Local category, Page 2888
Baldwin-Whitehall School District residents will see a tax increase
Baldwin-Whitehall residents will see an increase in real estate taxes in 2019-20, as the district makes infrastructure improvements and staffing additions to address the needs of the growing district. Board members in June approved the district’s $70.6 million 2019-20 spending plan that includes a .71 mill increase in real estate...
Lazy River, Cliffhangers remain closed at SandcastleVideo
This summer, Sandcastle’s Lazy River has been really lazy. The popular attraction, along with the water park’s Cliffhangers slides, have yet to open for the season. “In the off-season, we had such bad flooding, and then the water froze, which cracked the Lazy River’s fiberglass,” Tyler Saxon, sales and marketing...
McCandless man accused of exposing himself at North Park pool
Allegheny County police are investigating after two women reported a man exposed himself at the North Park Swimming Pool. Police started investigating June 27, when the women reported a man had exposed himself at the pool, but they didn’t contact police until after the man left that day. Pool staffers...
McCandless man accused of exposing himself at North Park pool
Allegheny County police on Wednesday arrested a 62-year-old McCandless man who is accused of exposing himself to women at the North Park Swimming Pool. Christopher Steffy turned himself in on charges of indecent exposure and open lewdness, police said. He was arraigned and released on $10,000 unsecured bond. Police started...
Monroeville one of 13 butterfly count sites
A Monroeville corporation will host its 21st annual butterfly count July 13. PPG’s Monroeville Business & Technology Center invited the public to the event, which attracts about 100 people to count the many butterflies that frequent the site’s pollinator garden. The free event will be held from 10 a.m. to...
Aspinwall sprinkler pool clogged 3 times with mulch
Members of the Aspinwall public works department are becoming frequent visitors to the borough’s sprinkler pool at the Field Avenue playground — but it’s not to cool off. Manager Melissa Lang said the pool’s drain has been clogged with mulch or other debris three times in the span of a...
Scottdale man strangled 16-year-old girl, cops say
An 18-year-old Scottdale man is in the Westmoreland County Prison on $100,000 bond after borough police said he assaulted and strangled a 16-year-old girl during an argument this week. Ford B. Johnson II was arraigned before District Judge Mark Mansour in night court Monday on charges of strangulation, simple assault...
Moon landing programs set for Mt. Pleasant, Latrobe libraries
Libraries in Mt. Pleasant and Latrobe will offer audiovisual presentations this month to celebrate the 50th anniversary of humans first stepping foot on the moon. The program at Mt. Pleasant Library, to be held 4 p.m. July 15, will feature a live web cast reliving the historic Apollo 11 mission...
Tarentum nurse hopes to expand audience with diabetes talks in Brackenridge
A series of public discussions on diabetes was so well-received last summer that a Tarentum nurse is doing it again this year. The main difference will be the location. Denise Kissell, a registered nurse and certified diabetes educator, is holding the talks in the gazebo in Brackenridge Memorial Park. The...
Fireworks won’t confound Pittsburgh’s gunshot detection system
Sophisticated algorithms mean Fourth of July fireworks don’t interfere with ShotSpotter, Pittsburgh’s gunshot detection system. The system gives police a better way to pursue illegal celebratory gunfire, said Dan Shak, the Public Safety Department’s technology manager. “We continually analyze incidents within ShotSpotter, looking at certain time periods during those holiday...
Export officials keep busy with projects throughout borough
A ribbon-cutting for the next phase of the Westmoreland Heritage Trail is officially scheduled for the Export Ethnic Food & Music Festival on Aug. 17, council member said recently. But the trail isn’t the only improvement project happening in the borough this summer. Council ran down a list of projects...
Pittsburgh lifts traffic restrictions on busy Grant Street
Pittsburgh on Wednesday lifted traffic restrictions on Grant Street, Downtown, following the completion of a brick pavement restoration project that began in May. The city on May 6 limited traffic to one lane in each direction between Seventh Street and Liberty Avenue for replacement of brick pavers and repairs to...
Photos: Aspinwall’s ‘Rock the River’
The “Rock the River” concert series returned last week to Aspinwall Riverfront Park, giving music lovers and outdoor enthusiasts a reason to spend the night under the stars. The June 30 event included a show by The Shiners, as well as free kayaking and fishing through Venture Outdoors and Kayak...
July 4 parade flyovers planned in Latrobe, Brentwood with WWII-era planes
An added level of excitement can be found in the skies above two area Fourth of July parades. Weather permitting, David Kahley of Greensburg and fellow pilot Dr. James Koch of Virginia plan to fly in close formation above parades in Brentwood and Latrobe. Each will pilot a restored World...
Professional fireworks shows still plentiful despite federal figures to the contrary
Business for display fireworks companies is booming, industry experts say, despite figures showing a dud when it comes to pounds of pyrotechnic goods sold over the past two decades. Between 2000 and 2018, there was a 31.5 million pound decrease in the number of display fireworks used in the United...
Iran tensions, declining inventories cited for rising gasoline prices
The Fourth of July isn’t the reason for rising gasoline prices, an industry analyst says. “Motorists can blame escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran for higher oil prices, declining inventories and even a potential U.S./China trade deal,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. In Pittsburgh, gas...
Driver guilty in Plum crash that killed junior firefighter, woman
A Saltsburg man will serve at least six years in prison for causing a crash in Plum that killed a junior firefighter from Tarentum and his girlfriend’s mother. Edward Leonard Cass III, 27, was convicted on all charges, including two counts of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence....
Police seek help to locate man last seen in Hazelwood
Authorities are seeking help finding a man last seen Tuesday night in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood. Pittsburgh police said Michael Johnson, 26, was wearing a dark green shirt and black pants in the area of Browns Hill Road and he may have been headed to The Waterfront in Homestead. Johnson is...
New York man sentenced for cocaine possession in North Huntingdon traffic stop
A New York man pleaded guilty Wednesday to having cocaine hidden inside a car that police pulled over in North Huntingdon in February. Fernando A. Rivera-Saldivar, 24, of Bronx, was sentenced to six to 23 months in the Westmoreland County Prison, where he has been held since his arrest on...
Franklin Regional grad biking across U.S. to help provide access to clean water
Kara Ingersoll and her family moved all the way across the country only to have her hop a bike and head 3,500 miles back to her hometown of Murrysville. Actually Ingersoll, 21, is part of a six-person team cycling from northern California to New York City, raising money as members...
100 mph chase on Route 28 ends with crash near Fox Chapel
A Pittsburgh man wanted on a warrant was jailed early Wednesday after state police say he led them on a more than 100 mph chase down Route 28 in a stolen vehicle. Jozsef “Joe Ball” Harangozo, 36, was suspected of being “under the influence of controlled substances” as he fled...
Smithton man pleads guilty to punching Westmoreland County Prison guard
A Smithton man pleaded guilty Wednesday to punching a Westmoreland County Prison guard last fall. Timothy D. Ingram, 18, was sentenced to about 4-1/2 months to 23 months on a simple assault charge. He was given credit for time served since his arrest on Feb. 15. Authorities said Ingram threw...
How Wilkinsburg’s Henry Parham survived 68 days on Omaha Beach
It’s hard to say for sure if the 68 days that Private First Class Henry Parham spent on Omaha Beach in 1944 were the most challenging of his life. He grew up working on a Virginia farm in the segregated Jim Crow South during the 1920s and ‘30s. There were...
Two charged with firing guns near Coraopolis police station
Coraopolis police have identified two men who were arrested in connection with gunfire near the police station early Tuesday morning. A third man, who has not been identified, has contacted the department and is expected to turn himself in Wednesday, police said. Nathan John Fishbourne, 29 and Brandon Michael Youngworth,...
Carnegie’s Library Park nearing finish line
Connecting the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, located at the top of a steep hillside, to Carnegie’s business district below has long been a dream for many. The Library Park project includes the addition of a serpentine walkway, new trees and shrubs and 117-feet of mosaic benches. “You...
