Western PA Local News category, Page 472
Jeannette puts wheels in motion to replace 21-year-old dump truck
Jeannette council is expected to vote Thursday on the purchase of a new dump truck, but it likely won’t be available until next winter. “The need for replacing this 5-ton truck is a necessity now,” said city manager Ethan Keedy. Mayor Curtis Antoniak said the truck is 21 years old....
More shelter beds allow officials to be proactive in shutting Pittsburgh homeless camps
Often when officials decide to tear down Pittsburgh homeless camps, it’s because serious problems have cropped up. Sometimes it’s the presence of violent crime. In other cases, the location proved to be dangerous, or officials discovered major drug problems. But when city and county leaders recently decided to tear down...
Lawyers give closing arguments to jury in Jordan Brown civil trial
It’s not about whether it was a perfect investigation. It’s not about guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or determining who actually killed Kenzie Houk and her unborn baby on Feb. 20, 2009, inside a Lawrence County farmhouse. Instead, the attorney representing the Pennsylvania State Police said Wednesday morning, all the...
Proposed Bon Air reconfiguration is ‘using the building space better,’ Burrell superintendent says
Bon Air Elementary School can accommodate Burrell School District’s fourth grade students without any additional classrooms when Stewart Elementary closes next year. And, according to Superintendent Shannon Wagner’s proposal, all six kindergarten classes could be located on the basement floor of Bon Air, as well as a speech classroom, for...
Latrobe OKs hikes for real estate transfer tax, gaming device fee
Latrobe has agreed to increase its real estate transfer tax and the annual fee it charges for some mechanical devices as city officials continue to fine-tune the proposed $7.4 million 2025 budget. Council members this week unanimously backed City Manager Terry Carcella’s proposal to double the realty transfer tax to...
Monroeville approves 1st property tax hike in a decade with 2025 budget
Monroeville Council reduced an anticipated 2-mill tax hike to 1.5 mills in passing its 2025 municipal budget on Tuesday. Council voted 5-2 to raise property taxes from the current 4 mills to 5.5 mills. Councilmen Bill Krut and Mike Adams voted no. The $41.3 million budget does not change the...
Westmoreland happenings: Cookie walk, lunch with Santa, Advent Mass, more
Christmas Events • Charter Oak Church, 100 S. Second St., Jeannette, will host a free open house and Christmas Family Fest from 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 14 at church. There will be music, refreshments, an outdoor firepit, games and prizes. Details: Cindy, 724-527-3639. • A free Lunch with Santa...
Major upgrades to be completed next year at Jeannette’s Ebara Elliot Energy, company says
Ebara Elliot Energy is undergoing major electrical upgrades at its U.S. headquarters in Jeannette. Once work is completed next year, Ebara Elliott Energy will be able to test compressors and electrical equipment up to 100 megawatts, placing its testing capacity among the largest in the world, said company spokeswoman Meagan...
Hempfield Area police chief set to retire, former Jeannette police chief to take his place
After a decade serving as police chief for Hempfield Area School District, Len Lander will retire from his post. Former Jeannette police Chief Shannon Binda will take the reins in the new year, following a vote by the school board Monday. Lander was a state police trooper from 1991 to...
Medical examiner: Deaths of Mt. Lebanon woman, daughter found dead in South Park ruled murder-suicide
The deaths of a Mt. Lebanon woman and her daughter who were found dead in their car in June has been ruled a murder-suicide. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office released the findings late Tuesday into its investigation into the deaths of 43-year-old Serena Guan and her 10-year-old daughter, Abigail...
Morning Roundup: 1 injured in Knoxville shooting; McKeesport fire displaces 5
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Dec. 10: 1 injured in Knoxville shooting A man in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood was found early afternoon Tuesday with a gunshot wound to his back. Pittsburgh first responders located the man in his early 20s on the 300...
Biden set to block U.S. Steel-Nippon sale, say reports
President Joe Biden is on the verge of blocking a proposed $14.9 billion sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel Co., according to reports from multiple outlets. Bloomberg and Reuters reported Tuesday evening the president plans to kill the deal because of national security concerns. A Financial Times story,...
Annual Geminid meteor shower will hit peak soon
This weekend, the annual Geminid meteor shower will once again appear — with shooting stars streaking across the sky. It will peak Friday and Saturday under a nearly full moon, which will reduce visibility, but bright meteors may still be spotted in the days leading up to the peak, according...
Pittsburgh council gives preliminary OK to Gainey’s 2025 budget
Over the past several weeks, Pittsburgh City Council has questioned whether Mayor Ed Gainey is setting aside too little money in his 2025 proposed budget for major expenses like police overtime. Members have worried about how Gainey is addressing projected declines in the city’s vital reserve fund. And they’re not...
‘To observe and report’: Radio hams play key role for National Weather Service
Steve Fazekas and Eddie Misiewicz are self-proclaimed weather geeks and have the stories to prove it. In 1977, Misiewicz, then a volunteer firefighter in Dawson, Fayette County, went to Johnstown to respond to the devastation from a flood. He remembered picking bodies out of trees. Fazekas, of Winfield, recalled the...
The Stroller, Dec. 11, 2024: 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. Free advice available for...
UPMC, other health care and insurance giants scrub leadership from web after CEO killing
Health care giant UPMC makes no secret of who its top executives are, but the organization isn’t advertising it, either. At least, not for now. Western Pennsylvania’s largest employer, like some other large corporations, is giving its leadership a lower online profile. CEO Leslie Davis’ photo and biography have been...
Highlands investigating alleged boys basketball hazing
The PA announcer introduced the Highlands High School boys basketball starters and coach Bill Flow, but he wasn’t there for Tuesday’s game at Hampton. Instead, basketball parent and former assistant Mike Foster coached a scaled-back roster that dressed only nine varsity players while the program faces an investigation into hazing...
Investigator tells jury changing statements and fresh snow led to homicide charge against then 11-year-old Jordan Brown
The state trooper who interviewed Jordan Brown the morning his father’s pregnant fiancee was killed said it never even crossed her mind that the 11-year-old boy could have done it. But as that day — Feb. 20, 2009 — wore on, the most likely suspects were eliminated, now-retired Cpl. Janice...
Monday’s Union Restaurant reopens after playing ‘vital’ role in Elizabeth Pollard search
At 3 p.m. Tuesday, the atmosphere in Monday’s Union Restaurant in Unity was positively serene compared with the same hour last week. A handful of customers chatted at the bar while two others sat in the restaurant waiting for one of Monday’s popular pizzas. The previous Tuesday, the main downstairs...
New Kensington Bridge reopens to trucks, pedestrians as work nears end
Trucks and pedestrians are again able to cross the New Kensington Bridge. A detour that was in place for trucks was removed Friday, and the sidewalk on the bridge spanning the Allegheny River between East Deer and New Kensington is open, PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said. But that doesn’t mean...
Palmer airport expansion project beginsVideo
After several years of planning for expanding the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport terminal, work has begun on the foundation for what is expected to be a $22 million project. A former hangar that was used as a warehouse adjacent to the Unity airport terminal has been demolished, and construction workers...
Sewickley Township man to serve jail sentence for vehicle assault
A Sewickley Township man who pleaded guilty last year to running a down a man outside a Hempfield townhouse three years ago was ordered Tuesday to serve at least seven months in jail. Bradley A. Cook, 24, in August 2023 pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault by vehicle...
Butler hospital authority bonds fall to ‘junk’ status
Financial problems continue for the former Butler Health System’s Clarion and Butler hospitals, with a national credit rating agency downgrading its bonds to junk status, indicating it has a negative outlook and would be a risky investment. Fitch Ratings on Dec. 3 lowered the Butler County Hospital Authority’s bonds issued...
Suspect pleads guilty in credit card skimmer scam set up in grocery stores
One of two men charged last summer in a multicounty fraud scheme that employed skimmer devices on grocery store card readers pleaded guilty Tuesday in Westmoreland County. Thomas Fuchs, 34, whose last address was listed as in Pittsburgh, was ordered to serve one to two years in prison for his...
