Local category, Page 2833
Donations sought for 2020 New Kensington fireworks
The Fourth of July wasn’t that long ago, but organizers of New Kensington’s fireworks display already are thinking about next year. And they’re worried. Proceeds from a basket raffle during a block party preceding this year’s display were supposed to help pay for next year’s fireworks. Rain on July 6...
Asbestos could limit Tarentum demolitions
Asbestos could reduce the number of dilapidated buildings that Tarentum will be able to tear down this year. The borough expects to receive the results of asbestos testing on 28 properties this week, code enforcement officer Anthony Bruni said. The borough paid Corwin Inspections $11,175 to do the testing. That...
Project Reset is Allegheny County officials’ effort to give people a fresh startVideo
Allegheny County officials are taking a statewide effort to give people who have been charged with or convicted of low-level nonviolent offenses a fresh start to another level. Called “Project Reset,” the county’s program will help Allegheny County residents learn whether the crimes on their criminal records can be sealed...
Inmate charged with attempted murder of state troopers during Indiana County transport
An inmate at Indiana County’s Pine Grove state prison is charged with attempting to kill two state troopers when he seized a gun from one of the troopers and fired it twice as they were driving him back to the prison from a district court hearing. In addition to two...
Plans being made for removal of Belvedere Hotel’s charred remains
State Rep. Joe Petrarca confirmed his office is leading efforts to kick off the cleanup of the charred, asbestos- laden remains of the Belvedere Hotel along Route 66 in Oklahoma Borough. A July 24 blaze swiftly destroyed the abandoned, almost 115-year-old hotel. The fire still is under investigation by state police....
Attorney for Jeannette man accused in selling drugs that killed brother questions police investigation
The attorney for a Jeannette man on trial accused of selling a fatal dose of fentanyl to his brother in late 2016 suggested in court Tuesday his client’s stunned acknowledgement of a police inquiry was not a confession. Defense attorney Brian Aston, in his opening statement, told jurors the arrest...
New Kensington cops revive 2 men who overdosed, then charged 1 of them
New Kensington police revived two men with the opioid overdose-reversal drug Narcan and then filed drug-related charges against one of them, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday. Police said they found the men unconscious just before 8 p.m. Friday in a car parked at Sheetz on Freeport Street. The...
Deferred repairs, budget cuts threaten Keystone, other state parks, officials sayVideo
If the Pennsylvania state budget were a dollar, the budget for the entire state park and forest system would be about half a penny. Marci Mowery, president of the Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation, used that example Tuesday to illustrate infrastructure and maintenance needs confronting the state Department of Conservation...
Knoch grad Jordan Geist hopes for strong showing in Pan Am Games
For the second time in less than two weeks, Jordan Geist will compete in the shot put against some of the best throwers in the world. The Knoch graduate and rising junior at Arizona will test his mettle Wednesday evening in a field of 13 at the Pan American Games...
Census takers identifying hard-to-reach populations across Western Pa., country
Disconnected doubters, wary skeptics, eager engagers and head nodders — these are all ways Census Bureau officials describe people living in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Released in late June, the 2020 Census Predictive Models and Audience Segmentation report is helping officials create a plan for the once-a-decade survey that determines the amount...
Penn Hills teacher fatally shot by police in Shaler
A Shaler man was shot and killed by police at his home Tuesday during a domestic dispute call, authorities said. The deceased was identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office as Donald Babbit, 49. Penn Hills School District said Babbit was a high school math teacher in a statement...
Paving, sewers, landslides center of Ross capital improvements
Ross officials have created an expansive capital plan that calls for budgeting nearly $32 million over the next five years to pave roads, address stormwater and sewer system problems and improve parks. The largest portion of spending in the 2020-24 capital improvement program outlined at the Aug. 5 commissioners meeting...
Swissvale man sentenced for threatening judge through mail, assaulting jail guard
A Swissvale man was sentenced to 80 to 160 months in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to two separate cases in which he attacked an Allegheny County Jail guard and sent threatening letters to a judge, officials said. Nathan Hoye, 26, was serving a 16- to 32-month sentence at the...
Vandergrift hopes block grant money will cover paving costs
Vandergrift officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the borough can obtain more than $200,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant money next year. The only money available this year went toward paving Oregon Avenue. Work to improve drainage on Oregon started Monday, and milling and paving work is expected...
Leechburg police sporting new lookVideo
Leechburg police have a new look. Since Aug. 1, the department’s officers have been wearing dark blue uniforms, new badges and carrier vests over their dark-blue protective vests that read “police” in block white letters on the front and back. The department’s former uniforms were gray. Mayor Wayne Dobos said...
DA: Grand jury hearing case against man accused of killing Pittsburgh police officer
A grand jury is hearing the case against a Pittsburgh man accused in the July 14 killing of a city police officer, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. confirmed Tuesday. The grand jury will decide whether charges against Christian Bey, 30, will go forward. Zappala and others involved...
Glass recycling event coming to O’Hara
A pop-up event in O’Hara will give residents a chance to discard glass items which will be recycled into mayonnaise jars, beer bottles and other consumer products. The collection will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 14 in the municipal lot, 325 Fox Chapel Road. Presented by the Pennsylvania...
Pa. mother sentenced to 25 to 50 years in child’s poisoning death
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A suburban Philadelphia mother has been sentenced to 25 to 50 years in the alleged poisoning death of her 2-year-old son a year ago. Forty-three-year-old Jennifer Clarey pleaded no contest Tuesday to third-degree murder and child endangerment. Bucks County prosecutors alleged that she poisoned Mazikeen Clarey using...
Trucker gets 28½ to 78 years in I-83 crash that killed 3
A Mississippi truck driver has been sentenced to 28½ to 78 years in prison in an alcohol-related crash on a Pennsylvania interstate that killed three people, including a toddler. PennLive.com reports that a Dauphin County judge imposed the sentence Tuesday on 29-year-old Jack Satterfield III. Satterfield pleaded guilty in June...
W.Va. man sentenced to 2nd life term in I-81 slaying
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — A West Virginia man has been sentenced to a second life term in the shooting death of a motorist on Interstate 81 in central Pennsylvania more than 5½ years ago. Forty-two-year-old John Strawser Jr. of Terra Alta was convicted of first-degree murder Tuesday. Authorities in Franklin County...
Jeannette, Penn Twp., North Huntingdon areas under boil water advisory
About 3,500 residents in the Jeannette, Penn Township and North Huntingdon areas are under a boil-water advisory. Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County officials said Tuesday afternoon a water line break near 13th Street in Jeannette has left some customers with low water pressure or without service. Officials said a 36-inch...
Suicide suspected in Interstate 70 crash, bridge jump
A man who jumped off the Smithton Bridge on Monday likely committed suicide, according to Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha. At 2:40 p.m., Brian Hayden, 39, of Monessen crashed a car he was driving westbound into a barrier on the bridge that carries Interstate 70 over the Youghiogheny River between...
Football, ribs, music combine at Heinz Field Rib Fest and Kickoff
Chomping on award-winning ribs and watching some football is not a bad way to spend a late-summer day. The 16th annual Heinz Field Rib Fest and Kickoff is Aug. 29 through Sept. 2 on the North Shore. The event features ribs and brisket vendors from all over the country. The...
Peduto, Moms Demand Action founder call for passage of gun lawsVideo
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Tuesday called for Congress and the Pennsylvania General Assembly to pass gun regulations — including a ban on military-style rifles — within 30 days. Standing with Shannon Watts, founder of the anti-violence group Moms Demand Action, Peduto said such action is long overdue, citing the...
Westmoreland Diversity Coalition to host former skinhead as keynote speaker
The Westmoreland Diversity Coalition is joining Saint Vincent College, the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, Adelphoi and the YWCA to sponsor a keynote speech this month by former white supremacist Arno Michaelis. Michaelis, author of “My Life After Hate,” will speak on his experience at 9:15 a.m. Aug. 29 at...
