Bretz reelected to head Westmoreland GOP
Westmoreland County Republican Committee members have reelected Bill Bretz as their chairman to oversee the local GOP for the next two years. Bretz, 52, was unopposed in his bid for a third term at the helm of the Republican committee which over the last decade has surged into power in...
Search for borough manager continues in Jefferson Hills
Jefferson Hills officials continue their search for a new borough manager. John P. Stinner resigned as top administrator earlier this year. He had been borough manager since early July 2019. Stinner also served as Blawnox’s manager for two years prior to coming to Jefferson Hills. The manager’s salary this year...
The Stroller, July 9, 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. Backstage Buffet Band to play Tarentum Park Tarentum Summer Concert Series...
Tarentum museum to feature exhibit on former St. Ladislaus Church
During a four-month salvage job at the former St. Ladislaus Church in Natrona, Rachel Brown climbed into the ceiling and crawled through walls to research architecture at the 120-year-old building. “I was in places of the church that people hadn’t been in 100 years,” said Brown, who wasn’t a member...
What should the future of Hempfield Area School District be? New superintendent aims to focus on plan
In his first week as Hempfield Area School District’s superintendent, Mark Holtzman has been busy. The former superintendent for Beaver Area School District began his five-year contract at Hempfield on July 1. In a letter posted online on the district website, he detailed his plans to conduct a series of...
Work on new $46M sewage plant in North Huntingdon poised to begin
Construction is expected to begin next week on a new $46.1 million sewage treatment plant near the Youghiogheny River in North Huntingdon, which will replace aging infrastructure that is close to 50 years old, an official said. The project will increase the maximum daily capacity of the North Huntingdon Township...
Latrobe’s lone police dog, Zeus, to retire as city opts to end K-9 program
Zeus’ crime-fighting days soon will be over. Latrobe Council voted this week to retire the city police department’s sole police dog and to terminate its K-9 program. City officials said the timing is right for both moves because the German shepherd is more than 8 years old and Latrobe’s police...
Greensburg covers $10K cost of blood storage coolers for Mutual Aid, becomes 2nd municipality to support service
Greensburg will donate $12,000 to Mutual Aid EMS that will cover the cost of two blood storage coolers, becoming the second municipality to give direct financial support to the ambulance service. Mutual Aid launched its blood program in May, outfitting two of its vehicles with bags of blood, transfusion equipment...
United Methodists gather in Pittsburgh this week for northeastern conference
Hundreds of United Methodists are in Pittsburgh this week for the first time since the denomination voted to remove restrictions on LGBTQ pastors and same-sex marriages. Delegates from 12 states are attending the 2024 Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference, typically held every four years. The event brings together about 600 members of...
Bloody footprints link New Kensington murder suspect to crime scene, police say
Police say bloody footprints link a New Kensington man to the stabbing death of his former roommate. Nico Harris, 40, is charged with killing David Risher, 58, in the house they once shared at 615 Freeport Road. Police said they arrested Harris after finding bloody footprints near Risher’s body that...
Tim McNulty, ex-reporter, Peduto and Penguins spokesman, dies at 54 after cancer battle
Tim McNulty, a former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter who went on to serve as a spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto and then the Pittsburgh Penguins, died Friday at his North Side home after a long battle with cancer. He was 54. City Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith plans to introduce legislation Tuesday to...
Westmoreland authority targeted in ‘vendor impersonator scheme,’ official says
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County said Monday that it lost a significant amount of money in what the agency’s top legal official described as a “vendor impersonator scheme.” “This was not a data breach. It was a vendor impersonator scheme,” said Scott Avolio, the authority’s solicitor. “It was literally...
Judge gives Etna mom probation in infant son’s drowning death
A judge on Monday sentenced an Etna woman to probation in the drowning death last year of her 1-year-old son in a backyard pool. Brittany Garrison, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter, court records show. Prosecutors dropped charges of endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly...
Low cash not stopping Allegheny Township festival from going ahead
The Allegheny Township Community Day Festival will return Sunday with a new location and diminished budget as sponsors shy away from an event that has been marred by claims of fiscal impropriety. After raising more than $17,000 last year, festival organizer and township Supervisor Jamie Morabito said the nonprofit that...
Monessen man accused of fleeing traffic stop, leading police on chase through Greensburg
A man accused of fleeing from a traffic stop over the weekend broke into a Greensburg home in an unsuccessful attempt to escape from police, according to court papers. Authorities reported finding Drew William Lepresti II, 29, of Monessen, inside a Westminster Avenue house. Members of the Laurel Highlands DUI...
Ambridge man charged after gun incident in Greensburg
No one was hurt when a man fired a gun in a Greensburg neighborhood Saturday afternoon because he was upset to learn about an affair, according to police. Jacques L. Pearsall, 28, of Ambridge, is accused by authorities of pulling the trigger. Authorities were called to White Street around 1...
New Kensington man stabbed 3 people in argument over missing wallet, police say
A New Kensington man is accused of stabbing three people after a basketball game Saturday night at a park in Harrison. A criminal complaint filed against Terrell Ellis, 33, said he got into an argument with an 18-year-old from Tarentum, a juvenile from Baltimore and a 21-year-old from Euclid, Ohio,...
Springdale residents’ lawyers file brief supporting court decision to pause power plant implosion
An Allegheny County judge was within his scope of powers to grant a preliminary pause of a planned implosion of a boiler house at the former power plant in Springdale, lawyers representing 16 Springdale residents in a court case argued. On Wednesday, attorneys representing the 16 borough residents filed a...
Fatal Homestead crash victim identified as Duquesne woman
Authorities on Monday identified the woman killed last week in a multi-vehicle crash in Homestead as Lynn Reynolds, 47, of Duquesne. Doctors at UPMC Mercy hospital pronounced Reynolds dead at 12:37 p.m. on Saturday. No cause or manner of death has been determined yet. At least six people were hospitalized...
Rapper Jeezy highlights hip-hop’s political influence at Pittsburgh event
Rapper Jeezy — folks may remember him as Young Jeezy, which he was known as when he released his first major label album in 2005 — was in Pittsburgh on June 27, the same day as the first presidential debate. The Grammy-nominated, Atlanta-proud rapper and one of the architects of...
In brief: Penn Hills and Verona area happenings, week of July 8, 2024
Job openings available in water department Penn Hills has listed several full-time positions in its Water Pollution Control Department. The municipality is seeking an operation and maintenance supervisor as well as multiple wastewater treatment operators and laborers. Applicants for the supervisor and operator positions must possess Class B, E Subclass...
Cousins open ‘judgment-free zone’ Brick House Chic Boutique in Tarentum
When Anna Mayhood and Kristen Farringer couldn’t find styles to suit their size, they did something better — they opened their own boutique. “Everyone should love themselves, no matter their size,” said Mayhood, 46. “We want to provide a fun experience for us girls who typically don’t have luck in...
Police chase in Rostraver area ends with Donora man’s arrest
A Donora man is accused of leading state police on a chase through Rostraver and neighboring communities before being apprehended. Troopers said they seized pills, suspected crack cocaine, paraphernalia and $440 from Andre Louis Wilkerson, 40. While on patrol in Rostraver around 1 a.m. Saturday, police said they saw a...
Jeannette man charged in hatchet attack; wounded man requires emergency surgery
A man was hospitalized Sunday after a hatchet attack in Hempfield, state police said. Kyle Joseph Bair, 32, of Jeannette is behind bars in connection with the assault troopers said left the injured man with a serious wound that required emergency surgery. “It appears that it was very graphic and...
In brief: Herald area events for the week of July 8, 2024
Meet-and-greet with Aspinwall mayor canceled The meet-and-greet event with Aspinwall Mayor Joe Noro scheduled for 6 to 7 p.m. July 17 has been canceled, according to a Savvy Citizen alert on July 12. These events typically take place on the third Wednesday of every month at the borough building, 217...
