Local category, Page 3043
Westmoreland County schools score nearly $1.4 million in state security grants
Pennsylvania awarded $40 million in new school safety grants, with 10 Westmoreland County school districts, two Career and Technical Centers and the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit among 234 recipients sharing in the largesse. State lawmakers established the competitive grant program in the wake of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting...
Police believe 2002 Saturn sedan responsible for Penn Hills hit-and-run death
Police believe the car that hit, dragged and killed a Penn Hills man last week was a silver blue 2002 Saturn SL or SL2, Allegheny County officials said in a news release Thursday. Joseph Morris, 51, was found dead by police along Universal Road in Penn Hills after Allegheny County...
Shaler man pleads guilty to raping 5-year-old boy he was babysitting
A Shaler man has pleaded guilty to raping a 5-year-old boy he was babysitting. Dylan McKinney, 27, will spend between seven and 14 years in jail followed by 10 years supervised probation on the rape charge in exchange for the dismissal of some of the related criminal counts he faced,...
Freeport Area OKs proposed tax hike of about 3%, final vote in June
By a one-vote margin, Freeport Area School Board approved a proposed 2019-2020 budget raising taxes to the state-mandated limit. The result would be a 3% or $62 annual increase in real estate taxes on an Armstrong County property with a median assessed value of $32,465. In Butler County, taxes on...
New Penn Hills Library director wants to get a good read on community
After more than a year of searching, Penn Hills Library has found a new director. Tina Zins, 34, of Export began in her new post May 13 for a salary of $70,000. Zins was appointed to the role in April. Zins will replace Mary Ann Zeak, who served as the...
Lane restrictions on Butler Street Bridge in Etna expected to last 5 weeks
Heavy traffic tangles are expected in Etna during a bridge construction project scheduled to begin Monday. Crews from Alison Park Contractors will repair the bridge dam and sidewalk near the Butler Street Bridge over Pine Creek. Cost of the project was not yet released. The work is part of a...
‘Todo Tango’ coming to Tarentum’s Central Presbyterian Church
Do the tango with mom on Sunday. “Todo Tango,” a performance of tango dance music and songs featuring Warren Davidson on violin, Tom Roberts at the piano and mezzo-soprano Raquel Winnica Young is happening at 4 p.m. on Mother’s Day at Central Presbyterian Church in Tarentum. It’s the last concert...
Billboard firm appealing Tarentum’s denial of digital signs near bridge
An advertising company is challenging a Tarentum official’s decision to quash the firm’s plans to put up a digital billboard at the end of the Tarentum Bridge. The borough’s zoning hearing board is scheduled to hear Oliver Outdoor’s appeal this month. The Butler-based company is appealing zoning officer Anthony Bruni’s...
O’Hara community center cuts summer hours
Lauri Ann West Community Center will adjust its hours for summer beginning May 24. The site along Powers Run Road in O’Hara will shorten hours Fridays through Sundays because usage drops significantly, officials said. “Our member’s preferences change during the warm summer months,” Jamie Rhoades, director of development, said. “People...
Almost 40 businesses raising money for woman injured in Hempfield crash
Local businesses have joined a growing effort to raise money for Cait Tracy, who was injured in a car crash Sunday night that killed two other passengers. What started as a fundraiser at the Hempfield location of Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard has spread to almost 40 restaurants and...
Police: Facebook friend request led to beating of New Stanton woman
A Pittsburgh man who police said befriended a New Stanton woman on Facebook is accused of beating her and stealing her laptop and notebook, according to court papers. Brian Craig Wilkinson, 45, of the city’s Greenfield neighborhood, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the March 25 incident. He was being...
Apple Hill seeks students for theater apprenticeship program
Apple Hill Playhouse officials are looking for high school students interested in theater for their apprenticeship program, which begins in June and runs through August. “What we want to do is give them as much experience working in the theater as we can,” said Vince D’Angelo, who manages the apprenticeship...
Cops: Man who fought North Huntingdon police had empty stamp bags, suboxone
A Trafford man accused of fighting North Huntingdon police in a convenience store parking lot this week is also charged with possessing 176 empty stamp bags, a package of Suboxone and hypodermic needles, according to court documents. Michael J. Lapaglia, 29, of Trafford was ordered held in the Westmoreland County...
Attorney for Turtle Creek man seeks to try 2 overdose death cases separately
It would be unfair for an Allegheny County man accused in two 2017 drug overdose deaths to have one trial for both cases, his attorney argued Thursday. Demetrius Bernard Christmas, 30, of Turtle Creek, is seeking to have separate trials in connection with the deaths of Paul Lucas, 21, of...
4 Armstrong County drug task force members on leave after money goes missing
Four members of Armstrong County’s Narcotics Enforcement Team (ARMNET) are on administrative leave while the district attorney investigates $300 missing in a drug case. The issue surfaced last week during First Assistant District Attorney Jared Trent’s preparation for the jury trial of a Kittanning man on drug charges. Trent found...
Massive Etna fire likely destroyed rare, exotic cars worth millionsVideo
Moments after he realized the STORExpress building in Etna was ablaze, Ross Godber’s only thought was to try to save the cars. Godber, 42, of Indiana Township was working on a rare Bentley at his business, Victory Garage, which rents space inside the building. He was on the ground beneath...
Hempfield man sentenced to state prison in marijuana operation
A Hempfield man who police said had more than 50 pounds of marijuana at his home was sentenced Thursday to one to three years in a state prison. Nickolas Boyd Hobaugh, 28, pleaded guilty to several drug offenses in two cases. He was ordered to forfeit $16,720 that police confiscated...
North Park bald eagles suffer empty-nest syndrome
The bald eagles at North Park, likely the first pair to nest in an Allegheny County park, didn’t produce any young this season, wildlife officials said. The Pennsylvania Game Commission confirmed recently there are no chicks in the nest. “There have been sightings of both parent birds leaving the nest,”...
Fox Chapel Area taxes expected to hold steady
Fox Chapel Area School District residents are not likely to see a tax increase in 2019-20 after the board approved a proposed budget on May 6. The $103 million spending plan is expected to be approved during a final vote on June 10. Property taxes would remain the same, at...
West Penn Power restores electricity in Allegheny, Westmoreland after outage
A broken switch Thursday at a West Penn Power substation knocked out service to more than 7,000 utility customers in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. More than half of impacted customers had power restored by 11 a.m., according to the FirstEnergy website. Power to all customers was restored by 2:30 p.m....
Guffey Road section closed for landslide repair in North Huntingdon
A section of Guffey Road in North Huntingdon has been closed as PennDOT crews work on landslide repair. Guffey is closed between Turner Valley Road and Mickanin Road. The closure will last about two weeks, weather permitting. Drivers coming from Irwin will turn left onto Mickanin Road and travel out...
Memorial Day car show will benefit veterans, children’s charities
A Memorial Day car show at Mother of Sorrows Church will raise money for local veterans and children affected by cancer. The show will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 27 at the church, located at 4202 Old William Penn Highway, Murrysville. Proceeds will go to the Veterans...
Sewickley Academy softball to find out playoff matchup
The Sewickley Academy softball team will discover its playoff fate Thursday when the WPIAL releases the playoff brackets for all six classifications. The Panthers finished second in Section 1-1A with an 8-2 record. Their only two losses came at the hands of section champion Union (10-0). Bishop Canevin (6-4) finished...
Pennsylvania awards $1M to small businesses for energy-saving projects
Twenty-six Southwestern Pennsylvania small businesses have received state grants to help them cut energy waste and expenses. The grants — including 14 in Allegheny County and nine in Westmoreland — were part of nearly $1 million in funding awarded Wednesday by the state Department of Environmental Protection through its Small...
1 dead in motorcycle crash along Parkway North
A Wexford man died after he crashed his motorcycle on the Parkway North early Thursday. He was identified as Douglas J. Regrut, 28, by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. The crash was reported just before 1 a.m. at mile marker 12.7 in Franklin Park. State police at the Moon...
