Western PA Local News category, Page 2786
Oakmont councilwoman to seek state House seat next year
Carrie DelRosso, an Oakmont councilwoman and public relations consultant, announced she will challenge state Rep. Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, in next year’s election for the 33rd state House seat. DelRosso hopes to earn the Republican nomination. Dermody has held the seat since 1991. He defeated Republican challenger Joshua Nulph last year....
State Parks plan: More pet-friendly campsites, elevated tree house-like cottages and no Wi-Fi
A preliminary report on the future of Pennsylvania’s 121 state parks revealed that park users want pet-friendly campsites and no Wi-Fi. While “glamping” was not mentioned, park users do want more adventurous sleepovers by trying something new, such as building elevated camping cottages to simulate a treehouse effect. “Penn’s Parks...
Police arrest accused of robbing North Shore PNC Bank
Pittsburgh have arrested a man suspected of holding up a PNC Bank on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Jarrett Jones, 30, in connection with the Nov. 8 robbery of the PNC Bank branch on Federal Street alongside PNC Park, Pittsburgh public safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said....
Police: Oakmont native confessed to killing Bethel Park woman in Nevada
An Oakmont native who confessed to killing a Bethel Park woman in the Nevada desert two months ago will remain in Allegheny County Jail without bail, a judge ruled Tuesday. But John Matthew Chapman, 39, of Oakland, Md., has yet to be charged with the death of Jaime Mae Feden,...
Norwin OKs pool renovation project
Norwin students could be swimming in an updated pool next fall. As expected, the Norwin School Board this week selected the least expensive proposal for updating the pool, estimated at about $1.2 million by Wallover Architects of Lancaster. A contractor has not been selected. Among the work being considered is...
Almost $3 million in upgrades expected for Westmoreland County’s 911 system
Westmoreland County commissioners are expected this week to approve more than $2.7 million in upgrades to the 911 emergency dispatch system. Public Safety Director Roland Mertz said Tuesday that plans call for replacement of aging computer-aided dispatch equipment and installation of a new transmission tower to provide better radio service...
First graduate of Westmoreland County’s Veterans Court says he’ll return as a mentor
Ryan Skuta was home about a year after his third tour of duty, a four-month stint as a freelance infantryman fighting with the Kurds against ISIS in 2016, when he was arrested in Jeannette and charged with drunk driving. On Tuesday, Skuta, 33, of Irwin, became the first graduate of...
Why former Pirates star Andrew McCutchen stays involved with PittsburghVideo
On a dreary Tuesday, on the sixth floor of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, a roomful of young patients were busy working on a variety of different art projects. The children, inpatients at the hospital, visit regularly as part of what’s referred to as art therapy. The energy level in...
Gunman, 2 accomplices ordered to stand trial in Export shooting
Most of the participants in a violent confrontation near an Export park during which a Monroeville man was shot twice were on a three-day methamphetamine binge, one of those charged told a judge Tuesday. The alleged gunman, Tyler Palandro, 19, of Murrysville and two accomplices, Sandra Lee Cline, 49, of...
Walgreens closes Lower Burrell store
The Walgreens store on Greensburg Road in Lower Burrell has closed, a spokesman for the pharmacy chain confirmed Tuesday. The store closed on Nov. 13, spokesman Phil Caruso said. Caruso said the store’s closing was part of a previously announced plan to close a number of stores across the country....
Highlands moving elementary principal to Early Childhood Center
The school educating the youngest students in Highlands School District is set to have its third principal this school year. Samantha Perlik, principal of Highlands Elementary School in Tarentum, will become principal of the Early Childhood Center in January after the Christmas break, school board President Debbie Beale said. The...
Pittsburgh council members request documents, audit related to park tax
Several Pittsburgh City Council members want to examine all agreements between the city and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy before considering how to deal with an estimated $10 million in annual revenue from a parks tax approved by voters earlier this month. Council on Tuesday introduced two resolutions that would require the...
Western Pa. lawmakers fight Gov. Wolf on Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
A group of lawmakers from Western Pennsylvania is challenging Gov. Tom Wolf’s effort to make Pennsylvania a member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), saying the resulting carbon tax will hurt the state’s energy sector and consumers. The legislators said Tuesday that Wolf does not have the authority to...
Food giveaway helps feed 400 families in Pittsburgh’s West EndVideo
Robin Matthews didn’t think she would have Thanksgiving this year. She suffered a heart attack and had surgery in October. Her fiancee died of a heart attack the same month. A fire last week caused heavy damage to her Sheraden home. “I have nothing,” Matthews, 61, said. “My second floor...
FlixBus, with Pittsburgh line to D.C., Ohio, hopes to ‘make the bus cool again’
A German bus company that connects Pittsburgh to Columbus and Washington, D.C., hopes to make “the bus cool again” and offer lower fares than its competitors. FlixBus offers trips from Pittsburgh to the nation’s capital and Columbus starting at $9.99 on its fleet of bright green buses. Megabus fares for...
Ski slopes at Seven Springs, Hidden Valley to open this weekendVideo
A late Thanksgiving means an early start to the ski season at Seven Springs and Hidden Valley resorts. Sort of. “Typically the past few years, we’ve been opening on Black Friday (Nov. 23, 2018, and Nov. 24, 2017), which we’ve called ‘White Friday,’” said Katie Buchan, spokeswoman for Seven Springs,...
Penn Hills council delays proposed code of ethics vote
Penn Hills Council delayed a vote on a proposed code of ethics ordinance at its Nov. 18 meeting in order to make changes to its meaning and grammar. The move came after a lengthy discussion that was prompted by mayor-elect Pauline Calabrese’s comments and a question she directed at Councilman...
Officials: 2 students arrested after gun found on Seneca Valley school campus
Two Butler County students were taken into custody Tuesday after officials said one of the students a sold a gun to another student at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School. No one was injured. The district said on its website Tuesday that the incident was reported shortly after school started. High...
Jury deliberations underway in Chelsa Wagner trial
A jury in Michigan’s Wayne County heard two versions Tuesday of what happened in the 10th-floor corridor of the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel during a March 6 altercation between a Detroit police officer and Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner. Wagner’s attorney said she was the victim of overzealous cops who...
Police looking for Subaru suspected in Homewood hit-and-run crash
Pittsburgh police Tuesday released new information about the car suspected in a hit and run crash Monday in Homewood. Police are looking for a 2011 to 2012 brown Subaru Legacy with damage to the left side from hitting a man. The man, who has not been identified, was taken to...
Deer Park residents against proposed Jefferson Hills development
Residents in Jefferson Hills’ Deer Park neighborhood say they worry a new housing development will disrupt their community — and they don’t want it. Yet, developers say they hope to work with neighbors so they too can benefit from the 67 single-family homes planned on roughly 47 acres, with access...
Meteorologist Kevin Benson no longer with WPXI
Meteorologist Kevin Benson is no longer with WPXI. News Director Scott Trabandt confirmed Tuesday that Benson no longer works at the station. He did not elaborate on the circumstances. “We do not comment further on employee matters,” Trabandt wrote in an email to the Tribune-Review. Benson declined to comment when...
Illinois man’s hacking conspiracy tied to 2016 Franklin Regional cyberattack
An Illinois man was sent to in prison last week for his role in providing access to illegal “booter” services, including one said to have been used in a 2016 hacking attack on the Franklin Regional School District and several other regional computer systems. Sergiy P. Usatyuk, 20, of Orland...
Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez faces 21 new child sex-related chargesVideo
Prosecutors filed 21 new charges Tuesday against suspended Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Felipe Vazquez after investigators found evidence of child pornography on devices they say he owned. Vazquez, 28, was ordered to stand trial Tuesday on 10 counts of child pornography, 10 counts of unlawful contact with a minor and...
Judge: Trust fund can’t be used to pay victims of clergy abuse in Pittsburgh diocese
The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh can’t use an $8 million trust fund intended to help needy boys to pay victims of clergy sexual abuse, an Allegheny County judge has ordered. Judge Lawrence O’Toole issued a three-paragraph order last week dismissing the diocesan request to use the 120-year-old Toner Trust that’s...
