Local category, Page 338

A Homestead man died Saturday in the wake of a house fire on West 12th Avenue, officials said. According to Allegheny County Police, 79-year-old Ronald Jenkins was trapped on the second floor when first responders arrived at about 11:20 a.m. in the 100 block of West 12th Avenue. Firefighters got...

Storm clouds and winter temperatures don’t faze Jamie Ganss. The power of tradition brings the Brackenridge woman every year to the corner of Corbet Street and Third Avenue in Tarentum to watch the Tarentum-Brackenridge Christmas Parade. Her annual ritual to kick off the holidays has generated a deeper meaning since...

Allegheny County Police have charged an East Deer woman with bringing an unpermitted handgun to the main security checkpoint at Pittsburgh International Airport. Lynda R. Lee, 61, of Creighton, East Deer, was going through the U.S. Transportation Security Administration checkpoint shortly after 5 a.m. Saturday morning when officers noticed the...

A house fire Friday night on Zandona Street in Plum prompted a large response from fire companies in neighboring communities. The fire was reported shortly before 8 p.m. on the 700 block of Zandona in the borough’s Logans Ferry Heights neighborhood. Logans Ferry Heights Fire Chief Stephen Marsh said the...

Fire drills aren’t just for school students. For the men and women who fight fires on a regular basis, a drill is a chance to test out the logistics of their department’s response, to see what does and doesn’t work and to find out how to adjust emergency procedures. Members...

Pittsburgh Police have charged a man with attempted homicide after they say he shot another man early Friday morning in the city’s Strip District neighborhood. Police were called to the 1100 block of Penn Avenue around 2:15 a.m. for reports of a man brandishing a weapon and threatening people inside...

When Tom Wilson was growing up in North Belle Vernon some 60 years ago, he and his friends would sometimes sneak into the opening of an abandoned mine, searching for fossils or some buried treasure. Fast forward six decades, and Wilson has signed up for a state project to fill...

A retired New Kensington fire truck was expected to leave the city before sunrise Saturday, beginning the first leg of a journey to its new home in Florida. Steve Vinson, 73, a retired pharmacist, bought the 1980 American LaFrance through an online auction with a bid of $6,800. He flew...

While a collector has taken an old fire truck off New Kensington’s hands, firefighters and officials in Arnold are struggling to replace their 30-year-old engine. Arnold has $225,000 from federal grant funding set aside to buy a new truck, according to Rick Rayburg, the city’s community development director. But a...

Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Follow the Stroller on X at @VNDStroller. HOPE Center accepting household...

Harrison’s Ashley Griffin said she will be devastated if the Highlands Family Center in Tarentum is forced to cut programs. The East Fourth Avenue facility is a one-stop shop for children and adults, providing services that include a diaper bank, food pantry, financial counseling, story times and employment assistance. The...

Some Greater Latrobe School Board members want to move forward with seeking proposals for replacing the junior high roof. Others first want to see an updated district facilities presentation from consultant SHP. It remains to be seen what opportunities the public may have to hear that presentation after it was...

Allegheny County Police have charged a 17-year-old boy who is accused of writing a threatening note that disrupted operations at Chartiers Valley School District on Friday. District officials reported on the Chartiers Valley website that students would learn remotely on Friday and that after-school activities were canceled “out of an...

Soaring more than two stories high, a new art installation will transform Mellon Square Park. “Aurora: Illuminating the Holiday Magic of Mellon Square Park” in Downtown Pittsburgh will debut on Light Up Night at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Aurora refers to arches of light, which is fitting. “It was amazing...

More than a year after it was approved, Tarentum’s second megawatt billboard is finally expected to light up the borough’s western side. Weleski Transfer along West Fourth Avenue got the go-ahead from council to erect an electronic sign, 14 feet tall by 48 feet wide. “We’re excited it’s moving along,...

Andrew McCutchen will join 180 volunteers helping to package and deliver more than 2,000 Thanksgiving meals across Pittsburgh as part of an event called Yinzgiving. “It means a lot that we’re able to participate in something like this,” McCutchen told TribLive on Friday. “It’s giving; it’s helping; it’s being a...

Construction of restrooms at Springdale Junior-Senior High School will be contained to the auditorium lobby area. In a consensus poll of Allegheny Valley School Board members, eight members agreed to that concept as presented by Terry Thompson of the Foreman Group, the design and construction services firm hired by the...

State police are looking for help from the public to identify a man who they say took a woman’s wallet from the Hempfield Walmart store and lied to her that he had it. Troopers said the woman used the self checkout at 10 p.m. Nov. 13 when she forgot her...

A West Newton auto shop is facing criminal charges after state police said employees there were putting inspection stickers on vehicles they didn’t actually inspect, according to court papers. When a state trooper visited Martinelli Auto Service in August for an audit, he reported seeing two vehicles with new inspection...

Pittsburgh Public Safety will have a strong presence at the city’s Light Up Night celebration Downtown Saturday. More than 100 police officers will be deployed throughout the area, and the bomb squad will perform protective sweeps ahead of events, officials said Friday. The police bureau’s motorcycle and mounted units will...

Santa made an early appearance Nov. 20 in Penn Hills with a special visit to the Berkshire Hathaway office on Frankstown Road. Staci Rullo of Penn Hills invited the public to her real estate office for free photos with Santa and cookies. “We have been doing this for many, many...

Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood is vibrant — but it also has the lowest life expectancy rate in the city at less than 65 years old. The statistics can stigmatize the neighborhood, according to data experts. While there is currently no explanation for the disparity in Larimer, causes will be investigated in...

A proposed real estate rate tax increase of 0.3 mills in Franklin Park for 2025 will be voted on at a special meeting at 7 p.m. Dec. 4 at the municipal building on West Ingomar Road. Borough council will consider the increase with the adoption of the 2025 budget. The...

A former supervisor is the newest member of West Deer supervisors in District 1. The supervisors appointed Jeffrey D. Fleming to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Vernon Frey, who left the board because of a change in residence. “He (Frey) is still in the township, but has...

A Chicago woman who cooperated with Westmoreland County prosecutors in relation to charges stemming from an organized catalytic converter theft ring believed the case against her was going to be dropped, her attorney said Friday. But when Maria Padilla, 39, arrived for a hearing, she learned otherwise, said attorney Samir...