No tax increase in Shaler proposed budget
Shaler commissioners presented a proposed 2024 budget with no tax raises on Nov. 14. The budget includes more than $16.3 million in expenditures with almost $14.8 million in revenue. The proposal calls for the township’s millage rate to stay at 3.49 with residents owning property with an assessed value of...
Bridgeville Area Historical Society hosts Native Americans exhibit
In recognition of Native American Indian Heritage Month, the Bridgeville Area Historical Society is hosting an exhibit dedicated to Native Americans in the Chartiers Valley at the history center, 441 Station Street, Bridgeville. Included in the exhibit are two posters recording indigenous presence here from Paleolithic times until Colonial times,...
Winter activities warming up at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall
Sweater weather is back, and the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall is warming up for another fabulous winter of activities. After a patron recently described the library as “a hug around our whole community,” I was reminded that our library is a great place to warm up on...
1 injured in Salem rollover crash
One person was transported by ambulance following a rollover crash near the northern end of the Route 66 Bypass in Salem on Wednesday morning. Westmoreland County 911 officials said the crash, involving a car and tractor trailer in the southbound lanes, was reported around 8:45 a.m. The car was heavily...
Traffic stop leads to drug charges for Arnold woman
Lower Burrell police accused a woman who had a warrant out for her arrest of dealing drugs after she was pulled over for a traffic violation and offered to let police search her vehicle. Michelle Lynn Dzugan, 45, of the 1500 block of Horne Boulevard in Arnold was charged with...
Shinsky Bridge overhaul expected to begin next spring in Unity
The Shinsky Bridge over the North Branch of Sewickley Creek in Unity is set to be replaced beginning next spring. Unity officials sought a $1 million state grant to help pay to replace the bridge, said Mike O’Barto, chairman of the township supervisors. The local service grant through the gaming...
Westmoreland happenings: Poultry bingo, holiday craft show, more
Church News • St. James Parish, New Alexandria, will sponsor a seminar series “Living as Healthy Disciples” over the winter at the church, 306 St. James Lane. The first session will be at 6 p.m. Nov. 21 in the church social hall. Robert R. Baum Jr., director of counseling services...
Morning Roundup: Fox Chapel officials issue safety alert amid burglaries
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Nov. 15. Fox Chapel issues alert over recent burglaries Borough officials in Fox Chapel issued a safety alert to residents Tuesday after a series of reported burglaries. “The borough is a safe community but is not immune to crime,”...
Man found fatally shot in Munhall apartment complex
Allegheny County Police are investigating a homicide they said took place early Wednesday in Munhall. According to a 911 dispatcher, EMS and police arrived to the 500 block of E. Ninth Ave. around 4 a.m. Police said a man in his early 30s was shot and killed inside an apartment...
Citing supply costs, Tarentum electric rates to jump 3%-5% every year for 5 years
Electric rates in Tarentum are going up in 2024 — and likely for at least the next four years afterward — to combat supply costs that are set to double. Council voted Tuesday night to approve a new rate schedule that will increase the cost from 13 cents to 15.2...
15-year-old teen shot, killed in Wilmerding
Allegheny County Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a teenager Tuesday night. According to police, first responders arrived around 11:30 p.m. to a 911 call reporting a shooting in the 300 block of Patton Street. Once on scene, police said they found the victim, a male teenager, with a...
The Stroller, Nov. 15, 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. Fall play planned by Springdale HS drama department The Springdale High...
Westmoreland 250: 10 things to see in North Huntingdon
(Editor’s note: To mark Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday this year, we’ve come up with a list of 250 things — 10 things in 25 communities — that we consider to be important to the makeup of our area. This series will appear each week through December. If you have a...
Pitt-Greensburg student struck by car near campus entrance
A University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg student was struck by a vehicle Tuesday evening near the entrance to the college in Hempfield, according to school officials. First responders were called to the intersection of Mt. Pleasant Road and University Drive just after 5 p.m., according to a Westmoreland County 911...
Remembering Wright’s: Heidelberg restaurant once drew customers ‘all the way down the block’
Editor’s note: This story will conclude in the December issue of the Signal Item. For fans of fine dining, Wright’s Seafood Inn was something of a paradise. Fans of singer Joni Mitchell will know the rest of the story. Yes, a parking lot now stretches across the spot that the...
Toxicologist continues testimony in Springdale injunction proceedings
A Texas-based toxicologist testified Tuesday that health complaints reported by some Springdale residents following the June implosion of two towering smokestacks at the former power plant there are consistent to exposure of materials and fibers from the implosion. But the defense attorneys for the landowner and demolition company attempted to...
Westmoreland airport contemplates future as airline merger looms
Local leaders insist they don’t know what the future holds for Arnold Palmer Regional Airport amid fears the Unity facility’s lone carrier could pull up stakes pending the outcome of a proposed airline merger. “We don’t have a plan,” said Westmoreland County Airport Authority board member Richard Ridilla. “No one...
Pittsburgh might need to consider raising taxes after pandemic relief money dries up, officials say
Pittsburgh’s finances are projected to be tight in the coming years and that might force officials to take a “hard look” at raising taxes, said City Council Budget Director Peter McDevitt. McDevitt led a budget discussion with council members Tuesday to formally launch council’s weekslong budget process ahead of a...
Postal Service reducing number of Greensburg collection boxes, cites limited use
Two of four blue outdoor mail collection boxes likely will be removed as early as this week along Greensburg’s South Pennsylvania Avenue, across the street from the post office. Some residents have expressed concern about the removal of the boxes, which was indicated with 30-day notices posted on the boxes...
Astrobotic expansion could spur creation of ‘space district’ in Pittsburgh, officials say
Pittsburgh’s leading space company said Tuesday it plans to move some of its operations into a $20 million office building on the North Side and more than double its workforce. Astrobotic, a Manchester-based company that builds equipment to send to the moon, said it has bought a five-story building on...
Mother of Sorrows principal will take administrative reins at Greensburg Central Catholic
Theresa Szmed is going to have to get used to seeing older students in the hallways of her workplace. Szmed, who has served as principal at Mother of Sorrows School in Murrysville since 2016, will become the new principal at Greensburg Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School starting in January, diocese...
Pathologist testifies Apollo woman was killed by shot to back of head at storage unit
Kelly Steele was shot execution style with one round fired from a semi-automatic pistol pressed against the back of her head, according to testimony Tuesday in the second day of her husband’s murder trial. Forensic pathologist Dr. Jennifer Hammers testified Steele, 41, was killed as a bullet traveled through her...
Forest Hills man gets house arrest for Plum crash that left 1 dead, 1 seriously injured
Jean Armany suffered serious injuries on June 15, 2018, when her car was broadsided by a man driving recklessly in Plum. The Shaler woman had 25 fractures that required immobilizers and surgery and her lacerated lungs required chest tubes. Her 90-year-old mother, Olga Kocon, a passenger in Armany’s car, was...
Antique props, colorful choreography shine in Geyer theater’s upcoming ‘Pirates of Penzance’
For director Martha Oliver, the Geyer Performing Arts Center’s upcoming performance of “Pirates of Penzance” was a long time coming. “I have wanted to do this since 1982. That’s 40 years,” Oliver said. As a young actress, Oliver performed in a Penn State Fayette rendition of the classic musical in...
Body of missing Springdale man recovered from Allegheny River
The body of a Springdale man who had been missing since Oct. 30 was recovered Tuesday afternoon from the Allegheny River. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the identity of the man as Sean Michael Dugan, 58, of Springdale. His body was found in the river near Penn Hills....
