Western PA Local News category, Page 3114
McKeesport man accused of flushing grandparents’ ashes down toilet
A 33-year-old Pittsburgh man is accused of flushing his grandparents’ ashes down a toilet after his mother kicked him out of her McKeesport residence. McKeesport police said Thomas Porter Wells of Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood had a falling out with his mother last September after she complained about his drinking and...
South Hills forum will explore ‘The Problem with Plastics’
The Izaak Walton League of America’s Allegheny County chapter will host an April 30 forum that will explore personal and political solutions to the issues plastics recycling has begun to present. “The Problem With Plastics and What We Can Do About It” is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the...
Westmoreland jail guards and staff undergo autism trainingVideo
The ability to recognize symptoms of autism could help guards and staffers avoid potential physical confrontations with inmates who struggle from a disability rather than those who simply misbehave. That was the message relayed over the last two weeks to more than 200 guards and staffers at Westmoreland County Prison...
Pleasant Hills man gets up to 6 years in prison for fatal DUI crash
A Pleasant Hills man pleaded guilty Monday to homicide by vehicle in exchange for prosecutors withdrawing a charge of involuntary manslaughter, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Andrew Lannon, 31, also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence. The plea agreement...
Jury convicts Ross woman in deadly 2017 hit and run
An Allegheny County jury deliberated less than one full day before convicting a Ross woman Monday in the hit-and-run death of a North Hills lawyer. The jury found Melinda Gregor, 30, guilty of leaving the scene and failing to give aid in a vehicle crash involving death or injury –...
Westmoreland County visitor center at New Stanton hopes to drive tourism, repeat tripsVideo
Visitors headed north on Route 119 from the New Stanton exits of Interstate 70 or the Pennsylvania Turnpike have enjoyed a choice of coffee, chocolates or both at two businesses where the Garden Center Restaurant once stood. Now they’re able to learn about a host of other choices the area...
Pennsylvania motorists urged to use caution around farm vehicles
Slow-moving farm vehicles are a sign of spring along Pennsylvania’s rural roads, and state officials are urging motorists to exercise caution. Preliminary crash data from PennDOT shows eight people died in crashes involving farm equipment in 2018, while 693 people were killed in nonfarm-related crashes on rural roads. “Frankly, we...
Pittsburgh’s new North Side fountain dedication set for Thursday
The restoration of the reconstructed historic Northeast Fountain in Allegheny Commons Park in Pittsburgh will be celebrated during a ceremony Thursday evening. The event, which runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., will be held at the corner of Cedar and North Avenues, which intersect the park. In addition to...
Gilpin paving project list developing
Sections of four roads are on Gilpin Township’s improvement projects planned for this spring and summer. The list also includes sealing parts of three other roads, supervisors said. Included is about a half-mile section of Godfrey Road from Stullville Road to Stonegate Drive. Work also is planned along Old Schenley...
Leechburg namesake David Leech to receive Pennsylvania historic marker
David Leech’s innovative network of freight forwarders in the 1800s will be honored with a state historic marker that will be dedicated next month at the Leechburg Area Museum and Historical Society. What is now Leechburg was home to fewer than a dozen families in the 1820s. Most of their...
Early intervention programs target Westmoreland children in need of help
Born at just over 27 weeks gestation, Victoria Zerlin began life with unusual challenges. She spent her first 80 days in the neonatal intensive care unit at University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, where her parents, both Venezuelans, were living at the time. “When she was discharged from the NICU,...
Murrysville Garden Club will host annual plant sale
The Murrysville Garden Club’s annual plant sale will take place May 9-10 at the fireman’s field outside Murrysville Volunteer Fire Company No. 1, 3235 Sardis Road. Hours on May 9 will be 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; hours on May 10 will be 8 a.m.-8 p.m. This year’s sale will have food...
District attorneys’ organization opposes legal recreational pot
The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association has come out against legal recreational marijuana, though it does support decriminalizing possession of small amounts of the drug. Association leaders shared their views with lawmakers at a meeting of the state Senate and House Democratic Policy Committee. “Recreational marijuana is not safe or harmless,”...
McKeesport students can form Black Student Union under settlement
McKeesport Area High School students can form a Black Student Union club under terms of a lawsuit settlement between the school district and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. The students will be allowed to move forward with forming the club within 10 days of submitting an application, according...
Former Unity Bible study teacher sentenced after failed attempt to meet boy for sex
A former Bible study teacher who had raised money for a planned church youth mission to Peru was sentenced Monday to two years in jail for a failed attempt to meet a teen boy for sex. Timothy Myers, 34, of Unity pleaded guilty in January to charges of attempted aggravated...
3 vacant homes burn in Larimer fire
Three vacant homes burned in a fire in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood Monday, authorities said. Fire crews responded about 1:30 p.m. to a house on Meadow Street between Larimer Avenue and Ashley Street, said Public Safety spokeswoman Alicia George. The fire reached three alarms and spread to three houses, all of...
Union members gather in Pittsburgh for Workers’ Memorial Day
Union members gathered in Market Square on Monday for Workers’ Memorial Day, honoring those across the county and the country who died on the job in the past year. “Every seven seconds, a worker is hurt on the job. That accounts for 12,300 men and women every day,” said Darrin...
Newly formed Allegheny Valley Regional Police Commission to begin meeting
The newly formed Allegheny Valley Regional Police Commission will meet Tuesday for the first time since elected officials in Cheswick and Springdale Township approved merging the communities’ police departments. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Springdale Township municipal building, 100 Plate Dr. The four-member commission is...
Police: Almost 30 animals rescued from Hempfield home
State police found almost 30 animals living in poor conditions at a Hempfield Township home, officials said. Seven cats, three dogs, 17 fish and a bearded dragon lizard were taken by Westmoreland County Humane Society officers after police said they observed the uncared for animals and piles of fecal matter...
Pittsburgh Jewish Federation honoring California synagogue victims
The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh is hosting a gathering tonight to remember the victims of the Chabad of Poway synagogue in California. One person died and three were injured Saturday after a 19-year-old gunman identified as John T. Earnest entered the synagogue around 11:20 a.m and opened fire on...
Whole Foods to become anchor tenant of Pittsburgh Penn Plaza development
Whole Foods Market is signing on to be the anchor tenant to a large redevelopment project in East Liberty, officials said. The project’s developer, LG Realty Advisors, made the announcement Monday that Whole Foods has signed a lease to occupy 50,000 square feet of retail space on the ground level...
Troopers look to identify woman accused of keying car at Unity Walmart
State police in Greensburg are trying to identity of a woman accused of keying another woman’s car outside Walmart in Unity during a dispute over a parking space. According to Trooper Daniel Poponick, a woman entered the store’s parking lot about 10:50 a.m. Thursday, located a parking space and then...
Airport authority board member who invested in OneJet resigns
The vice chairman of the Allegheny County Airport Authority board has resigned. Robert Lewis submitted his resignation letter to County Executive Rich Fitzgerald on March 22, stating in the letter that he has found “the political environment surrounding public service to have become toxic.” Lewis could not immediately be reached...
Hearing witnesses recount bloody scene inside North Belle Vernon bar where 3 stabbed
Multiple people Monday recounted a gruesome scene inside a North Belle Vernon bar early March 7 when a Washington County man is accused of stabbing three people. Christopher Chambers, one of the stabbing victims at Just A Tavern on Broad Avenue, told District Judge Charles Christner of Rostraver it took...
Gathering planned at Vincentian Home in McCandless to plant mini ‘food forest’
Several local non-profit organizations are gathering Thursday morning at a senior community in McCandless to plant a mini “food forest” of fruit trees. “Fruit trees are magic. They feed us, provide clean air to breath and bring us together,” said Cem Akin, CEO of the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, which...
