homicide arrested in Philadelphia
A 22-year-old Pittsburgh man wanted for a November double homicide in the city’s Homewood neighborhood was arrested Monday in Philadelphia, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Darryl Barnett was taken into custody at 7:30 a.m. by the marshals of the Philadelphia Violent Offender Task Force after an extensive investigation involving...
Threat to shoot up high school closes Plum Borough School District
All Plum Borough School District schools were closed Monday because of a threat against the high school, the district announced on its website. Police chief Lanny Conley said it was a “generalized threat to shoot up the school.” “We couldn’t say with 100% certainty that the threat was eliminated or...
2 injured in head-on crash in Pittsburgh
Two people were injured in a head-on collision in Pittsburgh’s New Homestead neighborhood Sunday evening, according to the city’s Department of Public Safety. The crash happened just before 8 p.m. near the corner of Mifflin Road at Lebanon Road. The drives from each car, a man and a woman, were...
The Stroller, Jan. 27, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Deer Lakes HS to present, “Beehive: School Edition” The Deer Lakes High School Drama Department will present, “Beehive: School Edition,” at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the high school auditorium, West Deer. The show celebrates the powerful female voices of the 60s and includes hits...
Westmoreland’s political future could hinge on outcome of 58th District special election
A harbinger of Westmoreland County’s political future, with the 2020 presidential election looming, could be the March special election to fill Justin Walsh’s former House seat. The outcome of the race to replace Walsh, a Rostraver Republican who now is a county judge, might be a predictor of local Republican...
Pennsylvania watches as Supreme Court considers public support for parochial schools
Pennsylvanians on both sides of the school choice debate watched the U.S. Supreme Court last week for hints of how it could rule in a pivotal case that has implications for the way K-12 education is funded across the nation. Justices heard arguments in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue,...
A woman’s touch makes Aspinwall’s business district shine bright
Stroll, sip and shop your way around Aspinwall, a tiny historic borough that’s big on supporting its thriving small business district, which encompasses several blocks on two main avenues: Brilliant and Commercial. Aspinwall Chamber of Commerce President Giuseppe Francioni says the “ ‘Wall” is more than just a neighborhood. “We’re...
Penn Township delays, expands flood relief projects
Penn Township residents will have to wait a little longer for relief from frequent flooding. The township decided to expand the scope of proposed projects along Hyland Road and in the Harrison Park neighborhood — two of the the most flood-prone regions — which required going back to the drawing...
BizTown in South Fayette to help students learn about workforce, career optionsVideo
A group of 10- to 12-year olds will prove that they have what it takes to run the world — or at least a small town filled with Pittsburgh’s top businesses. Inside Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania’s new BizTown, a true-to-life simulation that mirrors a thriving Pittsburgh-area community, students will...
Former Penn-Trafford baseball star who died in Penn Township crash remembered
A star baseball player died Saturday as a result of injuries he suffered when his car collided with a pickup in Penn Township, authorities said. Maclean Peter “Mac” Maund, 18, of Harrison City died at Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, where he had been taken for treatment, according to his obituary....
Alle-Kiski Valley churches hold 52nd annual Martin Luther King memorial serviceVideo
The Rev. Dr. Deborah Harris described standing in the doorway of room 306 in the Lorrain Motel in Memphis and trying to wrap her mind around the tragedy that happened there. The room is where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed April 4, 1968. The...
Bowling fundraiser raises $9K for St. Joseph student battling Ewing’s sarcomaVideo
Bowling is one team that St. Joseph High School senior Eli Swierczewski doesn’t play on. But that didn’t stop the 18-year-old from getting a strike at least once Sunday during a bowling fundraiser to help raise money for his cancer treatment at Wildlife Lanes in Lower Burrell. “I’m having a...
Fire heavily damages house under construction on Bagdad Road, Allegheny Township
Fire caused extensive damage to a house under construction in Allegheny Township on Sunday afternoon. The fire at 1241 Bagdad Road was reported shortly after 1 p.m., a Westmoreland County emergency dispatcher said. Volunteer firefighters from seven or eight departments from the Alle-Kiski Valley responded. No one was in the...
Westmoreland County animal response team hosts training for regional firefighters, EMTsVideo
About two years after the Westmoreland County Animal Response Team formed, its members were called out to fire in Ligonier . CART Coordinator Lori Mozina thought it was odd, since the fire company was equipped with an oxygen mask suited to treat pets. “They had one at the station, but...
Police: Pittsburgh man attacked medics, threw furniture at officers during hours-long standoff
A Pittsburgh man who sparked a three-hour standoff when he attacked two paramedics Saturday also threw a dresser and air conditioning unit at the SWAT officers charged with getting him out of his Windgap house, according to the charges against him. Joseph Sadar, 51, called 911 about 3:45 p.m. Friday...
Crash closes outbound side of Liberty Tunnels
A crash has closed the outbound side of the Liberty Tunnel in Pittsburgh, PennDOT officials announced Sunday morning. The crash at the entrance of the southbound/outbound side of the tunnel happened at 9:45 a.m. Drivers are advised to find an alternate route, PennDOT officials said. Additional information was not immediately...
Outbound Liberty Tunnel reopens following crash
The outbound lanes of the Liberty Tunnel have reopened following a crash on Sunday morning, according to PennDOT. The crash occurred just after 9:45 a.m., according to an Allegheny County 911 dispatcher. One person was taken to a hospital, the dispatcher said. Additional information was not immediately available....
Newly accessible records tell story of Holocaust, journey of survivorsVideo
Steven Fenves and his family were swept up from their Yugoslavian home during World War II, when they were split up and forced into ghettos, then German concentration camps. That included Auschwitz, where his grandmother and then his mother died, caught in the Nazi death machine that slaughtered an estimated...
Liberating Dachau concentration camp uncovered horrors, area veteran saysVideo
At age 23 in the spring of 1945, Guy Prestia was in the Army fighting his way across southern Germany when his unit walked into hell on earth — the Nazi death camp at Dachau. “It was terrible. I never saw anything like those camps,” said Prestia, 97, who still...
Farmers, conservation districts applaud rollback of Obama-era clean water rule
Not long after he took office, President Trump issued an executive order asking the EPA to review a clean water rule that he said exemplified federal government overreach in the Obama years. The 2015 Waters of the United States regulation increased the number and types of waterways — reportedly 60%...
SWAT use on the rise in Pittsburgh, across Western Pa.
As the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has used its SWAT team more in recent years, critics are questioning whether that’s improving public safety. City officials say the department is taking precautions to keep situations from escalating, which protects officers and the public. “We understand that a SWAT callout can be...
