Local category, Page 2723
Allegheny County Council honors outgoing members
County Executive Rich Fitzgerald joined Allegheny Council at their final meeting of the year Tuesday to offer his quarterly address and to send off outgoing members of council. Council President and At-Large Representative John DeFazio, a Democrat from Shaler who served on council since the legislative body was created in...
Pittsburgh Arsenal 6-8 student diagnosed with tuberculosis
A student at Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Arsenal 6-8 was diagnosed with tuberculosis, Allegheny County Health Department officials announced Tuesday. The student reportedly is out of school receiving medication to treat the illness and is expected to return in the near future. Officials said they are identifying individuals who may have...
Pivik students pitch in to make presents for Children’s Institute students
Pivik Elementary students and a Habitat for Humanity Allegheny Valley volunteer have partnered to provide special hand-made toys for the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh. Tom Hughes, a Korean War veteran and one of the original Habitat helpers, made multiple hand-carved wooden reindeer for the nonprofit. He continued that effort this...
History program focuses on Latrobe-area churches
The Latrobe Area Historical Society will usher out the year with an encore presentation of a program highlighting the many facets of the town’s faith community. The slide show “Holy Latrobe: The Historic Houses of Worship” will be screened at 9:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday at the society headquarters, 416...
Ellsworth company announces 2020 electronics recycling dates
A permanent electronics recycling facility in eastern Washington County announced its 2020 dates for accepting items, most of which will be collected at no charge. The JVS Environmental site at 1 American Way in Ellsworth will replace the monthly electronics collection program previously staged at the Washington County Fairgrounds and...
Latrobe hires patrolman, promotes K-9 officerVideo
Latrobe police shored up their ranks by hiring new patrolman Matthew DeChicchis and promoting K9 Officer Robert Derk to sergeant. Most recently employed with the police department in Johnstown, DeChicchis “came out heads and tails above everybody else” in Latrobe’s civil service hiring process, Latrobe Police Chief John Sleasman said...
Actor Trevor Donovan visits Deer Lakes Middle School for anti-bullying assemblyVideo
Years ago, actor Trevor Donovan was an introverted, quiet kid who didn’t like to speak up. He was on a ski race team, but he wasn’t very good. He was always holding the other skiers up. Once, when the group was out skiing, he needed to use the bathroom. He...
Contractor offers discount for work on Lower Burrell veterans’ monument
An Oakmont contractor knocked $1,000 off the final bill to restore a veterans’ monument in front of Lower Burrell’s Stewart Elementary School. The monument for residents who served in World War II toppled over earlier this year. The office of state Rep. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville, headed up the monument restoration...
Harlem Globetrotter signs love for students at Western Pennsylvania School for the DeafVideo
Harlem Globetrotter Chris “Animal” Hyche sat on the bleachers inside the gymnasium surrounded by students he didn’t know. But he felt comfortable telling them something personal. Lifting his right hand, he told them: “I love you.” The children from the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Edgewood raised their...
Jeannette man gets at least 6 years in prison for fatal Yukon DUI crash
A Jeannette man will serve at least six years in prison for his role in a fatal vehicle crash in March in which his 25-year-old passenger was killed. Trey L. Cue, 24, pleaded guilty Tuesday to homicide by vehicle, drunken driving and other offenses in connection with the crash that...
Monroeville man to plead guilty in $127 million Medicare scheme, officials say
A Monroeville business owner is expected to plead guilty in a $127 million kickback scheme against Medicare patients, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman. Ravitej Reddy, 52, is accused of conspiring with multiple companies to pay kickbacks for lab tests done at his two genetic testing facilities. He was...
Fundraising effort for Wilkinsburg’s Abraham Lincoln statue moves slowly
There’s an empty pedestal at the intersection of Penn Avenue and Ardmore Boulevard. A lonely sign reads “Go Fund Me … Lincoln Statue for Wilkinsburg.” For over a century, with a few interruptions, a copper statue of Abraham Lincoln stood on that perch overlooking the Lincoln Highway. Now a group...
Blue Angels jets slated to fly when Westmoreland airshow returns in 2021
The Shop ’n Save Westmoreland County Airshow should be flying high once more in 2021 — after taking hiatus next year — with a return of the Blue Angels Navy jet team as the chief attraction. Airport Authority Executive Director Gabe Monzo received word Tuesday that the popular jet demonstration...
The Pittsburgh sinkhole bus is back on the roadVideo
Pittsburgh’s infamous sinkhole bus that dropped partially into a Downtown street in October is back on the road. Port Authority’s 6015 bus, which can pick up any route that begins at the Collier garage, was put back into service on Saturday, about six weeks after a sinkhole partially swallowed it....
Greensburg creates student planner program
Greensburg is looking for college students to serve as student planners, working alongside city employees on upcoming projects. “We’re treating students as colleagues, so you’re not running to get people coffee and making copies, this is different,” said Planning Director Jeff Raykes. The new Student Planner Program is based on...
Allegheny County Health Department awards $113K in grants
The Allegheny County Health Department awarded 13 mini-grants totaling $113,552 to local organizations for projects aimed at addressing racial equality in chronic disease factors. The projects will increase access to healthy food, physical activity and connect residents to clinical care, the health department said. Social factors like employment, education and...
Tarentum branch of Community Library of Allegheny Valley to close
The Tarentum branch of the Community Library of Allegheny Valley is set to close, according to the library’s board of directors. All operations will be run out of the Harrison branch, a few miles away. “After much consideration and discussion, the Community Library of Allegheny Valley Board of Directors voted...
Western Pa. native burned in New Zealand volcano eruption
A Western Pennsylvania native and his wife were among the 18 people who were hurt when a volcano erupted Monday in New Zealand. At least five people were killed and dozens of others were missing after the eruption on White Island, New Zealand’s most active cone volcano. Matthew Urey, 36,...
Man accused of punching Port Authority bus driver turns self in
A man facing charges for punching a Port Authority of Allegheny County bus driver told police he did so because the doors to the bus closed on him and it triggered his anger, according to a criminal complaint filed against the man. Richard David Hickman, 36, turned himself into authorities...
Smokey Robinson talks Pittsburgh, songwriting and wine makingVideo
If anyone in popular music can be called a legend, it’s Smokey Robinson. He rose to fame in the 1960s as the founder of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. He wrote and recorded such hits as “Shop Around,” “My Girl,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me,” “I Second That...
Cops: Penn Township woman charged in hit and run, and then slugging other driver
A Penn Township woman allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident is accused of punching and threatening to shoot the other driver, who followed her after the initial crash, according to police. Carla L. Smith, 57, was charged Monday by township police with simple assault, harassment, failing to stop and render...
Monroeville fire department attorneys ask to dismiss part of lawsuit filed by Gateway student, parents
Attorneys representing a Monroeville volunteer fire company have asked a judge to dismiss a portion of a civil lawsuit filed against the station. Court records show that attorneys Bruce Rende and Amy Sims say the parents of a Gateway student who was hit by an ambulance cannot recover damages for...
VP Mike Pence asks for 4 more years in White House during Beaver County visit
Vice President Mike Pence promised during a visit Tuesday to a Beaver County Veterans of Foreign Wars post that he and President Trump would make Pennsylvania “more prosperous than you could possibly imagine” if reelected in 2020. Pence called the impeachment inquiry a “disgrace,” vowed continued support for military veterans...
Allegheny Township adopts 2020 budget with no tax increase
Allegheny Township Supervisors on Monday night adopted a budget for 2020 that will keep the property tax rate at 16.5 mills. It’s the 10th consecutive year that township officials have held the line on property taxes. Of the 16.5 mills, 13.35 will go toward a $4.1 million general fund. A...
Western Pa. Christmas Bird Count has 10th most volunteers, Audubon says
Pittsburgh isn’t exactly the bird capital of world, but its volunteers who count birds for the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count are ranked as the 10th largest group of counters in more than 2,600 count areas. Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count is the largest citizen survey in the country that measures...
