Driver in crash that killed Serra Catholic student asks for jail release amid injuries
The man charged with killing a 15-year-old Serra Catholic student in a school van crash in September has asked the court to release him on bond so he can address myriad injuries he suffered in the accident. William Soliday II, 43, of North Huntingdon, is charged with criminal homicide, homicide...
Pittsburgh airport offers ID-less security screening through membership
Passengers at Pittsburgh International Airport can now be cleared for departure a bit faster, thanks to a new, high-tech screening service. Airport officials announced Monday a five-year agreement with CLEAR, whose biometric identification technology allows its members to proceed to the TSA checkpoint through a priority lane and without having...
Sinkhole traps parked car on North Side
A sinkhole has claimed another car in Pittsburgh. A Toyota Prius parked along the 1500 block of Homer Street in the city’s Spring Hill neighborhood became trapped Monday after a water main break created a sinkhole that swallowed the car’s front section. Crews worked to repair the damage on Monday....
Lower Burrell police accuse man of passing bogus $100 bills
Lower Burrell Police accused a Philadelphia man of using bogus $100 bills at four Sheetz locations and a liquor store in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Quidare Carl Daily, 27, was charged with seven felony counts of forgery and seven counts of theft by deception. He was released on a $100,000 unsecured...
Morning Roundup: Police say Facebook Marketplace deal ended in armed robbery in Mt. Oliver
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Dec. 19: Police say Facebook post led to armed robbery in Mt. Oliver A teenager was arrested Monday afternoon after Allegheny County Police said he and others were involved in an armed robbery during a Facebook Marketplace transaction....
Man dies after North Fayette crash
An 80-year-old man was killed in a crash Monday in North Fayette, according to Allegheny County officials. His vehicle left the roadway in the 100 block of Grace Street and hit a fixed object, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. John Ursic of Imperial was pronounced dead just after...
Leechburg Area solicitor vote sparks clash among new school board members
Several Leechburg Area School District school board members are criticizing school board president Ashley Coudriet for what they claim is a lack of transparency surrounding a recent vote to appoint an interim solicitor. In a 6-3 vote Dec. 6, the board appointed a new interim solicitor, Gary J. Matta, to...
Winter storm warning for higher elevations in Southwestern Pa.
Residents living in higher elevations of Southwestern Pennsylvania region are under a winter storm warning until 10 a.m. Tuesday. The Pittsburgh office of the National Weather Service has issued the advisory for Somerset County, as well as eastern sections of Indiana, Westmoreland and Fayette counties, where higher elevations in the...
The Stroller, Dec. 19, 2023: 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. Monthly Breaking Bread dinner planned at Knead Community Cafe Knead Community...
Unity passes 2024 budget with no tax increase
Unity supervisors passed the township’s 2024 budget with no tax increase. Chairman Mike O’Barto said township hasn’t had a property tax increase in about 40 years. The spending plan totals about $8 million. Unity’s general fund tax will continue to stand at 2.2 mills, and its fire tax will continue...
TribLive’s 2023 Year in Photographs
TribLive’s photojournalists have captured a year of stark contrasts, vividly documenting our region and the people who call it home. The North Shore witnessed a takeover by Swifties as globally renowned pop sensation Taylor Swift brought her Era’s tour to Pittsburgh. An explosion in the Rustic Ridge community in Plum...
Independence Health: Hospitals post positive operating revenue but health system losses remain
Independence Health System’s five hospitals posted positive operating revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, hospital officials said Monday, even as the former Butler and Excela health systems individually lost millions of dollars in that 12-month period. Latrobe Area Hospital topped all the other health system hospitals — Butler...
Pittsburgh bans foie gras, pauses efforts to bar fur sales, horse-drawn carriages
Pittsburgh City Council on Monday voted to ban the French delicacy foie gras. The measure — sponsored by council members Bruce Kraus, D-South Side, and Erika Strassburger, D-Squirrel Hill — bans the sale of force-fed animal products. Foie gras is created by forcing a foot-long tube down a bird’s throat...
Pittsburgh City Council opposes re-upping lease for North Side police headquarters
In a preliminary vote Monday, Pittsburgh City Council opposed extending a lease for the city’s police headquarters, which expires at the end of January. Council could take a final vote on the measure next week. A proposal before council would extend the city’s lease on the North Side police headquarters...
U.S. Steel workers in Western Pa. unsure what Nippon deal means for local mills, their future
Third-generation steelworker Don Jackson said he’s seen how mill owners weathering an economic downturn can cripple a city. In Pittsburgh in 1984, a year after Jackson graduated from high school, J&L Steel shuttered the 140-year-old South Side mill that sat just a mile from Jackson’s Arlington home. At its peak,...
Guards hired to ease staff crunch at Westmoreland County Prison
Westmoreland County’s Prison Board on Monday approved the hiring of 13 corrections officers who, officials said, will ease a staffing crunch that has impacted the operations at the lockup in Hempfield. “This helps our staffing tremendously,” interim Warden Steve Pelesky said. “Once these folks start, we’ll have just 14 or...
Westmoreland juvenile detention center on track to fully reopen soon
Westmoreland officials said Monday hiring efforts could result in a full-scale reopening of the county’s juvenile detention center next month. The 16-bed secure detention center at the Regional Youth Services Center in Hempfield was closed in June amid staffing shortages and state inspections critical of employment levels and training. It...
Pittsburgh City Council approves 2024 budgets, taxes remain unchanged
Budgets adopted Monday by Pittsburgh City Council won’t result in a tax increase next year. The $686 million operating budget and $158.7 million capital budget have been largely unchanged since Mayor Ed Gainey formally introduced them last month. Council made a series of tweaks last week, including giving themselves a...
Plum High School prepares for annual Make-A-Wish telethon
For more than 20 years, students in the Plum School District have staged a telethon benefiting Make-A-Wish. After collecting about $57,500 last year and topping a lifetime collection of $1 million in 2021, they’re anticipating collecting less this year, said Rick Berrott, a TV production teacher and co-sponsor of the...
Medical forum cites holes in child abuse prevention programs
A sweeping slate of child protective services laws adopted 10 years ago in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal stretched the state’s safety net, creating areas for vulnerable children to fall through, a report released Monday concluded. The report, from the Keystone State Child Abuse Medical Forum,...
Tarentum taxes hold steady; utility costs climb
The good news for Tarentum residents is that property taxes will remain the same for the 20th consecutive year. The bad news is utility costs are going up. That includes garbage, water and electricity. Councilwoman Carrie Fox said the increases mostly are because of rising supply costs and contractual obligations...
Westmoreland municipal authority issues mandatory water conservation order
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County on Monday ordered more than 56,000 customers served through Beaver Run Reservoir to reduce water use by 10%. The mandatory conservation order impacts about half of the authority’s water customers, including most who live north of Route 30. Those locations, along with some in...
7 scammers who victimized Western Pennsylvanians indicted by federal authorities
Seven people have been indicted in a $3 million sweepstakes scam federal authorities said targeted people older than 75 in the western half of Pennsylvania and elsewhere across the country. The money ultimately made it to Jamaica, where it was withdrawn by people who are accused of being part of...
Burger King to reopen in Harrison
Anyone craving a Whopper soon will be able to have it their way again — and in a familiar Harrison location. Burger King at 1509 Freeport Road, in the heart of the Natrona Heights business corridor, is opening in the same location that formerly operated as a Home of the...
Comprehensive Healthcare nursing homes found guilty of fraud, but executives acquitted
A federal jury on Monday found two nursing homes guilty of health care fraud but exonerated all five of their executives charged in the scheme. The mixed verdict was returned at 11:15 a.m. in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh following a five-week trial that featured 29 government witnesses. The two...
