Western PA Local News category, Page 2701
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...
Dreams of Hope awarded $35K to support arts programs
Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Dreams of Hope will receive funding, public relations and volunteer support as a Citizens Bank Champion in Action. The award includes $35,000 to fund the nonprofit’s programs, which work with queer and allied youth interested in the arts, including theater, poetry, spoken word, music and dance, according to...
Hempfield junior ‘approaches service the same way she approached sports’Video
When Gianna Richason came home from volleyball practice during her sophomore year and told her parents she was quitting, they weren’t sure what to think. “The summer before that year, I had jaw surgery and couldn’t do anything for three months,” said Gianna, 17, of Hempfield. “I came back to...
Scott, Carnegie Library offering plethora of February activities
Scott Township Public Library • On Saturday, Feb. 1, from noon to 2 p.m., the library will host the film “Groundhog Day.” All are welcome to watch the film about Bill Murray living the same day over and over. • Kids Club for grades K-2 will meet on Feb. 3...
The Stroller, Jan. 26, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Bowl-A-Thon to raise money for Burrell foundation The annual Bowl-A-Thon, sponsored by Burrell Education Foundation, will be 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 9 at Wildlife Lanes, 1000 Wildlife Lodge Road, Lower Burrell. Cost is $20 per bowler; and includes bowling and shoe rental. There will be prizes and raffles and...
SWAT response ends after man accused of attacking Pittsburgh paramedics taken into custody
Two Pittsburgh paramedics were injured while responding to a call Saturday afternoon, prompting a SWAT team response, authorities said. The paramedics were responding to a medical call about 3:30 p.m. at a home on Windgap Avenue in the city’s Windgap neighborhood, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. The initial call...
Oakmont Tiger Scouts learn about literacy and helping others through book donationsVideo
Oakmont Tiger Scout Pack 137 members have learned a lesson in philanthropy and literacy while donating to a local charity. Pack leader Melissa Havran and her Scouts collected about 30 books for Literacy Pittsburgh, a charity devoted to creating better lives through learning. They made the donation Friday at Mystery...
Dominion plans natural gas pipeline replacement this spring
Dominion Energy Transmission Inc. is planning to replace 4.1 miles of natural gas pipeline in Salem, Hempfield and Penn townships starting this spring, the company said. Dominion recently received a State Water Quality Certification from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, meaning the project is consistent with state law, state...
Fat Cats Subs starts benefit for Cheswick fire familyVideo
A Cheswick sub shop is starting a benefit to help a Cheswick family of four whose home and belongings were destroyed in a fire last Jan. 17. Kayla Fischerkeller and Ryan Brittingham and their two children, ages 3 and 5, were not at home when fire destroyed their modular home...
Pittsburgh police: Man shot in back in Uptown neighborhood, woman questioned
A man was shot in the back and a woman detained for questioning Saturday in Pittsburgh’s Uptown section, according to police. Pittsburgh police responded about 12:15 p.m. to a ShotSpotter alert followed by notification that a man had shown up to a nearby hospital with a gunshot wound to his...
St. Joseph High School mom recounts March for Life experience in Washington
Nearly three dozen people from the Alle-Kiski Valley took a whirlwind trip to Washington, D.C., on Friday to attend the yearly March for Life on the National Mall. The locals, which included students from St. Joseph High School in Natrona Heights, Harrison, were among the tens of thousands that attended...
Heavily armed Troy Hill man allegedly obsessed with Nazis held on federal weapons charges
A Troy Hill man with an alleged obsession with Nazis and mass shootings will remain in federal prison while he awaits trial on weapons charges, a judge ruled Friday. Dennis A. Riggs, 50, was arrested by FBI agents about 6 a.m. Wednesday when authorities served a search warrant on his...
Driver in critical condition after crashing into Downtown Pittsburgh wall
A driver is in critical condition after crashing into a wall coming off the Liberty Bridge at Forbes Avenue on Saturday morning. Pittsburgh police responded to a report of a single-vehicle collision at about 8:10 a.m. just off the bridge. The vehicle crashed into a wall on the inbound side...
Route 130 reopens in Penn Township following 2-vehicle crashVideo
A two-vehicle crash shut down Route 130 in Penn Township for more than four hours Saturday afternoon, according to authorities. The crash, involving a car and a pickup truck, was reported at 12:20 p.m. on Route 130 near Hungry Hank’s Pizzeria, a 911 supervisor said. “We had one patient in...
McKeesport shooting victim in critical condition
A 29-year-old man is in critical condition following a shooting early Saturday morning in McKeesport, according to police. McKeesport officers were dispatched to the 1400 block of Maple Street just after 2:15 a.m. Saturday for a report of shots fired. They arrived to find a 29-year-old man with multiple gunshot...
Innocence Institute founder will discuss overturning convictions in Murrysville
In 1989, Drew Whitley was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Seventeen years later in 2006, with the help of the Innocence Institute at Point Park University, he was exonerated and freed. One of the people who helped establish Whitney’s innocence will be the featured...
The Stroller, Jan. 25, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Valentine’s Day luncheon planned at American Legion The Tarentum Recreation Board will sponsor a Valentine’s Day luncheon at 1 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Brackenridge American Legion, 845 First Ave. Cost is $20 each. The menu includes chicken, stuffed cabbage, penne pasta, potatoes, vegetable, rolls, cake and beverage. Entertainment will...
West Jefferson Hills to have hazardous survey done of old high school
The West Jefferson Hills School District could pay roughly $20,000 for a company to survey the old Thomas Jefferson High School to find all of the hazardous materials inside prior to the building’s demolition. After bringing in two abatement firms, each of which found asbestos and other hazardous materials in...
Event at Pittsburgh’s Rodef Shalom to present new Holocaust research findings
New findings from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will be the topic of a presentation by Andrew Kloes next month in Pittsburgh. A Penn Hills native, Kloes is a researcher at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Since 2016, he has...
Real estate transactions in Signal Item-area for the week of Jan. 25
Bridgeville Damon Spencer sold property at 652 Elizabeth St. to William Herndon for $253,000. Carnegie Dannic Properties LLC sold property at 406 Center Ave. to Michael Dimbwi Kiplagat and Kathryn Stanko for $149,900. Lois O’Donnell sold property at 325 Knox Ave. to K & L Estates LLC for $50,500. Estate...
Teen in stable condition following Wilkins Township shooting
A 17-year-old boy is in stable condition Saturday morning after a shooting Friday night in Wilkins Township. Police responded to the 100 block of Ivy Street at 8:47 p.m. Jan. 24 and discovered the teen with a gunshot wound to the right shoulder and lower right abdomen. Allegheny County detectives...
Financing plan eyed for potential $5.8M Eastern Westmoreland tech center renovation
Administrators at Eastern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center are taking the next step toward a proposed renovation of the 43-year-old building — by working on a plan to pay for the project, which could cost more than $5.8 million. The center’s Joint Operating Committee this week authorized administrative staff to...
Federal agent: Cops offered payment to witness in Wilkinsburg mass shooting case
A federal agent testified Friday that Allegheny County Police offered financial assistance to the family of the key witness against one of two men charged in the 2016 Wilkinsburg mass shooting. Defense attorneys contend that prosecutors knew this information some time ago, but failed to disclose it. The homicide case...
Shoppers return to Delmont Walmart following gas leak
The Delmont Walmart store was temporarily evacuated shortly after 5:30 p.m. Friday as area firefighters investigated an odor of natural gas. Crews traced the odor to a small leak in a gas line that supplies a roof heating unit near the store’s pharmacy, Forbes Road Fire Chief Bob Rosatti said....
2 Catholic schools to close, 4 in South Hills to merge amid dwindling student enrollment
Two Catholic schools in Allegheny County will close while four others will merge into a single school in the South Hills in efforts to confront declining enrollment and climbing debt, officials announced Friday. St. Maria Goretti School in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood and East Catholic School in Forest Hills will close...
