Local category, Page 2873
Pittsburgh’s McKinley Park to get artistic basketball court
A basketball court in Pittsburgh’s McKinley Park is in line for an artistic makeover. The Urban Redevelopment Authority recently allocated $15,500 for a public art project by New York-based artist Janel Young, who grew up in Beltzhoover. Young said the mural entitled “Home Court Advantage” would be on the surface...
Lower Burrell announces partial road closures for milling work
Craigdell Road, Wachter Drive and part of Oregon Drive will be open only to local traffic as they are milled on Tuesday. Base repairs will be done on Tuesday and possibly paving, which is otherwise scheduled for July 17, weather permitting. There are flaggers to assist residents to reach their...
Vandergrift Councilman Pete Basile resigns for health reasons
Former Vandergrift Councilman Pete Basile told the Tribune-Review on Friday that he resigned from his elected position for health reasons. A retired Westmoreland County assistant police chief, Basile, 58, was elected in November 2017 to a four-year term. He also was a part-time Vandergrift police officer for 34 years. His...
Ross issues emergency declaration to fix sink hole near apartment complex
Ross officials signed an emergency declaration Friday morning authorizing the township to repair a large sink hole at the entrance to an apartment complex that opened when heavy storms hit the region the day before. The sink hole on McKnight Circle, which leads from McKnight Road into the Waldorf Park...
Indiana Township’s Ice Cream World serves its last scoopVideo
Five days after Ice Cream World opened in Indiana Township, the Flood of 1986 cascaded down Harts Run Road and water climbed to the window where thousands of hand-dipped cones have since been served. “We had an employee standing on the roof,” said Joel DeBaldo, owner of the old-school ice...
Washington Boulevard undamaged by flooding, reopens to traffic
Pittsburgh reopened Washington Boulevard on Thursday night after clearing the heavily-traveled road of debris left behind by flooding, a city official said. Officials initially believed the road was severely damaged during a heavy storm Thursday and thought the road would be closed indefinitely. Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri said public...
Former North Huntingdon doctor pleads guilty in 2 patient overdose deaths
A former North Huntingdon doctor pleaded guilty Friday in connection with the 2016 drug overdose deaths of two patients. Michel Toret, 73, of Jeannette, entered a general plea to two counts of drug delivery resulting in death and two related charges, all felonies. Prosecutors did not make a sentencing recommendation....
Indiana Township road to remain open during bridge work
McClellan Road in Indiana Township will remain open while a bridge is being replaced, Allegheny County Public Works announced Friday. Work to replace Deer Creek Bridge No. 9 will start at 7 a.m. on Monday, July 22, according to the county. The work is expected to last four months. The...
Motorcyclist injured in South Huntingdon crash, dispatcher says
A motorcyclist was reportedly airlifted by medical helicopter to a hospital Friday after crashing in South Huntingdon Township, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatch supervisor. The dispatcher said the crash occurred about 1:10 p.m. along Mt. Pleasant Road. State police were investigating. No further details were immediately available....
Lower Burrell man unsure what to do about backyard sinkhole
Jim Davis is used to having a hole filled with water in the backyard of his Lower Burrell home. That’s his swimming pool. On Friday, he was trying to figure out what to do about another, unwelcome one — a sinkhole. Davis, 71, said he noticed an indentation in his...
Pitcairn man charged with ethnic intimidation of neighbor
A Pitcairn man faces charges for allegedly causing damage to his neighbor’s property and ethnic intimidation. James Cepec, 78, started harassing and intimidating his neighbor, a black woman, after a supposed dispute between them over property lines, according to a criminal complaint. Pitcairn police Chief Scott Farally said the dispute...
Western Pa. residents grow weary of rain, flood cleanups
Thursday’s torrential rains may have been the final straw for Janet Seman. After six floods since moving to her North Huntingdon Township home in 2004, Seman doesn’t know if she can clean mud out of her basement one more time. “I have sump pumps, I have what I’m supposed to...
Sewickley-area real estate transactions for the week of July 8, 2019
Bell Acres Amanda Klingensmith sold property at 115 North Ave. to Christopher Denny for $1 (state deed transfer stamps indicate a value of $55,575). Leet Steven Shreve sold property at 5 Ambridge Ave. to Smithfield Holdings Inc. for $1,500. Leetsdale Andrew Coleman sold property at 11 Main St. to Charles...
Freeport’s Bower, Lichtenfels videos win money for charities
Two Freeport Area School District video makers won grants to help their favorite charities. The students participated in XTO Energy’s Community Leaders of Tomorrow contest, which encourages students to become involved in their communities. The contest runs at high schools throughout the region. Mara Bowser, who graduated from Freeport this...
Pregnant woman, son die after car swept away in Berks County flooding
BOYERTOWN — A series of storms socked the Northeast with heavy rains and strong winds, causing the deaths of a boy and his pregnant mother whose car was swept away by floodwaters while she was on the phone with emergency officials. The rain started falling Thursday and continued through early...
Collier couple stays fit and busy
Collier residents and spouses Laura and Rocco Cozza remain family oriented while juggling several businesses. Laura has her master’s degree in applied developmental psychology, originally holding different positions within the child development field. She began blogging about her experiences and struggles of balancing life as a mother, wife and entrepreneur....
Lancaster man accused of sex abuse at Kenyan orphanage he founded
Federal prosecutors say a Pennsylvania man sexually molested four teenage girls at a Kenyan orphanage he founded with a church’s help. U.S. Attorney William McSwain announced charges Friday against 60-year-old Gregory Dow, of Lancaster, hours after Dow was taken into custody. McSwain says Dow fled Kenya in September 2017 after...
Woman charged in connection with stabbing in Murrysville
A woman was arrested early Friday after being accused of stabbing a Murrysville man during an argument inside his home. Shalonda White, 43, who lists addresses in Murrysville and Homestead in court records, was arraigned on charges of aggravated assault and simple assault in connection with an incident that occurred...
FBI seeks leads in 1994 murders of Beaver County girl, 2nd from Ohio
A quarter-century has not abated the FBI’s desire to find out who killed Sarah Boehm and Kathryn Menendez and left their bodies in an Ohio park. Boehm was 14 when she was last seen alive leaving her Rochester Township home in Beaver County on July 14, 1994. Her body was...
Pipe replacement closes Skidmore Road in Hempfield
A section of Skidmore Road in Hempfield is closed while PennDOT crews replace a 36-inch pipe that crosses beneath it. The closure is in place between Mourning Dove Lane and Tall Oaks Trail, tentatively through July 19. Traffic is being detoured along Reamer Avenue (Route 819), Main Street (Route 119),...
State awards $719K in tax credits for Harrison senior housing project
A $10 million senior housing project in Harrison is getting financial help from the state. The development, in the former Highlands School District administration building on 11th Avenue, is among 39 multifamily housing developments getting part of $41.6 million in low-income housing tax credits, Gov. Tom Wolf announced. The Harrison...
Large tree blocks Riddle Run Road in Springdale Township
A large tree fell across both lanes of Riddle Run in Springdale Township on Thursday night, and the road remained closed to motorists Friday morning. PennDOT was called to handle removing the tree. “Usually firefighters handle it, but this one is too large,” said Allegheny Valley Regional Police Patrolman Craig...
Gateway camp encourages kids to solve real-world problems
More than a dozen elementary-aged children circled a kiddie pool at Gateway High School on a recent rainy summer day to blow boats “across the ocean.” The boats were invented and built by the children out of recycled materials like Styrofoam, cardboard, paper and tape during Camp Invention, a week-long...
Kennywood’s Steel Curtain roller coaster thrills 1st riders
Gavin Virag of Harrison could barely contain his excitement just before he became one of the first riders of Kennywood’s highly anticipated Steelers-themed roller coaster on Friday. “Words can’t describe how excited I am,” Virag, 28, said as he buckled himself into a front-row, football-shaped seat, right next to his...
T-shirts remind Dr. Phil that, yes, there is a Slippery Rock University
Remember that time Slippery Rock University and Dr. Phil got into a spat? SRU does. The university had T-shirts made to commemorate the dust-up, and some of the proceeds will go into a student scholarship fund, according to spokeswoman Rita Abent. In April, Phil McGraw, the TV celebrity therapist better...
