Western PA Local News category, Page 3148
Penn Hills School District financial recovery plan nearly complete, details not released
A plan to bring the financially struggling Penn Hills School District back in the black is nearing completion. State financial recovery officer Daniel Matsook has been working with a special advisory committee to craft the extensive plan the past few weeks. It is expected to be submitted to the state...
House destroyed in 2-alarm fire in Robinson
A home was destroyed after a two-alarm blaze late Wednesday in Robinson, Police chief Tim Westwood said. Firefighters from Robinson and Kennedy townships responded at 10:04 p.m. to the fire along the 100 block of Field Club Drive. “From what we could see, the roof was completely destroyed,” Westwood said....
Registration open for Greensburg Easter Egg hunt
Registration is open for Greensburg’s largest-ever Easter Egg hunt. Volunteers will hide 30,000 eggs around St. Clair Park, 10,000 more than last year. The free event begins at 11:15 a.m. April 20 and is open to kids ages 1-12. Participants will be divided by age, with the youngest children getting...
Greensburg Salem approves $500,000 in capital projects
The Greensburg Salem School Board has approved a slate of improvement projects at its middle school and Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary at a cost of just over $500,000. A new handicap-accessible entrance to the administrative offices at the middle school will cost $57,000. The contract was awarded to Vince Building...
Penn Hills High School students earn awards at state competition
Penn Hills High School’s Odyssey of the Mind team recently earned awards at a statewide competition. Students in the group were Chloe Campbell, Sophia Corona, Logan Depew, David Lubawski, Zoeie Morgan and Katie Russell. They competed against other schools in the Pennsylvania State Odyssey of the Mind Association’s state finals...
Irwin to fix Caruthers Lane landslide
A landslide on Caruthers Lane in Irwin needs to be fixed before the road sustains more damage that could lead to closing it while it is being repaired, an engineer told borough officials this week.. The crack in Caruthers Lane, which has occurred above the Norwin Public Library, has expanded...
Farrell crack dealer sentenced to 10 years in federal prison — again
A Farrell crack dealer was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer imposed the sentence on Henry Bruce, 39, federal prosectutors announced Wednesday. It’s the second time that Bruce was busted and received a 10-year sentence. He was also ordered to serve an eight-year...
Pittsburgh Technical College officials select 30-year veteran as its president
Pittsburgh Technical College officials tapped a Baltimore native as their president. Alicia B. Harvey-Smith, executive vice chancellor of Lone Star College in Houston, was named the new head of the technical school in Oakdale. She has 30 years of experience in leadership, strategic planning, enrollment management, government and corporate partnerships...
Stowe Township shooting victim identified
A man shot multiple times in Stowe Township on Wednesday has died, according to the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office. Bradley Lucier, 23, of McKees Rocks, was shot shortly before 6:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of Dohrman Street. The county homicide unit was called to investigate the incident during...
Armstrong County offers grants for repairs to owner-occupied homes
Armstrong County is offering grants for repairs to owner-occupied homes with residents who meet income guidelines and are in need of health and safety related improvements. Repairs could include electrical upgrades, flooring, windows and doors. Applications are due at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 18. Residents can get applications from...
Theft, criminal mischief cases among recent Monroeville police investigations
Monroeville police filed the following charges April 5-10 in District Judge Jeffrey L. Herbst’s office:Abdelazim Hagar, 19, of Pittsburgh with retail theft and defiant trespasser. Charges were filed April 5 in connection with an incident along the 3600 block of William Penn Highway. Joseph Grubor, 25, of Monroeville with defiant...
Drug, DUI cases among those recently handled by Judge Herbst in Monroeville
Monroeville District Court Judge Jeffrey Herbst handled these cases recently. Defendants will have court dates set in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. Charges were filed by Monroeville police unless otherwise noted. Waived preliminary hearingsPhillip Ahmad-Revis, 18, of Penn Hills on charges of possession of controlled substances and possession...
Brother Norman Hipps stepping down as Saint Vincent College president
Brother Norman Hipps plans to step down as the 17th president of Saint Vincent College in June, at the end of his ninth year in the role. Hipps, 75, was first affiliated with the Catholic liberal arts and sciences college in Unity in 1972, when he joined the faculty as...
Co-defendant in McKeesport slayings pleads guilty to third-degree murder
A McKeesport man was sentenced to 10 to 40 years in prison Wednesday in connection with the shooting deaths of two women in 2017. Miras Moortell Kelly II, 21, pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, burglary and a firearms violation,...
Texas man sentenced to time served in North Belle Vernon crash
A Texas truck driver was paroled Wednesday after he was sentenced to serve up to 23 months in jail related to a crash and house fire that damaged a North Belle Vernon home last year. Nathaniel Smyth, 27, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and causing property damage...
Tarentum man charged with child endangerment in swimming pool incident headed to court
The lawyer for a Tarentum man whose 2 1/2-year-old daughter was found unresponsive in a home swimming pool last month described the situation as a “very bad accident” and said his client did everything he could to try to help her. “I don’t see this rising to the level of...
Police: Pittsburgh man caught stealing items from unlocked cars in Buffalo Township
A Pittsburgh man suspected of rifling through unlocked cars early Monday was arrested as he drove from the scene, Buffalo Township police said Wednesday. At about 3:15 a.m. Monday, Patrolman John Gillette said spotted a figure in dark clothes going through items in a black Nissan sedan that was parked...
Jeannette woman facing murder trial pleads guilty to theft from Westmoreland Co. Housing Authority
A Jeannette woman awaiting trial in a murder case pleaded guilty Wednesday to unrelated theft charges. Crystal Belle, 39, was charged nearly four years ago with financial crimes related to checks police said she forged to steal money from the Westmoreland County Housing Authority. It was while she was free...
Surf’s up? Township wants to buy, reopen historic Ligonier Beach
Ligonier Township hopes to resurrect the iconic Ligonier Beach property. Supervisors voted unanimously this week to make an offer to buy the private pool and restaurant off Route 30 from Sherry and Steven Kozar. The Ligonier couple could not be reached for comment. The pool had operated for more than...
Lawsuits against Pittsburgh mounting following passage of gun legislation
Second Amendment advocates filed two more lawsuits contending Pittsburgh’s gun ban violates the Pennsylvania Constitution and are seeking to have Mayor Bill Peduto and six city council members held in contempt. The suits were filed Tuesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court by attorney Joshua Prince on behalf of multiple...
Report: Natural gas surpasses coal for electrical power generating capacity
Combined-cycle natural gas power plants like the one that opened in South Huntingdon in December are tipping the scales of U.S. electrical power capacity more toward natural gas and away from coal, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. The EIA said that generating capacity from natural gas-fueled power plants...
‘CHOPeration’ pairs doctors, chefs to create liver-healthy cuisine
Paul Morrison, culinary consultant for Sysco Foods Pittsburgh, was all set to cook a beautiful dish at last year’s “CHOPeration” fundraiser, where doctors are paired up with local chefs in a competition style after Food Network’s popular “Chopped” series. But when Dr. Amit Tevar of the Starzl Transplantation Institute arrived...
Statewide ‘Stronger Than Hate Day’ established for Tree of Life synagogue victims
An official “Stronger Than Hate Day” was established in Pennsylvania during a joint legislative session that honored the victims of the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. It’s just the third joint legislative session held in the last 78 years. The last time the two chambers of...
Brother of Penn Hills woman killed in 1973 calls cold case arrest ‘bittersweet’
Michael Pietropola was 11 when his sister Janice was killed while vacationing in Virginia Beach. Her death hit the family hard, Pietropola, now 57, told the Tribune-Review in a telephone interview Wednesday from his home in the Atlanta suburb of Johns Creek, Ga. “It was beyond words to describe the...
Burned-out bulb led to drug charges in North Apollo, police say
An Indiana County man accused of having drugs in a car that police said they pulled over in North Apollo because it had a burned-out license plate light is headed to trial. Jacob Shane Penrose, 31, of Clune, appeared for a preliminary hearing Wednesday before District Judge James Andring in...
