Allegheny County exec Innamorato announces new board appointees
Newly elected Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato has named her first slate of board appointees, and they include criminal justice advocates, a state representative from the Allegheny Valley, and others. Innamorato nominated six people on Friday to serve on the Allegheny County Housing Authority, Jail Oversight Board, and Redevelopment Authority...
2 dead in Indiana County house fire
State police said they are investigating the cause of a house fire early Saturday in Indiana County that killed two people. Authorities said the six departments were called out at 5:23 a.m. to respond to the fire at a residential structure on Fox Road in East Wheatfield. The bodies of...
Leechburg Cub Scouts’ Pinewood Derby brings out more than 100 spectators
More than 100 spectators showed up Saturday at the Leechburg Elks club to watch one of the most celebrated events in Scouting — Pinewood Derby Day. More than 30 scouts from Leechburg Cub Scout Pack 553 revved up their engines — gravity — as they competed in six divisions. The...
Allegheny Valley school directors disagree on, but ultimately approve, Portrait of a Graduate study
Allegheny Valley School Board members agree they want Springdale High School graduates to be productive members of the community, but how exactly to get there caused some disagreements among the board. School directors Tuesday approved an agreement with the Consortium for Public Education to create a district-specific Portrait of a...
Burrell swim co-op with Kiski causes some waves
While Burrell School District is eyeing a swimming cooperative agreement with Kiski Area for the next two years, it’s unclear what the future may hold for Burrell’s pool. And that’s causing some waves between the Bucs’ swimming community and school officials. Burrell swimmers, parents and swim team alumni took their...
Massive blaze in Homestead reignites Sunday following multi-injury fire the day before
A multi-building fire in Homestead reignited on Sunday after crews battled a massive blaze for hours the day before. Allegheny County dispatch said Sunday one of the three buildings that ignited Satuday rekindled on Sunday morning for about 30 minutes before being put out again. The new fire started at...
Retired doctors combine creativity with camaraderie through woodworking
A group of medical professionals with almost 200 years of combined service in the health care industry are using their hands for something beyond helping and healing: woodworking. Dr. Frank Kunkel, 66, of McCandless shares his passion for creativity through woodworking with a group of retired medical professionals, including an...
Indiana Township dad continues backyard hockey rink tradition
The more than 2,700-square-foot ice hockey rink in Ken Kieffer’s Indiana Township backyard is a far cry from the first rink he made as a kid. “It was a dam in a creek that flowed into Pine Creek,” said Kieffer, 46, a plumber who grew up in Shaler. He was...
Man slain in Coraopolis shootings identified, 3 others wounded
An Aliquippa man was killed and three others wounded during a shooting Saturday morning in Coraopolis. Allegheny County Police said the shooting was reported at about 1:45 a.m. along the 800 block of Fourth Avenue. First responders to the scene found a man dead from apparent gunshot wounds. The Allegheny...
The Stroller, Jan. 20, 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. Winfield ministry offers help to mothers, children The Matrona Family Resource...
Norwin senior citizens could get property tax break for volunteering at schools
Senior citizens in Norwin School District could get a tax break for volunteering in the district. The school board this week tasked school administrators with researching how the district could create what state law calls a “senior tax reduction incentive volunteer exchange” (STRIVE) program. School Board President Matt Thomas said...
Saint Vincent College eyes next step in wetlands rehab, improved stream quality
Before the arrival of the 21st century, Loyalhanna Creek ran orange through Latrobe. That was before a system of wetlands was developed next to the Saint Vincent College campus to treat water draining from abandoned mines and remove some of the iron pollutants that discolored the creek downstream. The wetlands...
Las Vegas pair get federal prison terms in fraud scheme targeting elderly Pittsburgh-area residents
Two Las Vegas men will spend time in federal prison for their roles in an international fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims including Pittsburgh-area residents. Bethel Park police, Pennsylvania State Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations were among agencies involved in a probe that led to the...
Woman sues Kennywood, says cheese from Potato Patch fries burned her hand
A Mt. Lebanon woman is suing Kennywood, alleging that she got second-degree burns after the hot cheese from her Potato Patch fries dripped onto her hand. Charmaine Charles Halsel said she was at the park around 5:45 p.m. on July 2, 2022, when she ordered the famous fries. When the...
Lawsuit alleges UPMC’s monopoly on health care harms skilled nursing staff
An Erie nurse is suing UPMC alleging that the medical system’s monopoly on health care in the region has led to depressed wages, unfair working conditions and chronic under-staffing. The lawsuit, which closely mirrors a complaint filed by two unions asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate potential antitrust claims...
JetBlue, Spirit say they will appeal ruling that blocked merger
NEW YORK — JetBlue and Spirit Airlines said Friday they will appeal a federal judge’s ruling this week that blocked their plan to combine into a single carrier. The airlines said they filed a notice of appeal with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, following the terms of their...
Repair planned for sinkhole along Route 30 in Unity
A sinkhole along the eastbound lanes of Route 30 in Unity is slated for repair in an effort led by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Cordoned off by orange snow fencing, the sinkhole is about 15 feet from the southern edge of the highway, near the intersection of Fred Rogers Drive,...
Pittsburgh engineer played vital role in Astrobotic mission
Four more minutes, and Pittsburgh’s flailing lunar lander could have been lost in space. Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic did not become the first commercial company to successfully land on the moon. But without the quick thinking of a Pittsburgh-based engineer, the company’s lander, which traveled more than 30,000 miles from Earth and...
In brief: Herald area events for the week of Jan. 22, 2024
Recycling changes in Blawnox Blawnox residents are reminded there is no curbside recycling. Those materials are to be disposed of with the regular trash. Glass recycling still is available via the bin at the O’Hara Township building. Food pantry open Jan. 26 Blawnox’s food pantry will be open from 11...
Bell Acres CEO, 81, headed to prison for tax fraud after delay requests fail to sway judge
A Bell Acres man convicted of the largest tax fraud ever in Western Pennsylvania is scheduled to report to federal prison on Monday. In September, a judge ordered Joseph Nocito, 81, to serve one year and one day in federal prison. But last month Nocito asked that his sentence be...
Ice festival opens in Ligonier
Artists from Jeannette’s DiMartino Ice will be in Ligonier on Saturday and Sunday with tools — including chainsaws — to shape multiple blocks of ice into eight giant outdoor sculptures. The carving is just element of the Ligonier Ice Festival continuing through the weekend. New sculptures will be created beginning...
26th Annual Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit postponed
The 26th annual Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit that was set to take place this weekend has been postponed due to the weather and covid concerns. A new date has not yet been announced. The Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit was founded in 1998 by volunteers of the Black & White Reunion...
Unity baker nearly makes semifinal round in Cake Boss’s ‘Greatest Baker’ contest
When Mary Ellen Raneri of Unity started helping her mother with Facebook livestreams of her cooking, she certainly wasn’t expecting the page to rack up nearly 70,000 fans. And she definitely wasn’t expecting those fans to help her make all the way to the quarterfinals of “The Greatest Baker,” a...
Carnegie Mellon University hit by cyberattack, informs 7,300 people possibly affected
Carnegie Mellon University informed about 7,300 people that their personal information may have been compromised in an August cyberattack that was quietly investigated by law enforcement and the university. The breach impacting one of the nation’s top schools for computing was acknowledged by the university as higher education in general...
Malpractice case that ensnared top UPMC surgeon settled
A medical malpractice lawsuit that pitted high-profile UPMC surgeons against one other amid romantic entanglement, secret recordings and fraud allegations has settled. Details of the settlement were not disclosed in paperwork filed Jan. 5 to end the case in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. A spokesman for UPMC, one of...
