Local category, Page 2719
Highlands says goodbye to 4 outgoing school board members
Highlands School Board gave fond farewells Monday night to four of its members who are leaving the nine-member board following this year’s election. Leaving the board are Michael Masarik from Region 1, Jeff Mundy from Region 2, and Heath Cohen and Michelle Peters from Region 3. Superintendent Monique Mawhinney praised...
Unity rings in holiday season with senior luncheon, tree-lighting
Unity Township will kick off the holiday season Dec. 6 with a luncheon for seniors and an evening tree-lighting ceremony. The luncheon, open to area residents age 50 or older and their guests, will be served at noon at Giannilli’s II restaurant on Route 30 westbound, just west of the...
Andrew McCutchen, Mayor Peduto serve chili, talk reducing poverty on Pittsburgh’s North SideVideo
Former Pirates player Andrew McCutchen spent Monday night serving up bowls of chili alongside Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto while the pair discussed ways to reduce poverty across Western Pennsylvania. Between scoops, the hairnet-donning outfielder — whom fans affectionately refer to as “Cutch” or “No. 22” — fist-bumped, shook hands and...
Groundbreaking held for new Delmont library
Delmont native Bill Lendl can remember his father, Milt, placing the first book on the first shelf of the former borough library, on Delmont Street at the time. “My father loved reading, and my family does as well,” Lendl said. That would explain why the Lendls donated about a quarter...
Tax credits will help Indiana County demolitions, renovations
Tax credits for two redevelopment projects in Indiana County will pave the way for public space and a renovated community center. A $56,250 tax credit will go to the Friends of Blairsville Communities group for the demolition of the G.C. Murphy building at the corner of Market and Stewart streets...
Gas prices down in most areas as holiday season approaches
Gasoline prices dropped over the past week in the Pittsburgh area and across the nation. In the Pittsburgh area, prices are down 2.2 cents to an average of $2.78 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 731 stations. That’s 6.1 cents per gallon less than a month ago, and 9.6...
Post-Gazette union votes ‘no confidence’ in management
In a move deemed “unprecedented,” the unionized employees who represent a majority of the Post-Gazette’s newsroom voted Monday that they have “no confidence” in their executive editor, publisher or parent company, Block Communications Inc. Starting Wednesday, as a form of protest, the newsroom’s journalists will withhold their names from all...
Officials hope changes at Routes 66, 366 make intersection safer
The flowers of a makeshift memorial at a Washington Township intersection where a Brackenridge woman died in a July 27 crash haven’t faded yet. The fatal crash happened when Haley Montgomery’s northbound car tried to turn left from Route 66 onto Route 366 but was struck by an oncoming SUV....
Detroit police officer testifies in Chelsa Wagner trial
DETROIT — Attorneys spent several hours Monday wrangling over a few seconds of video in the trial of Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner. In a hearing marked by multiple arguments, objections and Wayne Circuit Judge Dalton Roberson repeatedly chiding both defense attorneys and prosecutors, two Detroit police officers testified about...
Happenings in Plum and Oakmont this week – Nov. 18, 2019
Need something to do in Oakmont or Plum this week? Check out these activities: • Let’s Groove Tonight, the premier Earth, Wind & Fire tribute band, returns to the Oaks Theater in Oakmont at 310 Allegheny River Blvd. Friday. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the show set for 7:30...
Members sought for Westmoreland solar co-opVideo
A nonprofit that organized solar power co-ops in neighboring counties is looking to do the same in Westmoreland County. Solar United Neighbors initiated more than 200 solar co-ops across the country, including two in Allegheny County, one in Indiana County and another that operates in both Beaver and Butler counties....
Free air quality education kits available to Allegheny County middle schools
The Pittsburgh-based environmental advocacy group GASP, the Group Against Smog and Pollution, is offering free air quality education kits to Allegheny County middle schools. The kits — which include pig lungs, tools for measuring air pollution and other educational resources — can be used to teach students in grades four...
Westmoreland County union workers reject proposed new contract
Members of Westmoreland County’s largest bargaining unit rejected the terms of a new labor contract for more than 600 government workers. The county’s existing four-year contract with the Service Employees International Union Local 668 and SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania expires at the end of December. Negotiations on a new labor pact...
Opera singer returns to Brackenridge church to raise money for food bank
Mezzo-soprano Marianne Cornetti began singing at local churches, including Brackenridge’s Trinity United Methodist, as a teenager before making her professional debut with the Pittsburgh Opera and singing professionally for three decades. On Sunday, she returned to Trinity United Methodist to hold a concert to raise money for the Allegheny Valley...
Pittsburgh receives grant for purchase of blue recycling bins
Pittsburgh has another $500,000 to purchase blue bins for its curbside recycling programs. The Recycling Partnership, based in Virginia, approved a $500,000 grant to purchase the bins for residents. Mayor Bill Peduto earlier this year announced plans to allocate $500,000 in 2020 for bins. The money will be used to...
Judge drops DUI charge against state Rep. Brandon Markosek
A magisterial district judge on Monday dropped a drunken driving charge against state Rep. Brandon Markosek. Markosek, 26, of Monroeville had been charged with speeding and drunken driving after a September arrest in Cumberland County. Both charges were dropped by Magisterial District Judge Michael Sanderson of Cumberland County. The speeding...
Assault, drug cases among those recently handled in Judge DeLuca’s Penn Hills court – Nov. 18, 2019
Penn Hills District Judge Anthony L. DeLuca handled the following cases recently. Defendants will have court dates set in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Charges were filed by Penn Hills police unless otherwise noted. Held for court • Jerquay Atkins, 21, of Pittsburgh on charges of providing false identification to...
Former Jeannette doctor sentenced to house arrest for patient overdose deaths
A North Huntingdon doctor will serve two years on house arrest and five years on probation for over-prescribing drugs used by two patients who died of overdoses. Dr. Michel Toret, 73, of Jeannette, told a Westmoreland County judge that the practice of medicine has changed during his four decades as...
Police: Carrick man wanted in double shooting remains at large
A 23-year-old Carrick man remained at large Monday, wanted on charges in connection with a Thursday shooting of two teens during a robbery in Carrick, police said. Cody Smith, 23, is wanted on charges including attempted homicide, aggravated assault, robbery. Another man, Desmond Michael Jones, 20, no address listed, is...
Police: Venango man topped 120 mph on Route 28 after driving away from traffic stop
A Venango County man drove more than 120 mph while holding a woman against her will in his car as police pursued him on Route 28, according to state police. Kirk Edward Heath, 43, was arraigned Monday on 19 charges, including kidnapping to facilitate a felony and fleeing or attempting...
CCAC announces $65 million plans for new training center, expanded coursesVideo
The Community College of Allegheny County on Monday announced plans for a $40 million Workforce Training Center on campus and a $25 million investment in expanded workforce programming and system wide upgrades to existing educational facilities. CCAC has so far raised $44 million for the Pioneering Pittsburgh’s Workforce Campaign. It...
Police: Maryland man confessed to killing Bethel Park woman during bondage-themed photo shoot in Nevada
The sheriff of a rural Nevada county plans to send investigators to Pennsylvania to talk with Bethel Park police to build a homicide case against a Maryland man who has confessed to killing Jaime Mae Feden. Authorities said the man left Feden’s body in the desert about 170 miles north...
New Kensington cop killer’s cousin charged with stashing murder weapon
Just four days after Rahmael Holt was sentenced to death for the Nov. 17, 2017, killing of New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw, Westmoreland County detectives charged his cousin, Lisa D. Harrington, with hiding the murder weapon and hindering apprehension. Assistant District Attorney James Lazar said the decision to charge...
6 questions with ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’ star Matthew Rhys
Friday’s opening of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” starring Tom Hanks as Latrobe native Fred Rogers is fast approaching. In the highly anticipated movie filmed in Pittsburgh, actor Matthew Rhys plays Lloyd Vogel, the fictional version of journalist Tom Junod, who is not quite ready to buy into the...
Jeannette hemp plant reopens, but employee pay issue remains
A hemp-drying facility in Jeannette reopened over the weekend after ventilation was added. Current and former employees, however, still say they have not been paid for weeks of work. Patriot Shield Security was permitted to reopen on a temporary basis after an inspection late Friday, said Bill Whetzel, the city’s...
