Western PA Local News category, Page 655
Independence Health looks to fill 500 open positions at job fair
Independence Health System will hold a job fair on Thursday to address more than 500 openings at multiple locations across the health system. In the Westmoreland area, recruiters will be available from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the center court in Westmoreland Mall, located at 5256 Route 30 in...
Arnold Palmer Regional director says other carriers won’t compete against Spirit at Unity airport
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport officials have yet to find a way to persuade other airlines to compete against ultra-low-fare carrier Spirit Airlines for flights out of the Unity airport. Westmoreland County Airport Authority Executive Director Gabe Monzo said this week he has talked with other discount carriers about providing service...
BNY scrapping ‘Mellon’ in rebrand, but Pittsburgh ties will remain
BNY Mellon, a global financial firm with ties to Pittsburgh, is rebranding and losing the “Mellon” part of its logo. The New York-based bank announced Tuesday it is updating its logo and simplifying its company umbrella brand to BNY, according to a press release. It may seem like an erasure...
Judge rejects plea deal for Murrysville man in mother’s stabbing
A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday rejected a plea bargain for a Murrysville man accused of the attempted murder of his mother. Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger said the deal that would have allowed Andrew J. Farbarik to plead guilty to lesser charges and serve four years on probation...
Pittsburgh Public Schools name new chief of staff
The Pittsburgh Public Schools board on Tuesday announced that it has a new chief of staff. Superintendent Wayne N. Walters said Lamar D. Blackwell’s appointment became effective on May 23. Minutes from the May meeting indicate he will earn about $14,000 per month. “This appointment marks a significant step towards...
‘Adventure Begins’ at Northern Tier Library
“Adventure Begins at Your Library” is the theme of the summer reading program at Northern Tier Library, 4015 Dickey Road, Richland. Patrons can log the books and activities they have completed by using Beanstack, which can be accessed through a portal on the library’s website or downloaded as an app....
Some board members oppose Penn-Trafford’s 1% tax hike because it isn’t big enough, they say
Property tax bills will be going up by about $30 per year after a divided Penn-Trafford School Board approved a 1 mill tax hike. The board voted, 6-3, in favor of the 1.1% increase that will support a $68.5 million budget the board also approved Monday. Board members Bryan Kline...
Murrysville artist’s augmented-reality app earns top prize at L.A. film festivalVideo
Murrysville artist Christopher Ruane enjoyed the chance to show his augmented-reality app and videos to family and friends. But it’s one thing to show it off at a community festival. It’s quite another to see it take the grand prize at a Los Angeles film festival where the judges are...
Boil water advisory lifted for Plum neighborhood
A boil water advisory has been lifted for Plum’s Regency Park neighborhood. The Plum Borough Municipal Authority notified residents of about 700 homes in the area on Monday that E. coli bacteria was found in their water supply on Saturday. No other areas of Plum were affected. The presence of...
Brackenridge working out ‘technical issues’ with DEP to address water turbidity concerns
Brackenridge will address state Department of Environmental Protection concerns about water turbidity in its treatment operation through a consent agreement. Council unanimously approved the consent order and agreement from the DEP last week. Turbidity refers to cloudiness or a deficiency in purity in water usually caused by sediment, borough engineer...
‘You’re breaking all of our hearts’: Parents, students push for answers from Penn-Trafford school board amid principal swaps
Nine-year-old Lillie Bouch stood before the Penn-Trafford School Board on Monday with more than 50 parents, students and teachers behind her. Some attended the meeting to witness the board vote on a five-year contract for teachers and the 2024-25 district budget. But nine parents, students and a district employee came...
Class of 2036 members address Class of ’24 at Pine-Richland graduation
Some of the most enthusiastic applause during the June 7 graduation exercises for the Pine-Richland High School Class of 2024 was for members of the Pine-Richland High School Class of 2036. Representing each of the district’s elementary schools, three of this past year’s kindergartners had an opportunity to wish the...
Etna house fire touches off ‘flammable liquid’ explosion
A man is accused of dousing his rental home in gasoline and setting it on fire following a blaze that damaged two properties Tuesday in Etna. Elmer Lewis, 74, is charged with two counts of aggravated arson, six counts of arson, one count of causing catastrophe and five counts of...
Retirees honored at Pine-Richland commencement
Along with celebrating the Pine-Richland High School Class of 2024, the June 7 commencement honored two retiring staff members. Brian Scott served more than 27 years as high school band director and music teacher, and Michael Gasparetto founded the Junior Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps at Pine-Richland and...
Yough students riding ATVs, learning safety and career opportunities
Some schools offer career days that give students an opportunity to learn about fields as diverse as social work, teaching, nursing, finance, business, machining and manufacturing. The Yough Intermediate Middle School offers a slightly different career — a Career and Ride Day to the Mountain Ridge ATV Park near the...
Family of Penn Hills man killed in Youngstown explosion files lawsuit
The family of a former Penn Hills man killed in a natural gas explosion in Youngstown, Ohio, last month is suing the property owners and the energy company for wrongful death. Akil Drake, 27, was killed May 28 in Realty Tower at Federal Plaza in Youngstown at the JPMorgan Chase...
Armed robberies in Pittsburgh’s East End could be connected, police say
Pittsburgh police believe a spate of armed robberies carried out last week appear to be connected. The three crimes occurred over 36 hours on June 7 and June 8 and targeted a restaurant, a fast-food chain and a clothing shop in three different neighborhoods in Pittsburgh’s East End. No arrests...
Pittsburgh council votes to fund 2nd Juneteenth celebration
Just three days before Juneteenth’s kickoff event, City Council members voted unanimously to continue to fund a privately run celebration in addition to this year’s city sponsored event. For the first time, Pittsburgh will be hosting its own Juneteenth festival, after paying more than $100,000 to William B. Marshall, a...
‘Are you ready?’: Pine-Richland graduates move on to next chapter
As hundreds of soon-to-be graduates sat patiently, anticipating the awarding of diplomas and tossing of caps, their valedictorian posed a question from the podium: “Are you ready for the next chapter of your life? Truthfully, no. None of us are,” Avyutka Nagrath said. “At the end of the day, we...
Pine-Richland graduates 340 students in Class of ’24
Congratulations to graduates in the Pine-Richland High School Class of 2024: • A-B — Tarik Aziz, Julianna Abraham, Mustafa Adeel, Giovanni Aiello, Udbhav Akolkar, Jessica Albertson, Logan Alexander, Aleta Amend, Parker Ammerman, Ariana Anderson, Sean Anderson, Carson Baer, Charlotte Baic, Morgan Bailey, Benjamin Baileys, Elle Balkovec, Olivia Ball, Vasillos Balouris,...
13-hour standoff in Harrison ends with tear gas, rubber bullets
Police used rubber bullets and tear gas Tuesday afternoon to remove a 47-year-old man barricaded for 13 hours in a Natrona home. Allegheny County Police said the man will be charged with four counts of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer and four counts of resisting arrest. TribLive is...
Bob Bozzone, former ATI CEO and chairman, remembered for leadership, community involvement
Bob Bozzone already was working at Allegheny Ludlum as a junior metallurgist in the early 1960s when the company’s Bagdad plant in Gilpin was being built. “I would watch it be constructed,” Bozzone told the Valley News Dispatch in 2010 when the Bagdad plant celebrated its 50th anniversary. “As they...
South Hills native crafts video at center of Pittsburgh’s NFL Draft pitch
Tim Oxenreiter needed just five days to craft a video that packs a whole lot of Pittsburgh into 63 seconds. Book-ended by Acrisure Stadium and the picturesque Point State Park, Oxenreiter’s latest ode to his hometown laid on the local mythology thick as part of the region’s pitch to host...
Authorities release identity of Whitehall man killed in shootout with police
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner on Tuesday identified the Whitehall man who authorities fatally shot as Selwyn Brown. Brown, 54, opened fire Tuesday morning on state Attorney General’s Office agents and police, who were executing a search warrant for a felon who possessed and illegally transferred firearms, authorities said. He...
State police investigating theft of $18K in electronics from East Huntingdon store
Pennsylvania State Police are investigating who stole $18,000 worth of electronics from a Verizon store in East Huntingdon last month. Troopers issued a news release Tuesday about the May 9 theft at a Verizon store in Summit Ridge Plaza. They said someone entered an unlocked rear door and took 23...
