Western PA Local News category, Page 2965
Penn Township residents renew pleas for flood relief
Last week’s torrential rain brought a deluge of requests for flood relief from Penn Township residents. More than a dozen spoke at a standing-room-only meeting of township commissioners Wednesday. “Short of building an ark, I’ve got nothing left,” said Melissa Renwick, who lives on Bushy Run Road. Renwick said she’s...
Funeral set for slain Pittsburgh officer Calvin Hall
The funeral for slain Pittsburgh police Officer Calvin Hall is scheduled for Tuesday at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland. Hall, 36, was shot several times while he was off-duty and visiting friends in Homewood early Sunday, police said. He died shortly after noon Wednesday at UPMC Presbyterian. An...
Butterfly programs will flutter in late JulyVideo
Two separate butterfly-related events will happen in the Murrysville area later this month. The first is a July 27 presentation on butterflies and host plants, by Marcy Cunkelman. It will be at 10 a.m. in the wetlands pavilion at Murrysville Community Park, 4056 Weistertown Road in Murrysville. Cunkelman will show...
Lawsuit: Sheetz charged sales tax for bottled water
A Natrona Heights woman is accusing Sheetz of enriching itself by improperly charging a sales tax on bottled water. Jennifer Montgomery filed a class-action complaint against Sheetz in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, alleging she was illegally charged a sales tax on nonflavored mineral water that she bought from two...
Westmoreland bands to jam for childhood cancer foundation
Ed Kelso believes in serendipity. It took a lot of happy coincidences for a dozen local rock bands — including Kelso’s Highway Louie — to come together with a new original album just as the staff at Applebee’s in North Huntingdon was looking for a project for its annual fundraiser...
Murrysville church preps for volunteers to sew Christmas stockings for troops
In 2018, Penn Hills nonprofit Military Connections stuffed and shipped about 11,000 Christmas stockings filled with snacks and supplies to troops stationed across the globe. Roughly 5,000 of them came from a group of volunteers who create the stockings all year long, then come together for a full day of...
Westmoreland commissioners set 2nd public hearing on plan to reduce flooding
Westmoreland County Commissioners will hold a second public hearing Monday ahead of an expected vote on an updated plan designed to reduce flooding. Officials are seeking comments about the new Integrated Water Resources Plan compiled by the Westmoreland County Conservation District and county planners. The public hearing will begin at...
Authorities to discuss whether charges will be filed in toddlers’ drowning deaths, funds being raised
A Uniontown police investigator plans to meet with the Fayette County District Attorney next week to review the results of his investigation to determine whether any charges will be filed in connection with the death of two young boys who drowned in their family’s swimming pool this week. Lt. Thomas...
Latrobe authority proceeds with sewage rate hikes
Latrobe Municipal Authority sewer customers will see an increase in their bills this fall as the authority moves forward with planned rate revisions that were put on hold by a legal dispute with the Unity Township Municipal Authority. According to information posted on the authority website, the billing changes include...
Unity supervisors propose upgrade, wider access at Charter Oak playground
Kids in Unity could gain another place to have summertime fun if the township receives a state grant to update a deteriorating playground in the Charter Oak housing plan. Unity supervisors this week agreed to cooperate with the Charter Oak Civic Association to apply for the project grant and to...
Riverview alum interning for Connect Wolf
A Riverview High School graduate is participating in a Point Park University internship that has him working with a team on a tech start-up “connection company” founded by a professor there. Joshua Jackson, 22, of Springdale joins three other Point Park students as an electrical engineering intern for Connect Wolf,...
Unity board OKs GetGo relocation, to consider new Sheetz
Giant Eagle’s plan to relocate and expand its Unity GetGo store moved a step forward this week. Township supervisors declared the convenience store and gas station an approved conditional use at the new site at Route 30 and Giffin Drive. At a 4 p.m. hearing Tuesday , the supervisors will...
Businesses, residents brace for weekend heat wave
A heat wave that could bring dangerous temperatures and a heat index exceeding 100 degrees has area residents and stores stocking up on fans and air conditioners, and is keeping HVAC companies on their toes. “It’s a nonstop kind of thing right at this moment,” said Chuck Cianciotti, owner of...
Thorn Hill Industrial Park buildings sold to real-estate investor for $14.25M
Two buildings in the Thorn Hill Industrial Park has been sold to a private real-estate investor by the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh-based Elmhurst Groups bought the 45,900-square-foot Commonwealth Manor I building and the 60,300-square-foot Commonwealth Manor II building for $14.25 million, according to RIDC officials. Part...
Taxes going up for homeowners in Carlynton School District
Property owners in the Carlynton School District will pay more in taxes for the 2019-20 school year, as school board members approved a $29.58 million budget that includes a tax rate increase of 0.6815 mills. The increase puts the tax rate at 24.1815 for 2019-20. District residents with property assessed...
New Monroeville Community Park pickleball courts getting active useVideo
A group of people gathered on a recent hot, summer day at the newly paved courts in Monroeville Community Park clad in tennis shoes, headbands and athletic shorts. But they weren’t playing tennis or basketball. Instead, the group of mostly retired seniors split into teams of two to play pickleball,...
Author Peggy Fisher to discuss ‘Daddy Came Home’ at Monroeville Library
A Pitcairn native is scheduled to read from and discuss a book she wrote to memorialize her father, who survived being a prisoner of war during World War II. Peggy Fisher, 70, now living in Grove City, still gets emotional talking about what her father – and countless other soldiers...
Police: 2 charged with endangerment after 3 kids have ‘unexplained’ scars, marks
A Smithton man and woman were charged with child endangerment Thursday after investigators said three children removed from their home last year had “unexplained scars and marks” on their bodies. Mel R. Anastasiu, 41, and Jamie Anastasiu, 39, each are charged with a felony. Mel Anastasiu was arrested in August...
Greensburg bishop to Trump, lawmakers: Fix ‘broken’ U.S. immigration system
Bishop Edward C. Malesic of the Greensburg Catholic Diocese has appealed to Pennsylvania lawmakers and President Donald Trump to solve the nation’s immigration impasse. In a letter dated July 12, Malesic expressed frustration with the continuing immigration “stranglehold” that is causing “tragic and inhumane consequences” for the United States. “I...
Skidmore Road closure extended in Hempfield
Replacement of a 36-inch cross pipe will keep a section of Skidmore Road closed through July 26, PennDOT officials said on Friday. The road will be closed between Morning Dove Lane and Tall Oaks Trail in Hempfield. A marked detour will route drivers along Reamer Avenue, Main Street, Route 30...
Stabbings at Lancaster home leave 1 dead, 2 hospitalized
Authorities say stabbings at a Lancaster home have left one person dead and two others wounded. But it wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the stabbings, which were reported around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. Police responded to a High Street residence and found one person dead in the home. The two wounded...
Murrysville Medic One earns heart association award for 3rd consecutive year
For the third year in a row, Murrysville Medic One officials will receive the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline Gold Plus Award for meeting high benchmarks when it comes to treating heart-attack victims. The Mission: Lifeline awards focus on STEMI or “ST elevation myocardial infarction,” cases — most commonly, heart...
Another alligator found on the lam, this time in Shaler
Well, that “Gatorsburgh” thing is going to keep going. Another alligator, the fourth this year, has been found in the “City of Chompions,” this time in Shaler. The latest was found Friday morning in the parking lot of the Giant Eagle grocery store on Butler Plank Road in Shaler, township...
Summer camp at Sampson Family YMCA in Plum continues
Alex Palumbi spent several summers as a child at the Sampson Family YMCA’s summer camp. She played various games and made friends at the fitness and recreation facility at 2200 Golden Mile Highway in Plum. This year, Palumbi and other counselors oversee the young campers enjoying those same experiences. “I’ve...
Pittsburgh man accused in 2 overdose deaths gets 23 years in federal prison
A Pittsburgh man who authorities said distributed drugs connected to two fatal overdoses was sentenced Thursday to 23 years in a federal prison, according to U.S. Attorney Scott Brady. Justin McBride, 27, will spend six years on supervised release after the prison term on charges of distribution of heroin and...
