Local category, Page 2907
Latrobe man, 82, honored for decades as firefighter, crossing guardVideo
Latrobe Elementary students experienced some major changes this past school year. Midway through the academic calendar, they started attending classes in a new school on Ligonier Street, several blocks away from the building it replaced. Though the surroundings shifted, familiar faces at the school remained — including crossing guard John...
Hempfield beef spread joins farmland preservation program
Westmoreland County’s Heinnickel family has added a new section of its multi-farm holdings to the state’s agricultural conservation easement purchase program. The family’s 39-acre Luxor Farm in Hempfield was among 47 farms, covering 3,561 acres in 21 counties, added this month to the farmland preservation program. The program taps federal,...
First responders interact with kids at Sam’s Club Safety Day in Frazer
About a half a dozen fire trucks Saturday lined up for Safety Day at the Sam’s Club in Frazer Township, drawing more than 200 children and their families, organizers said. Christian Schreckengost, 5, of Leechburg, tried on a fire helmet that engulfed his small head. “It helps kids to see...
Police ask motorists to avoid Piper Road in Allegheny Township due to subsidence
Allegheny Township police are asking residents to avoid Piper road near Route 356 if possible because of continued damage to the road. The road continues to experience subsidence despite efforts to fix it, police wrote in an advisory message for residents signed up with the Nixle.com alert service. The road...
Authorities try to ID parts of human legs found near Susquehanna River
WILLIAMSPORT — Authorities say portions of two sawn-off human legs were found on a central Pennsylvania riverbank last month. The Lycoming County coroner said last week that the legs were found by a fisherman May 11 along the Susquehanna River near the Hepburn Street Dam in Williamsport. Coroner Charles Kiessling...
Former Post-Gazette editor Sally Stapleton now head of AP’s global religion team
Recently-departed Pittsburgh Post-Gazette managing editor Sally Stapleton has been chosen by the Associated Press to lead a new team to report on faith and its worldwide impact. Stapleton, 61, left the PG in April, and it was reported that she was one of the employees in the newsroom during publisher...
Church members undergo active-shooter training in IrwinVideo
With 24 years of Navy service and 13 more in law enforcement, Rodney “Chief” Smith doesn’t mince words or mess around when it comes to firearms training. “Get that finger off that trigger! ” Smith barked at a trainee who wasn’t properly following his step-by-step instructions as a group prepared...
Pittsburgh planning chief Ray Gastil to join CMU faculty
Pittsburgh’s planning chief has changed plans. Ray Gastil, the city’s Planning Director, has accepted a position at Carnegie Mellon University. He will be the David Lewis Director of Urban Design and Regional Engagement in the School of Architecture at CMU, where he will teach architecture and urban design and direct...
McKeesport man suspected in deadly shooting arrested after chase
A 26-year-old McKeesport man suspected of shooting and killing a man dating his ex-girlfriend was arrested early Saturday after leading police on a chase that ended with a crash into a hillside, police said. Marcus Acie-Griffin was charged with homicide, aggravated assault, fleeing police and other charges. Allegheny County police...
Century III Mall will be demolished, redeveloped into mixed-use site
Century III Mall will be demolished to make way for a possible mixed-use development, according to court documents filed Friday in the Western District U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Las Vegas-based Moonbeam Capital Investments LLC, which owns the property, plans to redevelop it over five years, with the design, permitting and demolition...
Murrysville board will continue hearing fracking challenge
The Murrysville Zoning Hearing Board will continue hearing a challenge to the town’s fracking ordinance on Monday night . The citizen group Murrysville Watch Committee challenged the validity of the ordinance last year, and hearings have been ongoing since late November 2018. Murrysville council members voted 6-1 in 2017 to...
A-K Valley Senior Legion baseball teams enter stretch runs
The A-K Valley’s Senior Legion baseball teams continue to move through their league schedules as they enter a busy stretch run to the playoffs. Plum visits Highlands on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Allegheny South action at Highlands High School. Plum enters the game 4-2 overall after a 7-2 win...
Carnegie officials bring career counseling to borough
They come needing help finding work. It could be that they need assistance updating their resume or maneuvering today’s job market. Some have more critical needs: The lack of work has left them in need of food and clothes, just to get by. The Squirrel Hill-based nonprofit Jewish Family and...
Springdale Firemen’s Jubilee kicks off Monday
A fourth generation of Springdale firefighters are among volunteers who will bring to life the nearly 90-year-old Fireman’s Jubilee starting Monday. The fun begins with carnival rides, bingo and a family night emphasis at Veterans’ Field, said Springdale VFD station 273 Secretary Jeannie Harman. It’s the largest annual fundraiser for...
Top stories of the weekVideo
Here are some of the news highlights from around the Lower Valley for the week of June 16: • Etna-Sharpsburg to host first-ever National Night Out. • O’Hara residents can pay to participate in military banner program. • Fox Chapel Area School Board holds taxes steady. • Murals of unsung...
Southmoreland considers selling school; league fears loss of baseball fields
Southmoreland School District is considering selling Ruffsdale Elementary School, which has been closed for more than a decade. That’s a problem for the Southmoreland Youth Athletic Association, which organizes youth baseball games for about 200 kids at the school’s three fields. The association might not be able to find another...
Dollar General to move into closing Latrobe video store
Dollar General is preparing for a move in Latrobe — one that will take it a block and a half from its current location on Ligonier Street to the building at Depot and Alexandria streets soon to be vacated by Family Video. Spokeswoman Angela Petkovic said Dollar General plans to...
2 charged in Harrison cocaine bust
Two Harrison residents were jailed on drug charges after police discovered more than $25,000 worth of cocaine in a home along North Canal Street. Police Chief Mike Klein said officers were responding to a disturbance call Thursday in the township’s Natrona section when they found resident Jervon Faison. He told...
Sen. Toomey lauds Trump for calling off Iran strikes, supports stricter economic sanctions
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey on Friday lauded reports of President Donald Trump’s decision to call off a planned strike on Iran in retaliation for an American drone shot down earlier this week. Toomey said that “it’s commendable that the President’s instinctive approach is to try to avoid an escalation that...
Man stabbed in Pittsburgh dies at hospital
A man was fatally stabbed in Pittsburgh Friday night. Authorities said city police responded to the 2100 block of Perrysville Avenue in the Perry South neighborhood shortly after 7 p.m. and found the victim, 41-year-old Gerald Dwain Walker, inside a residence bleeding heavily with stab wounds to his upper chest....
Western Pennsylvania’s farmers planted early to sneak summer corn past Mother Nature
Western Pennsylvania farmers this year have had to plant crops “between the raindrops.” But despite less-than-ideal planting conditions, area farmers say they expect sweet corn to be available by the Fourth of July. While field corn planting has languished because of the wet weather, produce farmers say they got their...
Pa. jobless rate sets record low; nonfarm jobs at record high
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate remained at a record low level in May, while the number of nonfarm jobs rose to a record high, the state said Friday. The jobless rate remained at 3.8%, the same as in April and the lowest since records were kept dating back to 1976. The unemployment...
Hill District man charged in fatal Homewood shooting
A Hill District man is charged with homicide in connection with the shooting death of a Pittsburgh man nearly three months ago. Geron Anderson, 24, is accused in the killing of Kenneth Baptiste Jr. in Homewood on March 30, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said. Shortly before 1...
Duquesne man pleads guilty to drug offenses
A Duquesne man who is the ex-husband of a former Norwin High School teacher convicted of selling heroin to a police informant on Friday himself pleaded guilty to two drug offenses. Marc Anthony Rodnicki, 39, was sentenced to serve two years on probation for two misdemeanor drug counts in connection...
Mosquito spraying to take place in Scottdale, East Huntingdon
Parts of Scottdale and East Huntingdon will be sprayed for mosquitoes late Monday to reduce the risk of West Nile, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. A truck-mounted sprayer will be used from 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. in the area of Mt. Pleasant Road in Scottdale, and...
