Firm suggests closing 16 Pittsburgh Public schools, opening 2 new ones
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials have received recommendations to close more than a dozen schools and potentially merge Carrick and Brashear high schools. A consultant hired by the district said, through a facility use report, that the urban school system should close 16 of its schools and open two new ones,...
Harris, Walz announce Pennsylvania bus tour to launch in Pittsburgh
Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are set to kick off a Pennsylvania bus tour Sunday in Pittsburgh. In their bid to keep a Democratic administration in the White House, the pair plans to make multiple stops in the state over the course...
Westmoreland happenings: Yellow Tie Gala, history program, movie night, more
Fundraisers • Latrobe Art Center will host its annual Yellow Tie Gala from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 23 in an open air dining room and dance floor on Ligonier Street in Latrobe. There will be a banana split bar, music by Mike Urick and the Modelaires and an open...
The Stroller, Aug. 14, 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. Annual Riverbration planned in Kittanning The Kittanning Boat Races Riverbration event...
Western Pa. police dog programs can be costly, but are worth the investment, trainers say
Police departments say they can be more creative in their approach to law enforcement when there is a dog on their squad. They also need to be creative when figuring out how to pay for it. Donations are often sought to help cover the purchase and ongoing costs of a...
Man shot in arm in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhood
A man was hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday after being found shot in the arm. Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman Emily Bourne said police continue to investigate the shooting in the city’s Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhood. Officers were dispatched for two ShotSpotter alerts at about 2:45 p.m. near the intersection of Lincoln Avenue...
Michelle Peduto, former superintendent of Pittsburgh Catholic schools, dies
Michelle Peduto, the former superintendent of the Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, died Tuesday. Peduto served Catholic schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh for more than 21 years, according to the diocese. She became superintendent in 2019 and stepped down in June to spend time with family. A...
Defendants in federal Rent-A-Vet scheme get probation
The judge’s words to the defendants were harsh. Their crimes were serious, said U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV. They weren’t a momentary lapse in judgment but a decade-long criminal enterprise. The defendants misappropriated the identity of a disabled American veteran to earn government contracts, something akin, the judge...
2 injured when bus crashes into house in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood during police chase
Two injuries were reported Tuesday afternoon when a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus crashed into a home in the city’s Homewood neighborhood. PRT said in a social media post that the bus driver and another person were taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were not thought to be...
Critics: Proposed ballot referendum in city is antisemitic, illegal
A pro-Palestinian group wants Pittsburghers to decide whether to bar the city from doing business with entities that work with Israel, but opponents to the proposal on Tuesday called the measure antisemitic and challenged the effort in court. A petition to add a referendum to November’s general election ballot, filed...
Judge orders Arnold man accused of fatally stabbing his mother to undergo mental health evaluation
A Westmoreland County judge ordered an Arnold man jailed earlier this month after being charged in connection to the fatal stabbing of his mother to undergo a mental health evaluation. Brian Rebold, 38, was charged with criminal homicide and first-degree murder following the Aug. 4 death of his 73-year-old mother...
TikTok candy melting trend sends Fayette County boy to hospital
When a 9-year-old Fayette County boy attempted to follow a TikTok trend, creating what is known as a Jolly Rancher Grape, he tripped while carrying a bowl of molten candy liquid and suffered severe burns. “He tripped, and that’s when the boiling hot candy coated his whole hand and his...
Westmoreland broadband upgrades on track for completion, future projects eyed
Installation of about 50 miles of fiber optic cable needed for high-speed internet access in remote areas of Westmoreland County is about 60% complete, officials said Tuesday. The $3.5 million project is expected to be finished by year’s end. The work is part of an ongoing effort to bring broadband...
Derry police chief remains on leave nearly year after K-9 partner was euthanized
Derry police Chief Randy Glick remains on medical leave nearly a year after an Aug. 25 incident that resulted in the K-9 police dog he was partnered with being euthanized. Derry Borough Council has since disbanded its police department’s K-9 program. Area residents have criticized borough officials’ treatment of the...
Plum Boy Scout Troop celebrates 60 years of service
Plum Boy Scout Troop 111 is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Mayor Harry Schlegel delivered a proclamation to the troop and its committee chair Jim Plutto at a council meeting Aug. 12. Schlegel also declared Aug. 24 “Boy Scout Troop 111 Day” in the borough. Troop 111 is based...
New Stanton man to serve jail term for sexual assault at Hempfield Halloween party
A New Stanton man was ordered Tuesday to serve nearly two years in jail for the sexual assault of a Mt. Pleasant woman during a 2020 Halloween house party in Hempfield. Anthony Edward Lucas, 29, was convicted following a jury trial in January of lesser charges of sexual assault and...
Salvation Army’s Back-to-School Bash doles out supplies, confidence
From Bluey to Dora to Transformers, nearly 350 colorful bookbags — and all the supplies that could fit into them — went home with school-aged children at the Paul Field Memorial Back-to-School Bash at the Salvation Army in Brackenridge. In its 15th year, the event doubled as a festival for...
J.D. Vance set to campaign at Lower Burrell VFW, but event is by invitation only, Post 92 says
Vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance will make a campaign stop in Lower Burrell on Thursday. Vance, the Republican senator from Ohio, will speak at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 92 on Wildlife Lodge Road at 10 a.m., his campaign announced Tuesday. VFW Post 92 posted on Facebook on Tuesday evening...
Registration to open for 2025 Pittsburgh marathon weekend
Runners can register for the 2025 Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon Weekend on Wednesday. Registration opens at 10 a.m. online for the races, which will take place from May 2-4. The marathon takes place on Sunday, May 4. New this year, P3R is hosting an Opening Day Block Party on...
Murrysville council approves luxury lot subdivision off Wiestertown Road
After sitting through a 3-3 tie vote in June and the deferral of a decision in July, developer Paul Fischione and his attorney were ready for a vote on their proposal to create 24 luxury lots off Wiestertown Road in Murrysville. Attorney Bill Sittig said his client wasn’t interested in...
Investigation into Plum house explosion could take years, officials sayVideo
It could take years to determine a cause of the deadly house explosion in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood, officials said Tuesday. “These can be very, very lengthy investigative processes,” said Matthew Brown, chief of Allegheny County’s Department of Emergency Services. “The key is to actually, definitively, get to what the...
Indiana Township pizza shop sells winning Powerball ticket worth $214 million
Someone is $214 million richer after buying the jackpot-winning Powerball ticket at an Indiana Township pizza shop. The ticket, sold Monday at AJ’s Pizza on Harts Run Road, matched all five white balls drawn, 9-22-57-67-68, and the red Powerball, 14. The shop’s owner, Jinal Pandit, was shocked to hear he...
Harrison police warn of vehicle break-ins
Harrison police are urging residents to lock their doors after a spree in which two females were reported to be rifling through vehicles early Tuesday. Chief Brian Turack said officers were called about 12:15 a.m. to Spruce Street in the township’s Natrona neighborhood. “We received a report of two individuals...
Morning Roundup: Butler County man charged with assaulting toddler at Butler Farm Show
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Aug. 13: Police say Butler County man assaulted toddler at Butler Farm Show A Butler County man is accused of slapping a 3-year-old boy in the face at the Butler Farm Show over the weekend, according to state...
Several charges dismissed against state trooper in Connellsville home invasion attack
Several charges against a Pennsylvania state trooper related to a Connellsville incident were dismissed Monday during a preliminary hearing. Charges of aggravated assault, harassment and criminal mischief against Trooper James T. Stevenson Jr., 29, of Connellsville were dismissed in Monday’s hearing. Investigators said Stevenson was off-duty from work at the...
