Building the Valley: The Teen Spot after-school program helps Highlands students connect to community
Organizers of an after-school program for Highlands teens peg it as a home away from home. But The Teen Spot, geared toward students in grades six through 12, is also a learning facility, life skills provider and extended family for many of the 70 participants. “These are my kids,” said...
Pitt researcher who said colleagues purposely exposed her to allergens sues university
The assaults weren’t with weapons, the woman says, but lotions, soaps and potpourri. A former Pitt faculty member who has severe allergies to certain strong fragrances is suing the university because, she said, they failed to protect her from colleagues who brought fragrant items into the office or wore perfumed...
Upper Burrell approves 2024 budget with no tax increase
Upper Burrell supervisors Wednesday gave the green light to the township’s 2024 budget, which includes no tax increase for residents. The budget totals
$1.25 million. The tax rate will remain at 12 mills. “Everything balanced out. Everything looks good,” said Ross Walker, supervisors chairman. A homeowner with a property assessed...
Crews battle blaze at Loyalhanna Township home
Six fire departments worked to put out a blaze that caused significant damage to a Loyalhanna Township home Sunday morning. Emergency personnel were dispatched to the single-story home on Louise Street around 7:35 a.m., said Bill McClelland, assistant fire chief for Saltsburg Volunteer Fire Department. Slickville fire officials arrived first...
Repair of Brackenridge sinkhole delayed until state funding comes through
Repair of a sinkhole on Roup Avenue in Brackenridge likely will have to wait until at least next month. Borough officials say they’re waiting for state funding to pay for the $1 million project. They expected the money in September, but the state hasn’t approved projects for funding yet. That...
Westmoreland County, state police search for teens who fled juvenile detention center
Two teenagers escaped from the Westmoreland County Juvenile Detention Center in Hempfield Saturday night. Robert A. Cogdell, 14, and Braedon M. Dickinson, 16, both of Connellsville, fled on foot from the detention center about 8:30 p.m., according to state police. Westmoreland County Park police are leading the investigation with assistance...
Sewickley area real estate transactions, week of Dec. 10, 2023
Aleppo Larry Jenkins Jr. sold property at Leetwood Ave. to Lori Weber for $16,000. Franklin Park Lei Li sold property at 2526 Elkridge Drive to Adam Justin Points and Pimpicha Nichpakdee for $560,000. Eugene Lynch sold property at 2520 Riva Ridge Ct to Carson Barnes and Sarah Very for $615,000....
Fox Chapel area real estate transactions, week of Dec. 10, 2023
Aspinwall Jaclyn Gelzheiser sold property at 137 Second St. to Olivia Stuart Cochran for $425,000. Estate of Ellen Friedman sold property at 206 Ninth St. to Mark and Rebecca Franchino for $435,000. Etna David Merlo sold property at 7 Greeley Ave. to J & M Estates LLC for $21,000. Fox...
North Hills area real estate transactions, week of Dec. 10, 2023
Bradford Woods Daniel Magee sold property at 57 Marblehead Hbr to Marianne Christine Plant for $390,000. Etna David Merlo sold property at 7 Greeley Ave. to J & M Estates LLC for $21,000. Franklin Park Lei Li sold property at 2526 Elkridge Drive to Adam Justin Points and Pimpicha Nichpakdee...
East suburban real estate, week of Dec. 10. 2023
Churchill Estate of John Patterson sold property at 2525 Greensburg Pike Unit 102 to Antonette Fairbanks and Miroya Monsour for $190,000. Tarek Abulleil sold property at 3306 Scathelocke Road to Gerald Daniel and Janet Bednarz for $329,000. Lori Jean Putnam trustee sold property at 1625 Williamsburg Pl to Natural Home...
Gilpin looks to half-mill tax to help pay for ambulance, rescue service
Gilpin officials are throwing a financial lifeline to a local EMS service based in Leechburg. Supervisors unanimously approved an EMS tax to help fund Lower Kiski Ambulance Service in an effort to intervene with much-needed funds. “EMS is a mandatory service that townships must supply to its residents per state...
The Stroller, Dec. 10, 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. Drive-through food distribution set Tuesday at Pittsburgh Mills Allegheny Valley Association...
Months after schism, former and current United Methodist churches pick up the pieces
This is the busy season for Pastor Dylan Parson. Like many Methodist pastors, he leads not just the Hill Top congregation in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood but a charge of churches including Spencer and Fairhaven. Each building is within about 5 miles of the other on the south side of the...
Somerset Trust’s Westmoreland construction bucks industry trend
The new Somerset Trust Co. bank branch in Hempfield that opened in late September is definitely not your father’s or grandfather’s financial institution. It has the traditional tellers, loan officers, conference rooms and vault. But the two-story building fronting East Pittsburgh Street also has a coffee bar where customers can...
Penn Township artist decorates yard with concrete sculptures
Drivers on Sleepy Hollow Road in Penn Township often slow to a stop when they see the concrete sculptures in Mark Milliron’s front yard. Milliron, who has lived on the road for nearly 40 years, has come to expect questions and curiosity about the human-like figures, especially when he is...
Holiday train display holds decades of history for Hempfield family
Bill Bigelow can tell you the origin of every single item in his holiday train display. The table, tucked into the back room of the single-story home Bigelow and his wife Susan share in Hempfield, is set up each year at the beginning of October. Strings of holiday lights and...
Hometown Holiday Festival draws a crowd at Burrell High School
Hundreds of people visited Burrell High School on Saturday for its first Hometown Holiday Festival, featuring musical performances, local craft vendors, food trucks and family activities. Nicole Butler, supervisor of Lower Burrell EMS, spent the day filling an ambulance for Toys for Tots of Tarentum. She said the organization serves...
‘A beautiful gem for North Huntingdon’: Friends of Norwin Trails hosts 1st trail maintenance day
When Shannon Reiter learned that a group of volunteers was clearing the trails at Braddock’s Trail Park in North Huntingdon, she could not pass up the opportunity to pitch in. Reiter, of North Huntingdon, runs at the park and, in the spring, she used to bring her children along for...
Fawn man accused of trying to grab cop’s gun while being arrested ordered to stand trial
A Fawn man who was wanted on an arrest warrant was ordered to stand trial on charges he tried to disarm a New Kensington police officer who took him into custody. Peter William Mlynar, 37, of the 300 block of Sugar Loaf Lane was charged Nov. 22 with a felony...
Woman accused by Lower Burrell police of selling crack ordered to stand trial
A woman accused of selling drugs after authorities said she let a Lower Burrell officer search her vehicle when she was pulled over has been ordered to stand trial in Westmoreland County Court. Michelle Lynn Dzugan, 45, of the 1500 block of Horne Boulevard in Arnold was charged Nov. 13...
New playground equipment comes to ‘Hoops on Sixth’ in Tarentum, courtesy of Tripak Industries
The basketball court at Tarentum’s “Hoops on Sixth” park was barely usable before a local business owner stepped up to assist. Eric Hashim, owner of Tripak Industries in West Tarentum, donated heavy-duty hoops with steel nets and a new swing set with a toddler space and high-bucket seats. The equipment,...
Police: Apollo man accused of selling guitar he stole, biting state trooper who arrested him
An Apollo man charged with stealing an electric guitar from a home and selling it to a music shop last month is accused of assaulting a state trooper and biting him on the wrist while being taken into custody Wednesday. Jack Russell Frain, 34, of the 500 block of Crowe...
Christmas presents for Ukrainian orphans made possible by Arnold church and area high school students
Ten-year-old Nastya Shytnikova has a short Christmas list. She didn’t ask for an iPhone or a doll. “I’d really like Legos, candies and cookies, and a warm shirt,” Nastya wrote in a note to St. Nicholas. “My biggest dream is for the war to end.” The Ukrainian girl — orphaned...
Lower Burrell police training designed to de-escalate
Lower Burrell Mayor John Andrejcik wants more local police departments to undergo the training that officers from his city got Friday. “I wish this permeates throughout the (Alle-Kiski) Valley,” Andrejcik said. “If this saves one life — it’s all worth it.” Lower Burrell police were trained in a proactive approach...
In brief: news from McCandless, Sewickley and more
People can support
MFPAA in two ways McCandless officials say that people can support the McCandless-Franklin Park Ambulance Authority in two ways: by donating and by subscribing. People can give a one-time donation or pledge a monthly amount to generously give throughout the year. Donations are tax-deductible and can be...
