Western PA Local News category, Page 3124
Ed Pfeifer: Mom’s lessons continue to guide, inspire
When my children were young, I loved to tell them stories. I created a cast of characters with funny accents and wild appearances and sent them on comical journeys through weird and interesting places. The kids howled at the stories, the players and the exotic lands in which they lived....
Plum School Board selects Extended Day Services as new before and after school services provider
Plum School District parents will have a new daycare option starting next school year. The school board voted 8-1 Tuesday to approve a three-year deal with Extended Day Services of Upper St. Clair to use district facilities for before and after school services. Sampson Family YMCA has partnered with the...
Hempfield eyes creating one fire chief for its 12 departments
More than 30 days after Hempfield supervisors acknowledged potential issues in the fire department, changes could be coming to the command structure. The goal is to have the township’s 12 volunteer fire departments report to one fire chief. Each station now has is own chief who reports to the Bureau...
Storm water fee proposed for Latrobe property owners
Latrobe is the latest area municipality to consider charging property owners to help meet tougher storm water management mandates. Michael Gray, the interim city manager, wants council members to consider establishing a user fee. A first step, he said, would be an aerial survey to determine an “equivalent residential unit”...
Plum Community Clean-Up Day set for Saturday
Volunteers are wanted for the fourth annual Plum Community Clean-Up Day. The event is 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturday in celebration of Earth Day. Residents, civic groups, church groups and businesses are encouraged to help make the borough free of debris. Assistant borough manager Dave Soboslay said about 100...
Vote to replace Roenigk bus company at Highlands comes up short
The Highlands School Board came up one vote short Tuesday in a move to replace the district’s longstanding bus company, W.L. Roenigk, with a competitor, ABC Transit. The board held a special meeting at the high school Tuesday after a vote to award the five-year contract to ABC Transit was...
Person injured in 2-vehicle crash in Penn Hills
One person was transported to a hospital with injuries sustained in a two-vehicle crash in Penn Hills. Allegheny County dispatchers said two cars collided Tuesday shortly before 4 p.m. at the intersection of Allegheny River Boulevard at Nadine Road. There was no word on any other injuries....
Comcast workers to volunteer at Westmoreland food bank
Local Comcast NBCUniversal employees will volunteer at the Westmoreland County Food Bank in Delmont this weekend in advance of the company’s annual “Comcast Cares Day.” Comcast and Westmoreland County Food Bank volunteers will work together on April 27 to sort food, prepare it for distribution and pack senior boxes, among...
Plum resident will take ‘Hats Off to History’ at Murrysville presentation
Shortly after Jean Kanouff got married, her grandmother took her to a room that had always been locked. “We’d gone to their farmhouse in Mercer County tons of times, but we’d never been allowed in there,” the Plum resident said. “We went in, and she showed me her mother-in-law’s wedding...
2-cent fee proposed for single-use plastic bags in Pennsylvania
Earlier this month, PennEnvironment joined forces with Pennsylvania House Democrats to announce its “Zero Waste PA” package of 13 bills looking to tackle a number of litter and pollution problems. According to PennLive, the proposals range from “creating a 5-cent beverage bottle and can deposit program and raising fines for...
Upper Burrell awaits judge’s OK on redrawn voting districts
Westmoreland County elections officials Tuesday approved a redistricting plan for Upper Burrell that is expected to shorten lines at the polls. The proposal calls for moving the line that separates the town’s two voting precincts several blocks in the Seventh Street and Pleasant Valley Road areas, elections bureau director Beth...
Brewery owners seek ‘clarity and parity’ at beer tax hearing
At a public hearing examining a new beer tax in Pennsylvania, Adam Harris of the Brewers of Pennsylvania made it clear what brewery owners want. “We want clarity. Because of different rules, there is confusion,” Harris said. “I’ve been going around the state talking to our brewers, and they’re very...
Oakmont apartment struck by lightning, no injuries reported
Dave Kalatschoff was shocked when lightning struck his Oakmont apartment on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. “I saw this big white flash, and it felt like someone shook you really, really hard,” he said standing outside the three-story building near the intersection of Eighth Street and Washington Avenue. “I didn’t get...
PennDOT schedules road maintenance in Westmoreland County
PennDOT officials on Tuesday said numerous maintenance projectshave been scheduled for Westmoreland County this week. Crack or joint sealing will take on Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell, Bushy Run Road in Penn Township and Belle Vernon Monessen Road in Rostraver Township. Shoulder repairs will take place on Baker School Road...
Oblock Junior High’s annual Reach Out Club Easter egg hunt packed with participants, eggs
Oblock Junior High’s third annual Reach Out Club Easter egg hunt broke a record for participants and eggs. More than 500 people participated and 6,500 eggs were used in the hunt inside and outside the school at 440 Presque Isle Drive. Children from infants to age 14 were separated into...
Mt. Pleasant Twp. teen races to marry sweetheart after rare cancer returns
The way Brady Hunker figures it, he doesn’t have any time to lose. On Thursday, he asked his high school sweetheart, Mollie Landman, 18, of West Newton to marry him. She said — yes. Although they’re as happy as any newly engaged couple could be, they face an uncertain future....
Latrobe woman sentenced up to five years in prison on drug-related crimes
A Latrobe woman was sentenced Tuesday to serve up to five years in prison on two drug-related crimes. Fallon Handlin, 34, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of drugs last September in Latrobe. According to court records, Handlin was pulled over for a traffic stop when police suspected she...
Feds: Dormont man remanded to prison for blogging hate speech
A Dormont man, who has over the past 15 years been acquitted of murder, praised a convicted cop-killer, left anti-Semitic fliers on cars and twice violated the terms of his federal parole, could again have that parole revoked as he is accused of blogging calls for violence against the Jewish...
Dalai Lama’s personal doctor visits Pittsburgh, teaches mindfulnessVideo
Dr. Barry Kerzin had two questions growing up in California that propelled him to become a family medical doctor, Buddhist monk and personal physician for the 14th Dalai Lama. He hasn’t quite yet answered the first — “Who am I?” — but he’s pretty sure of the second. “To me,...
Westmoreland approves multiple polling location changes for primary
Westmoreland County Elections Board members on Tuesday approved changes to some polling locations for the May 21 primary. Officials moved several polls back into the proper voting districts, allowed for expanded parking and handicapped accessibility and in some instances approved changes in response to requests from landlords who no longer...
Westmoreland County Transit Authority launches mobile ticketing ability
Westmoreland County Transit Authority bus riders can now pay fares via smart phones. Authority officials announced Tuesday a mobile ticketing app has been launched to expand the agency’s ability to accept cashless fares. The app, WestMore Tix, can be downloaded through Google Play or the Apple App Store. Passengers who...
Belle Vernon School District seeks judge’s OK to sell former WCCC building to church
The Belle Vernon Area school officials want permission from a Westmoreland County judge to sell the former community college building in Rostraver to the Monongahela Valley C&M Alliance Church. Attorney Victor Kustra notified the court this week in a petition that Howard Hanna, the school district’s real estate agent, has...
Kiski Area students get real lessons from a real cop
The mood was sober during Allegheny Township police Officer Charity Butz’s presentation Tuesday on the dangers and penalties for driving under the influence for a freshman health class at Kiski Area High School. But the students perked up considerably when they wore goggles that simulate being drunk or under the...
North Huntingdon, Penn Township police to collect unwanted meds
Residents can get rid of old or unwanted prescription drugs at collection points set up Saturday by the North Huntingdon and Penn Township police departments as part of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. North Huntingdon police will have a collection bin at the police station at the Town...
West Mifflin police seek help finding 2 missing teen girls
West Mifflin police are asking for the public’s help finding two missing teen girls. Someone last had contact with Brianna Shumard, 17, on Feb. 24, police said. She is described as having dark or multi-colored hair, and weighing 130 pounds. Bailey Reagan, 15, was last seen between 2 a.m. and...
