Western PA Local News category, Page 661
Quaker Valley School District to use new communication system to reach families, students
Quaker Valley School District plans to launch a new mass communication system to better reach families and keep folks informed about district activities. The board recently approved spending about $9,800 annually over the next three years for ParentSquare, a communication tool district officials believe will help save time and streamline...
Man shot in Stowe Township, in critical condition
A man shot was hospitalized in critical but stable condition Wednesday after being shot in the chest in Stowe Township, Allegheny County Police said. The victim was shot in the 400 block of Hemlock Drive, around 5:40 p.m., county police said. Allegheny County Police Department’s Homicide Unit assisted Stowe Township...
County, nonprofits collaborate to serve those displaced by Downtown Pittsburgh shelter fire
Storm clouds gathered above the shuttered Second Avenue Commons homeless shelter as Ronald McGinnis literally planned his next steps. On Tuesday, the 59-year-old homeless man, who entered the Downtown shelter six weeks ago, watched people pour out of the building as flames shot off its roof and smoke filled the...
Scottdale VFD holds annual community fair in support of the department
Scottdale Volunteer Fire Department is holding its annual fundraising carnival this week with games, amusement rides and lots of food. The firemen’s fair, which began on Monday will continue from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday in downtown Scottdale. Proceeds from the variety of food sold at the...
Authorities: Brentwood police fatally shoot suspect during pursuit
An armed man who fought with Brentwood police as they tried to arrest him Wednesday afternoon was fatally shot by a police officer, Allegheny County Police said. The victim, who was not immediately identified, died in a hospital after being shot multiple times by an unidentified Brentwood police officer, Allegheny...
Pittsburgh infrastructure czar gives glowing report on bridge upkeep
Pittsburgh is finally catching up on fixing its ailing bridges. More than two years after the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge exposed dire problems with upkeep of the city’s spans, a new infrastructure commission assured City Council on Wednesday that the kind of basic maintenance needed to prevent a...
Engine trouble in Greensburg interrupts cross-country Model T tour; crew vows to return
Engine trouble sidelined a 1924 Model T on Monday night in Greensburg, two days into a planned 19-day trip from New York to San Francisco. A crew of three volunteer drivers and mechanics affiliated with Nebraska’s Museum of American Speed realized they’d have to haul the antique car by trailer...
U.S. Senate calls on Russia to release Oakmont teacher Marc Fogel
The U.S. Senate is officially calling for the release of Marc Fogel, an Oakmont teacher arrested nearly three years ago by Russian authorities for possessing medical marijuana. The Senate unanimously passed a resolution June 4 calling for Fogel’s release and declaring that the Russian government gave him a disproportionate criminal...
Delmont man convicted of attempted sexual assault
A Delmont man was convicted Wednesday of the attempted sexual assault of a woman whom investigators claimed he later threatened in a failed effort to prevent her from testifying against him. A Westmoreland County jury deliberated about an hour before it returned guilty verdicts against Brandon Pyle, 28, in connection...
Think ahead on twisters: Emergency responders advise on tornado preparedness
New Kensington fire Chief Ed Saliba remembers the sound of the wind late at night April 8, 2020, when a tornado touched down in New Kensington. He was sleeping in a reclining chair in his basement and was alerted to the oncoming danger by his family. “I had no idea...
Penn Hills mayor links hookah bar killings to love triangle
A weekend shooting at a Penn Hills hookah bar that killed two people and wounded seven others is believed to be a case of targeted violence that might have stemmed from a love triangle, its mayor told TribLive Wednesday. Police have disclosed little about their ongoing investigation. But Penn Hills...
Pittsburgh leaders unveil Downtown revitalization plan ahead of NFL Draft
Pittsburgh leaders Wednesday proposed transformations at Point State Park and Market Square as part of a revitalization plan ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft. The plan, which also includes upgrades of a block of Eighth Street in the Cultural District, was released by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Allegheny...
Youngstown explosion victim remembered as driven, community oriented
No one ever accused Akil Drake of slacking off, from his days as a Penn Hills football player to his burgeoning career in banking. Drake relied on a work ethic instilled by his mother to graduate from Youngstown State University with a bachelor’s degree in finance and start climbing the...
Police defend investigation into stabbing at former Rialto in Greensburg
A Jeannette man told police he had a knife and was prepared to defend himself from a former high school friend as the two fought outside the former Rialto Cafe in downtown Greensburg. Jurors, during the third day in the attempted homicide trial of Anthony Sharp, 23, watched video of...
Pine-Richland students earn A.W. Beattie honors
A.W. Beattie Career Center named four Pine-Richland students seniors of the year in their respective programs: Mintas Ivaska, network engineering and cyber security; Alexis Nickl, advertising design; Logan Trembulak, HVAC; and Adam Zwastetzky, automotive collision technology. Adam also was awarded a $15,000 Continuing the Drive Scholarship from #1 Cochran to...
Pittsburgh Pride weekend sets attendance record
Pride weekend in Pittsburgh set a new attendance record — over 260,000 people, officials said. The parade itself saw over 103,000 of those attendees, said Jim Sheppard, co-chair of the Pittsburgh Pride Parade and co-creator of QBurgh, Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ news source. “We worked with a crowd control and security consulting...
U.S. Senate calls on Russia to release Oakmont teacher Marc Fogel
The U.S. Senate is officially calling for the release of Marc Fogel, an Oakmont teacher arrested nearly three years ago by Russian authorities for possessing medical marijuana. The Senate unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday calling for Fogel’s release and declaring that the Russian government gave him a disproportionate criminal sentence....
Student commencement speakers instill optimism in Hampton Class of ’24
Inspiration for commencement speeches can come from just about anywhere. For Hampton High School seniors who gave addresses on behalf of the Class of 2024, sources included the title of a English-Albanian singer’s latest album and a bird that decided to settle in a family garage. Shane Noone, Tiffany Habib...
Hampton High School graduates 246 students
Congratulations to the 246 graduates in Hampton High School’s Class of 2024: • A-B — Hope Allen, Paige Allen, Carter Anderson, Owen Anderson, Brady Andrews, Jason Andrews, McKenna Andrews, Alaina Appel, Gustavo Arias-González, Andrew Bagnato, Lydia Bailey, Jacob Baker, Keegan Baker, Nathan Baldwin, Braeden Ballintine, Jachelle Barnett, Kendra Bastin, Reagan...
New Kensington Council rejects liquor license for Valero gas station
New Kensington Council, citing concerns about crime, denied a liquor license transfer to a city gas station and convenience store. Council unanimously denied a license for the Valero at Seventh Street and Constitution Boulevard. It would have been transferred there from Guy’s Tavern in Avonmore. Council began a public hearing...
It’s golden: Fox Chapel senior earns highest honor in Girl Scouts
Eliza Davis got the gold. The soon-to-be Fox Chapel graduate earned the highest honor with the Girl Scouts — the Gold Award. In her project to earn the recognition she focused on harm reduction, a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use....
$47.6M New Kensington-Arnold School District budget approved with 1.5% tax increase
Property owners in the New Kensington-Arnold School District will see a 1.5% property tax increase in their school tax bill. The school board Tuesday approved the district’s $47.6 million budget for the 2024-25 school year that includes the tax hike. The district’s property tax rate will increase from 97.64 mills...
Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont to host Washington County crime novelist
As a fourth-generation resident of Washington County’s Smith Township, author Annette Dashofy has spent her whole life in Southwestern Pennsylvania. It should come as no surprise, then, that the region’s rolling hills and bucolic countryside have served as the setting for many of her books. The latest, “What Comes Around,”...
Arson suspected in 2 blazes at historic Beltzhoover school building, Pittsburgh councilman says
Two recent fires that damaged the former Beltzhoover Elementary School were likely arson, according to Pittsburgh City Councilman Bob Charland. Fires broke out Tuesday night and Saturday morning at the historic school on Cedarhurst Street in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover neighborhood. The building is currently vacant, but a project is underway to...
New Kensington Council declares 6 houses unsafe, orders demolitions
Four dilapidated houses in one New Kensington neighborhood are among the latest six the city is working to tear down. Three of the four houses are on Ross Avenue at 717, 1100 and 1150. The fourth is nearby at 1330 Forest Ave. All four are in the area above the...
