Local category, Page 2719
Boyce Park ski slopes to open this weekend
Skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts can rejoice, because the Boyce Park slopes open up for the season on Saturday. Allegheny County Parks Department officials said the beginner slope and main slope will be ready around 9:30 a.m. with a base of 18 to 24 inches of snow. Other slopes, trails and...
Conor Lamb supports impeachment: ‘What the President did was wrong’
U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb said Thursday he plans to vote in favor of both impeachment articles Democrats plan to lodge against President Trump. The Mt. Lebanon Democrat — a rising-star politician serving his first full year in Congress — said the last few weeks of evidence and testimony in Washington...
Penn Hills pre-K classrooms have kids excited for schoolVideo
Transitioning into kindergarten can be challenging for young students and their parents. That’s why a local nonprofit recently opened two new classrooms to make those efforts as smooth as possible for Penn Hills families. “Every transition in life has their own anxieties,” said Rene Ozias-Hawthorne, pre-k manager with the Private...
Grand jury fingers 7 in alleged Pittsburgh region heroin scheme
A federal grand jury indicted seven people from Pittsburgh and Allegheny County’s eastern and southern suburbs in a purported scheme to sell more than 2 pounds of heroin, documents unsealed Thursday show. From June through December of this year, the co-defendants are accused of plotting to acquire and sell the...
Jeannette residents call for hemp plant closure
Jeannette residents asked City Council on Thursday to keep the hemp drying facility on Thomas Avenue closed permanently. “I don’t know how this happened. Why was this allowed to come into the city?” Diane Shaw asked. Shaw lives on Lafferty Street, near the facility owned by Colorado-based Patriot Shield LLC....
Pittsburgh man admits to breaking into cars to steal identities, rack up charges
A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty to breaking into parked cars as part of a scheme to steal the identities of Western Pennsylvanians, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Terry Porterfield, 44, admitted to taking the driver’s licenses, credit cards, debit cards and Social Security cards from the unoccupied vehicles he ransacked around...
Conor Lamb supports impeachment: ‘What the president did was wrong’
U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb said Thursday he plans to vote in favor of both impeachment articles Democrats plan to lodge against President Donald Trump. The Mt. Lebanon Democrat — a rising-star politician serving his first full year in Congress — said the last few weeks of evidence and testimony in...
Friends of the Riverfront appoints Kelsey Ripper executive director
The nonprofit Friends of the Riverfront appointed one of its board members, Kelsey Ripper, as executive director. She succeeds Valerie Beichner, who left several months ago to take the helm at another outdoor recreation nonprofit, Venture Outdoors. Ripper, 33, of Lawrenceville, has been vice president of Friends of the Riverfront’s...
Apollo Borough office closed for move to new location
The Apollo municipal office closed this week and will remain closed until Dec. 20 when it reopens at a new location at 809 N. Warren Avenue. The move was prompted by the expiration of the borough’s lease at the end of the year at 616 First St., the former Apollo...
Cousin accused of aiding convicted cop killer Rahmael Holt ordered to stand trialVideo
New Kensington District Judge Frank Pallone refused to lower Lisa Harrington’s $100,000 bond Thursday after holding her for trial on charges of getting rid of the gun her cousin used to kill city police Officer Brian Shaw two years ago. Harrington, 33, is a cousin of Rahmael Holt, who a...
New Kensington-Arnold preliminary budget spikes taxes, exhausts reserves
Even with a property tax increase more than double its state limit, the New Kensington-Arnold School District will empty its reserves by the end of the 2020-21 school year and go into the red, the district’s business manager projects. A 7-mill property tax increase is included in the $38.96 million...
Washington County man wants conviction overturned for 2013 Donegal murder
A Washington County man said in court on Thursday he was coerced by his former defense attorney to not testify in his 2015 murder trial and now wants his conviction of first-degree murder overturned. Michael Martin, 46, contends he was the victim of a poorly conceived defense by a lawyer...
Unity man facing at least 16 years in prison for child rape, pornography
A Unity man was sentenced Thursday to serve up to 10 years in prison for the rape of a child. Timothy D. Piper, 24, pleaded guilty in September to three charges, including counts of rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. Prosecutors said Piper had repeated sexual contact with a young...
Missing New Kensington youth found
A missing New Kensington youth has been found, police said. Police and the family of Da’ Montae Brooks, 13, had been looking for him since 10 p.m. last Thursday. Detective Sgt. Paul Manke said Monday he has been found. No other details are available....
$10K donation from ‘Secret Santa’ will buy gifts for Leech Elementary students
An unexpected letter delivered this week to David Leech Elementary Principal David Keibler brought him to tears. The two-page, handwritten note from a man wishing to remain anonymous included a check for $10,000 with instructions that the money be used to provide every Leechburg Area student in pre-kindergarten through fifth...
Unity man charged in cryptocurrency fraud scheme
A 23-year-old Unity man could face 22 years in prison and lose the $942,500 house he bought near Mountain View, his Ferrari and expensive jewelry if convicted on federal accusations that he stole from executives and investors of cryptocurrency firms. Anthony Francis Faulk was charged in California with conspiracy to...
Arnold ordinance would allow backyard fires
Arnold residents would be able to have contained fires in their backyards under a new ordinance city council is considering. Fires at residences would have to be burned in a container no more than 36 inches in diameter and at least two feet high, according to the proposed ordinance. The...
Terrelle Pryor says girlfriend accused of stabbing him should be let out of jailVideo
Former NFL player and Jeannette native Terrelle Pryor said Thursday that his girlfriend accused of stabbing him should be let out of jail. Pryor, who nearly died from stab wounds Nov. 30, was in Pittsburgh Municipal Court for a hearing on charges filed against him in connection to the stabbing....
General manager of Harrison McDonald’s receives company’s top awardVideo
For Laurie Naugle, just to be nominated for the prestigious Ray Kroc Award was an honor. But to win it was astonishing. “It’s just mind-blowing,” Naugle, general manager of the McDonald’s in Harrison, said Thursday when she was honored with one of the corporation’s most prestigious awards. The McDonald’s Corporation’s...
Hambone’s in Lawrenceville padlocked for not paying alcohol tax, treasurer says
Editor’s note: Hambone’s said it was reopening Friday. A popular Lawrenceville bar was shut down Thursday for not paying its alcoholic beverage tax, officials said. Hambone’s at 4207 Butler St. was padlocked at 1 p.m. after Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein obtained a roughly $13,000 judgment against it, according to...
Franklin Regional school board won’t delay construction on Sloan intermediate building
Construction of the new Sloan intermediate school in the Franklin Regional School District will continue after three of the four new school board members were unable to muster enough support to suspend work for a month. “Many of us ran for this position because people in the community were questioning...
Westmoreland food bank benefits from annual United Way/Shop ‘n Save shopping spreeVideo
When David Sipes shot down the aisle at Route 66 Shop ‘n Save in Greensburg, buggy in tow, he had a game plan. In three minutes, the 48-year-old Irwin resident had to collect as much food as possible to donate to the Westmoreland County Food Bank. Thursday’s shopping spree was...
Potential owners surface for shuttered Regent Square Theater
While the Regent Square Theater sits quiet, there is interest in the movie screen illuminating again. The Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media closed the South Braddock Avenue movie theater on Nov. 25 for financial reasons. The PCAM continues to explore options for the theater, spokeswoman Hannah Arnold said in...
Monroeville library hosts ‘Grinchmas’ party
Monroeville Public Library hosted a Grinch-themed party Dec. 7. The “Grinchmas” party, in its second year, featured Grinch-themed games and food....
Veteran Westmoreland sheriff’s deputy accused of indecent behavior with female inmatesVideo
A former Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputy urged female inmates to expose themselves or grope him over his uniform in exchange for cigarettes, according to state police. State police conducted a yearlong investigation that on Thursday resulted in Daniel A. Gradischek, 32, of Unity, being arraigned on multiple criminal charges, including...
