The Stroller, Feb. 7, 2025: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. Lower Burrell Citizen Police...
Hempfield’s troubled High Park, West Point fire departments may join forces
High Park Volunteer Fire Department, which has been closed for the past year, is proposing a merger with West Point Volunteer Fire Department. Attorney Kim Houser said members of both departments have been examining the potential to join forces and could file a petition in the coming weeks in Westmoreland...
Lawsuit filed against activists fighting to save Donny’s Place in Pittsburgh
A developer and the estate of the late Donald Thinnes are suing two Polish Hill residents pushing for the historic designation of former Pittsburgh gay bar Donny’s Place. Elizabeth, or Lizzie, Anderson and Matthew Cotter, the defendants named in the lawsuit, have been advocating since early 2024 to thwart the...
Greensburg area restaurants compete for charity in chili cookoff
People are passionate about food. And when the dish can be as diverse as chili, their opinions can get just as spicy as the peppers. “White chicken chili is soup. It’s not chili,” said Brian Root of Greensburg, eliciting an immediate frown from Michelle Havrilesko, who had just finished eating...
Task force arrests 2nd suspect in brutal Aliquippa VFW beating
An Aliquippa man accused of nearly beating a fellow city resident to death inside a Veterans of Foreign Wars lodge was arrested Thursday. Brett Ours, 39, was taken into custody without incident at a home along the 400 block of Allegheny Avenue in West Aliquippa. Aliquippa police charged Ours with...
Search on for missing New Derry man; car found unlocked, police say
State police are searching for a missing New Derry man whose parked car was found Wednesday in Derry Township, three days after he was last seen. State troopers said they don’t suspect foul play in their search for 63-year-old John J. Dofollo. He was reported missing by family members when...
Authorities seize items in drug task force raid at North Huntingdon vape shop
Authorities raided a North Huntingdon vape shop Thursday morning after undercover officers made purchases there of suspected illegal products. Westmoreland County Detective Tony Marcocci said authorities seized large quantities of items containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, in a raid at Star Smoke and Vape on Route 30. The...
Westmoreland County readies for U.S. 250th birthday bash
Fresh on the heels of Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday celebration in 2024, local officials are looking to the forward to the nation’s Semiquincentennial. The celebration will actually begin this spring at Historic Hanna’s Town in Hempfield to commemorate what history experts tout as one of the first signs of U.S....
Westmoreland voters to elect new register of wills for abbreviated term
Westmoreland County voters this year will elect a new register of wills to serve an abbreviated term that runs through the end of 2027. Jon Wian, 43, of Delmont was appointed by Gov. Josh Shapiro and confirmed this week by the state Senate to run the courthouse office where wills,...
Shaler Area parent creates petition for additional safety after gun-related arrest
A Shaler Area parent created an online petition for additional safety measures on Feb. 3 after the district suspended a high school student for bringing a pistol on a school bus the previous week. The 16-year-old suspect was later arrested by Millvale police and turned over to Allegheny County authorities....
North Allegheny senior heads to state championships for advertising design competition
North Allegheny senior Abby Schappert is headed to the state championships for an advertising design competition after claiming victory in the recent district championships. The competition is conducted by SkillsUSA, a career and technical student organization that offers local and national competitions for a variety of vocations. The state competition...
Murrysville area: Blood drive, seed swap and more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Community center to host blood drive The Murrysville Recreation Department will host a Feb. 19 blood drive in partnership with the American Red Cross. It will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Murrysville Community Center, 3091 Carson Avenue. Donors...
Pittsburgh Penguins Black Hockey History game celebrates P.O Joseph, Willie O’Ree
The Pittsburgh Penguins honored the legacy of the organization’s Black players and veteran Black hockey player Willie O’Ree with a portrait by Pittsburgh visual artist Ashanté Josey after the Feb. 4 game against the New Jersey Devils at PPG Paints Arena. Josey painted “Legacy on Ice” in oil and acrylic...
Jury views chilling video showing slain Uber driver’s final fare
The two large monitors in the courtroom showed the split-screen view from Christina Spicuzza’s dashboard camera. On the left, Spicuzza, wearing glasses and a surgical mask, can be seen driving her car the evening of Feb. 10, 2022, talking to her Uber passengers with kindness. “It was nice meeting you,”...
Then and Now: Former Sharpsburg High School still a place for students to thrive
The former Sharpsburg High School, an enormous red brick building along Linden Street, served the borough for decades. It sat along Linden Street, marked by white columns and ornate windows. The district merged in 1970 with Fox Chapel Area, sending students to a new school along Field Club Road in...
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust unveils Arts Landing, a $31M outdoor civic space DowntownVideo
A $31 million outdoor civic space is set to debut next year in Downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, part of an ongoing effort to enhance the Golden Triangle. The 4-acre site, to be known as Arts Landing, will bring 100 new trees, a band shell for outdoor performances, sprawling green space...
Oakmont Council discusses potential food truck, chicken, beekeeping ordinances
A pair of ordinances being considered by Oakmont Council would add some guidelines regarding food trucks, chickens and beekeeping in the borough. The first would allow for food trucks to operate throughout Oakmont, said borough Solicitor Jacob Leyland. The ordinance would permit trucks to be in all zoning districts, but...
Catholic schools showcase their value to community during special week
Three schools in the North Hills celebrated Catholic Schools Week with a series of scholastic and community events. The events Jan. 26 through Feb. 1 were part of annual festivities among Catholic schools throughout the nation. This year’s theme was “Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community.” Blessed Francis Seelos...
South Carolina man accused of killing girlfriend in Rostraver
A mother of three was fatally shot late Wednesday in Rostraver by her live-in boyfriend, according to police. One of three children living at the Route 136 home called 911 around 11 p.m. to report the shooting. Estela Rivera Vasquez, 35, was found in the basement with a gunshot wound...
Monroeville library programs: Eagle talk, chess club, more
The Monroeville Public Library, 4000 Gateway Campus Boulevard, will host the following programs. All events are held at the library unless otherwise noted. Registration is required for some programs at MonroevilleLibrary.org, where a full calendar of upcoming events is posted. • Feb. 15, 10:30 a.m. - Kindergarten Launch Program: The...
Vandergrift weighing $150 increase to rental licensing fee to bolster code enforcement
Vandergrift officials are in near-unanimous agreement that it’s time for a fourfold increase in the local rental licensing fee. Council voted Monday to advertise an ordinance raising the fee, unchanged since its introduction at least a decade ago, from $50 to $200. Landlords are charged for each unit they own....
Greensburg fire officials hope electronic signs will give recruits the message
Greensburg fire Chief Tom Bell wants to try out a new recruitment method — electronic signs. He is planning to buy four signs with a $109,600 state grant that could be installed outside three fire departments and city hall, as long Greensburg officials give the OK. “We picked the three...
Roundup: 2 injured at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works; victim ID’d in Glassport shooting
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Feb. 6: Loud boom heard at Clairton Coke Works An issue with a battery early Wednesday triggered a fire — and an “audible boom” — that injured at least two people at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works plant...
Man dies in West Mifflin house fire
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office Wednesday named the man killed in a house fire earlier that day in a house fire. Bentley Beckinger, 61, was pronounced dead at 11:27 a.m. following a residential fire in the 200 block of Millport Road, the medical examiner said. The fire was first...
Icy conditions — and fog — expected to linger through morning commute
Cold air and icy conditions lingered early Thursday in the Greater Pittsburgh area, triggering meteorologists to extend a winter weather advisory three additional hours — through 10 a.m. Temperatures could reach the upper 40s Thursday but hovered early in the morning around freezing through much of the region. That means...
