Western PA Local News category, Page 2862
Ross hosting free Halloween party for kids 12 and younger
Ross Township kids can celebrate the spooky season from 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 19 at a Halloween party sponsored by the parks and recreation department. Registration to attend the 12-and-younger event runs through Oct. 13. The event is limited to 100 children. The township’s engineering firm, Gateway Engineers, is...
Gateway students use emergency tip app to report bullet on bus
A student found a bullet on a school bus heading to Gateway Middle School on Thursday morning. Principal Rocco Telli said in an email blast to parents that the bus was greeted by building administration, who ushered students through bag searches and metal detectors. “No items of concern were discovered,”...
Plum man pleads guilty to federal drug trafficking
A Plum man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges of trafficking heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. Brandon Winters, 43, was found guilty of conspiring to distribute at least one kilogram of heroin and at least 400 grams of fentanyl and possessing at least 500 grams of cocaine with intent to sell...
Student council at North Allegheny, League of Woman Voters hosting school board candidate night
The student council at North Allegheny Senior High School is joining with the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh to host a forum for the district’s school board candidates. “An Evening with the Candidates” is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 2 at the high school. The...
Son of Lower Burrell judge sentenced to 6 to 23 months in jail for part in drug ring
The son of a Lower Burrell district judge and a nephew of Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck will serve up to 23 months in jail for what prosecutors said was his role in a million-dollar marijuana distribution ring. Stephen Yakopec III, 29, of Lower Burrell told a Westmoreland County...
Pittsburgh Public Schools investigating ‘inappropriate’ first-grade homework
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials on Thursday denounced part of a reading homework assignment distributed to first-graders that centered on children running away from a police officer, saying it was not an acceptable part of district curriculum. “Tom will run. He will run from the cop,” the assignment says. “Tom will...
Jeannette residents: Hemp-drying warehouse stinks
A new hemp-drying facility delivered jobs to Jeannette, but neighbors are unhappy with the odor that emanates from a large warehouse on Thomas Avenue. City officials said Patriot Shield Security failed to get an occupancy permit prior to opening a few weeks ago. Solicitor Tim Witt said Thursday that the...
2 people escape fire at Greensburg homeVideo
The cause of a fire that ripped through a Greensburg home Thursday afternoon is under investigation. Responding to 307 Seminary Ave. shortly after 4 p.m., firefighters found the fire started in a second-floor bathroom, said Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department Chief Thomas Bell. According to Bell, two people were sitting in...
Standoff ends in Jeannette, man in custody
One person was taken into custody Thursday after a brief standoff when Jeannette police and agents from the state Attorney General’s Office attempted to serve an arrest warrant, police said. Investigators shut down a block of Gaskill Avenue after the suspect hid in an apartment of a quadplex in the...
California man pleads not guilty to South Side overdoses
A California man pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court to charges he distributed a deadly fentanyl mixture that killed three men in Pittsburgh’s South Side over the weekend. Peter Rene Sanchez Montalvo, 25, of Coachella appeared in court briefly, where he entered his plea of not guilty and waived...
Ross cops seek man accused of firing on ex and her new boyfriend
Ross Township police are seeking the public’s help locating a man wanted for allegedly firing a gun at his former girlfriend and her new boyfriend as she drove to work. An arrest warrant was issued Thursday for Clinton Wesley Lance, 28, of Braddock, who is accused of harassing and threatening...
McCandless swears in new police officer
McCandless has added a new member to its police force. Council voted unanimously at its Sept. 23 meeting to hire Michael Cavaliere as a patrol officer. He was sworn in by Councilwoman Carolyn Schweiger, who heads the town’s public safety committee. Cavaliere is a native of the North Hills and...
Jeannette couple accused of trying to get drugs to jail through court bathroom
A Jeannette couple is accused of trying to get drugs from a city district court bathroom into the Westmoreland County Prison, according to court papers. Takeya Shantail Woods and Maurice Williams, both 24, were arrested Thursday after authorities found a piece of paper with suspected K2, or synthetic marijuana, sprayed...
Race not a factor in Pittsburgh gas station dispute, lawyer for 2 charged saysVideo
The race and gender of the people involved in a Sept. 20 fight at an Exxon station in Marshall-Shadeland is not a factor in the case, the attorney for two of the three men charged in it said Thursday. “My clients are not racists,” attorney David A. Shrager said. “They...
Greensburg’s Friday Evening Music Club celebrates 75th year
Greensburg’s Friday Evening Music Club has been making music for 75 years. The club will celebrate the anniversary Friday at the first recital of the season. “There’s really no other venue like it,” said member and pianist Matt Klumpp. “It allows you to make connections, it allows you to meet...
AG Josh Shapiro holds North Hills ‘listening session’ about student tip lineVideo
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Thursday conducted what he described as a “listening session” with North Hills High School students to gather feedback on the “Safe2Say Something” initiative he launched late last year. North Hills was among the first school districts in the state to sign onto Safe2Say, a...
Hempfield supervisor ‘upset’ at changes to school homecoming parade
A Hempfield supervisor seeking re-election became “upset” after receiving a letter stating political candidates and signs are no longer permitted in the Hempfield Area School District’s homecoming parade, Superintendent Tammy Wolicki said. Doug Weimer, a township supervisor, said he was “surprised by the change in direction by the school district”...
Gateway girls soccer lends a hand off the field
The Gateway girls soccer team got a break from the season recently when they took a Saturday to give back to the community. Coach Kelly Bender said 24 girls, two parents and a player’s brother divided into groups to lend a hand to several service organizations in Monroeville, Pitcairn and...
Baldwin adopts ordinance for owning chickens
Baldwin Borough leaders want to ensure that chickens do not run afoul in the neighborhood. Council members on Sept. 17 established parameters for residents who want to own the birds on their land. The newly-adopted ordinance limits residents to having no more than four chickens on their residential property. Those...
Thomas Jefferson High School implements personal learning time
Tranquil music echoes through the main hallway of Thomas Jefferson High School’s athletic wing during the middle of the school day. Roughly 20 students lay on the turf floor, bending and stretching in meditative yoga poses. In the gymnasium next door, it’s much louder, as students compete in a competitive...
Police: Vandergrift man admits stealing $4K in guns, jewelry, cash from Frazer home
Police say a Vandergrift man told them he broke into a Frazer home on Wednesday and stole $4,000 worth of cash, jewelry and guns to “help a friend get money.” When officers found Kevin Paul Pierce, 29, he was in his truck looking through the jewelry he had taken, Frazer...
Buffalo Township man faces strangulation, assault charges
A Buffalo Township man is accused of hitting, choking and throwing a woman down the steps of his home. Gordon Cooper, 55, of Oak Drive, is accused of holding the woman by her neck to throw her into a wall late Saturday night, according to a police affidavit. In addition...
Veterans honored with meal at Carnegie banquet hallVideo
Homeless and struggling veterans piled their plates with a hot meal from Cefalo’s Banquet and Event Center in Carnegie on Wednesday. Thanks to the Elks Carnegie Lodge No. 831, Allegheny Lodge No. 339 and American Legion Post No. 82, they left with new socks, gloves, hoodies, hats and flannel shirts...
Penn Hills mayor, councilman, formally apologize for background check debacle
Mayor Sara Kuhn and Councilman John Petrucci offered formal apologies to two people they erroneously alleged to have not complied with a municipal policy requiring board and committee members to undergo a criminal background check. Arlene Holtz and Rita Spalding, both former members of the Penn Hills Arts Council, were...
Penn Hills Class of 1969 tours new high schoolVideo
A wide-eyed Lynn Staymates spun around, searching for direction at a hallway intersection inside Penn Hills High School. She asked if the nearest stairwell was where she started the tour about an hour beforehand. The tour guide, a senior student council treasurer, replied, pointing: “No. We started on that side.”...
