The Stroller, Dec. 2, 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. Free presentation to mark Pearl Harbor Day New Kensington Center for...
Springdale Township to tap into reserves to balance 2024 budget
Springdale Township will tap into its reserves to balance its budget for 2024 and prevent taxpayers from seeing an increase in their bills. The township estimates it will have $2.3 million in expenditures in 2024 but anticipates only $1.7 million in revenue, said Tim Basilone, vice president of the township...
In brief: news from Fox Chapel, Blawnox
Zoning board vacancy in Fox Chapel Fox Chapel is looking to fill a vacancy on the borough’s Zoning Hearing Board. The board is a quasi-judicial body that makes decisions regarding specific land use actions. Board members should have a thorough knowledge of its specific functions and its place within local...
Drought watch declared in Westmoreland, voluntary water conservation continues
State officials on Friday declared a drought watch in Westmoreland County as a voluntary water conservation order remains in effect for some customers of the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. The state Department of Environmental Protection said moving Westmoreland County to drought watch status will support the efforts there to...
Union workers rally at Westmoreland Manor, cite wage, staffing issues in county contract talks
Members of a union representing more than 500 Westmoreland County employees picketed Friday in front of the county-owned nursing home, saying county officials aren’t proposing a fair contract as the workers’ four-year labor agreement is set to expire at the end of the month. Representatives of Service Employees International Union...
New Kensington launches holiday season with tree lighting, mayor’s dinner; many more events to come
New Kensington is kicking off the holiday season. Residents gathered Friday evening at Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue for carols and the lighting of the city’s Christmas tree. That was followed by Mayor Tom Guzzo’s annual holiday dinner at the city’s nearby No. 1 fire hall on Fourth Avenue. The...
Annual Red Kettle Campaign underway to benefit Salvation Army
The Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle Campaign is underway with a goal of $2.3 million across 28 counties in Western Pennsylvania, and $547,000 in Allegheny County. The Western Pennsylvania Division campaign will run through Christmas Eve. Donations support feeding programs, rent and utility assistance, seasonal assistance, youth empowerment and spiritual...
Man wounded in arm in South Huntingdon hunting incidentVideo
A man was taken by ambulance to Forbes Hospital in Monroeville on Friday after being wounded in an apparent hunting incident in South Huntingdon. Emergency crews were dispatched shortly before 5:30 p.m. to the 400 block of State Hill Road, east of Smithton, to assist a 60-year-old man with a...
Leechburg contractor charged with home improvement fraud of Unity couple
A Leechburg contractor was charged with home improvement fraud this week following an investigation by Westmoreland County detectives. Dawayne W. Redmond, 42, was charged with failing to perform a service after receiving payment in advance, according to court documents. A Unity couple who hired Redmond to remodel the exterior of...
Former Brighton Rehab employee testifies that she was told to falsify records
A former employee at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center said Friday that her supervisor asked her to add names of people who had not worked to the schedule to pad their numbers to meet state staffing requirements. Susan Harrington worked at the facility, previously known as Friendship Ridge nursing home...
Prosecutors gain cooperation from 4 charged in New Kensington killing
Four of seven defendants charged in connection with the killing of a New Kensington man last year are cooperating with Westmoreland County prosecutors. Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro said during a court hearing Friday that two young men and a juvenile who were scheduled to go on trial next week...
Teen charged as adult in connection with deadly shooting in Munhall
A 16-year-old boy remained in Allegheny County Jail on Friday afternoon on charges that he fatally shot a man two weeks ago in Munhall. Allegheny County Police responded around 4 a.m. Nov. 15 to the 500 block of East Ninth Avenue for reports of a shooting, police spokesman Jim Madalinsky...
Allegheny County DA’s Office detective charged with punching women at Export bar
A detective from the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office is charged with simple assault and harassment after he allegedly assaulted two women at a local bar. The women were playing darts Wednesday at Joey’s Edge Bar on Washington Avenue in Export when Raymond Bonacci punched one woman in the mouth...
Starbucks opens in Buffalo Plaza
A big name in coffee is perking up rural Buffalo Township, Butler County. Starbucks opened Friday morning along Route 356 in Buffalo Plaza, inside the same building as the former Kings Family Restaurant. “I was definitely surprised when I heard that something new would be here. My mom texted me...
Westmoreland Blue Knights chapter collects toys for foster children, families
On Dec. 17, tables along the walls of the Youngwood Fire Hall will be filled with toys that will be gifts for foster children. Law enforcement officers from Westmoreland and Fayette counties are gearing up for their fifth annual toy drive for foster families. The amount of support the initiative...
Man accused of squatting in New Kensington home, assaulting manager ordered to stand trial
A homeless man accused of breaking into a New Kensington apartment and then punching the property manager who ordered him to leave has been ordered to stand trial. Bryant Nathaniel Thomas Houston, 38, was charged Nov. 17 with a felony count of burglary along with simple assault and detained in...
Indiana Township woman arrested during September raid in Vandergrift accused of dealing meth, heroin
A woman arrested during a late September raid at a home in Vandergrift has been accused by police of being a meth dealer. Olivia Rimma Newcamp, 27, of the 400 block of Cedar Run Road in Indiana Township was charged with two felony counts of possession of drugs with the...
$350 million contract to cleanup Parks Township nuclear waste site isn’t enough, feds say
The $350 million earmarked for cleanup of the Parks Township nuclear waste dump isn’t enough to finish the job, so the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking for new contractors interested in continuing the cleanup when that money runs out. The Corps on Friday announced it will issue a...
Mildred Miller Posvar, famed mezzo-soprano and founder of Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, dies at 98
Mildred Miller Posvar, a Rust Belt singing sensation who soared to stardom on some of the world’s biggest opera stages before finally alighting in Pittsburgh, where she coached voice for decades, founded an opera company and became an indefatigable booster of the arts and the University of Pittsburgh, died Wednesday....
Rostraver woman gets prison term for embezzling nearly $400K from credit union
A Rostraver woman was sentenced in federal court to 30 months in prison and one year of supervised release for embezzling nearly $400,000 from a Monessen credit union in 2016. Patty L. Mavrakis, 65, was a branch manager for Valley 1st Community Federal Credit Union. She was charged in 2021...
Wood Street T station to close for 2 weeks in Pittsburgh
The Wood Street light-rail station will be closed for two weeks starting next week while Pittsburgh Regional Transit completes four escalator replacements and an ongoing light-rail construction project. The closure of the station, also called a T station, will begin in the morning of Dec. 8 and is expected to...
Allegheny County Jail ordered to provide medication to inmates with opioid use disorder
Allegheny County Jail health officials will now be required to provide medication for inmates being treated for opioid use disorder after reaching an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. As part of the agreement, the county also will pay a person at the jail who was denied access to...
No increase likely for Harrison property taxes
Harrison property taxes are not expected to increase next year after the township commissioners approved a preliminary $7.8 million budget. The tax rate is expected to remain at 5.1 mills. The owner of a home assessed at $100,000 would again pay $510. The commissioners will take a final vote Dec....
Homeless emergency plan for cold weather is ready in Allegheny County
With freezing temperatures coming as winter approaches, Allegheny County officials have announced their emergency plan for homeless residents. Mark Bertolet of the county’s Department of Human Services said a Code Blue Action Plan will be initiated when the National Weather Service forecasts the air temperature will fall below 26 degrees...
Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority ‘confident’ it will meet Biden’s goal of replacing lead water pipes
The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority said Friday it is confident that it can meet a new Biden administration goal of removing lead water pipes within a decade. Strict new rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency this week would require most U.S. cities to replace lead water pipes within...
