Western PA Local News category, Page 847
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...
The Stroller, Dec. 9, 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. Santa to visit Springdale The Springdale Volunteer Fire Department will escort...
Indoor pickleball facility proposed for Murrysville
Even for a die-hard pickleball fan, the weather is making it difficult to get on a local court and enjoy playing. Jillian Bateman-McIntosh of Murrysville has taken notice and hopes to build a six-court indoor pickleball facility just off Route 22 in Murrysville. “I moved here from Boston where the...
30-year-old shot near McKees Rocks police station
A 30-year old man was in critical condition at a Pittsburgh hospital after he was shot outside a building at the Hays Manor apartment complex Friday night in McKees Rocks. The man ran to the McKees Rocks police station for help after being shot. A black man wearing a dark...
Police file charges against inmate responsible for Allegheny County Jail fire
An Allegheny County Jail inmate was charged Friday after a fire in an air vent inside his cell, county police said. Brian Leach, 49, was charged with one count of criminal mischief and three counts of recklessly endangering another person. The fire happened Monday in Leach’s cell, detectives determined, and...
Jury convicts teen of New Kensington man’s murder; 2 others found not guilty
A teenager was convicted Friday of first-degree murder in the death of a New Kensington man while his two co-defendants were acquitted of second-degree murder for their alleged roles in the killing. After more than three hours of deliberations, 16-year-old Amir Kennedy was found guilty of the intentional killing of...
For sale: Brackenridge Heights Golf Course listed for $2.5M in Harrison
Ted Tomson remembers sneaking onto Brackenridge Heights Golf Course as a kid to gather errant golf balls from the course’s pond. “All the rich folks from here went there,” he said. “When I was a kid, I would sneak into there and get the golf balls out of the lake,...
Unity man convicted in bad check scheme to pay for stepdaughter’s wedding
A Unity man was convicted of forging checks written out on bogus bank accounts to pay for his stepdaughter’s 2020 wedding. Joseph A. Malago, 51, was found guilty Friday on 18 of 19 counts in four separate cases including a series of felony weapons offenses for illegal possession of firearms....
Pittsburgh Land Bank completed 1st sales in 2023, looks to ramp up work in new year
Nearly a decade after it was created, the struggling Pittsburgh Land Bank this year finally sold its first batch of blighted properties in the city — and optimistic officials said Friday that they have major expansion plans for 2024. The land bank, an affiliate of the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority,...
Authorities respond to Route 30 crash in Ligonier Township
Route 30 reopened Friday evening following a single-vehicle crash, authorities said. It had been restricted to one westbound lane after the wreck was reported at 4:22 p.m. about a quarter mile past Quarry Lane in Ligonier Township. At least one individual was being transported for medical care, according to 911...
Supporters start Christmas card campaign for Oakmont man imprisoned in Russia
Friends and family of an Oakmont native imprisoned in Russia on marijuana charges hope the holiday spirit can boost attention to his case and get the State Department to help bring him home. Marc Fogel has been detained in Russia for more than two years after he was arrested at...
