Western PA Local News category, Page 2701
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...
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...
