Western PA Local News category, Page 2976
Tarentum Bicycle Safety Rodeo passes out free helmets, bikes, safety message
Some Tarentum kids were on a roll Saturday. Youngsters lined up at the Tarentum marina to learn about bike and public safety at the inaugural Tarentum Bicycle Safety Rodeo. As part of the program, they received free bike helmets and bicycle tune-ups. The event was sponsored by the borough’s special...
Kurt Vile to play Hartwood Acres
Kurt Vile to play Hartwood Acres Hartwood Acres will host a concert on July 21 by Kurt Vile, with special guest Cate Le Bon. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. Most of the summer shows at the park amphitheater are free. The Allegheny County-owned park is at 4070 Middle Road,...
Harmar drug activity down due to visible police presence, chief says
Harmar police Chief Jason Domaratz said a visible police presence is curtailing drug activity at the township’s hotels. “I would say within the last year, from what I’ve seen, it’s went down a lot from what we had,” Domaratz recently told the Tribune-Review. “I think a big part of that...
Video: Top stories of the week
Here are some of the news highlights from around the Lower Valley for the week of July 7: • Torrential rain closes roads throughout Lower Valley. • UPMC St. Margaret earns 3rd Magnet designation. • Indiana Township road closes for 4 months. • Residential development OK’d near Beechwood Farms. For...
Birthdays, anniversaries celebrated by family, friends
Jewel Keisling of Collier celebrated her 91st birthday on July 4. She is mom to Cheryl Hillen and Chris Keisling. Grandchildren include Crystal Mongelli, Holly Cochran, the late Jesse Hillen and Casey Keisling. Great-grandchildren are Karlee Kovacs and Cole Cochran. Jewel celebrated her birthday at home with her family. Happy...
State police prepare to host Sunny Day Camp for children, adults with special needs
The state police’s annual Camp Cadet summer program offers children a chance to meet and interact with law enforcement. A few years ago, a trooper in the Lancaster area decided that opportunity should also extend to children and adults with special needs or disabilities, and the Sunny Day Camp program...
Lower Burrell woman’s story personifies failures in Medicaid waiver program
Fran Morgante brushed back her mother’s hair tenderly as she offered the tiny elderly woman a drink of water on a hot June day. Vilma Morgante, who celebrated her 100th birthday June 21 in her Lower Burrell home, never asked much of the world. Her one desire: to die in...
Pittsburgh police use ladder to rescue woman held hostage during domestic
Pittsburgh police used a ladder Saturday afternoon to rescue a woman who was being held hostage by her boyfriend in a Brighton Heights house, according to the Public Safety Department. Officers pulled the woman, who was not identified, from a second-floor window. Marc Vrane, 47, assaulted the woman and refused...
Water task force rescues 3 kayakers from Kiski River
An Armstrong County river rescue team pulled three kayakers out of the swollen Kiski River on Saturday afternoon after they got hung up in submerged trees in Leechburg and their kayaks sank. Joe Clark, divemaster with Armstrong County Water Rescue Task Force , said a mother and her two daughters...
First riders give Kennywood’s Steel Curtain rave review
Julie Walsh can tell her grandchildren she rode Kennywood’s new Steel Curtain roller coaster with her husband Saturday morning in the front seat on the first trip open to the public. Her hands were still shaking 10 minutes later. “I held his hand going up that hill,” she said of...
Brownstown Road in North Huntingdon reopened
Brownstown Road in North Huntingdon was reopened Saturday afternoon. The roadway had been shut down for two days as cleanup crews worked to repair damage caused from a tree felled during Thursday’s heavy rains. Township officials said a portion of the road was closed off to traffic near the municipal...
Ligonier Wiffle Ball tourney raises thousands for diabetes research
Joe Ladisic knew he had to be in Ligonier on Saturday to pay tribute to his wife, Rachael, who died in May after a lifetime battle with Type 1 diabetes. With his wife’s name emblazoned on his chest, Ladisic, 35, of Greensburg threw the first pitch in a fundraising effort...
Motorcycle driver dies in early-morning crash in Pittsburgh
A Pittsburgh man was killed early Saturday when the motorcycle he was riding crashed in Lawrenceville, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Jason Hainesworth, 33. A spokesman for the Pittsburgh Public Safety Department said the accident occurred at Butler Street and...
Summerfest will offer horse rides, music, kids’ carnival in Cook Township
Live music, a petting zoo and activities for kids are planned at the annual Summerfest, scheduled for Aug. 3 at an equine-assisted therapy center in Cook Township. The event is set to run from noon to 7 p.m. at the Ligonier Therapeutic Center, 24 Stom Road. Horse rides and hay...
5 things to know before you ride Kennywood’s Steel Curtain
Kennywood’s Steel Curtain opens to the public Saturday, but a lucky few got a sneak peek at the park’s newest coaster the day before. The ride climbs 220 feet before speeding through nine inversions and hitting speeds around 75 mph all in about two minutes. Kennywood claims it is the...
Greensburg group holds protest against planned ICE raids on illegal immigrantsVideo
As she stood at a candlelight vigil in Greensburg on Friday to protest the treatment of immigrants in detention centers along the Mexican border, Sister Colette Hanlon recalled seeing federal agents dropping off busloads of exhausted parents and young children at the pastoral center in El Paso, Texas, where the...
The Week: North Hills
Here are some of the news and features in the North Hills from the past week. For more details on these and other stories, follow the links below or see the North Hills section on Triblive.com: • Pittsburgh diocese alerts Vatican to alleged inappropriate child contact by North Hills deacon...
New director of public works and parks starts in Lower Burrell
Lower Burrell has a new director of public works and parks after the city’s longtime public works foreman moved on. Jeff Fleming, the city’s director of public works and parks, will earn $82,000 annually and started July 8. The former foreman, Scott Johnson, resigned to take a job in Colorado....
Sharpsburg and Cooper-Siegel libraries offer programs
Sharpsburg Activities at Sharpsburg Community Library can be registered for by calling 412-781-0783. • Stories at lunch, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. July 22. Meet at Family Worship Center, 200 Eighth St. Get a free book to keep. • Green Grocer, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. July 22. Buy fruits, vegetables and...
Homestead man wanted for questioning in borough homicide apprehended
A Homestead man wanted for questioning in connection with a homicide there was taken into custody Friday after he was found hiding in an apartment, police said. Rahim Thomas, 24, was found in the rafters of a basement at an apartment at 118 W. Eighth Ave. in Homestead following a...
2020 hopefuls using Pittsburgh as early campaign backdrop
From old steel mills to sleek technology parks, the Pittsburgh region likely has the backdrop presidential candidates are looking for as they pitch their platforms to the nation’s voters, according to political strategists. Western Pennsylvania’s large populations of veterans, seniors, union workers and students could give aspiring presidential candidates an...
Westmoreland food bank seeks to expand ‘senior food box’ programVideo
Hunger-Free Pennsylvania Executive Director Sheila Christopher is happy 1,300 Westmoreland County seniors take advantage of the food boxes available each month through the group’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program, or CSFP. Unfortunately, it represents only 10% of the county’s eligible seniors, and Christopher, along with county food bank CEO Jennifer Miller,...
Husband of woman who embezzled $13 million from North Side firm found guilty of lying to IRS
A federal jury in Pittsburgh found a Clearfield County man guilty of lying to the Internal Revenue Service about his income while he and his wife blew millions of embezzled dollars on luxury boats, cars, designer handbags, vacations and gambling, federal prosecutors said Friday. Gary E. Mills, who resides in...
Macy’s Ross Park Mall hosts a family-friendly event
Macy’s in Ross Park Mall is one of 36 stores to have “Outdoor STORY,” a collaboration between Dick’s Sporting Goods and Miracle-Gro. This venture, which runs through September, offers an outdoor-inspired playground that places a focus on entertaining, bringing the outside indoors, as well as recreational activities, according to a...
4-state Whiskey Rebellion Trail launches in Pittsburgh
A multi-regional Whiskey Rebellion Trail some 225 years in the making launched in Pittsburgh’s Strip District on Friday. The trail includes 75 craft distilleries and cultural institutions in the greater Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas, showcasing the spirits producers of the Mid-Atlantic. The trail owes its inspiration to...
