Western PA Local News category, Page 2998
6 shootings in 6 weeks rattle residents in New Kensington, Arnold
Larry Rowe woke shortly after 1:30 a.m. in late May to the piercing sound of back-to-back gunshots on his Arnold block. The 74-year-old retired high school history teacher nudged his wife and headed toward his bedroom window. “I rolled out of my bed, I’m almost to the window, and then...
Longtime pastor of Lutheran church in Harrison retires
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley residents and the notable things that they do. Barbara Ravenstahl felt a calling to become a preacher when women weren’t allowed behind the pulpit. The Lutheran Church in America ordained its first female minister in November 1970....
Cops: Woman scares off man climbing through her bedroom window in Oakland
A woman scared off a burglar who attempted to climb through her unlocked bedroom window in Oakland, according to University of Pittsburgh Police. Police said the woman was at her Oakland Avenue home shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday. She screamed when she noticed the unknown burglar attempting to get in...
Police: Gun fired during Uniontown fireworks show
State police at Uniontown are looking for a man who apparently fired a gun during a fireworks show at Uniontown Mall on Sunday night. Police said no one was injured. A single gunshot was reported during the show just before 10 p.m. Tribune-Review news partner WPXI obtained a video from...
Good things come in small batches at Saxonburg eateryVideo
Two best friends are cooking up success together — one batch at a time. That’s how Batch, a fresh food eatery and retail store in Saxonburg began five years ago — with buddies and business partners Meghan Pohl and Jessica Brewster making their specialty homemade jams and jellies in small...
State delays change to Westmoreland’s paratransit system
A proposed state change local officials said could devastate Westmoreland County’s paratransit system for low income and elderly riders has been delayed. Gov. Tom Wolf late last week signed legislation authorizing a six-month study of the plan approved last year giving oversight of the state’s medical assistance transportation program to...
Westmoreland Historical Society library reopens at new centerVideo
Celebrities may turn to the popular PBS series “Finding Your Roots” for help in tracing their family trees. People from all walks of life who are searching for information about their ancestors can once more take advantage of a local resource — the Westmoreland Historical Society’s Calvin E. Pollins Memorial...
Private Industry Council’s new leader strives to give back to community
Working at the Private Industry Council was the only work Shujuane Martin has known. Fresh out of California University of Pennsylvania where she starred on the basketball court, Martin started her career in 2003 as a caseworker at the tri-county agency based in Hempfield that helps low-income families navigate through...
Hampton business owner remains connected to Beattie Career Center
Hampton business owner and A.W. Beattie Career Center alumnus Jason Boyd is paying it forward. Boyd, 39, hires mostly Beattie graduates for Hampton Mechanical, a commercial HVAC and sheet metal contractor his family founded in 1989. Boyd said graduates of the center in McCandless, which offers programs to students in...
Police search for hit-and-run suspect in East Liberty crash that injured 2
Police are investigating a hit-and-run rollover crash in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood that injured two people and sent one person to the hospital Sunday morning, officials said. Police and medics responded to a report of an overturned vehicle near Penn Avenue and Beatty Street around 10:15 a.m., Department of Public...
Man shot in Carrick in critical condition; police search for suspect who fled
Police are searching for a suspect believed to have shot and seriously injured another man Saturday night in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood, officials said. Officers responded to a report of shots fired in the 1500 block of Amanda Street around 7:45 p.m., Department of Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri said. Police...
Man shot in shoulder walks into Mt. Oliver police station
Pittsburgh police are investigating a possible shooting early Saturday near where Mt. Oliver meets the city’s Carrick neighborhood. A man with a gunshot wound to the shoulder walked into the Mt. Oliver police station around 3:15 a.m., Department of Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri said. He was taken by medics...
Police investigate Liberty Tunnel crash that injured motorcyclist
Police are investigating a two-vehicle crash just outside the Liberty Tunnel that left a motorcyclist in critical condition Friday night. Officials responded to a report of the crash involving a motorcycle and another vehicle around 11:35 p.m. at the tunnel’s south end, Department of Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri said....
Boil-water advisory in effect for Harrison residents through Monday
A boil-water advisory remains in place for residents of Harrison’s Natrona neighborhood at least through Monday. Emergency services officials confirmed late Sunday that the advisory will continue until testing demonstrates that the local water is safe to drink. Residents should boil their water before using for drinking or cooking. Homes...
Route 130 reopens near Pa. Turnpike after motorcycle crash; 1 injured
At least one person was injured Sunday night in a crash involving a motorcycle and another vehicle along Route 130 just east of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, officials said. Officials received a report about 8 p.m. of the incident at Route 130 and Long Drive in Penn Township, a Westmoreland County...
Broken leg ruse in Connellsville emergency room began 52-year relationship
Robert Broderick has no regrets over a ruse more than 50 years ago he and a Connellsville State General Hospital nurse pulled off in the hospital’s emergency room that introduced him to his future wife and “a lifetime of loving memories.” In 1968, Broderick was a cub reporter at The...
North America’s largest moth, cecropia, at Tree Pittsburgh and elsewhere
Larger than a monarch butterfly but residing in the same realm of beauty, cecropia moths with wing spans of 5 to 7 inches are out and if you’re lucky, like the folks at Tree Pittsburgh, you might just spot one. Tree Pittsburgh has a distinct advantage though. The nonprofit tends...
2 children involved in 2-vehicle crash in Derry Township
First responders responded to a two-vehicle crash involving two children Sunday afternoon. A Westmoreland 911 dispatcher said the crash happened around 2:40 p.m. in the 4000 block of Route 982 in Derry Township. The dispatcher said they received a call that the children were “shaken up,” but it’s unclear if...
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church celebrates 60 years in Brackenridge
There was a time, not so long ago, when the congregation of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church had all but disappeared. When the Rev. Frank Yesko arrived in 2011, he didn’t know if they’d end up closing their doors, but he knew he had to try. Now, the church has about...
Penn Hills School District gets $3.3M from state, nixes plan to raise taxes
A last-minute reprieve in the form of $3.3 million in state money has enabled leaders of the debt-ridden Penn Hills School District to scrap a plan to raise taxes for the coming school year. The boost also will allow the district to bring back six teachers and one specialist furloughed...
Troopers seek identity of man who they say threatened clerk with knife during robbery
State police are asking the public’s help identifying a suspect in a daylight robbery Saturday at a Dollar Tree store in Somerset Township. Troopers said a white man between 30- and 40-years-old and about 6 feet tall entered the Somerset Township store on North Center Avenue at 2:10 p.m. and...
Police: Woman stabbed at East Pittsburgh home dies of her injuries
A 22-year-old West Mifflin woman who was stabbed multiple times inside a home in East Pittsburgh Friday has died of her injuries, state police said. Troopers said Octavia Stone died of her injuries at 3:23 a.m. Saturday at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, where she was taken by ambulance after...
Church sex abuse scandal makes newly ordained priests want ‘to be holier’
David Egan is well aware of the stigma attached to priests in the wake of the Catholic Church child sex abuse scandal. “I assume that other people assume things about me, that they’re very suspicious of me now,” Egan said. “If you walk out in public with a collar on,...
Missing Murrysville man with dementia found safe
Authorities on Sunday night found a 72-year-old Murrysville man reported missing the day before, officials said. Murrysville police had asked for the public’s help to locate Robert Ludwig, who has dementia and a history of wandering away from his residence without supervision. Police posted an update to their Facebook page...
Route 981 detour ahead as PennDOT plans to replace Latrobe bridge
A section of Route 981 in Latrobe will be closed for a few days, beginning July 12, so crews can remove a bridge over Unity Run and replace it with a box culvert deck. Route 981 (Lloyd Avenue) will be closed to traffic between Wimmerton Industrial Park and Linden Street....
